by Duncan Lay
‘One is all we need. The odds would be unfair otherwise,’ Huw said loudly.
The Forlish chuckles turned to rumbles at that, and the smile vanished from Ward’s face.
‘Very well. Begin!’ he shouted.
Instantly the two guards hefted their shields and lumbered at Cadel, cheered on by the watching Forlish.
Cadel skipped to his right, towards the men’s left, their shield side. The closest guard simply swung his shield in a wicked arc, trying to knock Cadel down. But Cadel, without the weight of armour, slipped sideways, the shield missing him by a few inches, then he pivoted on his left foot and his sword whistled around until the flat of the blade struck the back of the guard’s helm. Only the chinstrap kept the helm on the guard’s head, but he was sent stumbling forwards, losing sword and shield as he fell to his knees.
The Forlish cheers were stopped in an instant and replaced by Velsh ones, then the second guard charged forwards, striking alternately with shield and sword. Armoured from head to toe, he was sure-footed in defence and fast in attack.
But not fast enough. Cadel danced around, deflecting sword strokes and dodging the shield blows. He was breathing easily, although the Forlishman was puffing and sweating with his efforts. Cadel kept circling around and it became obvious to all those watching that it was only a matter of time before he finished it. The Forlish cheers had fallen silent — even Wilfrid was not yelling encouragement.
Then Cadel moved around to where the first guard was sitting dazed. As Cadel moved in front of him the guard lunged and grabbed Cadel around the legs.
While the Velsh howled in anger at an apparently dead man coming back to life and taking part in the contest, the Forlish cheered in appreciation. The second guard saw his chance and raced in, looking to crush Cadel with sword and shield.
But Cadel did not panic. He smashed the pommel of his sword onto the top of the guard’s helmet. The man let go as he keeled over backwards. With no room to dodge, Cadel went under the swipe of a sword in a forward roll, coming up to touch his sword to the back of the second guard’s neck.
The Forlish cheers died instantly, while the Velsh roared and chanted Cadel’s name.
Sendatsu looked carefully at Ward, waiting to see his response, as did the nervous guards. After a long moment, Ward laughed and walked forwards, clapping his hands together.
‘A brilliant move.’ He applauded. ‘One that you practise often?’
‘I had no idea it would work as I’ve never tried it before,’ Cadel said, then added hastily, ‘Lord King.’
Ward showed no sign that he had not been given his due respect early enough. Instead he patted Cadel on the shoulder. ‘You must be the best the Velsh has to offer,’ he said.
Huw walked across also. ‘Actually, Lord King, he is just an average warrior.’
Ward smiled broadly. ‘A lie, but one that I like to hear. We shall fight well tomorrow. And I especially liked the way you did not kill my man, even though it put you in more danger. That we will all remember.’
The fallen Forlishman was helped to his feet and staggered off, supported by two of his comrades.
‘Until tomorrow morning then.’ Ward waved.
‘Until then, Lord King.’ Huw waved back.
Cadel had his back patted and hand shaken by the rest of the Velsh.
‘That showed them!’ Huw laughed. ‘Although you had me worried for a moment there.’
‘Only a moment? I was worried for a few.’ Cadel grinned.
Sendatsu smiled along with the rest, although he also looked over at the departing Forlish. They had made a big impression on them but he was concerned they had other plans. He would have been far happier had Wilfrid still been with them.
‘That stinking Velshman cheated,’ Wilfrid grumbled.
‘He beat them both — and beat them well. Even when a dead man came alive and held him,’ Edmund contradicted him.
‘You told me that there are no rules in war!’
Edmund sighed. ‘And that is right. But that was not war, it was a game. And we broke the rules and still lost. What does that tell you?’
‘That we need to crush the Velsh tomorrow after we beat the elves?’ Wilfrid asked.
‘It tells me that the Velsh can find ways to win. And that maybe it would be better to have them on our side,’ Edmund said.
Nobody looked at Ward but neither did they speak, as they waited for his reply.
‘It tells me we should have them working for me,’ Ward said finally. ‘My life’s work has been to bring together all human knowledge, all the lands under one ruler, so that all can benefit. The Velsh need to be part of that. In recognition of their help tomorrow, we should give them the chance to hand over their knowledge in peace. I will even leave Huw to rule their lands, as long as they obey me.’
‘Sire, we have to defeat the elves first —’
‘I know that. Now, let that be an end to the matter. The Velsh can help us but they shall bow to me, as will the elves.’
‘Did the Velsh harm you at all, my son?’ Mildrith asked.
‘No, they wouldn’t dare. They were always watching me though, obviously afraid of me,’ Wilfrid boasted.
Ward stepped closer to his son. That little voice in the back of his head, which kept telling him to do more for his son, was shouting now.
‘I am glad to have you back, glad to know that we shall fight together tomorrow,’ he said.
‘As am I, Father.’
‘Good. You will command half the cavalry, on the right wing. Captain Wulf will take the left wing and, Edmund, you will lead the infantry in the centre — which is where I shall be as well. We are not going to try anything that risks too many Forlish lives. Our cavalry will sting and move away, the infantry will keep the elven archers at a safe distance until they run out of arrows, then we shall close from all directions.’
‘And the Velsh? What about them? It seems that we are doing all the fighting and dying.’
‘We will keep the elven arrows off them as long as they keep the elven magic off us. If they cannot hold back the elven arrows, then we leave them behind, to slow down the elven pursuit. But if they help protect us then we deliver them to the elven lines and see if they really have as many good swordsmen as they claim.’
He watched Mildrith fuss over Wilfrid until Edmund stepped closer and dropped his voice.
‘Sire, is it wise to give the right wing to your son? It requires fine judgement to repeatedly charge and then break off before committing. Can Wilfrid handle that? Would it not be better for me to take the cavalry and Wilfrid to watch the shield wall, with you, where you can step in if necessary —’
Ward cut him off with the wave of a hand. ‘No,’ he said. ‘Wilfrid must show his worth in this battle. None can judge him if he is standing by my side, or if everyone thinks he is merely my puppet. He needs to be out there alone, showing what he can do.’
‘But the right wing, sire!’
‘I am keeping three hundred men back, just in case. If it comes to it, I shall ride out to rescue him.’
‘Sire, that is a great risk —’
‘That is for me to decide. And I trust my son!’
Wilfrid turned as Ward’s voice thundered out those words. ‘Thank you for this chance, Father. I shall not let you down,’ he promised.
‘See that you don’t. I am trusting you with our best men. I will give you only the most experienced troopers we have. The castellan will also ride with you. Seek his advice as if it were my own. The elves will try to lure you in close enough to gut you. You must threaten but break off, sweeping your men around them but never getting too close. They have to respond to the threat each time, loose their arrows to drive you back. You must charge at least ten times before attacking for real.’
Wilfrid hesitated, then spoke when Mildrith nudged him. ‘I hope I get the chance to come and save you tomorrow, Father, show our men that I am worthy.’
Ward laughed. ‘I would rather you don’t ha
ve to charge to save me, but rather to win the day!’
‘I won’t let you down. I will show you I am worthy of your name. I know I have disappointed you and made mistakes but Uffa’s death showed me I have to take a step forwards if I am to be prince in more than name alone. I want to make you proud of me.’
Ward looked at his son anew. Impulsively, he embraced him. ‘We will make a man of you yet,’ he promised. ‘I have not said it before but I am proud of you.’
29
Nothing is set in stone. If you want to change, then you must work at it, every day. It is just like archery or swordsmanship. You don’t wake up one morning an expert. You have to keep trying, until you get it right.
‘We cannot trust them,’ Rhiannon said softly. ‘They will seek to turn on us.’
‘I already expected that,’ Huw agreed. ‘We cannot let them survive this battle intact. We must protect them from Sumiko’s magic enough so that they think we are helping, but not so much that she does not take a huge toll of them.’
‘Sendatsu said I should do everything I can to stop Sumiko,’ Rhiannon pointed out.
‘Is he in charge of us? He plays his own game, as before. He wants to see the elves survive the battle unharmed, so he can rule them.’
‘I thought he wanted them as a new set of allies against the Forlish, so Ward would not get ideas about adding Vales to Forland?’ Rhiannon asked.
‘The elves betrayed us three hundred years ago. Now they seek to rule us. They are not going to give up that ambition unless their strength is gutted, as well. We need both Elfarans and Forlish to be exhausted and deeply wounded by battle’s end,’ Huw said.
Rhiannon nodded. ‘I agree that would be the best situation. But doing is always harder than saying.’
Huw stretched out. ‘True. Now, are we going to waste this last night by talking endlessly around in circles about things we already know?’
She leaned in and kissed him. ‘No.’
‘Well, she’s quiet now. But what are we going to do with her tomorrow? It’s not like we can just leave her with the baggage,’ Ruttyn said, as they watched Hild dozing off, stomach full of rich milk and exhausted by her crying.
They were sitting around the remains of the fire, surrounded by sleeping men. After days of hard rations and harder marching, a night of feasting had been the last straw for most of the company. They were sleeping like the dead, scattered around, snoring. It gave Caelin a funny feeling, looking over the camp like that, as if they were the only ones left alive out of the whole army.
‘I’m open to ideas. I thought there would be a few farming families around here but it looks like they have all rushed back to the city,’ Caelin admitted.
‘Anyone would think we were facing an army of invincible elves or something, the disloyal bastards.’ Harald grinned.
‘We know they aren’t invincible. We killed enough of them when we raided Dokuzen,’ Caelin said loudly.
‘You don’t need to impress us, sarge, nor the rest of the men. After what you did with that little girl, we’ll follow you through fire and magic,’ Ruttyn said.
Caelin looked around at the snoring soldiers. ‘They probably didn’t hear any of what we said anyway,’ he admitted.
‘What about the Velsh? I saw women in with them,’ Harald suggested.
‘What are you doing, looking at Velsh women?’ Ruttyn nudged his friend. ‘You told me your wife’s mother would have your knackers off with a rusty pair of clippers and be feeding them to the pigs before you could introduce yourself.’
‘Thanks for that image.’ Harald shifted uncomfortably. ‘If I dream about that, I’ll give you a whack over the head when I wake up.’
‘I don’t think they were ordinary women anyway. I think they were magical.’ Caelin had learned to keep a thread of conversation going, despite their byplay.
‘What, you think they might want a Forlish baby for some evil ceremony to give them power?’
‘If they need the blood of a Forlish virgin, we could always offer them yours.’ Harald poked Ruttyn.
‘Everyone’s asleep. We could just wander on up there and see what happens. They’re women. They can’t help taking babies,’ Caelin said confidently.
‘And you think we’ll be able to stroll through the camp with a small child without anyone asking us where we’re going?’
‘Yes.’
Ruttyn shrugged. ‘Then what are we waiting for? After seeing Harald’s little act for the sheep guards, I think anything’s possible.’
‘Here, I have brought you some fresh bread. It is quite good, and will sit easily on your stomach,’ Gaibun said.
Asami accepted the crusty loaf warily and held it in her hands. It smelt fine at the moment but she knew as soon as she began to eat, that smell would turn rancid.
‘You need to eat. You have to be strong for our child,’ Gaibun insisted gently.
‘And the battle tomorrow?’
‘The child is more important.’
‘Winning the battle might be. If we lose, how long will Sumiko let us live?’
Gaibun sighed heavily and sat down beside her. She shifted away from him a little.
‘We have had a few nights like this,’ he said.
Asami had nothing to say to that and, besides, she could see where this was going.
‘It reminds me of the night the Forlish were marching on Dokuzen and Daichi had ordered me to go out and stop them.’
‘Except it is not a few hundred greybeards and teenagers against thousands of soldiers. It is two armies against each other, evenly matched.’
‘Well, hardly evenly matched. Sumiko’s army has more magic, more warriors and all the bows. Despite what Sendatsu says, we have little chance.’
‘Do you think Rhiannon and I cannot stop Sumiko?’
‘I think we shall be lucky to live through tomorrow. And so I wanted to be with you on this, perhaps our last ever night together. I wanted to spend it with you and our child, the family I always wanted.’
‘Well, it’s not like you are going to be able to say anything to your child,’ Asami said wryly.
‘But I will. I have begun writing down things I want to tell him. If anything should happen to me —’
‘Gaibun, I am not in the mood,’ she said firmly.
‘What? Not in the mood to spend time with me, talk about the past and the child we shall share in the future?’
She looked at him. ‘I would be happy to talk about that but I know you have other things on your mind. You are going to try the same line that I fell for last time, about your dying wish to spend a night with me.’
‘That was no trick! I truly thought I was going to my death!’
‘And yet, here we are, talking about the same thing again. I warn you — I feel too sick to do anything other than sleep. And even if I was running around and flipping over with joy, I would not be doing anything in a field, in the middle of two armies!’
‘Do you think so little of me?’ he snarled.
‘Prove me wrong. Look into my eyes and tell me you are not planning to use our child to make me feel sorry for you.’
‘I don’t have to listen to this! You are wrong about me!’ he cried, jumping to his feet and storming away.
Asami sighed, pulled a piece of bread off and chewed it tentatively. She knew she was going to regret it but swallowed anyway.
‘Are you still sick?’ Sendatsu asked gently. ‘Have you eaten much?’
She looked up to see him walking towards her, coming from the opposite direction to which Gaibun had stormed off.
Asami groaned. ‘Did you have to remind me? I try to force it down, but keeping it in my stomach is the real battle.’ She hoped he was not going to try the same thing as Gaibun. She would really need to vomit then.
‘Let Rhiannon take the lead tomorrow. Save yourself for when Sumiko makes her move,’ he said.
Asami burped lightly. ‘And you thought I would never come up with that myself?’
Sendatsu grinned. ‘Well, obviously that was not my only reason for seeing you.’
Asami sighed. ‘Sit down then. I was wondering when you would come along. I didn’t think I could get through the night without a visit from you and Gaibun.’
Sendatsu smiled. ‘Are we that predictable?’
‘As me feeling sick in the morning.’
‘So has he been to talk to you?’
‘He has been to talk to me, and try the same line that I fell for before. “This is perhaps our last night, so I just want to spend it with you and our child.”’
‘I hope he was not planning to have much to say to the baby.’ Sendatsu smiled. ‘Because it’s a good many moons before it speaks — although after a few summers it’s getting them to be quiet that is the real trick.’
‘I had the idea that he really wasn’t worried about speaking to our child but more interested in making one,’ she said dryly. ‘If he had not already used that technique on me, I might have been willing to listen.’
‘Really? I would have thought you too nauseous to think of anything like that.’
‘Well, that is more correct,’ she agreed warily, wondering what line he would try.
Sendatsu sat down gently beside her. ‘Then I shall keep this short. Gaibun was right about one thing. We don’t know how things will go tomorrow and if we shall have the chance to speak again.’
‘Always nice to imagine the best.’
Sendatsu shrugged. ‘Both Huw and Ward are imagining what they will need to do after the battle is won, to give themselves control over the other. But I know what Sumiko is capable of. She has the finest fighting force these lands have ever seen. They don’t yet understand it. I only hope we have time tomorrow for them to realise what they need to do to stop her — and the will to do it. As for me, I am prepared to sacrifice myself to stop Sumiko, if that is what it takes — and it probably will. If we all live, it will be a miracle worthy of Aroaril.’
‘You don’t think He will come down and help us?’
‘Seeing as all the priests are on the other side, using their powers to heal Sumiko and her warriors as fast as they are cut, or get tired, I don’t like the chances of divine intervention.’