The Blind King (5 page)

P
ointing to a
location on the map before him, Gannon said, “The invaders have stopped here
for the time being. We must ride with all haste before they can advance farther.”

“Will you lead this
battle yourself?” Efren asked quietly. He feared for his brother’s safety,
knowing he had no true experience in battle.

“What else would
you have me do, Brother?”

Efren shook his
head and sighed quietly. There was no answer he could give that would please
the young king. His mind was made up, and he was determined to fight alongside
his men.

“We cannot let
these attacks go unanswered,” Councilman Faril said, striking his fist against
the conference table. He was an older man who had experienced war with Na’zora
in the past. Though his hair was gray and his face lined with age, he was
strong and determined. “We must push them back into their own lands. Show them
we are not a kingdom of cowards.”

“I’m inclined to
agree,” Gannon replied. “They began this fighting. It is up to us to end it. I
will lead my army personally. Let them see that Ra’jhou’s king is not afraid to
fight.”

Efren swallowed
hard but did not speak. He hated the thought of Gannon’s first days as king
being filled with war, but it was useless to try persuading him to stay behind.
His blood ran hot, and he refused to be left behind regardless of matters at
home that might need his attention. Nothing was more pressing than the attack
on his kingdom. Once the troops rode out, all Efren would be able to do was
wait for news from the battlefield.

General Willem, the
man who had served under King Nilan, was eager to fight as well. He was tall,
broad-chested, and wore a thick black beard. “I can have troops prepared by
tomorrow,” he said. “We should take back our lands and push into Na’zora’s
territory. Whatever lands we take we will declare them part of Ra’jhou. Let’s
show them who they’re meddling with.”

The king grinned
and nodded. Noticing Efren’s silence, he said, “What say you, Brother?”

Efren hesitated a
moment before speaking. “We know little of our enemy’s forces,” he said. “Na’zora
has been known to employ mages in their army. They may prove more powerful than
you realize. I recommend caution.”

“This one has no
stomach for war,” the general said, looking disgusted. “He would have you lie
down before the Na’zoran king.”

“I never said
that,” Efren replied. “I simply think it’s wiser to know what we’re dealing
with before we rush into battle.”

“You can let me
deal with that,” Willem declared. “It’s not as if you’ll be present on the
battlefield.”

“No, he won’t be
there,” Gannon said. “He must stay behind and tend the kingdom while I’m away.”
He looked thoughtfully at his brother, the man who had his full confidence.
There was no other who was better suited to the task of seeing to Ra’jhou’s
needs while the king was away.

A few of the
councilors grumbled at those words, but no one spoke openly against the new
king. They worried Ra’jhou would become a kingdom to ridicule if a blind man
was left in charge, but they kept their opinions to themselves. The long
history of war with Na’zora made them more inclined to support their king’s
decisions. With luck, the king would return victorious in a short amount of
time. Efren wouldn’t have the chance to mess things up too badly.

“We ride tomorrow,”
Gannon declared. “Dismissed.”

The councilors
marched out the door, talking among themselves. Their voices spoke excitedly,
anticipating the battle to come. All were in favor of war.

Efren remained
behind after the other councilors had gone. “Take care of yourself out there,”
he said to his brother. “We have never before encountered Na’zora’s mages, not
even when our father sat on the throne. They might prove far more dangerous
than you expect.”

Gannon looked upon
his brother’s worried expression. With confidence, he said, “Their mages are
mortal. They will fall as quickly as any other man.” He clapped his brother on
the shoulder.

“Kings fall too,”
Efren replied solemnly. “Please take caution.”

With a sigh, Gannon
said, “Of course, Efren. Do not worry. Once we’ve shown Na’zora we are not
easily defeated, they will yield and cease their fighting. They are only
testing a new king. This will not result in an ongoing war, you shall see.” He
strode from the council chamber, leaving his brother alone.

Ryshel waited
patiently outside the council chambers. She bowed her head before the king as
he exited. “Your Majesty,” she said.

“Sister,” he
replied. “Your husband will rule in my stead while I’m away. See that you take
good care of him.”

“Always,” she said.
Entering the room, she found Efren standing alone. Taking him by the arm, she
asked, “Are you all right?”

“No,” he replied
honestly. “Gannon is a skilled warrior, but Na’zora uses magic. He is as yet
untested against their kind, and it worries me.”

“All you can do is
wait and hope for the best,” she said. “Concentrate on the work he has left for
you, and the time will pass quickly. He’ll be home before you know it.” Her
attempts to ease his mind had little effect. His face clearly showed his
concern.

“I have no desire
to rule in his stead,” he declared. “I would rather he remained and sent
soldiers to deal with Na’zora, but he is stubborn and believes himself
invincible. That is a dangerous way of thinking.”

“How would you deal
with mages?” she asked curiously. She knew Na’zora had a special college where
sons of the wealthiest nobles could study magic, but she had never heard what
skills might be taught there. Nor did she have any idea how powerful those
mages might turn out to be.

“I’m not sure, to
be honest,” he said. “I know that these mages have been trained by the Enlightened
Elves. They are a race who guard their magical secrets closely. Their
cooperation could not have been easily won. They are incredibly powerful, but I
don’t know if humans are capable of wielding the same level of power. For my
brother’s sake, I hope news of their skills has been exaggerated.”

Efren’s words hung
heavily in the air. The Na’zoran mages were trained by masters of the arcane,
and they were ready for a fight. They intended to take control of the Kingdom
of Ra’jhou, adding its wealth and resources to their own. Efren wondered if it
was possible to contact these elves for guidance. There must be some
information they’ve withheld from their human students, and it might be of
benefit to Ra’jhou.

“Your brother has
trained in fighting his whole life. His councilors are seasoned veterans of
past wars. For now, at least, let’s trust in their abilities.” Ryshel squeezed
her husband’s arm and kissed his cheek.

“I’ll try,” Efren
said. After a pause, he added, “Would you draft a letter for me? I’m not sure I
can trust the councilors who are remaining behind. I get the sense they aren’t
all that confident in my leadership skills.”

“Certainly, my
dear,” she replied. “To whom do you wish to write?”

“A sorcerer,” he
replied.

D
espite hopes
for a swift resolution, ten years of bitter fighting gripped the two kingdoms.
Letters from Aubriana to Ryshel were still being delivered, but they came less
frequently with each passing year. The princess was treated as a prisoner, and
she was suspected of passing military secrets to her family in Ra’jhou. The
accusation simply wasn’t true. She was kept in the dark of all matters
concerning the war. Her only visitors were her servants and her young son,
Rayne.

Na’zora’s forces outmatched Ra’jhou’s at every
battle, leaving Ryshel with no way to send the princess any letters in return.
Still, she wrote about her own three children and how they had grown these past
ten years. She spoke of the good health of both Efren and Gannon, the beautiful
weather of the mountain kingdom, and the king’s lack of interest in marriage or
the production of an heir. She avoided talk of the war. Every letter she had
written sat undelivered inside her desk drawer. Ryshel looked upon them with
sadness, wishing she could have the letters delivered. With the Na’zorans
gaining ground within the realm, she knew it would be folly to try. The letters
would surely be intercepted, and they could cause harm to Aubriana, who had
already fallen under suspicion.

Efren had done well ruling in Gannon’s stead, but
he differed greatly from his brother in his opinion of war. Efren hoped to
negotiate peace, but the council would not agree on terms. They were prepared
to give Na’zora nothing, even if it cost more lives. Gannon was content to
continue the fight. His idea of peace was slaughtering the Na’zoran king.

Instead of arguing with his brother or the
council, Efren busied himself coordinating the movement of supplies that would
aid the Ra’jhouan army. This included food, weapons, and medical supplies,
which the soldiers desperately needed. The councilors were more involved in defending
the outlying villages, leaving the supply lines unmonitored. Efren knew that if
those items fell into Na’zoran hands, the war would be lost. Ra’jhou could not
hope to win any battles with starving and sick soldiers.

King Gannon once again returned from battle to see
to matters at court. He did so as frequently as possible, considering the
ongoing crisis in his kingdom. Once the counselors had assembled, he stood
before them still dressed in his battle armor. “The Na’zorans have been pushed
back, but we still haven’t regained our most southern villages. They are using
them as bases for their army, and we must come down on them with force.”

“We need more troops,” Willem replied.

“There are none,” Gannon admitted. “We have boys
as young as fourteen signing up, but they are too inexperienced to be much use.
We need trained soldiers, but there are no more to be found.”

“We’ll have to send conscription notices to the
farming villages,” Faril said.

“Farmers will be just as unskilled as the boys,”
Efren pointed out. “And that will leave our armies and our people without food.
Who will produce grain and tend livestock when all the farmers lay dead on the
battlefield?”

“The women could take over the farms,” Faril said
with a shrug. “It will make them feel useful.” He cared not for Efren’s
opinions. Clearly the prince did not understand how to conduct a war.

“I think you will find Ra’jhouan women most eager
to do their share, but they also have children to tend to,” Efren replied. “You
expect them to do the work of a housewife as well as the labor of a man. It’s too
much to ask.”

“We are at war!” Faril shouted. Rising to his
feet, he leaned in close to the prince. “No man or woman’s path is easy. The
other alternative is surrender, and I’m not ready for that!”

“No one is surrendering,” Gannon stated calmly.
“Farmers will not make good soldiers. They will serve as little more than
targets for the Na’zorans. Food production is more important right now.
General, can you appoint more men to train our less experienced soldiers?”

“Of course, Your Majesty,” Willem replied. “At the
very least, they will know formations and have basic knowledge of a weapon.
They won’t be proficient, but they’ll do.”

“Send messengers to all outlying villages and accept
any citizens who are willing to fight. Bring all the criminals you can find.
They don’t get a choice.” The king paused momentarily and looked at each of his
councilors. “We must now discuss how best to manage our enemy’s mages,” he
said. “At first they were of little consequence, but now they are growing in
both strength and number. Word has reached my ears that they are now setting
fire to some of our villages, using only their bare hands. Do any of you have
knowledge of this magic?”

No citizen of Ra’jhou had ever studied magic, and
the councilors looked from one to the other in silence. Efren alone had studied
about the elves and the types of magic they could conjure.

“If the elves are indeed training them, then it is
entirely possible they can produce spells of fire,” the prince said. “They’ve
had years to perfect the art while we’ve focused on the same tired tactics our
forefathers used.” At each meeting he had attended, the council’s discussion of
strategy consisted only of debating how loudly to sound the charge. Not a man
among them had a new idea to share.

Councilman Faril scoffed at Efren’s words. “I
don’t see you trying to learn magic,” he said. “Our tactics have served us
well. We would have lost the kingdom by now if not for our brave king.”

The other councilors spoke up in agreement.

“I’m not saying those tactics don’t work,” Efren
replied calmly. “I’m saying we have no prior experience when it comes to
fighting mages. There has never been a need to defend against them, but now
there is. We must figure out a better way of fighting. Perhaps we should try to
form an alliance with the elves.”

Voices rang out in protest, each councilman
speaking over the one next to him. Ra’jhou was not friendly with its Wild Elf
neighbors, and they would never agree to join forces. The Enlightened Elves
were too far away, living on islands in the sea. Ra’jhou had only a few ships
and no reason to travel so far.

“Quiet!” the king insisted. “My brother’s idea has
some merit. We do need a new strategy to defend against these magical
opponents.” He turned to his brother. “What do you suggest?”

“I cannot say how to take down their mages, but
perhaps we can thin their army a bit.”

“We thin their numbers every time we engage them,”
Willem argued. “What do you think we’re doing out there?” He had no patience
for a blind prince who could not stand and fight.

Gannon raised a hand to silence the general. “What
do you suggest, Brother?”

“A diversion, perhaps?” Efren was thinking on the
fly, but an idea came to him that might prove useful. “We can allow them to
intercept a letter concerning the location of our supplies. If they think they
can starve our army, they should take the bait. When they arrive expecting to
find poorly guarded crates, they will discover instead that they are surrounded
by our troops.”

Nodding his approval, Gannon said, “That sounds
like a good plan. We might catch them unaware. See to this, General Willem.”

The general bowed to his king but remained silent.
If the plan worked, Ra’jhou had a good chance of eliminating some of Na’zora’s soldiers.
Maybe a mage or two would be among them. Efren could only hope the plan would
succeed. It was doubtful King Tryol would send a large force, so Ra’jhou should
easily be able to outnumber them. Victory would likely be determined by the
presence or absence of mages.

Before leaving for battle, Gannon took Efren
aside. “Perhaps an alliance with the elves would not be a terrible thing,” he
admitted. “See what information you can find on the Enlightened Elves and
whether they would be willing to teach our people as well. Maybe we could come
to battle with some mages of our own.”

“I’ll do my best,” he replied. He did not mention
that he had already been in contact with several sorcerers of the Sunswept
Isles and Ral’nassa. So far, he had been unable to find anyone willing to
travel in this time of war. In his studies, he had learned it takes decades for
a human to master the simplest spells. It was obvious that Na’zora had been
planning this for some time. His sister’s marriage had never secured any kind
of peace. It had only served as a diversion from the truth.