“I presume you don’t have the same faith in these stories as those who write them did,” Lorne grinned. He didn’t either. Tales like these were for children. There had been no signs of great wealth in the Valley, unless you counted the beauty of the land. It was undoubtedly a beautiful place to live, peaceful and productive. He didn’t doubt the right type of men could become very wealthy in such an environment, but it wouldn’t be easy or simple. It would take a lot of hard work, and while soldiering wasn’t a simple life, he still preferred it to mining or working the land.
General Anton could sense the wheels turning in Lorne’s mind and he let the man think. He had a good impression where those ideas were taking him. The Crown Prince was a soldier and General at heart, not a farmer. He wouldn’t see the wealth in the same way as the Elves did, and he had gotten the impression from the ancient tales, the Elves idea of wealth was definitely different than most of the men he knew. The stories he now thought were probably the truth about them revolved around their love of the land and the beauty of the forest. Treasure that dwelled deep within the earth was for Dwarves and men. Dragons were a whole different matter.
General Anton had seen for himself how powerful Dragons were, and he doubted if there was much that scared them. They were the true Warlords of this world, and as luck would have it, there weren’t many. If there were, the world would be a much more dangerous place to live in. He wondered if anyone would see the real extent of what Dragons truly cared for. He had a feeling. From what he saw the White Dragon deliver, this was their idea of justice. When it came to fighting, the beast would have no equal, and he feared, no conscience. If someone got in its way, that person would die.
When Lorne noticed General Anton staring off into space, he cleared his throat to remind him of the question he posed earlier.
General Anton smiled apologetically and answered, “No, I don’t believe the outrageousness of those stories. Although, I will admit, now that I have seen those creatures in action for myself, I do think they exist. I get the feeling, however, that their sense of value is much different than ours. It will undoubtedly be much more complex than our beliefs that jewels and gold will solve all of our problems.”
“I know they have access to such things. I have seen them,” Lorne pointed out, then grinned and admitted, “I also saw those things turn to dross and glass, which told me they have a mean sense of humor. They know these are things we value and would use them against us when possible. They also have no use for them personally, even if they use metals of great value to show their own status. It is not the same thing though, is it?”
“Definitely not,” General Anton agreed. “A Good example of that would be the Female Elf your men captured. I got the impressions she would value a good horse and a couple of superiorly crafted swords more than the most expensive jewels made by mankind.”
“I have seen her in battle,” Lorne sighed in remembrance. “In a fight, she is a thing of great beauty, even more than when she is standing still. I think the picture of her in battle mode is one I will carry with me the rest of my life.” He then changed the subject. “So, beyond the knowledge your memories can bring us, what else do you want him here for? Will he bring a massive war machine along with him, supported by equal amounts of manpower?”
“He will definitely bring an army, although it will be no match for mine. I took the cream of his troops when I left. But, like the Elves, there are things I value more than gold and jewels. He will undoubtedly bring her along as well,” General Anton stated.
“Your daughter,” Lorne guessed. It didn’t take much imagination to come up with that answer. General Anton’s feelings were in the open for anyone to see whenever he spoke about his girl. It showed in his expression, as well as in the tone of his voice. To him, she was worth all the Kingdoms on earth rolled into one. He would die for her if need be. Lorne only hoped the young girl was worth the sacrifice. The man had not seen her in five years, and during all of this time, she had been under the influence of the evil King. For all they knew, she could be as evil now as those this person surrounded himself with. It wouldn’t be the first time something like that happened. Grown men were known to crack under such pressure, and she was only one small girl child. It was easy to corrupt the innocent.
Lorne figured he probably saw more than General Anton hoped and suspected the man knew it, but figured there was nothing he could do about it. He was right, and at the same time, he got the impression that if he dealt fairly with him, it might work out in his favor. The man was wily and world wise. It might be a good thing to have him on his side. With this in mind, he decided it was time to get down to business. They had sounded each other out for long enough.
“Now that we have gotten this far in our newly forged partnership, what do you suggest we do next?” Lorne asked.
“Now it is time to gather Donahue and your most trusted men and go into the wilderness to see what he found. I will make sure my engineers will cooperate with you, which is something they have been reluctant to do,” General Anton pointed out.
“Why do you think this will change so suddenly?” Lorne questioned.
“Because I say so,” General Anton declared. He knew his men and were sure of where their loyalties lay. If he told them this is what he wanted them to do, they would be sure he wouldn’t send them on a mission without a good reason. He could think of nothing more worthy than the wellbeing of his daughter.
Lorne doubted if it would be this easy with the engineers. He felt it would be foolish to trust anything they said or did, but he had the good sense not to speak his thoughts aloud. What they were being asked to do was work for the enemy, which he was certain was how they viewed him. It would be a simple thing for them to build a bridge capable of collapsing under the massive weights it would be expected to support. Something like that could mean the destruction of the most essential part of his army. What he knew, and they might not, was that he had his own set of engineers. They were ones he could trust, and he would get them to work together. They would not be presented to General Anton’s men for what they were, and he would order them not to use their ranks, so no one would suspect the lack of trust that existed between them. If anything was awry, they would soon tell him about it.
When Lorne thought further about the matter, he decided he would get his men to watch what the other experts were doing and then ask what they considered pertinent questions. General Anton’s engineers might think they were either interested in learning more or were just curious. Either way, the idea was not to seem too informed about what was going on.
General Anton stifled a smile. He found Lorne easy to read, although he got the impression that the Prince thought otherwise. Unless he missed his guess, this man would bring his own experts along and he was sure they existed. No one with the expertise and reputation these men had in war would travel without a proper support staff. To do so would be like riding a mule into battle. It would get you to where you were going. But, under the first assault of a trained warhorse, it would falter.
At the thought of the upcoming battle, General Anton’s mind turned towards what he considered more important matters. If he was to have anything to do with planning out a campaign against another powerful Kingdom, he would want to know how well-provisioned the enemy forces were, as well as how they fought.
“Tell me,” General Anton began his questioning, “Did you see the Elven Army coming at you?”
Lorne frowned at the enquiry, then answered, “It happened so fast, I can’t say I know where they came from.”
This surprised General Anton. He had expected to hear this General Eagle Claw had led her forces over the land at a gallop, not that they seemed to appear out of nowhere. What did Lorne mean? “Care to explain?”
“We had already engaged the enemy when mounted men and women suddenly came at us from every direction. They hadn’t been there earlier. The Dragons also seemed to just appear in the air. I never saw a battlefield disintegrate so f
ast in my life.”
“I presume they were all well-armed,” General Anton pressed for more information.
“The Elves that were riding horses had enough weapons on them that they bristled like a bunch of porcupines,” Lorne reported. “Those that were on foot had fewer, but they fought more with bow and arrow and never seemed to miss whatever they aimed at. The Dragons seemed to be able to know where to strike and when. I didn’t notice any of our enemy’s troops fall prone to their flames. It was uncanny.”
“How about this General Eagle Claw you speak of?” General Anton wondered.
“Their High Lord General, according to Ricard,” Lorne informed General Anton. “She rode into our forces at the head of what must have been a battalion of elite warriors, and as they moved through our lines, my men fell like dominoes. She rode a horse that could take direction without the use of reigns and seemed never to tire. It also appeared to know what every man would do and how to counter it. They were all mounted on similar steeds, great beautiful warhorses that ran like the wind and lived to protect their riders. Under my instructions, my men swarmed her, believing if we took her down it would decimate her followers.”
Lorne’s bleak look confirmed General Anton’s thoughts, as he continued, “I readily admit, I never saw anyone fight like her troops before. I also hope never to again, unless they are on our side. Unfortunately, this won’t be the case.”
General Anton gave a heavy sigh, knowing neither of Lorne’s last comments was probably the actual way of things. They were going onto enemy lands where they would be guaranteed to meet these same Warriors again in battle. He got the sinking feeling this wasn’t going to end well, and his daughter would be a widow before she ever got to be a bride. He would be no further ahead if this happened.
CHAPTER XXXII
It took Lorne several hours to get a team together that were willing to go into the mountains with him. He placed Donahue at the head of the expedition, as he already knew a part of the terrain they would be travelling over. He then had them meet with the men General Anton chose to accompany them. He gave them each a list of chores to do before they were to leave, then turned his attention to his father. He was surprised when he found King Felix still in the same place he had left him earlier. The only thing he considered unexpected was that he wasn’t drunk, as it seemed he was well into his cups before he had gone to see General Anton.
“You get all your plans set into motion?” King Felix asked.
“I was just coming to tell you about those,” Lorne admitted.
“I wondered if you would or not,” King Felix stated.
Lorne looked at his father questioningly, then asked, “Why wouldn’t I? We have been planning a trip into the mountains to check out the trail Donahue found for a long time already. I also wanted to tell you about a couple of ideas General Anton had. I think they are good ones and should be implemented. Before I do anything, however, I would like to get your input.”
“I wasn’t sure what to think when you first tried to get me drunk, and then searched out General Anton,” King Felix admitted.
“Has anyone ever managed to ever get you so drunk you couldn’t function?” Lorne pointed out.
King Felix grinned as he admitted no one ever had, at least not from the time he was in his teens. He had quickly learned to pace himself after that. He hadn’t liked the experience and didn’t want to repeat it. It was, as he remembered, the day Lorne had been conceived. He had only been fourteen at the time. “There is always a first time and circumstances over the last while have been dire enough to make a man want to drown his sorrows.”
“You are not the type,” Lorne stated his opinion.
“There are times when any man is the type,” King Felix disagreed. “The only thing that keeps me under control is that I have seen it happen to others before and know it doesn’t solve a thing. A man always sobers up and finds his woes waiting for him. It is a fact of life. Better to face it and get it over with.”
“Is it ever over with?” Lorne doubted it. He could still feel the pain of losing his girls and sons every time a memory of them flitted across his mind. He feared he always would.
“I think you already know the answer,” King Felix stated. “But to get back to the report on your conference with General Anton…”
“We came to an agreement,” Lorne stated. He couldn’t see the sense in prolonging the conversation with a lot of details he figured his father probably knew about. “He is ordering his engineers to come along with me and my men into the forest on the mountains. Donahue will lead the way. If it is as open as we hope, our teams will begin to design bridges to cross the deeper gorges. We will then be in a position to march our forces over the road and into the valley.”
King Felix looked thoughtful for a while, then commented. “Nothing is that easy. What is the catch? There has to be something you are leaving out.”
“Actually, there are several things,” Lorne admitted. “He offered to lure a few more Kings here to help us fight the battle.”
“Not that we don’t have several already, but a few more doesn’t sound like such a bad idea. What is he using as bait? Also, what makes him think they will agree to fight under our banner? Most Kings don’t think in this way. They will want to ride under their own.”
“They won’t be fighting under our flag,” Lorne pointed out. “Their men will march under their own colors. They will, however, take direction from us. It isn’t an ideal situation, but it is probably the best we can hope for. Under the circumstances, it should be interesting to see who will come out on top.”
“I can well imagine,” King Felix had a good idea what Lorne was talking about. In the short time he had gotten to know General Anton, he had learned a lot about the man they were working with. He wasn’t under any illusion that what they shared was more of collusion than anything else. General Anton was not a willing partner in this venture, no matter what it might look like to an outsider. The man might not have command of the greater forces, but he had the knowledge he needed to do what was needed. He was the one pulling the strings here. Despite this, he had a vulnerable spot, and because of it, he was the weaker of the two of them. He wondered what it was. More than this, he got the feeling Lorne knew. Would his son share this information with him, or hide it? If the latter, then why? He decided to come out and ask for the secret, rather than tiptoe around the issue and make things more awkward than they were. “There is more to this than you are telling me, isn’t there?”
“I was beginning to wonder how long it would take for you to figure this out,” Lorne replied. He didn’t wait for his father to ask. To volunteer the information would give him more power than to withhold it. If he let King Felix know the details, he might seem to be caving to a higher power, but it would be a matter of perspective. “General Anton has a very young daughter. She is to be my wife when she gets to be of age.”
A small smile crossed King Felix’s face, then shortly after, it was replaced with a puzzled frown. He couldn’t see this as a weakness with his son, although it might become one someday if he ever learned to care for the woman the girl would become. He couldn’t see this happening, given Lorne’s track record with women, “Why would you agree to marry his daughter?”
“Because she is the prized possession of a King with more power than us,” Lorne admitted. “She is also the cornerstone of part of his Empire, though I doubt if they realize it quite yet.”
“How do you figure this?” King Felix wondered.
“Simple,” Lorne shared. “You know how smart Evart was. Well, she is even greater. Evart was still developing. From what General Anton told me about her, she had shown her potential from the age of three. For anyone as powerful as that King to covet her the way I understand he does, her mind must be amazingly brilliant. In a man, this would give him the upper hand in most circumstances, no matter what. In a woman, it could be a dangerous thing, for she would become a hidden weapon. No one suspects females of hav
ing much intelligence. Yet, for the most part, they hold the power from behind the thrones of the world. A good King can be judged by the strength and character of his Queen. All I have learned about her tells me that she will be a formidable person when she gets older, one with the intelligence to use what she knows with caution and discrepancy. She will be a good ally and give us the control we lack with General Anton and his men.”
“I am surprised you thought of this, considering your experience with women in the past,” King Felix pointed out. “They tended to use you, then move on.”
“That is also a matter of opinion,” Lorne countered. “In many ways, I have a reputation of using then and tossing them aside.”
“Then there is the matter of your daughters,” King Felix reminded Lorne. “They made you vulnerable.”
“I disagree,” Lorne was not about to concede the point. “They made me human, never vulnerable. This young girl might do the same, but never in the same way.”
“What makes you think that?” King Felix wondered.
“Because she will be my wife, not my mistress or a daughter,” Lorne explained. “From what General Anton has told me of her personality and experience, she will know how to wield her power and when. She will also have a good idea of what it takes to support or weaken those around her. She has been trained to do so from the cradle. Never underestimate the pebble underfoot. It could be the one that trips you up.”
“I remember telling you the story to go with that saying many years ago,” King Felix recalled. He then smiled as he added, “You didn’t seem to think much of it at the time.”
“I grew to see the wisdom of the tale,” Lorne admitted. “I get the impression you forgot it as you aged.”
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