“You must not underestimate the Massi Prince or his army,” Ja Brude suddenly interjected.
All eyes turned to him, but for a moment the room was quiet.
“The Deutzani army he destroyed was seasoned and outnumbered the Massi by more than two to one,” Brude continued.
The High King smiled and nodded at the Deutzani advisor. “We will not allow the Massi brat to become comfortable in his hole at Manse. We’ll draw him out, even if the feint on Lynndon does not do the trick. Weldon will attack the Gap with several thousand men, but move the bulk of his force up to the Aleria Pass. He will threaten the Plateau from the south. With the Deutzani threatening Lynndon to the east, and the Palmerrio the Plateau from the south, Gwaynn will be forced to make a choice. If he goes for Lynndon, the Knights will be waiting on the plains to pounce, and if he chooses the Aleria Pass, I’ve full confidence in the Palmerrio to crush him on the open flats of the Massi Plateau. And while the Massi are engaged on the Plateau, the Knights will move against Manse and eliminate their sanctuary. Prince Gwaynn will not be able to just sit and hide in his new fortress city; if he does we will hit him from three sides. The young prince is trapped already, though he does not yet know it. Whatever decision he makes it will be the wrong one, and lead to the destruction of the Massi people.”
Arden smiled, as did Ja Brude. It was a thoughtful plan, designed to put pressure on the Massi from all sides, unlike the lumbering attack of Arsinol’s method of warfare. It could work. Ja’s disquiet eased some, but he still remembered the tenacity of the Massi fighters. Even in victory he felt sure the High King and his allies would pay dearly for the land of Massi.
III
The Executioner Lacombe left the home of Paulo Carnetti eager to be on his way. In his breast pocket he had a letter of recommendation signed by Paulo himself. It only took two days to convince the man of his Massi heritage and his good name.
‘Fools,’ Lacombe thought, but he could not truly blame them. The Massi army would need every strong-armed young man on their side if they were to face the Temple Knights, even then most would be slaughtered. Lacombe felt no sorrow or disappointment at the thought of so many Massi dead. He’d never been loyal to this country or its people, still for some odd reason he hoped the young ‘Prince’ gave the High King a challenge. If the Temple Knights were severely weakened it would put the Executioners of Sinis in a much greater position of power. After the naval engagement at Eno, the High King should realize what a powerful force the Executioners could be in battle, on land or at sea. The Tars of Sinis were a huge asset to the Palmerrio and Rhondono fleets. It would be good for Sinis if the High King grew ever more reliant on the special skills of the Executioners.
Paulo tried to persuade Lacombe to wait a bit longer before moving on to Manse. For some reason the merchant wanted to send large groups of men to the new city all at once, rather than have them trickle in one at a time. The merchant claimed to have nearly a dozen men waiting and the number should climb to about twenty if a few days time, but Lacombe would not be delayed and begged out, eager to get to Manse and kill the traitor. de Baard was giving Executioners a bad name and that was something he could not abide, after all it would only be a few short years before he was the High Tar of Sinis Island. He would challenge Nacht soon…perhaps when he was finished with this beautiful turncoat.
Though it was still hours before midday, Lacombe was already twenty miles down the finger of Massi and traveling at an easy but steady pace. He was happy with his choice of Sunwind, she might not be much to look at, but she was strong and had great stamina. If the weather held, he was positive he could make Manse in perhaps three more days, four at the most and five if he ran into trouble and was forced to kill someone slowly. Lacombe smiled at the thought, killing was always such a pleasant diversion.
‘Yes,’ he thought as Sunwind followed along the road on her own accord, ‘once de Baard is dead at my feet, I’ll have free reign over the country. Maybe I’ll take some time and see a bit of the countryside. Let King Mastoc have his war, I’ll enjoy the rest of the Massi country folk…country lasses. Yes, there were always plenty of lonely, unprotected women in times of war.’
Lacombe laughed aloud, startling Sunwind who jumped forward, causing the Executioner to struggle to retain his seat. His temper flared and Lacombe spurred the mare to greater speed and then forced her to hold to it as punishment.
‘Three days,’ he thought to himself.
ǂ
“How long will you be gone?” Samantha asked sleepily, unconsciously rubbing her stomach as she watched Gwaynn dress. The bulge of pregnancy was just becoming noticeable, but so far only to herself and Gwaynn. She vowed it wouldn’t stop her from fighting and continued to work with Captain Hahn and Olney Hawser training both new archers and the seasoned veterans. They all split the training time between archery practice and working with developing new spear formations. Currently everyone was excited about a large formation Olney had come up with which contained more than three hundred men. It was a simple diamond formation and around the perimeter were a full two hundred and fifty men presenting a line of bristling spear points. Some of the men were kneeling and some standing in order to present a solid wall of sharp metal. Inside the formation were another fifty men, all archers, and they would attack any threat with arrow fire. Olney’s plan called for a great number of multiple formations placed at wide intervals and separated by open ground. In practice they found that the separate formations gave the men a surprisingly large amount of protection against cavalry.
The design was very radical and went against all military tactics of the day. Conventional wisdom held that infantry should mass in a solid line, forming a shield wall against attacking cavalry. But Olney Hawser knew horses, and realized that most animals, even those trained in battle, would not charge into a formation of spear points no matter how hard their deranged riders tried to coax them. This was especially true when the horses had a clear avenue around the obstacle. Olney believed the horses would instinctively veer around the immediate danger and become targets for the bowmen within. So far in practice, his ideas were being proven correct.
Of course the formation would be less effective against a charge of heavy infantry and might completely fall apart if faced with another strong force of archers…but they were working on that little problem. Olney was turning into quite a tactician and he was an excellent bowman, but Samantha was afraid she would soon lose him to the cavalry. He was becoming fascinated with the art of mounted warfare and hung about Jeffery Gaston during most of his spare time, which was precious little for any of them.
Gwaynn glanced at Samantha as she rubbed on her midsection, and smiled. He did not want to leave her…did not want her here in the midst of war, but she refused to leave and as yet her pregnancy did little to hamper her ability to lead and train men.
“No more than a week,” Gwaynn answered. He’d wanted to take her with him, to show her off to Tar Nev and perhaps Kostek, maybe even cajole her into staying on Noble for safety, but she refused, knowing that her time with her archers was running out.
“Zarina Monde believes she’ll be strong enough to return in only a day, but I doubt Nev will be that easy to convince.”
“You really think you can convince him?” She asked and moved to Gwaynn. She put her arms around his neck while he reached down and took over the duty of stroking her growing belly.
“He’s growing bigger,” Gwaynn said as Samantha moved away to put on her own clothes. Gwaynn stood attentive as she did so.
“She,” Samantha insisted.
“Nev likes his solitude, but he did tell me to call if ever I needed his help,” Gwaynn added, returning to the subject at hand. He chaffed at the thought of leaving Samantha, and worried about his growing cowardice. Over the past month his fear was growing steadily and there were times, in the darkest hours of the night that he would come awake with a jolt, his heart pounding to the rhythm of some unremembered terror. It mattered l
ittle to him that his fear was for someone other than himself. It was still cowardice; still weakness, and it worried him. He could feel it growing inside like a poison, mirroring the bulge in Samantha’s midsection. The very thought of the newborn baby terrified him in many different ways.
“I’ll be fine,” Samantha whispered coming closer and nuzzling his neck. “You go get some Tars to fight on our side and then we will have no worries at all.”
“I wish,” Gwaynn said rolling his eyes. He gently pulled away from her but still kept hold of her hand. He led her from the room and out into the main hall of their new home. It was quiet, empty and still in the hall itself, but sounds of construction filled their private rooms as men erected platforms along the interior of the main wall of the fortress.
They stepped out into the day. It was bright and sunny, though it had rained sometime over night and the ground was wet and muddy in spots. All the men working looked up and nodded. They were a popular couple and the warriors of Massi were becoming fiercely loyal to them both. A few workmen shouted out greetings, some of them smiling and briefly forgetting for a moment that they were working on the very walls designed to hold out an army, an enemy army that was moving inexorably closer.
As they zigzagged their way around the muddy spots, Gwaynn could feel the pressure of the approaching army; feel the pressure of the High King.
‘He means to kill me and kill Samantha and kill the baby growing inside her,’ he thought and another wave of concern and cowardice flowed over him. The thought of running, hiding in the hills and leaving all the danger and warfare behind, flitted briefly through his brain but then he grew angry.
Samantha’s hand returned the squeeze he hadn’t realized he was giving and Gwaynn glanced at her. She was watching him as they moved together through the main gates and into the square that separated the two motte and baileys. Krys, Emm, Cyndar and Lee Brandt were waiting with the Zarina Monde. Along one side of the Traveler stood Queen Ramona, who was currently residing in the sister fortress, her son had already returned to the Gap to guard against the imminent attack they all felt was coming.
Waiting on the opposite side of Monde was the Weapons Master Tabernas, who would be joining Phillip at the Gap shortly, and the Speaker Zebo Sorbello. Traveler Jess na Gall departed two days ago on horseback, bound for Heron. From there she would Travel to Parma, the large port city and Capital of the Cassinni. Lonogan Bock and five other handpicked men went along with her as escort, just in case King Marc Cassinni attempted to make any claim on the Traveler’s freedom. na Gall believed such “protection” was not necessary but Gwaynn insisted, and Bock seemed more than eager to get away from Manse for a while and accompany the beautiful Traveler to an exotic and distant land for a few days. It was Gwaynn’s hope that King Marc would judge all of Massi against Lonogan and thus feel more confident in supporting their cause.
“Anything from our High King?” Gwaynn asked Lee Brandt, who would be assuming Bock’s duties in his boss’s absence. Gwaynn had offered to elevate Brandt to Captain, but the big man just shrugged. He cared nothing for titles and had little trouble motivating those who worked under him. Gwaynn nodded slightly to Cyndar, who appeared nervous and was standing slightly behind the big man, as if for protection. Gwaynn wondered briefly at her behavior, but did not guess she was using Brandt’s large body to shield herself from the eyes of Zarina Monde. The two of them had met briefly over a year ago and in fact there was a scar on the Zarina’s right shoulder given to her by Cyn de Baard. How she had not recognized her immediately, Cyndar could not have said, but she knew it might be only a matter of time before Monde made the connection.
‘Samantha and Gwaynn would have to die soon,’ Cyndar thought, ‘the bitch immediately, while her beloved prince was away.’ It was a happy thought and Cyndar had to suppress a smile.
Brandt shook his head at Gwaynn’s inquiry, but it was Ramona who answered.
“My son reports no activity along the Gap and as of an hour ago Captain Wicks claims the waters around Cape to be free of enemy vessels,” the Queen said wanting to do more than just report on the front. She knew her people were doing their share to prepare for the upcoming battle, but she felt useless and impotent in the face of approaching battle. What advice could she give when it was her decisions that led to the loss of her own country? Her confidence was shaken, but she was still Queen and so must carry on with pretense.
“I will be here to await word if anything menacing develops,” she added bitterly but smiled faintly as Tabernas put a hand gently on her shoulder.
Gwaynn nodded, catching the older woman’s mood. “We’ll be able to return immediately if it comes to that,” he said then stepped forward and embraced the Toranado Queen.
“You have given us valuable time,” he whispered into her ear. “No one could have stood against such a force. My father couldn’t and I no longer blame him.”
“But you did,” Ramona whispered back and hugged the young man fiercely.
“I was the fool, not my father,” Gwaynn replied and pulled away but gave an extra squeeze with his hands before completely disengaging and turning to Krys and Samantha.
“We’ll stay in close contact,” he said in a louder voice. “This may take a week or a day. There is no way to tell.”
Gwaynn glanced at Krys, suddenly nervous. “Contact me if anything unexpected arises,” he told his Weapons Master.
Krys nodded and smiled. “Emm and I will keep things under control,” he replied and squeezed the hand of the woman he loved. “We won’t be surprised.”
Gwaynn nodded, completely confident in his young friend. War had aged and matured them both.
And with that the High Zarina Monde began working on the bridge to Noble as Gwaynn hugged and kissed Samantha goodbye, neither feeling even a trace of embarrassment over their display of affection. Within moments the bridge was solid and with a last look at Samantha, Gwaynn stepped through and was quickly followed by Monde.
Samantha never took her eyes him as he moved from Massi to Noble, but when the bubble suddenly popped out of sight she found herself staring into the hard eyes of Cyndar Huntley. The Captain held her gaze for a long moment before lifting her chin and sauntering off toward the practice fields.
ǂ
The High King stood at the edge of the rampart and watched as the tail end of the fleet glided swiftly over the horizon. The morning was very windy and unseasonably cool. But the sky was generally clear with just a few large, white clouds that streaked across the blue as if racing his ships to the distance shores of Massi.
Mastoc frowned with nervousness, uncomfortable with the fact that his Temple Knights were now all aboard ship, ships that would soon be moving through enemy waters guarded by what was left of the Toranado fleet. He was no fool and realized all too well that his rule depended greatly on the dominance of the Knights; without them he would be at the mercy of his enemies. He just hoped Admiral Blakely of the Palmerrio knew what he was doing. The Toranado navy…they were still a concern, and would be until their ships were utterly destroyed.
‘Damn the Cassinni anyway,’ he thought spitefully.
“Arden will keep the Toranado at bay if necessary,” Audra said bouncing the growing baby boy in her arms. “He’s placed Admiral Braunwain and the Deutzani fleet at the very tip of the finger.”
The baby, Aiden, yammered something unintelligible and reached up and tried his best to pluck his mother’s left eye from its socket. She leaned back, smiling and the youth became distracted by her hair, which was well within reach.
The High King looked down at his heir and couldn’t help but smile at the baby’s antics. Then he glanced into his wife’s face, who at sixteen was little more than a child herself. He felt a wave of love and confidence. They would get passed this threat, and when they did he promised himself to put away intrigue for the time being and enjoy his family, which was growing quickly. Audra was already large with child again though young Aiden was not yet eight months
old.
“The Cassinni will have to be made to pay for their lack of cooperation,” he finally said as if ignoring his own thoughts.
“But not yet,” Audra said simply, and leaned down to kiss the wiggling fingers of her baby.
“No not yet,” the High King agreed, suddenly happy to be here, happy to be with his wife and son. “And we will not have to move against them by sea,” he added and raised his face wistfully to gaze back out toward the fleet, but the last of the ships were gone, driven away by the strong morning wind.
ǂ
Tar Ira Lacombe was still nearly fifteen miles from the city of Manse when he came across the first Massi patrol. There were nearly twenty horsemen and they were all riding swiftly in his direction by the time he spotted them in the distance. It unnerved him a little that they were apparently aware of his presence before he was aware of theirs, but then they were soldiers on patrol, searching for any sign of the enemy they all knew was coming.
Lacombe turned Sunwind and rode directly toward the approaching riders. They were on him quickly, some riding in close while the rest flanked out and surrounded him at a relatively safe distance. To the Tar, they all looked to be hard, well-trained men, which served as a healthy reminder for caution.
“Your name please,” a young soldier barked loudly pulling his horse to a stop only a half dozen feet from Lacombe.
“Ira Banks,” the Executioner lied. “I have papers of recommendation from Paulo Carnetti,” he added and reached into his breast pocket to remove them. Immediately a dozen lances were lowered and aimed directly at his chest. Lacombe stopped moving, his hand frozen in place.
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