“So this will be the way we get past the blockade to our destination on Harbeet River?”
“That’s right. Look over here, Blan, and you will see the urgency.” He turned her attention to the city. She raised the telescope to her eye.
Outer Wall was about two leagues away to the east. Blan followed its curve around to where it met the coast on the north of the city, and then she followed it to the south, down to Southport River where she could see Seventh Fort, the great bastion where the wall met the river some four leagues away. The city was unusually busy, but that was not what disturbed her.
She should have expected it, but actually seeing it laid out in all its horrific magnitude was a shock. The enemy had arrived in Outer Plain and its army was vast beyond anything that Blan had imagined.
“Other armies are sweeping down from the north and from Glorz River,” Carl confirmed. “When they reach the sea they will come here to join the besiegers. We may be able to hold them off at Outer Wall for a week or two, but they will eventually wear us down and take the wall and the city. There are just too many of them for us.”
“I can’t see any sign of fighting out there,” Blan remarked.
“They are assembling siege engines, catapults and camps just out of range of our artillery. They are preparing for a long siege and are in no hurry. Black Knight or Queen Rega, whoever is in charge now, is taking no risks. They know that a premature attack by their ramshackle army would lead to chaos in which many of us could escape in sufficient force to sustain a guerrilla war for years to come. They want to annihilate us with meticulous thoroughness. They are making sure that everything is in place before they attack.”
“How will you respond?” Blan asked.
“We can’t afford to risk an open battle against so many, so we will carry on using guerrilla tactics. We mount raids at night. We sneak out and attack their supply lines or get our agents already in the field to do so. Our fleet in the Archipelago continues to harry the enemy’s supply lines and to land commandos along the shore. Most of all we need to cut off the enemy’s food supply. That is where your plan has merit. If we succeed in denying them food, then we hope that their mercenaries will start to desert in large numbers.”
“Then there is no time to waste,” Blan cried. “I must set out for Harbeet River without delay, but I need help. Who will go with me?”
“We always keep a warship near the underground river exit at Cave Island. Arnapa will guide you there and Serunipa will take charge of the ship. There will be a good crew and some commandos ready for action. We will ask Count Nargin to spare some warships to launch an attack on the small enemy garrison at the ruined port at the mouth of Harbeet River. The enemy will be surprised because the port offers no obvious advantage in the war; the supplies that the enemy brings through Fork Pass now come to the sea via Congloot City and Congloot River, south of the Harbeet. That is where an attack would be expected and, indeed, that is where we shall also launch a diversionary attack from the sea, just as soon as the attack on Port Harbeet has given Serunipa enough cover to take you up river to where you need to be. Meanwhile, we hope that our attack at Congloot River will distract the enemy’s Earth Wizards at Congloot City long enough for you to shut down their Geode.”
“When can I leave?”
“Tonight!”
Now it had come to it, Blan was not so sure that she had enough energy left to get moving again so quickly. Carl saw the look on her face.
“By dawn, anyway,” Carl smiled.
They stood in silence for a while, looking east toward Outer Plain where the greatest immediate danger lay, or so they thought. Had they turned slightly left, they might have seen a rapid movement at the top of the stairs as the silhouette of a head quickly retreated into the shadow. However, neither of them noticed this, nor were they aware that their conversation had been overheard.
Grand Vizier of Krar
Balance of Doubt
Balance of Doubt is the third chronicle in the series, after Strings of Destiny and Fulcrum of Power. Unaware that her truelove yet lives, Blan sets out on another desperate mission to thwart the enemy. Port Fandabbin, bastion of freedom, is besieged and blockaded. If Blan succeeds, the tide of war may turn, at least for a while. If she fails, the enemy’s victory is inevitable. Meanwhile, Blan faces new danger from Queen Rega, Black Knight’s older sister, who has taken direct control of the imperial forces. Rega seeks extermination of all Dabbinans and execution of both Blan and Memwin. If anyone thought that Black Knight was the most evil person in the world, they could not have met Queen Rega… or perhaps everyone is misled… what of the secretive and psychopathic Order of Chains and its Grand Master in waiting, the new Count Prokkanix, descendant of Praalis’s old adversary?
Grand Vizier of Krar Page 52