The Grand Crusade (66 page)

From the northern hills, trenching had been dug that went east and west respectively for a thousand yards. The eastern trench had a leg that went off north at an angle, and both of them ended with a small hill that likewise had been flattened and fitted into a dragonel battery. The only way up to the hills was a serpentine road to the north, which had several switchbacks and could be raked easily by dragonels.

Along the southern edge of the hills lay a dry riverbed. The Aurolani had succeeded in damming the river just to the east of their position, making a huge lake. Not only did the top of the dam provide a place where troops could be stationed, but if the dam was destroyed, it would flood the battlefield and sweep away any troops moving to the assault.

As if the possibility of drowning were not bad enough, the model showed each of the dragonel batteries. The three large hills had four of them, each of which had been dug out and reinforced with logs. Dragonels could be moved easily within them, so they could be massed to shoot at any concentration of troops. Logs even formed a roof over the batteries so the chances of the skycasters Erlestoke had captured in Okrannel damaging the dragonels were severely limited.

Erlestoke stroked his chin with his left hand. “Even though the site is only four miles inland from the coast, we can’t ship troops around through Porjal and come in from behind. The approach up that road will be just as deadly as any frontal assault.”

Alexia nodded. “If we lay a conventional siege, I don’t know how long he can hold out, but the amount of spare earth spread around there makes me believe the hills are honeycombed with supply bunkers and lots of surprises—if the fortification near Zamsina was truly prophetic in its creation. Nefrai-kesh will anticipate our having urZrethi allies, so the potential for a war beneath the earth will not have been discounted.”

Linchmere pointed with his stub. “Any idea how many troops he has there, as well as their composition?”

“We can guess, but nothing solid.” Alexia shrugged. “With what you’ve brought in, we have nearly twenty-two thousand. Three-quarters of the force I would consider reliable, and a full third the best in the world. A third of it is also cavalry, which is going to be less than useful here.”

The elder Oriosan Prince shook his head. “There’s going to be no easy way to do this, is there?”

“No.” Alexia pointed at the straight line of the western trench. “This protects the slope of the northwest hill. It is, by far, the easiest approach, but to get a force over there would take so long, it would give the Aurolani ample time to reorient their dragonels to sweep the area. Moreover, if they’ve hidden troops in the forest to the west, past this clear area, our backs will be vulnerable when we attack that trench. This is going to be bloody, but that isn’t the thing that scares me the most.”

“Then what is?”

Alexia snarled. “I have to assume these hills are a hive, and that when we attack, Aurolani are going to come pouring forth to man the trenches and the dragonels. But what if they aren’t? What if he’s got another army staging elsewhere? While we prepare our assault, he just hooks east and marches fast to Narriz or Yslin or Meredo? Do I devote some of my forces to range out there and see? What do I do if I find an army out there?”

Erlestoke nodded. “Worse, what if that army waits until we’re engaged here and marches at our rear?”

“Exactly.” Alexia sighed. “That’s our situation. The fate of the world hangs in the balance, and we have no way of knowing if what we’re going to do will tip it in our favor or throw it so far out that it will never be right again.”

Resolute found himself surprised by Princess Sayce’s reaction to Force. She’d been taken to Aurolan long before Oracle had mentioned that the Norrington was waiting on Vorquellyn. And he was thankful for that. If she had believed she would see Will again, then found a stone creature in his place, that would have been cruel beyond words.

Instead, when she’d been revived and reassured her child was safe, she’d been told what Force was. The news did come as a blow to her. It summoned tears, but not many and not for long. She spoke to Force, but the stone creature showed no real understanding of what she was saying. His eyes glowed and even flamed at one point, but Force did not reach out for her.

Qwc, on the other hand, spent a great deal of time with her, riding on her shoulder as he had on Force’s.

Resolute had spoken to her after Sayce had conversed with Force. “He has dealt with you no better or no worse than any of the rest of us.”

Sayce nodded. “I understand. To die and to come back as something no longer flesh and blood

You’ve explained that Force is not Will, that he is just another aspect of the Norrington. I actually understand that very well.”

“How so, Princess?”

She smiled carefully. “Just that title, for example. Am I a princess, or has the slaughter of my family made me into the queen? Will the powers liberating Muroso decide that it should be parceled out to Saporicia or Oriosa, or combined with Sebcia, or turned into a nation that is the equivalent of Fortress Draconis? You know what the crowns did to Crow. They could do that to me and my nation. Through acts far less traumatic than dying, I could be elevated or discarded.”

The Vorquelf watched her carefully as they marched back north. “That is far more philosophical than I would have expected.”

“Don’t mistake me, Resolute, or think me callous. Will’s death hurt very much, but I have learned to deal with it. I have learned to accept that my child will have no father. Force may be part of the Norrington, but Will was the father of my child. This baby is no more Force’s responsibility than Force is capable of assuming that responsibility.”

“You’re a wise woman.” He frowned. “You’ve traveled with Isaura for a while, and spoken with her before. Has she told you who her parents were?”

The Murosan stiffened for a moment. “I know she isn’t truly Chytrine’s child, but I have no idea who her parents were. Why are you asking?”

Resolute glanced over to where Isaura walked in silence next to Force. “It’s not truly important. I was just curious.”

“Resolute, I’ve not known you long, but I don’t believe your curiosity has ever been idle.”

Trawyn joined them. “It hasn’t; this I would vouchsafe. The secret of her identity should not be difficult to ascertain. She’s clearly adesanel?

Sayce shifted the straps on her pack. “I don’t know that word.”

Resolute’s voice tightened slightly. “It’s Elvish. It means a child of mixed parentage. It’s most commonly used to denigrate the Gyrkyme.”

“You seek to scourge me with it, Resolute, but I have met Gyrkyme and I repudiate their condemnation.” Trawyn laid a hand on Sayce’s shoulder. “It is possible for an elf and another race to bear children. The elf blood in her is obvious, as is the human. I would assume she was the child of one of thesullanciri, wouldn’t you, Resolute?”

“Is there a purpose for your speculation, Highness?”

Trawyn laughed. “Only the same as yours. I have heard the prophecy in the original. I know the nuances.”

Sayce glanced at one elf and then the other. “You might as well have this whole conversation in Elvish because I’m not understanding anything other than that who her parents were might have a bearing on the prophecy.”

Resolute lowered his voice. “The prophecy has many nuances, dealing with the number of companions for the Norrington, and it hints at identities. A Hawkins seems always to accompany a Norrington when the latter succeeds at something. It would be greatly significant if her mother were Seethe and her father were Tarrant Hawkins.”

“Crow?” Sayce’s eyes grew wide. She looked over at Isaura, then closed her eyes. “Around the eyes a little. The ears throw it off, but those are from her mother, clearly. And the white hair is there.”

Trawyn smiled. “Youcouldask, Resolute.”

He gave her a withering glance. “I don’t believe she knows. Chytrine would never have told her if Crow was her father. Besides, I’m sure of it.”I knew it the

moment I heard her speak. “We have a Hawkins to help our Norrington. The strands of fate are getting bound up tight.”

Hlucri and Resolute did most of the scouting for the expedition. For the most part they were able to move fairly quickly. They saw no more signs ofaraftü, though Hlucri had to slay a drearbeast that had slipped from its den and started looking for food. But that was the only threat they faced from the natural fauna in the area.

Resolute did come upon one curious spot. The easiest path for them to take through some hills led them near a series of depressions that, given the rising grasses, remained hidden. A company of soldiers could have been lurking in one of the grassy bowls to ambush them. So Resolute scouted each one, and in the third found something.

A company of Aurolani gibberers, or so he imagined, had indeed been waiting there. It was difficult for him to tell if they had been slain in the day or at night precisely because of how they died. It seemed readily apparent that a lot of fire, veryhotfire, had filled that bowl. If they had tents, blankets, or even clothing, it had been burned away instantly. The bodies had been well roasted, and all of the corpses showed signs of various animals having feasted on them.

Resolute squatted at the edge of the bowl. A dragon had clearly been responsible for their deaths. What one was doing traveling ahead of them, he had no clue. If it was an ally, it could simply have flown them to Chytrine’s fortress and been done with it.If it is not

Resolute stood and spat into the bowl. “Dragons’ games. They were the start of this, and they’ll be played past the end. No matter. As long as they play around us and not with us, we’ll fulfill the prophecy and leave them to their contests.”

For Princess Alexia of Okrannel, the day should have been a glorious one. The month of Toil had given way to Green, and the premature heat had abated slightly, so that the long march to Sebcia—barely sixty miles northeast—would not be too brutal or tiring for her troops. Her army had come to mass over twenty-five thousand troops, which made it the largest force assembled in the world for centuries.

General Pandiculia’s army had departed two days earlier. Alexia had met with the woman for several hours and had confidence that Pandiculia would be able to handle her assignment well. The Salnian general had given her a frank stare after she outlined the mission. “You’re not just asking us to do this because, so far, we’ve been unblooded?”

“No, not at all.” Alexia had rested her hands on the woman’s shoulders. “You’ve taken a sloppy force and brought it to the point where I know you’ll be able to hold off any Aurolani troops. Moreover, I am counting on you to be my reserve. I’m not going to put troops I don’t trust in that position.”

“I didn’t think you would, but I had to ask. If we can get through the rest of this war with nothing bloodier than blisters, I won’t mind, but we are ready for more than that.”

“I know, which is why I am trusting you to do this job.”

Pandiculia’s army was tasked with acting as a screening force on the road first, then moving to block the Murosan city of Porjal. Porjal had fallen to the Aurolani early in the war and had been used as a resupply point for things being shipped down from the north. Scouting reports indicated that the city had a very light garrison, but Alexia did not want to take the time to conquer it. It didn’t matter how many troops Nefrai-kesh had hidden away there. As long as they remained bottled up in the city, they were of no consequence. If her own

forces ran into serious trouble, she could call on Pandiculia’s troops as relief, which gave her a means of retreat and avoiding annihilation.

Now she stood alone in her command center and looked around. The maps and the models they had created had all been modified to suggest she had far more in the way of troops than she did. She expected Aurolani spies to pour over the place once she’d gone. She doubted Nefrai-kesh would believe any of the information gleaned from the place, but if it even caused him a moment’s hesitation, she would be happy.

Alyx stared down at the model. She had been trained her entire life to be able to solve the most difficult military puzzles. She knew every battle from history and fable. Looking at the situation she was facing, were she to be dispassionate and detached, she could figure the odds of success and the casualty rates for the battle. She refrained from doing that because even the most optimistic estimate was too hideous to contemplate.

The problem of Nefrai-kesh’s fortress was a new one. A host of factors complicated it, and the dragonels were the most obvious. They allowed him to project mass death at hundreds of feet. The grapeshot would blow through more than one soldier, scything down whole ranks. They could even splinter mantlets, so her troops could have no protection. About the only thing that could save them would be to move quickly, but in armor that was impossible.

And that’s before he usesfiredirt to destroy his dam and let the lake flood back through the riverbed, drowning all those he’s not already shot to pieces.

Draconettes then became another factor, for a volley from them would cut down the leading ranks of attackers. Even before her people came into range, she would have lost ten percent of them or more. After that, the makeup of Nefrai-kesh’s troops complicated things. Gibberers and vylaens were one thing, but what if his ranks were stiffened byturekadineandkryalnirilWhat if there were other Aurolani creations that had been saved for this battle? And how many troops did he have in those hills? How deep did the warrens run and where were there other outlets? Though her scouts had found no signs of armies waiting elsewhere in hiding, she could not be certain they didn’t exist.

For her to have even a ghost of a chance of winning, she estimated that she needed at least three times the number of troops on the Aurolani side. If Nefrai-kesh produced a dragon

Well, she had Arimtara on her side, but she was mindful of Dranae’s death. One dragon might not be enough.

She heard a noise behind her and spun. Maroth stood there in a shadow. Alyx shifted her hand away from her breastbone and began to breathe again. “Yes, Maroth, I am aware you are here, too, and I have no doubt you have talents I would find useful.” She resisted the urge to tell him to “go forth and conquer,” because she wasn’t certain what he would do. Moreover, if the thing in his chestwasthe lost piece of the DragonCrown, sending him against the Aurolani would be handing victory to Chytrine.