Darkstone - An Evil Reborn (Book 4) (36 page)

He found his tent after searching an inordinate amount of time and went to bed, still working through the potential problems of a united Besseth.

~

“I have located a weakness among the Bessethian officer corps,” the spy said. “The Prince of Learsea commands the supply wagons. He is very dissatisfied with his position.”

Daryaku sat up straighter. “How did you find this out?”

“I recognized one of Histron’s soldiers that I became acquainted with at Highfield when I visited with Peleor. He currently serves under the Prince and sees an opportunity for us.”

The Emperor thought for a few minutes, admiring the fingernails she had just began to let grow on their hands. Vishan thought it showed the increased weakness of Daryaku’s mind. She now had more highs and lows during waking hours. He wondered if he could move a finger again.

“Promise the prince that he will rule Besseth.” She rummaged around in her travel chest and pulled out a golden drek. “Give him this as a token. You may go.”

Daryaku began to hum some ancient tune. “Vishan, I know you’ve been observing. Aren’t you glad that we progress towards the destruction of the Bessethian army, even as we just sit here in my tent?”

Vish didn’t even feel like taunting the woman.

~~~

Chapter Thirty-Seven

Ayrtan

~

A
rvon, an impressed mate from a Learsea merchantman,
struggled with his men to move the wheel of a wagon out of loose dirt.

“You, there,” Prince Peeron said.

Arvon twisted his body to look up at the prince sitting on his horse. He squinted into the sun that shone behind the prince.

“I recognize your uniform. Learsean merchant navy?”

“Aye, your Majesty.”

The prince brought down his riding crop on Arvon’s bare shoulder. “Kneel when addressing your monarch.”

The sailor didn’t feel much like kneeling in front of this nitwit of a king’s son. Peeron had inflicted more than enough damage on the morale of Learsea’s merchantmen. He would stop merchants in the middle of the ocean and have the navy search the vessel, all the while, forcing the captain to provide him with a sumptuous meal.

Arvon felt like grumbling, but he didn’t want another stripe across his back. He knelt.

“Forehead to the ground.” Peeron ordered.

Arvon grit his teeth and pressed his sweaty forehead into the soft dirt.

“That is sufficient.” Peeron raised his voice to the men in hearing. “Remember, men of Learsea. Show me the respect I deserve. Now all of you kneel.”

Those in earshot looked at Arvon who nodded at them. They mimicked Arvon’s bow, even if they weren’t from Learsea.

Peeron rode off to find more Learsean sailors, most likely. Arvon looked at his companions and saw the dirty forehead that he must have on the others’ faces. He rubbed the dirt off and shook his head. “Back to work, men.” He couldn’t help but glare after his prince.

A large older man appeared from the rankers marching alongside the wagons. “I saw that. He stopped the rest of the column just to soothe his ego?” He jumped up on the wagon and found a sack of hardtack. “Name’s Kenyr.” He tossed the sack back onto the ground and, with his size, helped the men get the wagon going again through the sandy dirt. “Your men don’t seem to like the prince.”

“He’s a curse, if you want to know. Did the same thing in the middle of the ocean, he did. He’d have a navy ship stop us and force the captain to cook him a fine meal. Lorded about having everyone make obeisances to him and then left. Learsea looks at the popinjay as a curse. No one looks forward to him as king.”

“Too bad.” Kenyr retrieved his hardtack and slipped back into the flow of men.

“Who was that lander?” one of the sailors asked.

“He was a friendly enough, but I never seen him about before.” Arvon stood up straighter. The wagon moved again.

~

Kenyr threaded his way through the rankers and retrieved his horse and rode towards the front.

“Peeron hasn’t changed his ways. He stopped the supply column just so he could have a Learsean sailor bow down to him. Made him touch his forehead in the dirt. The rest of his crew had to do the same.”

Anchor nodded. “Thanks, for checking. Peeron won’t be getting a command of regular fighting troops. I warned him.”

Gully Workman and Lotto rode up. “We have some trouble ahead.”

“Have we reached the main force yet?” Mander Hart said. He took his wide-brimmed hat off and wiped the sweat off of his forehead.

“No, the Dakkoran’s have set out forces far from our path.”

“Histron’s hidden army strategy?” Kenyr said.

“Worse, hidden armies, more than one,” Lotto said.

“Let’s see what Shiro comes up with. Are they close enough to mobilize?”

Gully shook his head. “The closest one is to the East and about a day and a half ahead.”

Anchor looked up at the sun. “We’ll camp here for the night. I’ve got an idea.”

~

Anchor took out a map. It started out blank, but as they plunged further into Ayrtan, he added in topography continuously with a sliver of charcoal after he had debriefings with the rangers.

Shiro gave him his day’s observations and told him of the other hidden army farther off to the West.

After he had filled in the day’s travel, Anchor stood. “The Dakkorans are supplied from an incredibly long line of supply wagons. From the position of the hidden armies it appears that we are headed right towards their main force somewhere up ahead. They intend to attack us from three sides. It’s a reasonable strategy. We used it well enough to defeat Histron.”

Lotto laughed. “We will veer off our current path?”

Nodding, Anchor pointed to the location of Daryaku’s eastern army. “They must think we will follow the easy contours of the land and continue directly north, but we will head east and then north. We take this army and any other we come across and capture their supply lines. It’s a two-day march, but that way, if the small army to the west comes after us, we will be able to defeat them. Although it won’t be a surprise while we engage Daryaku’s entrenched camp, the enemy forces won’t be offering any real surprises. Consider one of their traps sprung.”

On the second night, Anchor exited his tent amid a clamor and the flickering light of fire. He ran towards the commotion and found fighting at their supply wagons. Three of them burned out of control while fires in a few more wagons were in the process of being smothered.

“What happened here?”

He paced through the mess only to find Prince Peeron’s body among others.

“The Prince started the fires along with some Red Kingdom men. My boys stopped them in their tracks. The prince fought and died.”

“Your name?”

“Arvon, sir. I’m a mate. My men woke me up.”

“Who killed the Prince?”

The man shrugged his shoulders. “You know what fighting’s like, sir.”

Anchor knew that he’d never know. “Did you capture any of the Red Kingdom soldiers?”

“I imagine they’re not all dead.”

Shiro walked into the light of the blazing wagons.

Anchor turned to Shiro. “I’ll need to use a sip of your power and the Sunstone. Find one of the wounded Red Kingdom soldiers and tell me what happened here.”

It didn’t take long.

Shiro shook his head. “This is Daryaku’s work. These Red Kingdom soldiers were Histron’s men. A spy from Daryaku’s main camp convinced the Prince that he’d be given Besseth to rule if he destroyed our supplies. Peeron was told to wait for orders, but the Prince couldn’t do that.”

The alliance had two hundred supply wagons. They had lost only three full wagons and some of the supplies on another three or four. Not much in return for the ruling the continent. Peeron was so stupid. Daryaku wouldn’t possibly be serious about him.

“Found this on the body,” Kenyr said, giving Anchor a golden coin.

“A Dakkoran drek. Perhaps the supplies he destroyed might be worth half of this. It proves his guilt. Bury these men and have a Ropponi take Peeron’s body back to Learsea.” Anchor slapped Kenyr on the shoulder. “Ever command a supply column? You’re doing it now.”

“What about my bodyguard?” Mander Hart said.

“I’ll be your bodyguard. Go back to bed,” Anchor said.

Anchor went to sleep angry with himself. Now he was the official heir to the Learsea throne. At least he hadn’t been the one to kill Peeron. If he ever found out who did, he’d be tempted to give them the golden drek.

He sat up in bed in the middle of the night and groaned. The Dakkorans now knew of his detour.

~

General Bishyar woke up Emperor Daryaku. “Your spy did his job too well. Only a few supply wagons were destroyed and Prince Peeron, heir to the throne of Learsea is dead. Marshal Anchor now knows that we have penetrated his command.”

“Is there more?” She wiped the sleep from their eyes. Vishan listened in with interest.

“They have headed for our eastern camp.”

Daryaku sat up and yawned. “Do they think that is our main camp?”

Bishyar shook his head. “We don’t know.”

“What a wasted opportunity,” she said. “We could have used the Prince at a more opportune time. Did they try him on the spot?”

“No, one of the soldiers killed the Prince, who was in the act of setting the wagons on fire with a few of the late Duke Histron’s soldiers. Our spy’s friend left once the Prince had been killed and has joined our force to the east.”

“Hmmm. Perhaps it is just as well that the Prince is dead. What stupidity.”

Vishan had to agree. One less impediment for the Bessethians and that meant it was a positive development for him. He had to wonder if Marshal Anchor’s intention was to wheel his army east and then north to cut off the constant supply wagons. He hoped so.

“Move the western army south and then east. Have them attack the Bessethians from their flank. We’ll have them caught in our vise.”

“I don’t suggest that, Your Eminence.”

“And when did your judgment eclipse mine, General Bishyar?”

“Never, Emperor Daryaku. It’s just that they won’t arrive in time.  By the time the western forces arrive, the battle with our East army will be over. The Bessethians are sure to prevail with superior numbers.”

“I run this war. Don’t forget it. Get them in motion.”

~

Kenyr gathered the officers, sergeants, and mates that comprised the supply column. Arvon wondered if there would be ramifications for his action in the night. He didn’t like taking out Prince Peeron, but the man acted like a maniac. Torching the supply wagons under his command like that.  Did the man have an ounce of sense in his head? No longer. Arvon wanted to make sure that the Prince paid for his treachery, politics be damned.

“Anchor wants us to travel parallel to the soldiers. We’ll have to pick up our speed. There’s an army that will likely come round and bite us on the rear and he’d rather have troops in the back than us.  That means we can’t dawdle.” Their new commander was Kenyr, the man who had taken the hardtack and had seen the Prince make the men bow.

“Sounds okay to me,” Arvon said. He had no desire to be pounced on by the Dakkoran forces. “My men will run as fast as you’d like as long as we don’t run into any more of that sand.”

Kenyr smiled. “There’s always a chance of that, but Marshal Anchor thinks the Dakkorans will definitely send a force to attack our flank. They are a few days away, so we will have time to fight the encampment ahead first.”

“We’ll do it, sir,” a sergeant said. “Morale’s going to pick up right nicely now that our old commander has gone to his reward.”

Arvon snorted. He knew what kind of reward Peeron faced.

~

Rangers began to lengthen out their patrols. Anchor wanted a more comprehensive map of the terrain. He sent out Ropponi and Valetans over the same terrain and compared their reports. Any major discrepancies meant another survey. That was how he found the precise location of Daryaku’s forces.

“We’ve found them.” Lotto said, entering Anchor’s tent. Filth covered his face. He looked like he had been made out of Ayrtan dirt. He pointed to an empty space on Anchor’s map. “I’d say a force at least the size of ours.”

Anchor rubbed his chin. “With the hidden armies, he’s probably got us outmanned.” He rolled the alternatives over in his mind. “What if we continue on and obliterate the army ahead of us? They will be ready to fight, but we’ll smother them. But before that, we’ll take a small force and cut off the supply column that must be running north of them while we reverse direction as soon as we’ve taken care of our friends close by and meet the western army here.” He pointed to a small valley. “There is a chance that they don’t have a stockpile of supplies.”

“That’s a big assumption,” Shiro said.

“What will change if they have accumulated supplies?” Anchor said. “We fight them anyway. I’m looking for leverage and I don’t see any reason not to stop the supplies. We just lost three wagons ourselves. Eating Dakkoran food might be interesting.”

“So what will our army do?” Lotto said.

“There’s a saddle of sorts between the two hills that will give us higher ground, but more importantly, we have two channels to feed men around behind them through these ravines.”

“Then we can take the main force!” Lotto said.

“But from what direction? And when will we be hit by the savages that still roam through the hills?” Anchor said.