The Pen and the Sword (Destiny's Crucible Book 2) (31 page)

They
tore past buildings and had just cleared the town when a line of horsemen
closed the road ahead. Tilda strained to rein in, but the horses couldn’t be
stopped until horsemen rode parallel to the carriage and grabbed their bridles.
Eywellese men quickly pulled Tilda from the driver’s box and Anarynd from the
carriage. An animated conversation among the Eywellese lasted several seconds,
interspersed with hands running over the women’s bodies. After more exchanges, both
women were tied hand and foot and thrown across horses, and all they could see
from then on was the ground as they bounced on their stomachs. They heard
continuing musket fire, screams, and shouts of Eywellese. The horses stopped. The
women were dumped first onto the ground, then picked up by their feet and
shoulders and tossed onto a wagon bed.

Anarynd
jolted when her head hit wood. She was dazed for a moment, then could see a
dozen or more women in the wagon, including Aunt Tilda. All were stoic, shocked,
or crying.

Lanwith,
Moreland Province

Captain
Tunak worried after the hetman gave command of the raid to his son Biltin. The
concern was assuaged by the speed at which the Eywellese finished with the
first town by mid-morning and moved on to Lanwith.

En
route, parties broke off to burn farms and a few villages, though the general
advance kept pace with the schedule. Similarly, the assault on Lanwith seemed
satisfying, until he saw Eywellese herding several score bound Morelanders
toward the town square. Captain Tunak followed and cursed when he found thirty
Eywellese guarding more than a hundred prisoners. Instead of limiting captives
to a few younger women, the huddled prisoners included many children and older women.
Also moving through the street were local wagons being piled with loot from
businesses and homes.

He
found Biltin Eywell lounging on a chair in front of what he assumed was the
town’s central authority building. Biltin drank from a leather flagon, and from
the red stain around the hetman’s son’s mouth, Tunak knew he wasn’t drinking
water. The Eywell leader laughed with several younger Eywellese, while older
leaders stood farther away, frowning and shaking their heads.

Biltin’s
good humor vanished with Tunak’s approach. He said something in Caedelli to his
companions and nodded in Tunak’s direction. Whatever the son said elicited
snickers from the group.

“Commander,”
Tunak said, addressing Biltin. The word wanted to catch in his throat, and he
had to remind himself he needed to be as cordial as possible, even if he thought
the hetman’s son could hardly lead himself to an outhouse. “Why are your men
taking time to loot and why so many prisoners? The plan is specifically to move
fast. We should already be finishing up here and moving on to the final town.”

 Biltin
discounted Tunak’s questions with a dismissive hand wave. “Everything is going
to plan. Even after Allensford, we completely surprised Lanwith, and we’ll do
the same to Anglin. I see no reason to burn what we can take back with us, and
there are plenty of prisoners we can use as slaves ourselves or sell
off-island. Why waste it all for no reason?”

“Delaying
here gives the Morelanders time to alert Anglin and gather enough men to force
a battle, something we’ve been directly ordered to avoid.”

“I’ve
seen no sign the Morelanders will do anything in time to stop us, and if they
try it, my men will cut through them like a newly sharpened knife through soft
cheese.”

The
bravado brought worried looks from the older and more senior Eywellese. They
were neither as sure as Biltin of the Morelanders’ response, nor as comfortable
with not following Narthani orders. 

His
men? My, hasn’t he become full of himself?
Tunak pondered.
Now what
do I do?
Tunak wasn’t in charge, and he didn’t have enough rank or men to
order the Eywellese.

“I
must strongly remind you of Colonel Erdelin’s orders and your father’s
instructions to follow those orders.”

Biltin
flushed angrily. “
I’m
in command of this raid, and everything is
proceeding fine. You worry like an old woman.” With those words, Biltin turned
away from Tunak, implicitly dismissing the Narthani officer.

Tunak
grated his teeth, as he walked back to his horse and his men.

Anger
All Around

When
Erdelin watched the Eywellese leave after the final meeting, he debated with
himself where to be during the raid into Moreland: stay at his headquarters in
Hanslow, the Eywell capital, or go with the Eywellese to the staging encampment
near Parthmal, five miles from the Eywell-Moreland border? He had moderate
confidence in Hetman Eywell, but one never knew what might go wrong. He finally
stayed in Hanslow, leaving orders to keep him apprised of when the raiding
party returned. The raid would commence the next morning and was scheduled to
be completed by the evening of the next day, so he should hear word by the
third morning at the latest.

By
noon of the expected day, there had been no word, and he sensed something was wrong.
He dispatched riders to Parthmal for an update. One rider returned that evening,
having ridden the twenty miles and back in six hours. The raiding party hadn’t
yet returned, but several wagons of prisoners and loot had arrived late the day
before, evidently from Lanwith, the second of the three target towns. The
second piece of news was that Hetman Eywell had been wounded during the
Allensford attack and had passed command to his son Biltin. Erdelin’s insides
tightened at these two pieces of news, sure they were closely related. Erdelin
had to go forward to assess for himself what was happening and hoped a disaster
wasn’t underway.

By
first light the next morning, Erdelin was riding hard with a hundred men for
the launch encampment. They arrived at midmorning to still no news of the
raiding party. Erdelin went immediately to confront Hetman Eywell, only to find
him abed in considerable pain and only partly coherent, due to poppy extract
given for the pain. Erdelin stomped out of the hetman’s tent in a foul mood,
with nowhere to vent.

What
was going on across the border?

The
sun hung a hand’s breadth from the skyline that late afternoon, when a party of
five Eywellese riders crossed the border with news that the main party was less
than a half-hour behind. Brandor Eywell was more alert by then, though had no
more news of what caused the delay than did Erdelin. The hetman was less
arrogant than usual, also worried at the delay.

Erdelin
stood watching to the east when Captain Tunak and forty-two riders, several
with minor wounds, galloped into camp ahead of the Eywellese column. Erdelin’s
experienced eye automatically saw fewer Narthani troops than had started, and
his lips tightened.

Tunak
said something to two men riding beside him and left the group to head straight
for Erdelin’s banner. He reined in, dismounted, and gave his lathered horse to
a trooper.

Erdelin
noted that the captain’s face indicated news would be bad, and the captain was
nervous.

“Where’s
the rest of your men, Captain?”

“Sir,
we have four dead and four more wounded in wagons coming up with the
Eywellese.”

“How
many Eywellese casualties are there?” Erdelin asked, the sinking feeling
increasing.

“I
estimate forty dead and sixty wounded.”

Great
Narth! That’s a quarter of the raid’s strength!

“How
did that happen, and why are you back in three days, instead of two at the
latest as planned?”

Tunak
looked as if he’d bitten into something unbelievably sour. “It was the hetman’s
son, Biltin. Once the hetman was wounded, I recommended terminating the raid.
The first town had gone as planned, so the raid still would have achieved a
partial success. The hetman decided to continue and appointed his son as the
new commander.”

“Can
I assume you reminded both of them of the mission’s objectives and details of
the plan?”

“Yes,
Colonel.
Several
times. We moved on to the second town, Lanwith, right
on schedule. That is where it started falling apart. Biltin decided the
Morelanders would be caught so unaware that they needn’t rush. They spent the
rest of the day sacking Lanwith, filling wagons with everything from valuables
to trivial trinkets, and getting drunk. They also took more prisoners than
planned. Perhaps a hundred from Lanwith farms and villages.”

Tunak
shook his head in disgust. “He wouldn’t listen, the arrogant ass. We finally
left Lanwith the next morning. By this time there were no surprises for the
Morelanders. We didn’t see a single islander until we approached Anglin. From a
half mile away we could see them throwing up barricades and people running
everywhere. There was no way we could take the town without significant
casualties and more time than I thought we had.

“Although
I again advised we pull back into Eywell territory, Biltin was determined to
sack all three towns, ignoring that there were other objectives, such as not
getting into major fights. At first, he sent the men straight at the town with
no real plan. That first attack took many casualties before pulling back out of
musket range. Then he tried sending men into the town on foot at different
places. They took more casualties, though did gain a foothold by late afternoon,
until one of the few lookouts Biltin had thought to post spotted horsemen
approaching from the east. It looked to me like sixty to eighty riders, and we
had no idea if there were more on the way. I finally convinced Biltin to
withdraw only by pointing out that if we got into a real fight, he’d have to
abandon the wagons of booty and prisoners. That finally got through to him.”

“What
happened on the way back?”

“By
the time we got back to the border, we had a hundred or more Morelanders
sniping at us from all sides. There weren’t enough to stop us, but a large mass
of horsemen closed in on us at the end. I suspect a few more miles, and we
could have found ourselves badly outnumbered.”

Tunak
stiffened and looked straight at Erdelin. “My apologies, Colonel. I failed to
keep the Eywellese adhering to the plan.”

Erdelin
had been watching the bedraggled-looking Eywellese horse column passing by and
the disgustingly long series of wagons that followed. At the captain’s
assumption of responsibility, Erdelin looked back at him. “No apologies needed,
Captain. I doubt if there was anything anyone in your situation could have done
different, including myself. See to your men.”

Erdelin
went looking for Biltin Eywell. He couldn’t let this pass.

He
found Biltin in his father’s tent. The hetman was looking better than earlier,
but with evident apprehension when Erdelin stormed through the tent flap.

“Colonel
Erdelin, I—” Biltin started to say.

            “What
exactly in the
orders
did you not understand, Eywell?!” Erdelin barked
out at the son. There was no pretense who was in charge and no use of titles.
“This was to be a single quick raid into Moreland, destroy three towns, minimal
looting, a few women prisoners, avoid battles if possible, and be back by the
evening of the second day.” Erdelin’s voice rose as he talked, more accurately
matching his temper.

“Instead,
you take
three
days and come back with a quarter of your men
casualties—including some of my Narthani troops—from having to fight the
Morelanders once you gave them warning! That also meant you failed to destroy
the third town! I see wagons full of loot and prisoners of all ages, again,
contrary to
orders
!” Erdelin’s voice was clearly audible by now to anyone
within a hundred yards. He targeted the son to avoid forcing the hetman to say
anything or take action to protect his own position among his clansmen. The
Narthani needed the hetman and his family, for now, but needed them obeying
orders.

Biltin’s
face was a deep red, whether from anger, embarrassment, or anything else
Erdelin didn’t know or care. Biltin started to yell back at Erdelin when his
father said, “Shut up, you idiot!”

The
hetman shifted his position on the bed, wincing from his wound. “You are
correct, Colonel. My son ignored yours and my instructions on how this raid was
to be carried out. I assure you that had I been able to lead the raid, there
would have been no such deviations.”

Erdelin
forced his tone down to a more respectful level to address the hetman. “Hetman
Eywell, of that I’ve no doubt. We’ve always worked well together. However, I
must tell you that the evident inability of your men to keep discipline during
the mission disturbs me, and I assure you that General Akuyun and Assessor
Hizer will also take note of this incident. I trust that there will be no
repetition of such actions?”

“I
assure you, Colonel Erdelin, I’ll see to it.”

Erdelin
let himself appear somewhat appeased. “See that you do, Hetman. I’ll expect a
detailed written report from your son on his decisions and also independent
reports from your senior men on the raid. Captain Tunak will be doing the same.
I expect the major details to agree, but I also want to see observations on the
Morelanders’ responses when surprised and after being alerted by your son. Also
details on how the Morelanders performed in the fighting, their weapons, and
anything else relevant. I’ll prepare a consolidated report to send on to
General Akuyun.”

Without
further formalities, Erdelin spun and started out of the tent. As he raised the
flap to leave, he stopped, turned back again, and said casually, “Oh, and since
the prisoners and loot were contrary to orders, naturally Eywell can’t keep
either. I’ll take possession of them in the name of the Narthon Empire.”
Without waiting for a response, he walked out, letting the flap go.

“Father,
I—” started Biltin, only to be cut off.

“As
I said in Erdelin’s presence, you’re a complete idiot! All you had to do was
follow orders. We’d finished sacking Allenford when I was hurt. You couldn’t
even follow orders for a few more hours?” The hetman’s low growl kept those
outside from hearing, but his tone was deadly and finally got through to Biltin
that he could be in serious trouble. Brandor Eywell ruled his clan with an iron
fist, and it was a brave or exceedingly foolish man who crossed him, son or
not.