“Sergeant?” Relam asked, looking around.
The soldiers parted to let a bearded man through. “Yes, sir?” he asked, saluting.
“At ease,” Relam replied, waving vaguely for the man to relax. “The officers are meeting at the center of camp in fifteen minutes.”
“Yes, sir,” the sergeant replied. “Shall I bring our guest with us?”
Relam frowned, puzzled for a moment, then remembered the informant. “Yes, bring him,” he replied, nodding decisively. “Tonight, you’ll find out what this is all about.”
A murmur of interest ran around the circle and the soldiers looked at Relam curiously. “Any hints?” one asked.
Relam shook his head. “Of course not.” Then he turned and headed back for the center of camp, where he could see Oreius waiting, standing alone in the light rain.
“The horses are picketed,” he announced, jerking a thumb at the mass of steeds milling about and cropping what grass they could find.
“Thanks,” Relam said, glancing up at the sky. Or rather, the patches of storm clouds he could see through the branches. The rain was slowing down now, but not enough to convince Relam that it would stop any time soon.
“Have you given any more thought to your battle plan?” Oreius asked abruptly.
Relam froze for a moment, then cursed. “No,” he admitted. “I quite forgot about that between the rain and getting camp set up.”
“So, you never solved the problem I presented you with?” Oreius asked.
Relam shook his head sheepishly. “No, I guess I didn’t.”
Oreius smiled grimly. “Better get busy then.” He gestured towards the ring of tents. The sergeants were beginning to gather, picking their way toward the place where Relam and Oreius waited. “You have about one minute until you have to share it with your officers.”
Relam swore under his breath and began racking his brain for a solution. He needed a way to protect the archers from attack, but also make it to where there was no chance they would accidentally shoot their own men. He could pair each archer with a swordsman who also acted as a shield bearer, but there was probably a simpler, and better, solution than that.
A series of large drops rained down on Relam as a stiff wind blew through the trees. Angrily, Relam shook the water off, glaring upwards. As he did, he noticed that where some of the larger branches met the trees there were dry patches on the otherwise soaking trunk. He wondered briefly about climbing up there for the night, rather than sleeping on the wet ground. Then, he abruptly turned away from the matter of the trees and returned to the problem of the archers.
And in that moment, the solution came to Relam. So simple, so blindingly obvious and yet so effective. He glanced at Oreius and smiled. “I’ve got it,” he announced.
“You do?” Oreius asked. “Care to share?”
Relam shook his head. “You’ll hear about it at the same time as everybody else.”
Oreius smiled slightly, blue eyes twinkling with amusement. “Any hints?”
“Of course not,” Relam replied with an impudent grin.
Chapter 17
The sergeants quickly gathered around Relam in a loose circle, all bundled in their cloaks, all with their hoods pulled forward to shield their faces. Each and every one looked cold and miserable. Oreius stood beside Relam and slightly behind him, scanning the assembled leaders, nodding to those he recognized. Relam was doing the same, counting heads, making sure everyone was present. He came up with eleven, plus himself and Oreius.
“Let’s get on with it,” Relam began. “The less time we spend standing out in the rain like this the better. As some of you may have guessed when we rode into the Midwood today, we are here to take down a bandit group that has been operating in the area. We know the location of their base, thanks to an escaped prisoner who is here with us now.”
The sergeants nodded wordlessly, well-conditioned to listen without interruption. Relam forged ahead, trying to make sure he got all the details right.
“The camp is little more than a day’s ride from our current position. We will travel most of the day tomorrow, then stop within an hour of the enemy’s camp in the afternoon. That evening, we will scout out the battlefield, and the following morning we attack, a couple of hours after dawn. The enemy number between sixty and seventy and are well equipped. Any questions so far?”
The sergeants shook their heads in unison.
“Good,” Relam said, breathing a sigh of relief. “Here is the plan for the battle. We have roughly forty archers with us. They will climb trees around the perimeter of the enemy camp and direct a plunging fire at anything that moves. The rest of our forces will stay on horseback and encircle the camp to prevent anyone getting away. The first squadron, Oreius, and I will hang back with the informer and act as a mobile reserve force in the event that a small band of bandits tries to break through the perimeter.”
“Will horses be able to get around quickly enough to be of any use?” one of the sergeants asked. “This forest gets pretty thick in some places.”
Relam frowned. He had not considered that possibility. As he hesitated a cloaked figure, the informant, stepped forward.
“The bandit camp is situated in one of the rare open spaces, and the surrounding forest is thinner.” He nodded to Relam. “The plan is a good one, there are plenty of trees for your archers. In addition, this is a very confident group, they post few sentries. Getting everyone into position without alerting the rest of their warriors shouldn’t be too hard.”
“I am no warrior myself,” the informer continued, “But I would very much like to see those bandits eradicated. They were not the kindest of captors.”
“They’ll get what’s coming to them,” Relam promised. “Every one will be either captured or killed.”
“Captured?” one of the sergeants interjected. “Does that mean we’re taking prisoners?”
“If they surrender, yes,” Relam said, glancing at the man who had spoken. “We’re not like them. We don’t slaughter helpless men. If they surrender, we will take them prisoner. There is also the chance that they may know of other bandit cells operating in the area.”
“Fair enough,” another sergeant grunted. “Can we tell all of this to our men?”
“Yes,” Relam said. “I leave it to you to deploy your individual squadrons. You know your men better than I, what they are capable of, strengths and weaknesses. Remember, archers in the trees, everyone else on horseback. Any last questions before we end the meeting?”
The sergeants all shook their heads, looking around to see if any of their fellows had questions.
“Dismissed,” Relam said curtly. “We rise with the sun tomorrow. Two men from each squadron on sentry duty, rotate every two hours.”
The sergeants grunted and began making their way back to their squads. Relam watched them go, then turned to Oreius nervously. “Did I do all right?”
“Reasonably well,” Oreius allowed reluctantly. “Not bad at all for your first try.”
“Anything I missed?”
“We’ll find out tomorrow or the next day,” Oreius replied, stooping to crawl into his tent. “Now, if you don’t mind, I think I’ll get out of the wet and try to get some sleep.”
And, just like that, Relam was alone, standing in the rain while all around the camp soldiers were drawing lots for sentry duty and crawling into their own tents. Shrugging, the prince bent over and entered his own tent. The space was dry at least, and the air within was slightly warmer than that outside. Even though it was early yet, and the sun just barely sinking below the horizon, Relam was soon asleep.
The following morning, Relam woke to the sound of sergeants rousing their men. He sat up, rubbing his eyes, and his head brushed the roof of the tent. Hastily, he began gathering his gear and rolling his bedroll. This done, he crawled out of the low shelter and stood.
All around, soldiers were eating a hasty breakfast or in various stages of repacking their gear. Tents were being rol
led up and stored, and horses led from the picket line and loaded with gear. Relam, realizing that he was a little behind, quickly began breaking down his own tent. Oreius’ tent was already down, sitting in a neat roll next to his other gear.
As Relam finished rolling his own tent, Oreius appeared leading his horse and Buck. “Morning,” the old man said gruffly. “Had breakfast yet?”
“No.”
“Then you’d best get a move on. The rest of the cavalry is nearly ready to go.”
Relam began cramming supplies into his saddlebags as fast as he could. “Thanks for grabbing Buck,” he said, rubbing the horse’s side affectionately. “Have any of the sergeants or sentries reported in this morning?”
“Not yet,” Oreius replied, tying his tent on behind his saddle. “But there were no alarms during the night that I heard. As far as I know, nothing of note happened.”
“That’s good,” Relam muttered, cinching down the last strap and swinging into the saddle. “Any advice for today?”
“Keep them in formation, and keep them quiet,” Oreius said immediately. “We are in hostile territory. Forest is too thick for sweep riders, unfortunately.”
“Should I have the archers ready for battle, in the center of the column?” Relam asked.
“Wouldn’t be a bad idea,” Oreius agreed. “Good instincts, boy. Ah, and here come the sergeants.”
Relam turned and saw five of the sergeants approaching from different directions. “Squad one is ready to move, sir,” the first announced.
“And squad four.”
“Squad three as well.”
“Squad ten is ready.”
“Eight is ready to ride.”
“Excellent,” Relam said, turning to face the officers. “If you have archers, tell them to have their bows ready and put them in the middle of the column. I want all perimeter riders to have their weapons drawn and ready in case of ambush.”
“Yes, sir,” the sergeants chorused.
“Anything I missed?” Relam asked Oreius.
The old warrior pursed his lips. “We may want to ride in the center of the column today, between five and six. That means squad one will take the lead.”
“Good thinking,” Relam agreed. “Squad one, no archers. And have your shields at the ready at all times, just in case. Any questions?”
The sergeants shook their heads.
“Then get your men mounted,” Relam said, turning to greet three other officers who were just arriving. He repeated his instructions for them, then for the sergeants of the last two squads. In minutes, everyone was briefed on the plan for the day and the cavalry was forming on the main road once more, with Relam and Oreius safely ensconced between the fifth and sixth squads.
“Everything is in order,” Oreius observed, twisting in his saddle to check the rear ranks.
Relam nodded and signaled to the sergeant of squad one. The sergeant nodded then brandished his sword overhead and gestured for the column to advance.
The cavalry started off, harnesses jingling, horses snorting and prancing as they sensed their riders’ excitement and anticipation. Relam had to fight to keep Buck moving in the right direction and in formation.
The morning passed uneventfully and pleasantly, weak sunlight filtering through the trees and down onto the road. It was a welcome change from the steady rain of the previous day, and the young prince’s spirits were considerably higher. He was also far more nervous the longer they rode though. The heart of bandit activity was drawing ever closer, and the danger of an ambush was increasing all the time.
Finally, as they halted for lunch, Relam leaned over in the saddle so he could speak to Oreius. “Do you think it might be wiser to leave the road for the time being?”
Oreius contemplated this for a moment. “There are advantages and disadvantages. We won’t be able to move as quickly.”
“But if there’s an ambush it will be along the road,” Relam pointed out.
“Yes, but if we were in the forest and stumbled on a group of bandits it would be much harder to organize our force,” Oreius countered. “Here we have a little bit of space to work with and would be able to retaliate easily.”
“And it would be a very foolish group of bandits to attack a cavalry a hundred strong,” Relam added.
Oreius shrugged. “If they’re all archers, and there really are sixty to seventy of them, then it might just work.”
The prince glared at the old man. “Thank you so much for that,” he said icily.
Oreius met his gaze without flinching. “I am stating the facts, boy, that is all. There is no use in pretending otherwise or ignoring those facts we do not wish to confront.”
Relam scowled and looked away, chewing on a strip of dried beef disconsolately. As he was scanning the forest to the left, a rider came trotting down the column from the ranks up ahead.
“Something the matter?” Relam asked as the rider skidded to a halt.
“All is well to the front,” the man reported. “The sergeant thought that perhaps I had better ride with you, seeing as I’m no warrior.”
Relam recognized the informer and gestured for him to take a position between the fifth and sixth squads as well.
“The sergeant is probably right to suggest that,” he said generously. “You’ll be safer here with us in any event.”
The informer nodded gratefully. “The camp is a half day’s ride southwest. If we follow the road for two more hours, we’ll be level with it. Then we’ll have to turn west and ride about three hours to reach it.”
Relam nodded thoughtfully. “Then we’ll stop an hour short of their camp for the night and send scouts in to check things out. That should give them enough time to get there and back before dark.”
“Barely,” Oreius put in. “Night falls faster in the forest.”
“True,” Relam agreed. “So we better get moving again.” He looked up the column and caught the eye of the first sergeant, following with a short signal. The sergeant saluted, then called the order to move out once more.
Now that he knew how close the enemy camp was, Relam spent his time scanning the trees to either side constantly. The trees stared silently back, with no sign of any bandits lurking in the shadows, nor any sign that the forest concealed any living thing.
About an hour after lunch, the column halted abruptly and a rider came galloping back to Relam’s position. “Sir!” he called. “Sergeant’s found something ahead.”
“Defensive formation,” Relam called as he urged Buck out of the column. “At least until we know what’s going on.”
Oreius followed Relam and the soldier to the head of the column, where the sergeant of squadron one was waiting, gazing down the road ahead. “Well, at least we know the bandits are still active,” he said by way of greeting.
Relam followed the officer’s gaze and his stomach lurched. With a sick feeling, he urged Buck forward a few more paces for a better view.
Along the road ahead were scattered a dozen bodies, most of them human. Two horses were among the slain as well, military mounts by the look of them. Relam also identified two dead soldiers, presumably guards, nearby. The rest were garbed brightly in finer cloth. The traders who the caravan had no doubt belonged to.
“They must have captured the wagons,” Oreius observed dispassionately. “But there was no sense in leaving the traders alive.”
“Or maybe these are just the ones who resisted,” Relam replied, tearing his gaze from the slain. “Remember, they took our informer prisoner.”
“Tracks!” a soldier announced. “Leading south of west into the forest. Those wagons carved quite a track through the undergrowth.”
“Do we follow?” the sergeant asked, glancing at Relam.
The prince considered this for a moment. Here was a clear trail, one that presumably led straight back to the enemy camp. But they already knew where the camp was located . . .
“No,” he decided. “We carry on as we are. If they expect any pursuit, it will
be along the trail they left. They won’t be watching for us to approach from the route that we planned.”
Relam glanced at Oreius in time to catch a quick nod of approval, then turned back to the sergeant. “Let’s get moving again,” he said crisply. “We don’t have time to waste.”
The sergeant nodded and started off again, while Relam and Oreius returned to their positions. “Move out!” Relam called as they rode. “Original formation!”
The informer looked up curiously as Relam and Oreius returned. “What did you find?” he asked.
“Another raid,” Relam replied grimly. “You’ll see what’s left in a moment.”
The trader blanched and looked away. As the column started forward, he was nearly run over by the sixth squad before he set his horse in motion.
They rode through the scene of the massacre quickly. The bodies had been moved to the sides of the road by the first rank, but there was no time to bury them. Maybe on the way back, Relam thought, once the bandits had been wiped out.
They kept riding, forging further and further into the Midwood until the trader tugged on Relam’s sleeve to get his attention.
“This is it,” he announced. “This is where we need to turn west.”
With a thrill of excitement, Relam called for the column to halt and redirected them to the right, into the forest. The ranks closed up even further and the first squad led on, off of the road and into the unknown.
Without the benefit of the open road, the going was slower. The riders were forced to constantly weave around obstacles, be it trees, bushes, or fallen logs. The men were tense and quiet, their horses equally so. The jingle of harnesses and equipment seemed unnaturally loud in the stillness of the forest.
The Prince (Heirs of Legacy Book 1) Page 21