by C. E. Swain
"Then what are we to do?" Gaston asked the old solder.
"I don't know, but I do not trust Chidren's military experience." Mareston replied. "So far he has done everything wrong."
"We travel in the land of the enemy but we have no outriders or cavalry to protect the men if the enemy attacks." Gaston said. "And at the pace we are moving, the men will be tired before we can reach the castle."
"When we do reach the castle, stay with the main force, and let the men Chidren assigned to the cavalry do the running around." Mareston told the cavalry leader. "If the attack does not go according to Chidren's plans, we may not be sacrificed to allow him to escape."
"That is the best idea that I have heard since the plans were changed, and we were all recalled to the camp." Gaston said. "If it does go bad, we will have as good a chance of escaping as Chidren."
"All of the veterans of the wars in the east that are here with us, are with me in the plan to attack the castle with a bit more caution." Mareston said. "They are dismayed by some of the choices our leader has made along the way, and are afraid he does not know anything about siege warfare. There are enough men who are no better than outlaws to attack the castle with blind faith, when Chidren gives the order, that we do not need to be among them."
"I hope we are not attacked before we reach our objective." Gaston said. "For the cavalry will not be able to help if we are."
"I know the land will level off soon, and, before we are within two weeks of the castle it will start to drop again." Mareston said. "I learned that from the months we sent the men out as brigands."
"If that is the case then we may yet have mounted solders to fight with when the battle does begin." Gaston said, feeling better about the condition the horses would be in when they arrived. "But I am still worried about my men."
"As am I." Mareston said. "But we can only wait and see if Chidren's information is correct."
"That is true." Gaston replied. "And we will find out soon enough."
It was well after midday of the next day, and more than two weeks after crossing the fords, when Chidren called a halt to the march and ordered the camp set up. Mareston did not question the orders, but made sure they were carried out as quickly as possible.
"Tell the men we will be leaving again at first light." He told Mareston. "Have my tent set up. And bring me the chest with the stone."
"I have already ordered the tent set up, and I will have the chest brought right away." Mareston replied, and walked away in the direction of the supply wagons.
"Have your men ride patrols around the camp." Chidren said to Gaston when he arrived. "We will be staying here for the night."
"Yes sir." Gaston replied, and rode back to where his men waited, to carry out his orders.
Chidren sat in the tent, and waited for the box to be brought from the supply wagons. He had ordered the camp set up earlier than usual, because the time had come to report their progress to the mage king, and he needed to use the stone in private.
The conversation lasted far longer than usual, and Chidren was told many things by the mage king. The castle was to be taken regardless of the cost to his men, and he was to report back to Kath when it was done. The regent was to be held in the dungeons along with his wife, and the traitor was to be killed as soon as he was found. The others he could do with as he pleased, but Arnoran made it clear that the punishment for failure would be harsh.
The men built their fires, but did not set up tents for the night, because they would have to get up earlier the next morning to take them down again. The days of moving at the pace Chidren demanded, was taking its toll on them, and the men needed all the rest they could get. Most of the men cooked their supper and went to sleep, hoping to be rested for the miles they would put on the next day. Their supper consisted of mainly meat, but they also received, a loaf of bread for every four men. It was not the best diet that the men could have had, but it was more than enough to keep them going until the castle was taken.
The next morning, as the men began to make their way to Argnon once again, Mareston made sure the pace was slower than in the days before. The ground had begun to level out, and by the end of the day, was no longer climbing. The trees grew fewer in number as they moved farther southeast, and the siege weapons were able to keep pace with the army, without the need for the extra horses. That gave Gaston his cavalry back, but the horses still needed to be rested if they were to be of any use when they arrived.
Mareston was surprised at the lack of concern Chidren showed in the slower pace in which the men traveled, and wondered why. He was even more alarmed when Chidren ordered Gaston to assemble the cavalry, and ride ahead of the main army. He was ordered to use his outriders once again, and to keep watch for spies along the way. At least he was using his solders in the way they were designed Mareston thought, but that worried him even more. Something was not going quite according to Chidren's plans, but he did not seem to be all that concerned about it.
The traveling was easier now that the land had become level again, and the men covered enough ground each day that Mareston believed they would reach the castle within the two months Chidren had planned. His biggest concern was the condition of the men when they arrived at their destination, and their ability to use the siege weapons in the attack. If they were too tired, the attack would be slower, and the defenders would have more time to prepare for it.
Chidren believed the castle would surrender when they saw the weapons to be used against them, but Mareston did not. He expected to have to storm the walls, and reach the gates before that happened. The losses in the south had taught him not to under estimate the empire, or those who defended it.
Gaston rode far enough ahead of the main army, to reach the place where they would be camping for the night, and had the men rest the horses for most of the day. He did that for two straight days, and by the end of the second day, felt the horses had recovered from the many days of pulling the wagons. The patrols he had sent out during that time had seen no sign of the forces of the west, or even signs of a scout or lookout. It seemed strange to Gaston that they had not, and that they had seen no signs of the patrols, which would normally protect to people of the land around the castle. He expected them to avoid the towns that they had burned, but for them to abandon all of the people of the north did not seem right.
With the horses better rested, Gaston kept within sight of the main army, as they made their way slowly southeast. The trees began to give way to the farmlands of the west, but there were no people in the towns and villages they passed along the way. The fields were bare and the buildings were empty, and Gaston saw no reason to burn them and give away their position.
The main army was two weeks from the castle when Tarkrin spotted the scout, and reported it to Gaston. It was the first sign that the empire was aware of their progress, and he did not want the man to return with his information.
The riders searched for the scout, but to their surprise, he was nowhere to be found. It was not until several hours later that Tarkrin, Gaston's best tracker, discovered the tracks, and reported them to Gaston. He followed the tracks for several miles, but they began to get harder to locate, and soon disappeared completely. It was obvious that the scout who had made them was no longer in the area, but Gaston believed he would be seen again when they were closer to the castle.
That evening when the army caught up with Gaston and his cavalry, Chidren was informed of the scout and his escape. He was angry about the lost opportunity for information, but agreed with Gaston on the possibility that the scout could be captured closer to the castle. Chidren did not believe the information the scout could have gathered about his army, would help the defenders of the castle in any way, but the information he carried about the defenses of the castle would be of great importance to him.
Gaston waited beside the fire, for the rider he had sent to search the area ahead of the camp, to return. He hoped the rider would see the light of a campfire, which would ma
rk the place where the enemy scouts hid, and return with the location of their camp. It was not until sometime later that the information he sought reached him, but it was not what he wanted to hear. The rider found the remains of a fire, but it was hours old, and the men who had used it were long gone.
Mareston arrived at the campsite used by Chidren at the same time as the messenger, and listened as he gave his report. Chidren was furious by the news, and he knocked the messenger to the ground, before turning to Mareston.
"I will not stand for anymore failures." He said. "This had better be the last bad news I receive."
"There was no need to hit the messenger." Mareston said. "His was not the failure."
"He brought the message." Chidren replied.
"Then I will have the messengers report to me." Mareston replied. "And I will relay the information they bring to you"
"Why?" Chidren asked in a harsh tone. "It will just take longer for me to receive the information we need."
"The messengers are not responsible for the reports they bring," Mareston replied. "And should not be punished for doing their job."
"I care nothing about those men." Chidren said. "Why should you?"
"Because they are under my command." Mareston said. "And it is the commanders job to protect his men."
"Have it your way." Chidren said. "Just see to it that I am informed of all that happens."
"We will be at the castle in less than two weeks." Mareston said. "There is a chance that we will have another scout to capture before we do, but if not, it is because they hide in their castle."
"We will see." Chidren said, and dismissed the old solder with a wave of his hand.
Gaston sent riders out at night for the next three nights, but they could find no trace of the enemy scouts. He doubled the outriders as they traveled each day, in an effort to better their chances of locating some sign of the enemy, but found nothing that led them to believe the enemy scouts were anywhere near their location. What tracks they did find, were many days old, and always ended within a few miles of being discovered.
When the feeling came over Gaston that something was wrong, his men were less than a week from the castle. That night, as the men of the army arrived in the camp, they could see the glow in the sky of the fires around Argnon in the distance. Gaston found Mareston returning from his daily report to Chidren, and they talked as they walked to where Mareston's tent stood.
"Something is not right about the absents of enemy scouts." Gaston said to the old solder. "How can they defend the castle, if they do not know where we are, or, when we will arrive?"
"They know exactly where we are." Mareston said. "They do not need scouts to see us, because they can see our fires like we can see theirs. Besides, there is at least one elf among them, and they can see much farther than you suspect."
"How do you know there is an elf with them?" Gaston asked, curious about how the man received his information. "No one has returned from any of the battles that we fought to give us any reports on the empire's forces."
"Because of the traitor." Mareston said. "He reported that an elf prince had arrived at Argnon at the same time as the warrior in the dragon armor, and that was not by chance I'm sure."
"But it could have been." Gaston replied. "The reports did not say much."
"I spotted him when the warrior in the dragon armor attacked the monastery in the south." Mareston added. "He was one of the men who came into the monastery through the catacombs below the chapel."
"Where were you when they attacked?" Gaston asked. "To avoid being killed yourself."
"The battle began as I was leaving to meet the reinforcements on the road, that were arriving from the camp we had set up in the south." Mareston said. "And that was when I heard the roar behind me. After that I was recalled to Avren's camp in the northeast."
"What was the roar you heard?" Gaston asked, even more curious than he had been before.
"I do not know." Mareston said. "But the more I think about it, the more I tend to believe the stories of the dragon to be true."
"Then we had better keep our eyes open." Gaston replied. "And be ready for anything."
"That is good advice." Mareston said. "It could be the difference between living and dying in the days to come. Do not lead your men from the front, and keep the more experienced of your men around you from now on."
"So you feel it too?" Gaston asked.
"Yes, something will happen soon." Mareston replied. "But all we can do is to wait for it to happen. Chidren does not see the danger to the men around him, because he does not care about them, so we must be ever vigilant."
"Yes, I agree." Gaston said, as he mounted his horse again. "My cavalry will stay closer to the main body of the army, and watch for the enemy."
Gaston turned his horse in the direction of his men, and rode slowly through the fires of the main camp. Thanking about all Mareston had said, he decided to do as the old solder had suggested, and keep the veterans of the cavalry that had been with him since before they came to the empire, with him in the back of the formation. The outriders would be doubled, and they would always be within sight of the army.
Two days later, the lead outrider reported the stream that was not far ahead, and Gaston gathered his men to help the siege weapons make the crossing. He allowed half of his men to lead the army to the only place that the siege weapons could cross, while the other half would help pull them.
The main body of the army was not far behind, and Chidren ordered the cavalry to wait for them before crossing. It was a mistake he would come to regret later, but at the time he did not care. It was not until he reached the stream himself, that he would learn of his mistake, and his anger would once again rise within him.
*****
Saesic looked on in horror as the forces of the empire began to arrive around Argnon. He watched as the camps of the Lost Cavalry began to appear just south of the great road, and could not believe the number of horsemen each camp held. It was just by chance that the hill he used to elude capture was behind them, and was not searched by the patrols. Though they did not discover his hiding place, he was trapped on the hill, and could not escape.
The first army led by Javen arrived at the same time as the last of the warriors of the Lost Cavalry, but Saesic was not concerned until the second army arrived, and camped in the trees east of Argnon. He believed the mage king would still take the castle, even though the empire had more men to defend it than they believed possible, but it would be harder than they thought. Saesic thought about ways to get the information to the approaching army, but could see no way passed the warriors of the empire. Twice he crept down the hill in the direction of the road, but was almost discovered both times, and soon gave up.
Saesic woke early that morning, and was shocked to see the dragon sitting on the tower of the castle. He became fearful of his freedom when Menimeth arrived with the third army, and he realized the number of defenders was far more than even the forces of the mage king could handle. For the first time in more than two years, he began to realize that the castle would not be lost, and that his father would remain the regent.
His plans changed from waiting for the battle to end so he could take his place as the new regent, to fleeing south as soon as the battle started. He hoped the men in the camps around him would go north when it did, so he would be able to escape undetected. South was his only hope of escape now, but he would have to leave the empire behind completely, if he was to avoid eventually being captured.
He began to pack all of the items he could carry in a bag to put on the back of his horse, but knew he would have to leave most of it behind. It would be weeks before the forces of the mage king arrived, and the chance for him to escape to arise, but he wanted to be ready when it came. He kept the bags he packed, close to where his horse was tied, and settled down to wait for the events that were already in motion, to present him with the opportunity he needed to escape.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Saesic was jolted awake by the sound of many horses as they passed below the hill in which he was hidden. They were all moving west very quickly, and he decided that something out of the ordinary was happening in the camps south of the road. The sun was not yet up, and he could still see the light from the fires of the warriors who camped around the castle, and he realized something was different about them as well.
He began to think that the time had come he had been waiting for, and he slowly crept around the hilltop to the north, but could see no sign of the mage kings forces in the distance. He could not see the light from their fires in the distance, which would have given him some idea of where the army was located, and he wondered why he could not. Gathering all he intended to take with him when he went south, Saesic made his way as quietly as he could to where his horse was hidden, and prepared to make his escape. He had been on the hilltop for a very long time and he was running out of supplies, but leaving the hill had not been possible with all of the solders camped around him.