‘Did you hear that?’ he said, as they came out into the crowded corridor leading to the main doors of the building. ‘Did you hear what that snake said?’
‘I did.’
‘And, let me guess, you’re taking his side?’
‘I’m on your side, as always,’ she replied. ‘Any advice I give is intended to further your interests. Will you listen to some?’
‘Do I have a choice?’
‘Go back in there, and apologise to him.’
‘I cannot. I will lose all credibility.’
‘You’re losing it right now, while we speak. What do you think the others are discussing? It certainly won’t be your magnanimity.’
He turned, and swung his fist at the nearest wall, punching a dent into the wooden planking.
Chane watched in silence as he gripped his bleeding hand.
‘Fine,’ he said.
They went back to the hall, and entered. Eyes turned to them, and a couple of conversations dropped away.
Agang strode up to Laodoc, who was standing next to a small group of Holdings officers.
‘I wish to apologise to you, Laodoc,’ he said. ‘What I said was unacceptably rude, and I want you to know that I regret it, and take it back. I hope you can forgive me.’
Laodoc flushed.
‘It’s quite all right,’ he said. ‘I have a thick skin.’
Agang nodded, not sure if the old man’s response meant he was forgiven.
‘I would be happy to read your plan,’ he said.
‘I will have a copy sent round first thing tomorrow.’
‘Thank you.’
Agang nodded again, and walked from the hall, his cheeks burning with embarrassment.
This time, Chane said nothing to him as they made their way to his quarters.
‘This is actually quite interesting,’ Chane said as she got dressed, the dawn sun shining through the window’s shutters.
‘What’s that?’ Agang groaned, turning over in bed.
‘Laodoc’s plan. It arrived before the sun was up.’
He lifted his head. A pile of papers was littering his desk. Chane was peering at a page while she arranged her hair.
‘It says here that even if we compensate all slave owners at market value directly from the treasury, the increase in taxes should cover the shortfall in under a decade.’
‘Under Holdings or Rahain law maybe,’ Agang replied, sitting up and reaching for his clothes. ‘Sanang barely has a tax system to speak of, beyond extorting goods from villagers.’
‘Then you set up taxation at the same time as freeing the slaves.’
‘Are you crazy? Tell everyone that not only do they have to free their slaves, but they’ll be taxed as well? I’d be lynched.’
‘You’ll find a way, Agang,’ she said, lighting a cigarette and picking up a cup of tea. ‘What’s right is right.’
‘I have yet to be convinced that forcing people to free their slaves is right.’
‘Don’t you believe that all people are born equal?’
‘No,’ he said, ‘that is demonstrable nonsense. Some are born to be kings, others slaves. It’s nature’s way. Who are we to subvert it?’
‘Let me see your hand,’ she said.
He held up his bruised right fist.
She shook her head, put down her tea, and opened a metal tin. She took out ointment, bandages and a knife.
‘I believe,’ she said, as she attended to his injury, dabbing ointment over the cuts, ‘that people have created society, and only people can change it. Nothing is set by nature to control how we live, we make our own rules.’
‘But rules build up over decades, centuries,’ he replied, ‘like a tower. If you try to remove a beam from the bottom, the rest comes tumbling down.’
‘Let’s think of it a different way,’ she said, cutting off a stretch of bandage. ‘A leader always worries about the loyalty of his people, is always alert to the danger of rebellion and conspiracy. The slave population in Sanang is roughly one third. Who do you think they will follow after you have freed them? You’ll have the allegiance of every one of them.’
‘Yes, but they are slaves.’
‘No, they’ll be free, each with the same rights as anyone else. Some,’ she said, turning to him, ‘may wish to stay with their old masters, but many will adapt, and take their chances. Open up the ranks of your army to them. Many would fight for the king that freed them.’
He paused, with no easy retort on his lips.
She smiled, and tied up the bandage.
‘I like this new you,’ he said. ‘Your confidence is back.’
‘I have chosen this life.’
He stood, and kissed her on the forehead. ‘I will work hard,’ he said, ‘to make sure you have chosen well.’
There was a knock at the door.
‘Enter.’
Hodang walked in. ‘My lord,’ he said, ‘the council of eight have summoned me to a meeting. News has arrived from the army.’
They got ready in minutes and left his quarters, descending the stairs to the main hall.
When they entered, Hodang walked up to the raised platform at the end of the room, and took his place as one of the two Sanang representatives on the council. The other, Badolecht, was already seated. Dozens of other officers and delegates stood in the main part of the floor, and Agang and Chane made their way to the front.
Field Marshal Howie took a seat and nodded to her colleagues.
‘I have called you all here,’ she said, ‘because we have received a vision message from Captain Benel, the commander of the mage-scouts at the front.’
She paused as everyone in the hall gazed up at her.
‘The Rahain have blocked up the entrance to the tunnel,’ she said. ‘Their mages have brought down the mountain-side, and filled it up.’
Agang stepped forward.
‘So the cowards will not fight?’
‘It appears not, Lord Agang.’
‘Why did we not predict this would happen?’
‘All of our intelligence,’ she said, ‘showed us that a huge Rahain army was in position to defend the fort at the entrance of the tunnel. We don’t know why, but a day ago they withdrew from the fort, and by nightfall yesterday, the tunnel had been blocked.’
‘They’re playing with you,’ Agang said. ‘They know about your vision powers and how you depend upon them. You see an army, so you assume you know its intent.’
‘Perhaps there is some truth in that,’ she said.
‘If I may speak,’ Laodoc said, approaching the platform. ‘When I left, the Rahain Republic was almost bankrupt, having spent its reserves on the Rakanese siege. Avoiding a conflict would seem to be in their best interests, simply because they cannot afford one.’
‘So what do we do now?’ Agang said. ‘It’s too late in the year to go round the Grey Mountains, and the army cannot camp by the tunnel all winter.’
‘Do not fret, Lord Agang,’ Howie said, ‘our mage-scouts have already found a pass through the hills, by a river that runs close to the tunnel entrance. The way is not easy, but I propose we send the King’s Combined Battalion up there as soon as possible, to clear the way, and open up the tunnel from the other side, if it can be done.
‘We’ll take a vote,’ she went on. ‘Those in favour?’
The Holdings raised their hands, followed as always by the Rakanese representatives. The pair of Kellach, who were the same two chiefs who had visited him outside Plateau City, took longer to decide, but also raised their arms.
Hodang glanced at Agang, and he nodded.
‘Proposal carries,’ Howie said as the Sanang raised their hands. ‘I will send the appropriate orders to the front.’ She looked around. ‘If that is the only business this morning, I do believe there are coaches waiting to take us south to the tunnel.’
No one responded.
Howie stood, and the meeting broke up.
Badolecht and Hodang stepped down from the platfo
rm. Lomecht also joined them, from where he had been standing in the hall.
‘I want to get to the tunnel as soon as possible,’ Agang said.
‘It should take us no more than ten days,’ Chane said, ‘half the time it took the main army.’
Lomecht shot her a glance of undisguised hostility. He had made known his opposition to Chane speaking in public, especially without a head covering, several times to Agang since they had left Plateau City.
‘Thank you, Chane,’ Agang said. ‘Let’s get away as quickly as we can this morning. Lomecht, a word, please.’
Chane and the other Sanang left the hall.
‘Chief?’ Lomecht said.
‘I know you have a problem with Chane,’ Agang said, ‘but I expect you to be professional.’
‘I can’t help the way I feel, Chief,’ Lomecht said. ‘Women should leave politics and war to the men.’
‘Look around,’ Agang said. ‘Do you see any of our partners in the alliance acting in the same way?’
‘The other cultures of this world are sick and degenerate, Chief,’ he scowled.
‘Keep your temper when you’re talking to me.’
‘My beliefs are heartfelt,’ Lomecht said. ‘I thought you shared those beliefs, Chief, for they are the foundation stones of our culture. Badranga says you want to copy the other races, and corrupt our society and traditions.’
‘I want to pull Sanang up to where it belongs, as an equal nation of this world.’
‘If the price is the destruction of our way of life, then…’
‘Then what, Lomecht?’ Agang spat, his anger rising. ‘Do I have a problem with your loyalty?’
Lomecht looked surprised for a second, then he frowned. ‘I’m loyal, Chief,’ he said. ‘Loyal to Sanang. Is that the same as being loyal to you?’
Agang blinked. He noticed a few of the other delegates were eyeing Lomecht and him. As they were speaking in Sanangka, he doubted that many of them could understand the words they were saying, but it was clear they were arguing.
‘I appreciate your candour,’ he said, softening his expression, ‘and I’ll always have time for the opinions of my officers. All I ask is that you obey me. Will you obey me?’
‘Yes, Chief,’ Lomecht replied, but his eyes gave another answer.
Chapter 22
The Fire Within
Rahain-Occupied Plateau – 16th Day, First Third Winter 505
The boots of the squad crunched through the thick, hard frost covering the ground. The way was steep, and the ravine narrow. They came to the base of a waterfall, caught in a frozen spell of ice, and their breath hung like fog as they gazed at it.
While the Holdings and Sanang members of the squad shivered and complained about the searing cold, the Kellach were bearing it better. Keira had told the other peoples it was like spring back in Kell, and that they knew nothing of proper winter if a bit of frost was upsetting them.
Their squad had been in the second company of the combined battalion to depart the alliance army camped in the flat muddy fields next to the blocked-up tunnel entrance. They had waited two hours for the first company to move up the river, and then departed, the ten squads in their company keeping a few minutes between them. They had been warned about how treacherous the route was. Cliffs, crevices, ravines, all thickly wooded. About halfway up the mountain, the river froze over, and for water they had to start melting ice over fires.
Keira had not said anything about her journey down the same river, when she had fled Rahain the previous summer. She could barely recall the precise route at any rate, as it wasn’t as if she had known she would be coming back.
They climbed a steep ridge to the top of the frozen waterfall. Sergeant Bury gestured for them to keep moving.
‘Another hour till we take a break for lunch,’ she said, before a crossbow bolt struck her in the neck. She fell spiralling onto the solid river, then her body slid off the edge and down the waterfall, leaving a long smear of blood on the ice.
‘Get down!’ Niall shouted, and the squad dived for cover. There was a cry from Keira’s left, and she saw a Holdings trooper hit. Bolts clipped through the branches above her head.
‘We’ve got to get out of here,’ Kylon cried. ‘We’re being cut to shreds.’
‘Pull out,’ Niall called to the squad. ‘Back down the ridge.’
As Keira began to crawl, she stumbled over something. Pushing back the undergrowth, she saw a dead Sanang warrior from one of the squads sent on before them, three bolts protruding from his back. She grunted, and scrambled over the body, slipping and sliding back down the ridge to the base of the waterfall, where Bury lay broken on the ice.
‘Stay close to the side of the cliff,’ Niall shouted, as the rest of the squad piled down the slope.
‘Fucking ambush,’ Keira said. ‘They knew we were coming.’
‘Or they’re not stupid, and they took a guess,’ Niall said. ‘Either way, we can’t go back up that ridge.’
He looked around, counting. ‘We lost four,’ he said, ‘including Sergeant Bury. As corporal, I’m taking command of this squad, you hear me?’
The others nodded, excepting the two Sanang, who still couldn’t speak Holdings.
‘Keilyn,’ Niall thumbed at Fang and Brecht. ‘Tell them.’
‘Aye,’ she said. She turned to them. ‘Boys,’ she said in Sanangka. ‘Niall boss now.’
Leah chuckled.
‘Fucking shut it,’ Keira muttered.
‘I think it’s funny,’ Leah shrugged, ‘that you got picked to learn Sanangka, just because those two stupid apes still can’t speak Holdings.’
Niall nodded at one of the younger troopers. ‘Get back down the track, warn the next squad coming up. Request a mage-scout, we’re going to need to find another way round.’
‘Yes, sir,’ he replied.
‘Don’t call me sir,’ Niall said. ‘I’m not an officer.’
He turned to the Kellach.
‘Leah,’ he said, ‘get up the hillside, let us know if the enemy make any moves down the ridge. Take Bronald to watch your back.’
‘Watch her arse more like,’ Keira smirked.
‘Everyone else,’ Niall said, ignoring her. ‘Stay put.’
The rest of them huddled under the side of the cliff, while Leah and Bronald ran off.
‘Our squad just lost more soldiers than in the whole Rainsby shitfest,’ Niall said, shaking his head.
‘I hope I never see that fucking town again,’ Keira said. ‘Some of the shit those Sanang boys got up to was well wrong.’
‘The alliance should have sent those bastards up here instead of us,’ the young trooper Flora said. ‘Why do we always have to go first?’
‘We’re the Leftovers, remember?’ Niall grinned. ‘We got all the new training, as ground squads rather than cavalry troopers. We’re the best equipped for this job.’
‘Come on, Niall,’ Keira said, ‘we’re fucking fodder. We’re not on the books of the main armies, they don’t care if we live or die.’
‘Then we’ll have to make sure of it ourselves.’
There was a cry from the top of the ridge, and a Rahain soldier fell, landing a yard from where the squad crouched, an arrow in her chest.
Keira glanced over to Leah, and the Lach woman gestured with her hands.
‘What’s she saying?’ Niall asked.
‘Just the one,’ Keira said. ‘Lizards must have got curious, and wondered if we’d fucked off back down the mountain.’ She shrugged. ‘Well, they know better now.’
Niall stared at her. ‘Keilyn,’ he said, ‘I’m making you my second in the squad.’
She grinned. ‘About fucking time someone recognised my star quality.’
‘To be honest,’ he said, ‘back in Plateau City I thought you were all talk, but after seeing you in Rainsby... I know you fought in the war when the Rahain invaded your homeland. Did you have any command experience there?’
Kylon gave her a quick glance.
‘Not really,’ she said.
‘Learn fast, then.’
After an hour had passed, Leah gave a low whistle from where she was hidden.
‘More Leftovers,’ Keira said, watching Leah’s hand signals, ‘coming up the track. One mage.’
They watched as a column of alliance soldiers crawled up the icy slope towards them, keeping to the trees. Niall waved, and soon the base of the waterfall was crowded.
The newly arrived troopers parted, and a Holdings man approached the cliff. He was dressed in dark browns and greens, and his eyes had a hazy quality. On his shoulder was a discreet insignia, marking him as a scout commander.
‘I’m Benel,’ he said. ‘I hear you need a mage?’
The Holdings troopers quietened out of respect.
Benel listened as Niall gave a quick report of the situation.
He nodded, and took a step back, his eyes scanning the cliffs and tree tops above them. He knelt, and an aide crouched by him, whispering in his ear. He nodded to her, then focused his attention, and his eyes went blank.
‘Fucking freaky, that,’ Keira said, watching.
A moment later Benel shook his head, spluttering and coughing. His aide passed him a cigarette and a skin of water.
‘It’s as you feared, corporal,’ he said, looking up at them, his face drained. ‘The first company are dead at the top of the ridge. Looks like they were ambushed while they were eating. There are some survivors up there, lying injured, but I think they’ve been left as bait, as the Rahain could kill them easily if they wanted to.’
He rose to his feet, his aide supporting him.
‘At the top of the ridge several units of Rahain are dug in on the eastern flank, as the valley narrows. If you go back up there it will be a slaughter.’
‘Is there a way to get behind them?’ Keira asked.
‘Who are you?’
‘Keilyn,’ she replied. ‘Second to Niall.’
Benel looked amused, and smothered a smirk.
‘You got a problem with that?’
‘I hadn’t believed the Kellach Brigdomin were of leadership material,’ he replied. ‘I’m sure you’ll prove me wrong.’
The Magelands Box Set Page 74