The Last Wizard of Eneri Clare (67 page)

Candelinda gave her report the following day in the Hall of Audience, in front of the Lady Regent, the Court Wizard, Brendelle,Verger, Lord Corbin Maygrew, and General Boone. Smaller than Tashroth, she could just fit her head through one of the side windows while everyone else sat inside. Warlowe manned the door, as always. Tvrdik and Jorelial Rey maintained their cordial, but awkward formality with each other, as neither wished to be the first to re-open a painful subject. This approach was probably a mistake. The longer their awkwardness went on, the more firmly it became locked in. Those who knew them well could not help but notice the sudden chill, but felt it was not their place to question, especially with other matters of great importance on the table.

Candelinda let them know that Drogue boasted of having up to ten thousand troops at his disposal – a harrowing figure, to say the least. He might have exaggerated somewhat for effect, but not by a lot. The mountain lord had proudly showed her exercises in progress, and with a shrewd eye, she had noted the composition of his armies. Some seemed to be foreign mercenaries, lured by gold or the promise of land. Some were conscripted farmers and peasants from Drogue’s own realm and some of the neighboring ones. These were not seasoned warriors, and were probably paid, coerced, bullied, or seduced into service, along the lines of Praeger’s story. A small portion of his force were the original standing armies of the mountain states, and there was a contingent of magical creatures…

“Magical creatures?” Tvrdik exploded, “They fight for their own doom! If Drogue is victorious, it will seal the fate of
all
magical creatures; they will eventually cease to exist.”

“
We
may know that, with the benefit of Xaarus’ hindsight, but
they
do not.” Candelinda responded calmly, “It is a sad thing, but many of us are just as gullible and easily turned by greed or glamour as humans are. In any event, he has a small company of mountain gnomes, perhaps half-dozen or so griffins to fly for him, and some of the winged horses. Among them is Valour, one of the most powerful and respected among them.”

There was a silence, everyone’s eyebrows knitted together in thoughtful frowns. Jorelial Rey shook her head as if to clear it, and ventured to comment first, “Alright. So he has numbers. But with this intelligence of his obvious intentions, coupled with the news of his recent naval attack, I feel sure we can drum up more recruits from the countryside. It is time to send out a royal decree to all parts of the kingdom calling for volunteers. There’s a lot of positive sentiment out there for King Darian on the heels of his coronation. Many regional lords saw Drogue’s behavior at the Grand Council, and will not be surprised. The catch, of course, is getting them all on board with the philosophy of the Legions of Light; I will not impose it on any who are unwilling. But for those who will join us and embrace our methods, we still have time to equip and train them.”

Tvrdik jumped in, “Those of Drogue’s soldiers that are bound to him by promise of wealth or by intimidation, perhaps we can seduce or sabotage away from him with our own hijinks. At the very least, they will be confused. With all the dragons on our side, we still have some advantage, and we have the assistance of the water sprites and the trees….”

Candelinda added, “It is always possible that some of the magical creatures have not heard both sides of the story, and might yet be persuaded that changing sides would be in their own best interests. With your permission, my lady, I will try to arrange a quiet meeting with the winged horses and griffins. Not sure we would have much luck with the gnomes. They can be stubborn and greedy.”

“We’ll have to rely on the blue shields for them, and for the rest. But do what you can with diplomacy.” Jorelial Rey was pacing now, hands clasped behind her back and forehead down, as she always did while brainstorming. “What say you, General?” Boone had looked as though he wanted to add something, but was reluctant to interrupt. Now, he cleared his throat.

“I wish to remind Lady Rey that numbers are of far less consequence than strategy and wise preparation in a pitched battle. A key factor now is for us to control where the major battle will be fought, and to have all our surprises in place before he arrives.”

“How do we do that?” Brendelle spoke for the first time.

Candelinda interjected, “I told you, Drogue is conceited and over-confident. He believes he will beat you any day of the week, under any circumstances. We could deploy almost anywhere we choose and expect him to come and meet us. If we wait too long, however, he will beat us to the punch.”

Boone jumped back in, “That’s my precise point. We do know a little of how his mind works. He will want to march straight for Theriole, having failed to take it by sea. Eliminating the true King…and yourself, my lady….will be his prime objective, and seeing himself crowned and enthroned at the palace will be a close second. These being his goals, he will not care how much chaos and devastation he might cause in the surrounding farms and villages. That is flawed thinking on his part, since all the infrastructure he would destroy would be his to repair, should he win…”

“Heavens forbid!” Lord Maygrew shouted, horrified at the suggestion. But General Boone continued, energized to be allowed to hold forth at last on one subject in which he excelled.

“Yes, yes. I apologize for my digression, but we must understand his thinking. As we are a professed people of peace, he will expect us to hide behind the castle’s defensive fortifications, and force him to lay siege. He is confident of succeeding at that, even if it is long and destructive. He will not expect us to be courageous enough to ride out and meet his forces in pitched battle somewhere on an open field.”

“And why would we do
that
?” Maygrew asked.

“That, sir, is
exactly
what we
must
do. It is what we have been training to do. We must not let him get anywhere near the palace at all. We must protect the king…as well as everything in the surrounding area that Drogue would put to the torch. It is for us to plant ourselves on his way where he cannot avoid us, and force a pitched battle, winner take all.”

“Will he take the bait?” the Lady Regent asked.

“Drogue is proud. He will not care where he meets us. He will expect to run roughshod over us and continue on to Theriole unimpeded. But our strategy will be to choose our location wisely – a place where we are removed from civilian activities that could be a worry, where we are somewhat hemmed in, but cannot be backed into a corner, where the trees and the waters are easily available to do their part, and there is room for our aerial forces to maneuver. An ideal spot would also have some sort of elevated positions where our generals could observe and direct the game. In a place like that, we would be ready for him. We could have every advantage set up in advance and a few surprise snares he could not begin to imagine. Only as a last resort, if things did not go in our favor, we could still fall back to the castle fortifications.”

Tvrdik smiled, “General Boone, you are a genius.
This
is what I meant when I suggested that intellect should triumph over brute force.”

The Lady Regent was also excited, “Welcome back, General. There is indeed a reason you are Minister of Defense.”

“Thank you, my lady, but it is my job to understand these things…”

There was a bit of a commotion at the door. Warlowe seemed to be arguing with someone in low tones that gradually became too intrusive to ignore. Every head turned toward the entrance, to see Mark standing there, Warlowe trying to urge him back. The Lady Regent held up a hand and called out, “It’s alright, Warlowe.” She strode over to the doorway.

“Mark, what are you doing here? Is anything wrong?”

Mark stood tall and met her gaze. “No, my lady. I hope you will forgive my presumption. I realize that under normal circumstances, a bard would not be privy to what goes on in these chambers. But, as a founding member of the Legions of Light, I felt I should have some idea of our adversary’s strengths. I’m afraid I was listening at the window and heard all that General Boone said about a perfect site for the battle. I believe I could be of some service here.”

Corbin Maygrew rolled his eyes and made a helpless gesture of frustration, but Boone said, “In what way, lad?” At this point, Jorelial Rey gestured for Mark to enter the room, Warlowe relaxed and shrugged, and Mark approached the General.

“Sir, I am a mountain boy, born and raised. I know well the terrain that Lord Drogue, and his forces, would have to traverse to get here. And, I believe I know a place very like what you were describing. I think it might suit our purposes.”

“Go on, boy.”

“It is a pleasant valley, larger than it seems at first glance, just this side of the mountains, in the foothills. It is uninhabited at this time of year, carpeted in meadow and wildflowers, and rimmed on three sides with rocky escarpments where one can look down and take in the bigger picture below. These heights are accessible by goat path. We often pasture our flocks in this place. The river runs right through the valley, along the rock face on one side. But there are also wooded areas and copses of trees scattered about.”

Everyone present exchanged glances, eyebrows raised. Boone grasped Mark’s arm, “Young bard, are you free tomorrow to take me on a little tour of this promising place?”

“I will arrange to be free.”

“We can ride out at first light.”

Jorelial Rey shook her head, “Might I suggest that Tashroth could take you? It would be quicker and easier. Mark, could you find the place by air?”

“Of course, but wouldn’t a dragon arouse suspicion?”

Candelinda replied, “Drogue will have no reason to turn his eyes in that direction. But I will go along, if it please my lady. To any stray glance, it will look like two hungry dragons hunting game in a likely spot.”

“Go, with my blessing, Candelinda. All of you report back to me on your return. Thank you, Mark, for your…most helpful intrusion.”

Mark bowed to her with a smile and Tvrdik winked at him. Candelinda caught the gesture and added, “One thing the great Lord Drogue does not have in his service is a real Wizard. He fancies himself to be somewhat versed in the black arts, and enjoys showing off his conversance with magic. But it is, for all I can tell, superficial and sloppy. In this, my friends, we are obviously at a clear advantage,” and she swung her great head around to regard Tvrdik with an enormous, unblinking eye. The mage, both startled and flattered, felt his face redden as he bowed to her.

“You are most kind, Candelinda, and you all know I will do everything in my power to stop this usurper in his tracks – everything short of inflicting deliberate harm on him or any of his followers. I know we can beat him without becoming like him.”

Corbin Maygrew put a hand on Tvrdik’s shoulder, “I hope you are right, Master Wizard. I have great confidence in you, and lord knows I have experienced your talents firsthand. But there is much riding on these shoulders, lad. Our lives, our hopes, our futures all depend in large part on your gifts, and on your being right about all this.”

Tvrdik paused a moment, feeling the weight of that assertion. “Lord Maygrew,” he responded at last, “I know I am right about our methods, because I have been told by my Master, and because I feel its certainty in the very core of my being. With Xaarus guiding us, you will have not one, but
two
wizards at your service until the matter is settled. But when, and I say,
when
we triumph, it will not be his or my triumph alone, but that of so many gifted and dedicated folks that will win the day – all of us here and yourself included. The beauty of our plan is that we all play a part in its success.”

Bravo,
thought Jorelial Rey, but then moved on to another concern, “I want to go back to what you said a moment ago, General Boone, about the king. You said Drogue’s first goal was to eliminate his competition, the rightful heir to the throne.”

“Yes, he would need to do that in order to insure the succession for himself and his heirs.”

“So, shouldn’t we be going to greater lengths to protect His Majesty? What if, heaven forbid, Drogue were to break through our lines and make it to Theriole with even a small contingent? The king would be left vulnerable. We could lose the very jewel we fight for.”

“Go on…”

“We might assume Darian is safest behind the castle walls, but perhaps there is a better solution.”

“Do you have something in mind?” Corbin Maygrew frowned.

“I propose we allow Drogue to continue to
believe
the king still resides at Theriole, while we have actually spirited him away to a secret location. Somewhere Drogue would never think of looking. That way there is one piece of his nefarious plan that remains out of reach, and one source of anxiety removed from our shoulders.”

Maygrew considered, “It is a very good idea, but where would you send him? Where would be the least obvious place for Drogue to look?”

The Lady Rey wrinkled her brow, “I’m not sure. Any ideas?”

Lady Brendelle spoke up, “One of my ships could take him immediately to Euligia. He would be safe and most welcome there.”

The Regent shook her head, “A kind offer, lady, but you will forgive me if I balk at trusting our last royal scion to the sea after recent events. Besides, fleeing the kingdom altogether could be taken as a symbolic abdication.”

Tvrdik suggested, “What about your secret lake retreat? It is very sheltered, and only accessible by air…”

Jorelial Rey seemed to consider, then sighed again, “There is no infrastructure there for his comfort and care, and no easy escape if he is discovered.”

“Xaarus Cottage?” Tvrdik offered, but then he challenged the idea himself, “I suppose Drogue would certainly know to search there, and even with magic, Theriole would be better defended.”

“What about your little hut in the woods? Nobody knows about that…” the Lady Regent continued to brainstorm. The confused looks that came from everyone else in the room supported her assertion of the place’s remoteness.