“SIR!”
On instinct, Darius stopped dead in his tracks and whirled around. The only time he ever heard that note of panic was when something had gone dreadfully wrong.
From a side hallway, Ramin ran for him at full tilt, sliding to a stop on the slick tiles, barely stopping in time to avoid hitting Darius. “Sir,” he said quickly, eyes wide, sweat beading on his forehead. “The Armada’s been sighted off the coast.”
For a moment, the words simply didn’t make sense to Darius. “Sighted off the coast,” he parroted in a blank tone, as if he were repeating some unknown phrase.
“Yes, sir.” Ramin nearly vibrated in place, his need to move on the information obvious.
This came so far outside of Darius’s expectations that he almost couldn’t believe it. Then it did sink in and he swore, turned around, and headed for his office at a run. “How far out?” he demanded of Ramin as they sprinted through the halls.
“Three days, four at most with the tides,” Ramin answered, not even breathing hard as he kept on Darius’s heels.
Three days?! Good thing I didn’t talk Amalah into the one month wedding time frame. He mentally smacked himself for the irreverent thought.
Shaa preserve them, that wasn’t enough time! He had plans in place for a sea invasion, yes, but he should have had at least three more weeks before they showed up. “Ramin, get Kaveh and Navid moving now. I want their men prepared to leave for the coast in three hours.” It took almost two hours for the message to reach the barracks alone. With a group that large, it’d take them almost three days to reach Izeh Harbor and be in position on time. If he were lucky. If nothing went wrong. They’d be cutting it close.
“Yes, sir!” Ramin peeled off down a different hallway and, impossibly, picked up his speed.
It took precious minutes for him to reach his own suite of rooms. He hit the doors at a dead run and skidded to a stop inside. Sego, Tolk and Payam all looked up at him in alarm, pausing in mid-motion. “Armada has been spotted off the coast,” he said without preamble. “We need to leave in an hour. Move!” After that first, knee-jerked reaction, they exploded into motion. Darius wrote a short message to Amalah about what was going on and then quickly headed for the palace interior. He had to report this to the queen, now, and then rush back to help get everyone into motion. As he ran, he prayed they’d be fast enough.
He grabbed Ashtad on his way to report to the queen, pumping information from the man as they moved. Ashtad explained how this had gone so wrong as they half-jogged for the queen’s study. The spy that had originally reported in had made one very costly assumption. Most armadas of that size took time to gather sailors, rowers, and supplies together before they could leave. This took, on average, a month to do. But this time, they’d pulled everything together in barely two weeks, speeding up the process considerably. Also in their favor, the winds and tides had been strong and so the ships travelled faster than first estimated.
Ashtad had one more piece of very vital information, gained the night before. The commander of the armada was none other than Adad the Hammer, so nicknamed for his brutal tactics. The man was famous for sailing into a harbor, pulverizing any sign of resistance, and then quickly pulling out again before anyone could do damage to him. If Darius gave him any opening at all, he’d take it, and they might not be able to recover from it.
He absolutely could not let that man get anywhere near Niotan’s shores.
The queen asked a great many questions, which slowed him down further, but she eventually realized that keeping him here was folly and ordered him to go. He wasted no time in leaving. Darius reached the stables at a dead run, eyes automatically scanning the area as he moved. The area was awash in sound of horses snorting, metal jingling, servants running around, Ramin shouting orders. A contingent of fifteen guards finished loading up horses, tightening girths. Bohme and Tolk stood quietly talking in a corner. Sego stood nearby, but clearly had no plans to go with him. Good, he wanted the steward to stay and help Amalah. She had too much work to shoulder.
A stableboy handed him Sohrab’s reins. The stallion, having been infected by the mood all around him, pranced a bit in place, anxious to be off. Darius smoothed a hand along his neck to calm him even as he threw the reins over his head and prepared to mount.
“Darius!”
He automatically turned to respond to that voice. Amalah rushed toward him, weaving her way in and around horses, soldiers, and equipment until she reached him. Her eyes looked a little worried, and he didn’t blame her. None of this had gone according to plan and he frankly didn’t know if he could get everything set up in time to meet the armada breathing down their necks.
She surprised him by not saying anything, just throwing her arms around his neck and tugging him down far enough to plant a swift kiss against his mouth. “Shaa go with you.” Releasing him, she gave him a brave smile.
No worried questions, no demands for reassurance, just a blessing of safety as he went to war. I don’t know what I did to deserve this woman, but I’m offering a sacrifice to Shaa at the first opportunity. He caught her by the back of the head and kissed her in return, soft and sweet. “If all goes well,” he said huskily against her mouth, “I’ll be back in a week.”
“Alright.” Her smile faltered a little. “If it doesn’t?”
“It’ll take longer than a week.” He gave her a cocky smile, more confident than what he actually felt. “They won’t land one ship on Niotan’s soil, I promise you.”
“I know.” She stepped back and shooed him on. “Go fight. I have a house to finish.”
This calm, half-teasing expression soothed his heart as nothing else could have. He reached out with one arm just long enough to hug her hard against him. She squeaked at the unexpected movement. Against the top of her head he whispered, “I really love you.”
“I love you too,” she murmured against his chest. “Now, go.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Stepping back, he put a foot in the stirrup and swung himself aboard with practiced ease. As he settled into the saddle, he caught Sego’s eye. The man gave him a reassuring nod and smile, silently promising to take care of things here. He looked back to Amalah who gave him the same look. Yes, he could trust these two to handle the things that he could not. With a breath, he raised his right hand and waved it in a circling motion. “FORWARD!” he bellowed in command.
The men of the Niotan Army moved out at a trot, hooves ringing against the stone, and not one man looked back.
~~~
They rode hard for the coast, stopping only when necessary to rest the horses. Darius and his men arrived midmorning, the sun obscured by clouds but no less hot for it. Without pausing to rest, they instantly dismounted and started checking on everything. Darius had given standing orders to start pouring the oil into the sea when the ships were sighted, but he went straight there to make sure they had already started that. Even with an army of volunteers such as this, it would take a considerable amount of time to pour in enough oil to cover most of the water of the harbor.
Fortunately, they had, and had every intention to work through the night until every last drop of oil had been poured in. Relieved, he went back to the city and started worrying about their preparations instead.
Almost around the clock, he and his staff worked, coordinating all of the individual units to make sure that all of the pieces would fall into place when the time came. Tolk and Bohme took turns sitting on him and forcing him to take time and eat. Since they only got to eat when he did, he allowed this.
In his frantic state to get everything done, he barely thought of what he would do when everything was ready. But early on the third day, it abruptly happened. He checked with the last unit commander and stood there, belatedly realizing that all preparations were complete with half a day or more to spare if the gods were kind.
Standing on the docks gave him a clear view of most of the city. He turned slowly, studying everything within his line of sight. Each street ha
d water buckets and huge barrels of water collected, just in case a fire spread in that area. All of the boats had been pulled clear of the water and heaved onto the docks or onto the shore, safely out of harm’s way. The civilians were talking uneasily among themselves, but they were clearly ready to pitch in and help in any way they could, as no one tried to resume their daily routine. All that was left was waiting for the troops to arrive.
“I have nothing left to do,” he said to Bohme in something of a daze.
“Take a nap,” Bohme suggested helpfully.
“I don’t like naps,” Darius responded grouchily. “They make me sluggish.”
“You shound like a two year old, shir.”
He felt like one, too, saying that.
“Been up for two daysh shtraight,” Bohme pointed out patiently. “Everyone elshe hash shlept but you. You need to be able to think.”
He had a really good point, but Darius hadn’t been kidding. Naps made him groggy. Especially now, when he’d gone without sleep for two days, it would do him more harm than good. “I’ll lay down at the inn and rest,” he compromised on a sigh, turning around. “But I’m not sleeping.”
~~~
“Sir! Sir, wake up!”
A persistent hand shook him by the shoulder, jostling him out of a sound sleep. Darius flailed, half-awake and not at all coordinated. He pried open one eye through sheer willpower and managed to focus it enough to see Ramin leaning over him. His mouth felt glued together as he managed to stutter out, “W-what’s going on?”
“The armada has been sighted, sir. They’re within view of the harbor’s gates.”
In less than a second, Darius came fully awake. Swearing, he wrenched himself out of the bed and headed straight for the door. “Why didn’t anyone wake me up sooner? And where are our troops? Have they arrived yet?” he demanded irritably.
“They arrived an hour ago, it’ll still take the ships another hour to get into place, sir,” Ramin assured him as they took the stairs two at a time down, “and you needed the sleep.”
“I need more than an hour to double check readiness, Ramin!” he snapped, hitting the ground floor with a loud thump.
“We did that sir,” Navid assured him at the inn’s main door. At this hour, and with an armada breathing down their necks, no one else had stayed inside and the multitude of chairs and tables stood empty.
Darius knocked a chair aside to make way for him. As he reached the door, he tugged his uniform straight and demanded, “Troops?”
“All standing ready.”
“Water brigade?”
“Standing ready,” Navid repeated patiently. “Oil in place, gate crew in place.”
“All under control,” Ramin soothed from behind him.
Darius stopped and slowly turned, giving the man quite the look for that tone.
Bohme watched this play out for a moment before reaching out and giving Ramin a friendly pat on the shoulder. “Alwaysh wakesh up grumpy,” he assured the commander in a loud whisper. “Don’t mind.”
“I feel sorry for Raja Amalah, then,” Ramin dared to mock-whisper back.
Swearing under his breath, Darius reversed directions and thumped back up the stairs. Alright, fine, he had a half hour before he actually needed to be at the docks. If that were the case, then he would shave off this two day beard. If he didn’t have to go through a battle while scratching like a dog with fleas, then he wouldn’t.
A half hour later, in a fresh uniform that someone—probably Sego—had thoughtfully packed, Darius stood on the docks and calmly watched the armada sail in through the port’s open gate. Navid had taken the south side this time, with Kaveh taking the north, leaving Ramin the center. Darius wanted a front and center seat for this battle, so he chose to stay on the central dock with Ramin. Payam, as always, hovered nearby in case he needed to pass along a message.
From behind them, not a trace of sound to be heard. Usually a city of this size could produce a cacophony of noise, almost deafening at times. But now not a soul stirred, everyone intently watching the enemy approaching.
The sun had started for the far horizon long ago, turning the sky into molted colors of dark golds and reds. They had, at best, another two hours or so of daylight left. Darius stood on the docks and watched the armada intently. Right now, he didn’t know if they would choose to sail into the harbor at this point or not. Having never fought on the sea, he didn’t know if they had different rules of combat. If this were a land battle, Darius would wait just outside of the enemy’s range and wait until the next day, where he would have plenty of light to fight with.
But would the admiral in charge of that armada do the same?
Turning, he asked Ramin, “Has his position changed in the past half hour?”
“No, sir.”
Hmmm. Suspicions raised, he lifted his spyglass from the pouch at his waist and extended it before lifting it to his eye. Peering carefully at the ships, he looked for a tell-tale chain…there. “They’re anchored,” he muttered to himself.
“Sir?” Ramin asked, moving forward a step.
Raising his voice to a more audible level, Darius repeated, “They’re anchored. They have no intention to start a battle today.”
“So they’ll wait until daybreak tomorrow?” Ramin peered at them intently, hand raised to shield his eyes from the waning sun. “That’s what I would have done. They’re certainly in a good position to do so.”
Yes, they were. The armada lay in a half circle in front of the harbor walls, blocking anyone from coming in or going out. In fact, they could safely sit there for several days, blocking all trade, and Darius wouldn’t be able to do one thing to stop them.
Hopefully they wouldn’t do that, though.
Darius blew out a breath and collapsed his spy glass again. With the enemy hovering like this, no one would be able to sleep well tonight. But hopefully, they wouldn’t need the energy to fight tomorrow. “Ramin. Set watchers in place to make sure that they obediently stay in place and then have everyone else retire for the night.”
“Yes, sir.”
~~~
Darius, after many years of battle situations, had learned to fall asleep when he truly needed to. Even then, he woke before the birds could even stir, taking the time to properly shave and put on a clean uniform.
As no else in the inn had awoken yet, he chose to go to the waterfront for breakfast, a yawning Tolk and Bohme in tow. He spent the early morning hour talking to the night watchmen and anyone else awake.
Over the course of the next hour, the sun steadily rose in the sky and burned off the cool morning mist that hung over the harbor. By the time that the city’s inhabitants had awoken, he had enough daylight to see that it would be a clear day without a single cloud in the sky. Truly a perfect day to sail—or fight. He went to the same dock he had been on the night before and stood there enjoying the ocean breeze as he waited for his enemy to sail to him.
As dawn faded into day, the ships pulled up anchor and moved out. There was no pre-arranged signal for putting the gate in place, just a standing order to do so as soon as the last ship had sailed through. Darius shifted his spyglass so that he could see in between the ships as the crews on the other side of the wall went into action. All of the drills in putting the floating gate into place had paid off. He watched in satisfaction as the men pulled the gate into place and then secured it, all within minutes. Of course, it didn’t really have the weight to it that the rest of the wall did. And if a battering ram from one of the ships struck it, it’d probably give quite easily. But Adad didn’t know that.
Someone on his flagship spied the now walled off gate and sent up a cry that Darius could just hear from this distance. Adad whirled around to see for himself. Darius couldn’t see his face from that angle, but he didn’t need to. The man’s body language said it all. Adad the Hammer thought himself well and truly trapped. His usual hit and run tactics wouldn’t work here.
Darius hardly needed his spyglass to see s
uch a short distance, but he rather enjoyed being able to zoom in and see the horror on Admiral Adad’s face. The man had looked quite smug at first, sailing into a defenseless harbor with only a thousand or so troops standing ready on the docks.
“General,” Ramin’s tone held steady but had a hint of laughter in it. “Try to contain your evil smile. You’re scaring the men.”
Darius cleared his throat and tried to smooth out his face into a bland expression. Judging from Ramin’s reaction, he didn’t quite succeed in looking impassive.
Adad ran from one end of the ship to the other, looking in every direction. It rather reminded Darius of a rat trapped in a cage. Through his glass, he saw the Admiral looking more worried with every moment until finally the man stopped on the prow of his ship, snatched up a megaphone, and yelled through it, “DARIUS BRESALIER!”
“Payam.” Darius pointed to his own megaphone laying nearby. The runner snatched it up and passed it to him, exchanging it for the spyglass. “My thanks.” Lifting the piece to his mouth he called back, “GREETINGS, ADMIRAL!”
The cordial response, for some odd reason, infuriated Adad even more and he yelled back angrily, “DO YOU REALLY THINK THAT LOCKING US IN WILL HELP YOU?!”
In a very exaggerated gesture, Darius pointed toward the water. “LOOK DOWN CAREFULLY!”
Adad lowered the megaphone, stared at him for a long moment before reluctantly turning and looking over the side. He probably meant to just glance in that direction, but he froze with one hand on the rail, seemingly rooted on the spot.
“I think he just realized that the water is covered in oil,” Ramin observed to no one in particular.
Yes, he had. Darius expected him to start panicking any second now. Without looking away from Adad he said, “Ramin.”
Kingslayer Page 31