Homage and Honour (44 page)

“Around a
thirty days run perhaps more,” estimated Rhian after some rapid
mental calculations.

“How many days
to sail to the reef?” she asked the Captain.

“Bout twenty,
current will be with us part of the way.”

“From
Settlement?”

“Another three
or four.”

“Let’s do it,”
decided Lynsey.

“But what do I
say to the other Captains? How do I persuade them?”

“No persuasion
will be necessary Captain Wylie,” said Lynsey, “you will order them
to ‘offer’ their ships to us, call it a temporary loan. If they
refuse you commandeer.”

“Order?”

“Indeed. In
case you have forgotten, as well as being Susa of the Vada I am
also Susyc, Commander of the North, of all of the armies of Lind,
Vadath and Argyll in times of need. There may have been no Susyc
for well over a century but the then Councils in Argyll and the
Lind agreed that the Susa of the Vada should be so appointed and
‘in perpetuity’. I will call on them to honour that
commitment.”

“I don’t
understand,” Captain Wylie admitted.

“If the Larg
invade any of our three countries, the Armies of Argyll and the
Lindars of Lind and Vadath come under my direct command. This
emergency threatens us all. If the Larg gain even a pawhold on our
landmass they will not stop. If they cross over this second Chain
of islands, they will keep going east across the rtathlians of the
Lind, into Vadath then Argyll. Do you want the Larg rampaging at
will in your home village killing everyone you love and hold
dear?”

Captain Wylie
replied that he most definitely did not.

“We have to
stop them. The Argyllian infantry and cavalry won’t get there in
time without ships. The ice will begin to melt soon and the route
impassable. They won’t be able to cross between the individual
islands when it does; the gaps between the individual rocks and
islets are wider and deeper than on the Argyll-Graham Chain. They
will come before the ice-melt.”

Lynsey walked
over to the wall where a scale map of the Northern Continent was
affixed.

Her eyes hunted
for the spot and she pointed to it.

“Here. We will
stop them here, at Fountains Head.”

She began to
outline her plans.

The Councillors
in Argyll won’t like this,” said Rhian, “if the Ryzcks leave, it’ll
leave their coastlines exposed to pirate attack especially if you
also call on the Garda.”

“That’s what
their Militia is for,” snapped Lynsey.

“The
Garda?”

“Come with us
with their cavalry. We’ll need them all before this is over.”

Lynsey turned
to Bernei, “urgent message, use the Express.”

The Express had
been formed not long after the Vada had come into being, a service
that ran a postal (including telepathic) service throughout Argyll
and into Vadath. It had stations dotted throughout the countryside
and also helped to run the supply dumps for the Ryzcks passing
through and back from their patrol areas. It was usually made up of
retired vadeln-pairs. Their Headquarters were situated not far from
Lake Stewart, a short run away from Stewarton. It was through these
supply stations that Lynsey would issue her call to arms and the
Council of Argyll would soon be stirred up to a froth. Never, since
Jim Cranston and his Larya had been Susyc had the muster gone forth
and it is safe to say that it was probable that the Council had
forgotten all about the existence of the agreement. There would be
rumblings when Lynsey’s message reached them, a message under the
name of Susyc Lindsay of the North and not Susa Lynsey of the
Vada.

She would have
to be careful about how she worded it, make sure that her commands
were clear and she left not a single loophole for them to wriggle
through. Chief Councillor Keane was a wily character, so Lynsey was
incredibly careful.

‘
To the
Councillors of Argyll; greetings from Susyc Lynsey and her Lind
partner Bernei, Commanders of the Armies of the North, of Argyll,
Lind and Vadath. I so hereby order you to make ready the Garda to
combat the Larg who will soon attack our shores …’

Within the bell
the message was on its way, not that she would, could wait. Her
next command – that of the muster – was sent to all the Ryzckas and
every Vada station and outpost on the continent.

Lynsey knew
that before the sun set the Ryzcks would be on their way.

Lynsey also had
the advantage that she wouldn’t have to wait until the Argyll
Council made up their minds one way or another. The Officer
Commanding the Argyll Garda was her younger brother Liam. He would
not wait. She was sure the first of his men and women would be
aboard ship by nightfall.

The next step
Lynsey took after a quick confab with Bernei.

: Muster the
Lindars :
she told him
: Warn all rtaths. Rendezvous
Fountains Head :
Fountains Head was the most westerly Holad
station in the rtathlians of the Lind.

“Done,” said
Bernei, after some intense long-distance telepathing.

Lynsey thanked
the Lai that her predecessor had anticipated that war was coming.
He had watched developments with increasing concern and, always a
great planner, had taken steps. True, he had not envisaged that the
attack would come so far west, he had assumed it would come either
in Argyll or perhaps Vadath itself but he had prepared detailed
plans, up to and including the impounding of ships to ferry the
Infantry, the Cavalry and the Vada to where they were needed. Each
harbour master already had orders locked away waiting for just such
an eventuality.

Every one of
the Express Stationmasters would, even now, be taking their own
sealed orders out of their desk drawers.

The previous
Vada Susa had also recognised the fact that Argyll might be either
slow or refuse to respond and would not be prepared to send its
armies to fight for Vadath. Therefore deposited in the Headquarters
of ‘the Express’ were documents prepared for delivery to the
Councillors of Argyll, calling on them to honour the signed
obligation to place their army under the command of the Susyc. On
his retiral, he had told Lynsey about the steps he had taken and
she had, during her first months in command, countersigned them.
Susa Peter had been careful too with the wordage but Lynsey knew
that there was still going to be trouble. In her imagination she
could hear the howls of indignation from the Council Chambers in
Stewarton. She was about to strip the Argyll coastlines and
northern mountains of the Vada patrols and she had no real proof
that the Larg were about to mount an attack.

* * * * *

The thirty-five
vadeln-pairs of the Forty-fifth Ryzck were setting out on their
morning patrol when the orders reached them.

Paul and Benya
stopped still, the better to hear the mindsend that had originated
from Bernei a scant bell before.

“What’s up?”
asked Terez and Danei, the Holad duo of her Ryzcka.

“Recall to Vada
and immediately,” was his surprising answer.

“Why? ”

“Major alert. I
think the Larg are coming. Benya agrees with me.”

“The Larg?”
exclaimed Terez in a disbelieving voice, then as she realised fully
what her Ryzcka was saying she added, “Vada? Not the island chain?
Her thoughts went to her two young children, fostered with a
farmwife near the Stronghold. Are they attacking Vadath?”

“Benya says it
is neither. She is trying to find out more. Meanwhile we must go.
I’ll send some pairs off to the villages and farmsteads in the area
and warn them that they will be responsible for their own
protection. I’ll go myself and inform Vice-Councillor Danielson and
his Wardens.”

“They’ll not
like it,” prophesied Terez.

She was
correct.

“You cannot
leave,” the corpulent Vice-Councillor of the Fourth Ward insisted.
“What if the pirates attack us?”

“They have not
attacked here for years,” answered Ryzcka Paul, trying to keep his
temper in check. “The Garda have been notified.”

“They have not
attacked us because you are here,” complained Vice-Councillor
Danielson who seemed unable to grasp what was happening.

One of the more
prominent townspeople pushed himself forward. Paul turned to the
man with a great deal of relief. He had dealt with him before, a
man of middling years and sensible disposition.

“War?” asked
the man

“Yes, war,”
replied Paul. “The Susyc has called the Muster.”

The man looked
hard at Paul. His use of the word Susyc had not gone unnoticed.

“Is there
danger here? Where do the southerners attack?”

There was
silence as the crowd that had gathered strained to hear Paul’s
reply.

“Larg.” He
raised his voice. “We ride west to meet the Larg in battle. They
have found another passage north in the far west.”

“They won’t
reach here though?” questioned a woman’s voice, shrill with panic
as Paul was quick to realise. He was just as quick to offer what
reassurance he could.

“The threat is
real; we do not leave you for no reason. You are not in any
immediate danger from the Larg. Keep on your guard for the pirates
who might take advantage of the fact that the Ryzcks are gone. Arm
yourselves.”

“The Garda will
come?”

“Some perhaps,”
answered an evasive Paul. “The Garda detachment at Port Charles,
look to them but don’t rely on them. Plan for your own
defence.”

“You will
return?” asked the Vice-Councillor. “You will defeat the Larg and
return to us?”

“If not this
Ryzck then another,” Paul promised. He saluted smartly and
remounted Benya.

Back at the
patrol camp, the dom was all bustle and astir.

A Ryzck on duty
was always ready to move at a moment’s notice. Luggage was
restricted to a minimum as the Ryzcks relied on the Resupply
Stations that were dotted throughout the continent. One backpack
for each rider was the norm, containing bedding roll and canvas
covering for the rain together with a change of uniform, washing
packet and food and water for two days.

Weapons and
armour finished off the kit and thus relatively unencumbered, a
Ryzck could make good time on a run. The Ryzck would be at Vada in
nine days, long enough, but they couldn’t run any faster.

However, new
orders to make for Port Lutterell were received. Paul understood
that ships were being commandeered to transport them west. Using
the currents in both the Great Eastern and Middle Seas, they could
be at Vada in six.

Susa Lynsey was
in no mind for the Vada to arrive on the battlefield exhausted and
not able to fight.

How, wondered
Paul as his Ryzck veered south-east to make for the port, had Susa
Lynsey managed to persuade the Argyllian Council to agree to this?
They had never been noted for being quick of thought and
action.

What Paul did
not know was that the Commander of the Garda was Susa Lynsey’s
brother. Lynsey and he had always been close. He had not waited for
orders.

On receipt of
his sister’s warning Liam had sent men and women of the Garda to
impound all shipping, thanking the Lai that the recent cold and
stormy weather had sent them scurrying for the safe harbour of Port
Lutterell. A promise of generous compensation if the crews were
prepared to sail with their ships (also without Council approval)
had done the rest. No Captain was prepared to say no with the
promise of such largesse and they ignored the sounds of anguish
from the merchants. Holds were emptied and water and food loaded in
preparation for their human, horse and Lind cargoes.

He sent orders
to the Garda at Settlement and the officers did the same at the
smaller port there. All but the youngest and less able recruits and
students were ordered to muster on the parade grounds.

The columns
marched out past the envious eyes of those being left behind. But
being left behind was no sinecure, as they would have to man the
depleted coastline keeps and fortify the towns and villages now
that the regular Garda battalions had departed.

General Liam
Durand knew fine well that he was putting his career in jeopardy
but he believed in his sister and he knew of the contents of the
alliance document as well as she. It was his sworn duty to protect
the Northern Continent; whether the danger be in Vadath, in his own
Argyll or in the far away rtathlians, at least, that was how Liam
Durand had always interpreted his oath. The Susyc had called for
the muster and he would answer the call to arms with all his might.
He rode roughshod over the demurs of the Brigadier in command of
the cavalry, peremptorily ordering him and his troopers to embark,
threatening him with relief from his command if he did not
obey.

“A chance to
prove yourself General,” he said, “you always maintained that your
cavalry is the equal to the Vada in battle. Now put your money
where your mouth is and get them to the ships.”

Technically, as
Susyc of the Northern Armies, Lynsey was not required to wait for
Council approval if a Larg attack was imminent. In such situations
command of the combined northern armies immediately devolved on
her. Problem was, she could not yet prove her claim that the Larg
were about to attack.

As General Liam
Durand and his officers led their men and women to the ports,
picking up Garda detachments as they went, Lynsey’s brother did
wonder how the Council would react to his actions; not well he
thought.
I have gone and done it now, blighted a distinguished,
though mostly uneventful career with what the Councillors will, in
all probability, call mutiny! Oh well. So be it. But my ancestors
had the right of it. When the call comes we must go.

Not only those
under his personal command were heading to the transports that
morning. The Light Cavalry would be there by nightfall, as would
the nearest Vada Ryzcks. They were running flat out to get there
knowing they could rest on the transports.