Forged in Fire (Destiny's Crucible Book 4)

by Olan Thorensen

  Brell smiled and addressed the group. “Any reason not to take Ser Preddi’s recommendation?”

  Head and hand motions showed no disagreement.

  “Fine,” said Brell, “we’ll include that in the final white paper.”

  “That summarizes item number one. Are there questions or comments?”

  Denes Vegga and Mulron Luwis wanted more details about the types of patrols.

  “We deliberately didn’t write down too many such details in this draft because we wanted to get input from men such as yourselves,” said Brell. “What are your suggestions?”

  For the next hour, Denes, Mulron, and Cirwyn Gwillamer, the hetman’s eldest son, contributed and discussed details, with other attendees adding comments. Maera and Riona took notes. Yozef saw that the two women worked with versions of the white paper that had double-spacing—allowing room to write in changes.

  When everyone seemed satisfied, Brell moved on.

  “Item number two is the problem of Narthani agents living within our provinces. We all know about those who participated in the assassination attempts, the one discovered in Abersford, and the several we uncovered by using what we learned about the Abersford spy’s methods. There’s no reason to believe more spies aren’t scattered throughout the provinces. We need to root out these people as much as possible. We can increase our lookouts for light signals along the coasts, but this is not sufficient. Maera Kolsko-Keelan has developed a potential description of a Narthani spy, and I’ll let her explain it to you.”

  Maera had created a “profile” of a Narthani spy at Yozef’s suggestion. He’d feared he’d watched too many TV series about profilers, yet she had several examples to model from. The Abersford spy had continued feeding phony reports to the Narthani, and the spy working at the Caernford semaphore station, Esyl Havant, was known by many Keelanders, including the station staff and the entire Keelan family. In addition, they had conducted extensive interviews with clanspeople who had known the dozen other spies so far revealed. Maera had studied all the reports, interrogated several exposed spies, and discussed her thinking with Yozef. He didn’t offer specific ideas of his own, because he wanted her undiluted opinions.

  Brell sat, and Maera rose and stood in front of the blackboard. “Keep in mind that this is hardly more than a guess at who might be a Narthani spy. However, I believe there are enough generalities to serve as a starting point for taking a closer look at who we might suspect.”

  Yozef thought Maera looked beautiful. She had her hair in a bun and wore a black dress to hide her feminine features, “to look more formal,” she insisted. He didn’t tell her it didn’t work.

  “And I want a room of men to listen to what I say,” she’d added. He hadn’t been able to convince her she didn’t need to worry about any of the men in the room not taking her seriously.

  “So what can we speculate that we should look for in a Narthani spy?” she asked. “We can’t start off assuming it could be anyone. Otherwise, it would be hopeless, so we eliminate original clan members and those who have lived in a different clan since before the Narthani came to Caedellium. Of the remainder, we focus on men, because they have more opportunity to move and, let’s be honest, women are not likely to risk themselves or their children by being spies. Any man who is a supposed escaped Preddi is obviously a prime suspect, as is any man who has recently moved from one clan province to another. We have examples of known spies matching those criteria.

  “We naturally focused our attention on Keelan Province, because that’s where we are. Hetman Keelan instructed the eleven boyermen to provide the cooperation of their district’s magistrates to assemble a list of potential spies. This list was then shortened, based on factors such as living where they had no opportunity to pass on messages or in isolated locations unlikely to be useful to the Narthani.

  “We deliberately excluded personal assessments of suspects—where clanspeople, even officials, have such positive opinions of a suspect that they might want to eliminate them from the list. We have our example here in Caernford with the spy who called himself Esyl Havant. He worked in the Caernford semaphore and was well known to the hetman’s family and thought to be a pleasant sort.”

  Only Yozef might have noticed the slight change in tone and deepening of facial lines when Maera mentioned the man who undoubtedly played an integral part in the assassination attempt at her birthday dinner. Her sister Anid’s death during the attack and her father’s and sister’s wounds were permanent reminders. Although Yozef didn’t look in the hetman’s direction, he also detected a shift in the hetman’s chair at Havant’s name.

  “I’m sure you realize this leaves us with a long list of people to check. Three hundred and twenty-seven names. However, we recommend a surprise search of the property of each man. This is how we confirmed the Abersford spy. If the search finds nothing to implicate the man, he is then told the reason for the search. Most innocent men will understand. If not, they can eat turds.”

  Yozef’s effort to introduce the phrase “tough shit” never worked. It was Balwis who understood the reference’s meaning and originated a phrase with a more Caedelli background. Although Yozef didn’t think “eat turds” had the right ring, the phrase spread after incorrect rumors said it came from Yozef Kolsko.

  Maera’s use of the phrase brought forth laughs from most of the listeners and a barely concealed choke from Culich.

  She let the laughter subside, then continued. “If we find no evidence, and the man actually is a spy, he’ll be on notice he’s a suspect. This should restrict his action, possibly even neutralize him. We also recommend that even if we find no evidence, the local magistrates keep an overt eye on men who raise any suspicions. This will reveal any future unusual activity and keep the men aware they are being watched.

  “While we don’t expect these measures to uncover all spies, we believe they will reduce information leaks to as low a level as practical.”

  Brell rose to stand as Maera finished. “The action we didn’t include is increasing coast watches for spies signaling ships. We assume all clans are already doing this, although they should consider whether their efforts are sufficient. That, along with more border patrols and efforts to reveal spies, should minimize as much as we can the Narthani from gathering new information on what’s happening within the eighteen free clans.”

  Questions and discussion continued for less than an hour. No one had any major objections or suggestions for change. Hetman Gwillamer said his clan was already doing as much as they could to watch for signals to ships, and Hetman Mittack noted that while his clan had few ex-Preddi living in the province, they had several small settlements of Moreland refugees he would have magistrates examine.

  With so few changes and strong support, the group spent another hour on wording changes, and the three hetmen approved the final draft. Hetman Mittack suggested that Yozef Kolsko’s name be added to the endorsement. The other two hetmen agreed, and Yozef thought he detected a satisfied expression on Maera’s face. Copies of White Paper No. 1 would be sent by rider relays to all the hetmen with an accompanying letter, stating that a semaphore vote would take place in one sixday. The topic of the vote? Accept or reject WP1. At the last All-Clan Conclave, the clans had agreed to allow semaphore voting on proposals, it not being practical to reassemble the hetmen for every major decision. The letter also reminded the hetmen not to send sensitive information via semaphore, unless dire circumstances dictated such a breach of security. A second white paper, to follow within a sixday, would describe a coding system to allow sensitive information to be sent over semaphore.

  Later that evening, while Aeneas slept and all the others residing in Keelan Manor had retired to their quarters, Yozef and Maera took a slow walk around the grounds. They were not alone, though no one was within hearing distance. Wyfor Kales had the evening’s watch command. He and three other armed men kept their distance, positioning themselves at four corners around their charges. A pistol and a knife
hung from Yozef’s belt, and a scabbard swung from the sash of Maera’s dress. Life had changed in Caernford.

  “Your status is different, Yozef,” Maera stated without preamble.

  “I know,” he replied in a tone implying agreement, resignation, and approval, all at once.

  “It’s been developing slowly, as evidenced from the meeting today. More hetmen are calling you by your first name, and you sit at tables with the hetmen, instead of behind them. The clearest signal was from Hetman Mittack today when he also prompted you to use his first name after Cadoc Gwillamer’s request. He’s normally . . . what do you call it? Officious? Insisting on formalities.”

  “And proposing the white paper be endorsed by me, along with the three hetmen,” Yozef confirmed.

  “Yes. There’s no question you’re moving to be considered, if not of equal rank with hetmen, at the minimum someone whose views are equally . . . no, not equally . . . that isn’t quite right. I should say someone whose views are those the hetmen need to consider carefully. And there are a few times when it’s almost as if your views are bordering on orders, although I wouldn’t say that publicly.”

  “I’ve seen it, too, Maera. I have mixed feelings about it. I’ve made no pretense, at least to you, of my hesitation to take on direct responsibility, but somehow things have changed for me. Maybe it’s the continuing threat of the Narthani and the need to do something permanent about them, but I think it’s what occurred that night. What nearly happened to you and Aeneas still makes me feel ill, not to mention poor Anid and the others. Added to that is how I acted. I might thank God for Kales’s training, though I still haven’t come to terms with how I fought that night. I killed men by my own hand for the first time and didn’t regret it, as I thought I would. Then there’s the Narthani, or whoever he was, that I killed, even though he was helpless. Part of me wants to feel guilty, and I don’t, which makes me feel guilty for not feeling guilty. How this contributed, I don’t know, but I’m accepting the idea of responsibility more and more. I even feel impatient at times when a suggestion I have isn’t accepted immediately. Does any of this make sense?”

  Maera held his arm tighter. “I think everything you did then and now feel makes perfect sense to everyone else except you. As for how you’ve changed, if you’ve changed, I still see the husband I love. I know you struggle with things I don’t always understand. I hope you know you always have all my support.”

  Chapter 5: A New Plan

  Although meetings consumed Yozef’s time, two topics dominated his thinking. He and Maera had talked about one of them the evening after presenting White Paper No.1—his stature among the hetmen. As uneasy as he felt, he had become more comfortable with it and saw the advantage of implementing a coalescence in his thinking.

  The second topic was the proposed invasion of Preddi Province. The clans had agreed, in principle, that to rid Caedellium of the invader, they had to conduct a direct attack on Preddi Province. They had not set specific plans or a timetable, only decided that the clans would increase preparations and training in readiness. Yozef spent tense hours mulling over exactly how the clans could drive the Narthani off the island and do so without catastrophic casualties.

  Yozef faced a familiar conundrum. He knew he wasn’t qualified to plan a major military campaign, yet if he didn’t do it, who among the islanders would? Denes Vegga, Mulron Luwis, and Hetman Welman Stent all showed more inherent tactical sense than Yozef would have predicted, though they still lacked enough practical experience for Yozef to trust any plan they devised. Whether his skepticism was justified, he couldn’t judge.

  Four months after the last All-Clan Conclave, and after Carnigan had inadvertently made him realize they had no long-term plan to rid Caedellium of the Narthani, Yozef felt as satisfied as he ever would about a campaign he devised. He’d brought Maera into his thinking in the last two sixdays, and now they, along with Denes Vegga and Mulron Luwis would go over the plan, the latter two hearing it for the first time.

  Yozef deliberated omitting a presentation of this preliminary version of his plan to the main clan leaders. Although the hetman and his two chief advisers, Pedr Kennrick and Vortig Luwis, Mulron’s father, would be brought into the planning, at this point Yozef wanted input only from the two Keelan men who had either led men in battle (Vegga) or conducted extensive maneuvers with the new units (Mulron Luwis). Denes urged that two others be present, Arnstr Sixwith, a Keelander, and Poul Kildorn, an Oroszian. Both were majors in Denes’s rapid reaction force that carried out the raid into the edges of Preddi Province. At the last minute, Yozef also asked Balwis to attend. Yozef had become more impressed with the escaped Preddi after Balwis led the attack on Erdelin and with his handling of the mixed Preddi/slave platoon.

  Yozef waited until the last of the planned attendees arrived and sat, then he unveiled a chalk-drawn map of the southwest quarter of Caedellium. It elicited murmurs at the arrows drawn from free clan territories into Narthani-controlled provinces.

  “What you see are the basic movements I envision for a plan to attack the Narthani and drive them off Caedellium. I see this only as a skeleton plan that needs input from other people, but I believe it contains the basic elements of what we need to do. I’ll go over the current version of my ideas, and then we can begin discussions.

  “To begin, I consider the basic strategy to rid Caedellium of the Narthani, with the tactics divided into three parts: cutting Selfcell and Eywell provinces out of Narthani control; isolating Preddi City from the rest of the province; and the siege of Preddi City, where we expect most Narthani to concentrate.

  “First, we need to prevent the Selfcell and Eywell clans from supporting the Narthani. Even after their losses at Moreland City, the Eywellese could put three thousand men against us. The Selfcellese could do four to five thousand. Even if they aren’t as dangerous as the professional Narthani soldiers, seven to eight thousand clan allies give the Narthani more options and would inevitably cost us casualties. We’d like to avoid major fighting with those two clans.”

  “How do we do that?” interjected Denes. “If they support the Narthani, what choice would we have?”

  Yozef turned to the blackboard and pointed to two arrows from clan territory aimed at northern Preddi Province. “I propose we form two clan forces, one to launch from the Dornfeld district and follow the same route the southern rapid reaction force used on its raid. A second force will launch from the same position that the northern rapid reaction force used to tie down the Eywellese. However, this time, instead of a thousand men in each force, we’ll have approximately ten thousand in each, and the purpose is not to threaten and withdraw. We’ll hold the ground and force the Narthani into their defenses. The Northern Force will bypass Hanslow, the Eywell capital, and drive straight through the heart of Eywell to stay in tactical contact with the Southern Force. The two of them will threaten Preddi City and drive to cut Sellmor, the Selfcell capital, off from Preddi. I doubt Hetman Selfcell will abandon his province and people to flee into Preddi. What I expect to happen is the Selfcellese will concentrate around Sellmor in as defendable a position as they can find or construct. While I know not all of you agree, I think there’s still a chance we can turn Selfcell against the Narthani.”

  Balwis harrumphed at the Selfcell hope, then said, “What about the Eywellese? You can’t expect them to come back to us, and even if they did, I doubt the clans would accept them back.”

  “The Eywellese are different. We need to recognize that Hetman Eywell is . . . or, should I say, wasn’t synonymous with every Eywell clansperson. Owill reports that a good portion of the Eywellese were never in favor of cooperating with the Narthani. Many of them felt they had no choice once their hetman made the alliance. I also understand that several hundred Eywellese crossed into southern Moreland and northern Keelan in the last months—seeking refuge with relatives living in those provinces. I can’t predict with certainty, but I won’t be surprised if we find out a sizable fraction of the E
ywell population is eager to get out from under the Narthani and be accepted back by the other clans, and I doubt most Eywellese have any desire to fight other clansmen. Time will tell.

  “I know,” said Yozef to forestall arguments. “I can’t predict the chances of it happening. However, if there’s a chance, I think we need to take it.

  “I envision Hetman Stent commanding the Northern Force. Their first objective is to drive to the sea south of Sellmor and isolate the Selfcellese and eventually threaten Preddi City once Selfcell is neutralized. The direct attack on Preddi City will not be immediate. Instead, both of our forces will compel the Narthani to stay within their defenses, while part of our men sweep south to finish isolating Preddi City from the rest of Preddi Province. Once Preddi City is isolated, they won’t be drawing supplies from the rest of the province.”

  No one asked about Yozef’s oversight in not saying who would command the Southern Force. He needed to talk with Culich, and he worried that the hetman would expect Vortig Luwis to be in command, something Yozef couldn’t agree with. If not Vortig, then who? Denes Vegga and Mulron Luwis had the most command experience in direct fighting or training with a regiment. However, ten thousand was the size of a division. Command and control issues multiplied geometrically, not linearly, with size.

  “The final objective, attacking the Narthani in and around Preddi City, will start only when the first objectives are secure. Then all forces will combine and begin a siege of the city. I’ve warned you before that a siege can be protracted. We will try to negotiate with the Narthani commander for the evacuation of all their people from Caedellium and thereby avoid an actual siege.”

  “Let them go!” exclaimed Balwis. “After everything they’ve done? The tens of thousands of dead and enslaved, thousands of whom were taken away and will never be free to return home! We should kill every Narthani before we let any of them leave.”