'Oh, Paul,' she said. 'What am I going to do if you don't come home?'
'My Advocate?'
She turned sharply. Her consort stood there wearing just a cloth around his waist. His fine muscled body was oiled and shone in the lantern light and his cheeks were reddened with a little fine clay. He smelled fresh from his bathing. His smile was easy on his handsome face and it irritated her more than she could say.
'What do you want?'
'I thought I heard you speak, my lady.'
'So?'
He shifted, slightly nervous. 'Were you speaking to me?'
'Is your name Paul?' she asked sharply. He shook his head. 'Then I did not call you, did I?'
He paused, trying to size up her mood. For all his physical prowess, he was dull of mind and she required intellect and insight this evening.
'You're troubled,' he said. 'Perhaps I can help you.'
She pushed herself from the balcony rail and strutted towards him, happy to let her anger wash over her and see him back away, pace after pace.
'Help me? Are you of hidden military expertise? Can you tell me the positions of every legion under Conquord control and advise me where they must be repositioned to best counter the threat we face? Are you capable of identifying the best patrolling zones for my navies such that they might intercept invasion forces? Are you by some happy chance of a tactical mind so keen that your every order will be followed without question and so secure our borders? Have you seen so much war that you can weight our counter attacks to leave the enemy no option but to return to the defensive and leave the lands they threaten even today?'
He held out his hands in a pathetic calming gesture and tripped on a low table, falling over its marble surface. 'No, my Advocate.'
'No.' She shook her head. He got to his feet. There was a little blood on his heel.
‘I
need men around me who can save my Conquord.'
‘I
can calm your mind,' he said, voice so high it almost whined like a scolded dog's.
'Dammit but Paul Jhered was right. I wonder whether your balls have already been removed such has been your inability to impregnate me. Why do you think you are allowed in here, if not to provide me with the next child for my family?'
'One day—'
'One day is not and never was, soon enough. Your time is over now. I am tired of your body as I am tired of the wheedling tones of your voice. You have given me nothing but insignificant satisfaction in bed and my womb lies empty of all but the impotent seed you provide. Although your mind is so dim, perhaps it is a blessing. Any child you fathered would be of no use to me.'
All the colour had drained from his face. Behind him, the doors had opened and guards were in her chamber in response to her shouting. She saw him trembling as he reached out to her.
'Please, my Advocate, do not dismiss me.'
'You have nothing to offer me,' she snarled.
He winced. 'But I love you.'
'Love? Ha. What use do I have for such an emotion when I look at you? Get out and be happy you are not dragged in chains to my prison. Out!' She pointed from the room.
'The palace at Phaskar, my Advocate?'
'Is for the fathers of my children. Not for seedless imbeciles. OUT!' He scurried from the room and the guards followed him. She wiped her hand across her mouth. Her bed looked large and empty. 'No. That didn't help.'
There was wine on the table and sweet indulgences on a plate next to the flagon. She sat down on her recliner and poured herself a brimming cup. She felt unable to concern herself with events beyond her door any more this night. She'd call the advisers she had to hand tomorrow, when God's sun warmed the earth and sky once more. Now she would toast those she wished were here to help her. She hoped she had enough wine to do them all justice.
Chapter 44
848th cycle of God, 31st day of
Solasrise 15th year of the true Ascendancy
Roberto looked out over his camp when dawn lit the eastern sky and wondered how many of those sleeping within its stockade could be trusted when they knew all there was to know. And what he might do to pre-empt the problems he was liable to face. Inside his tent were all those he had chosen to draw into what amounted to an inner sanctum for his conscience. He had delivered Master Kell's reports to them and had left them to read and digest his full account after giving them the summary. He could hear them beginning to speak, so walked back in to face them.
General Atarkis and Elise Kastenas. Surgeon Dahnishev, whose own country of Gosland was under clear threat. Rovan Neristus, his brilliant engineer. Goran Shakarov and Master Davarov. Atreskans whose loyalty was beyond question. All sat on stools in a loose circle around a low table thick with mugs of steaming herbal infusions.
'Do you believe her?' asked Shakarov, his heavy features dark and brooding.
'There is no reason not to,' said Dahnishev. 'She is lucid if exhausted. Her sickness is not in her mind. And her account, in my opinion, is too detailed to be fabrication.'
‘I
agree,' said Roberto.
'Then the Conquord is all but lost. Gesteris's army represented two-thirds of our fighting force,' said Davarov. 'There is no effective defence. Certainly not in Atreska. Not against such an army ranged against them.'
'You are seeing doom where there is none,' said Roberto. 'And even if what you said was true, we must still make the right decisions for the Conquord we defend.'
'But Kell believes there will be no fight in Atreska because the legions and Yuran will turn,' said Dahnishev. 'The implications for Gosland, Neratharn and Gestern are immediate and terrible.'
'What do you make of that?' Roberto directed his question at the two Atreskans. 'If what Kell says is right, the Tsardon have separated Atreskan prisoners from all those of other nationalities and marched them towards their own borders. What other conclusions can we draw?'
'I think you assume Atreska and its people weak of will and loyalty if you believe this act will lead to our turning,' said Davarov, his thick accent edged with anger.
'Please,' said Dahnishev. 'No one is questioning the loyalty, strength or courage of the Atreskan peoples. One look at this army is evidence enough. But what of its Marshal? A man famed for his allegiance to the luxuries of the Conquord but his mistrust of paying the Exchequer for them.'
Roberto was fast enough. Just about. Shakarov launched himself at Dahnishev, fists bunched. He collided with Roberto who was surging from his stool while Davarov clung to his waist and Atarkis his shoulders.
'Bastard Goslander weasel,' he spat. 'He has guts and loyalty. Something your own arse-licking coward Marshal would never understand.'
'Sit down, Goran,' said Roberto, staring him in the eye. Shakarov jabbed a finger over Roberto's shoulder. 'He insults my Marshal.'
'Sit.' Roberto pushed him back hard. 'Down.'
Roberto remained standing until he saw the tension ease from Shakarov's shoulders. Davarov, angry himself but under far more control, kept a steadying hand on his arm. Shakarov tried to shake it off but Davarov merely tightened his grip.
'I am sorry if I caused offence,' said Dahnishev, unruffled by the attempted attack. 'But I feel this is a time for honesty.'
'Indeed,' said Roberto. 'But your honesty sometimes lacks tact.'
There was a chuckle around the group, not shared by Shakarov.
'But in this instance it points out rather accurately the problems we face as a command team.' He leant emphasis on the final word. 'We are marching into a very difficult situation. The best we can pray for is that Atreska has accepted the gift of the repatriation of its legions and turned them round to head the defence of the country. But at worst, we will be faced with marching into a country to attack the Tsardon and find that some of those in Conquord livery are standing against us too. I do not have to draw you a picture of the stresses that will cause among our own legions.'
'I will fight for you and for the Conquord,' said Davarov.
Beside him, Shakarov was nodding.
'I would expect nothing less from either of you. But I suspect that not all of those under your charge will feel the same. There is conscription throughout your infantry forces.'
'So what do we do?' asked Elise.
'We have little option but to split the army, Roberto,' said Atarkis, speaking for the first time. 'Give me back my command and I will take my legions back to Gosland. If the Tsardon force heading north is as large as we fear, their defences won't be strong enough. You should march south towards Atreska.'
Roberto nodded. 'I concur. We face an immediate and great threat. Our most direct route is to the south of the Halorians to follow the Tsardon across the fords at Scintarit. It's risky but it does provide us more options for our own deployment.'
'But it'll be slow-going until we reach the roads laid down by Gesteris's engineers,' said Davarov.
'But we'll be moving towards Atreska from the north through Gosland,' said Atarkis. 'I'll be able to build strength of arms on the march. Communication will be better and we can get messages of intent through to Estorr unhindered by Tsardon or - excuse me, you two - Atreskan rebel forces.'
Shakarov grunted his contempt at the possibility.
'Messages will go back from us too, but we will not follow them directly,' said Roberto. He fetched their campaign map from his angled desk. They cleared the mugs and he spread it out on the table. He pointed out their current position. 'All right, here we are. Haroq City is twenty-five days fast march away, taking the Scintarit route. It is the faster way though we will be alone because General Atarkis will seek to engage the Tsardon force moving north.'
He leant back. Nodding at Davarov who wanted to speak.
'I don't know your intention, Roberto, but for me as an Atreskan of the Conquord, it is our duty to disrupt the invasion at the earliest opportunity. We aren't going to be able to catch the Tsardon northbound army before General Atarkis engages. And I don't think we should try.' He traced his finger down the map. 'So we must hope that Atreska's standing legions can hold up the westbound force while we come at them from behind, sweeping up any of Gesteris's people we find on the way.'
‘I
think encountering thirty thousand Tsardon as soon as possible is not advisable in any instance,' said Elise. 'I agree that we must split our forces to defend both countries but we must take care we don't engage the Tsardon before we have to. If Atreska's standing legions cannot hold them, I question the wisdom of simply running into the back of them. We do not have the numbers unless our element of surprise is total.'
'True enough,' said Roberto. 'So tell me one other thing, any of you. We are agreed that if Kell is accurate in her account and her dates, the Tsardon will have been at Haroq City for some days now. If the Atreskans have been surprised, Haroq may even have fallen and the route to Byscar and the coast opened.
'You all know the size of my army. Is our duty to a country that could quite easily be lost, or is it to the wider Conquord? And are these two one and the same thing in this case?'
'What are you suggesting, Roberto?' asked Dahnishev.
'That we could instead continue south to Gestern where the Tsardon are also bound. But there, at least, we know Jorganesh will retreat through Atreska to join Gestern's border defence. And of course, there's Kark.'
'We cannot abandon my country,' said Shakarov quietly.
'But how best can we serve it, Goran?' asked Roberto. 'We will total fifteen thousand against a marauding army at least twice that size. An army that has tasted recent victory and might, just might, be bolstered by those we considered allies only yesterday. They will be stopped in Neratharn by winter, if not the Conquord standing legions.'
'So we should bypass the Atreskan conflict?' asked Davarov. 'Surely not, Roberto.'
'It is an option. I'll tell you what worries me most is that while defences can be brought to bear relatively quickly to slow the Tsardon advance through Atreska, and Gosland for that matter, the same cannot be said for Gestern. And if I was the Tsardon commander, I would wish very much to take Gestern and annexe Kester
Isle. From there, I would have my pincers locked around Estorea. And I would have at my command all routes to Kark for minerals and metals.'
The room fell silent. He watched them while they stared at the map in front of them.
'Big place, isn't it?' he said. 'And we have a responsibility that encompasses the whole of it.'