At Drehkos’ direction, Captain Gahlos used the heliograph mounted on the palace roof to signal the immediate unbarring and opening of the south and west gates. The message continued with an order for all guards to report to the governor’s palace as soon as the mob was out and the gates again closed and secured.
While carefully rehooding the device, Gahlos asked, “Please, my lord, I don’t understand. We unbar the gates and let the rabble flee, then rebar them on what will soon be an empty city?”
Drehkos chuckled good-naturedly. “And you can’t comprehend, eh, Gahlos? Well, look you, youVe seen the sleight-of-hand practiced by the traveling tricksters? Seen them make a host of meaningless gestures to mask the one, practiced movement which causes coins or objects to suddenly and mysteriously disappear or reappear?”
Gahlos nodded hesitantly. “Yes, my lord, but-”
Drehkos continued. “And I am essaying a similar feat of legerdemain, and, Gahlos, let us pray that it succeeds. You see, we can’t fight, cant defend Morguhnpolis against the forces now approaching it, and no noble or officer or priest in his right mind should allow-should even dream of allowing-Bili Morguhn to take him alive, so our only hope is to flee.
“But we can only mount half our men, and Fll be damned if I’ll leave any one of them to the ‘tender mercies’ of the Morguhns, so we couldn’t move too fast, even were we not burdened with Lord Myros. And our pursuers are all cavalry; they’ll be moving faster than we can.
“However, Gahlos, they’ll think Myros still commands and, knowing his obsession for this city, they’ll be certain he’ll try to hold it. Of course, none of them knows about our bolt hole down below, so let us pray that when they find the gates barred from within, even with no men visible on the walls, they’ll be sufficiently wary of a trap to halt and regroup and possibly bring up or make scaling ladders-anything, any reason that will delay them long enough for us to put some distance between us and them.”
Gahlos nodded again, but firmly this time. “So you freed the mob that they might not open the gates or give the trick away.”
“Partially, captain, partially,” Drehkos agreed, adding, “but also because fleeing along the south and west roads, they force the goddam Morguhns to split their forces, since both roads lead to Vawn, and when they’ve discovered we’re not in Morguhnpolis, they’ll surely know that we’re bound for Vawn.”
“Hmmmn.” Understanding flickered in the captain’s eyes. “But we’ll not be on either road, then, my lord?”
“Exactly, Gahlos. Well hie us out due west from the quarry, crosscountry. Well cross the river at Bloody Ford, strike the Old Trace up through Raider Gap, then angle southward into Vawn. It will certainly take longer, perhaps two or three days, but if it saves our necks, none can say it wasn’t worth the effort, eh?”
Astride a big, red-chestnut mare-the finest animal he had ever been allowed to ride-Geros Lahvoheetos trotted beside Staisee Ehlyuht, prehsvootehros of the squadron of Confederation lancers, some hundred of whom were marching in the wake of Thoheeks Bili and his party. Gero’s scaleshirt was heavy and hot and devilishly uncomfortable, the weight of the saber on his baldric made it difficult to keep his shoulders squared-as he felt the warrior everyone now thought him to be should ride-and, if push came to shove, he had no idea of how he would control the mare, what with seven feet of wolfspear in his right hand and an iron-rimmed target strapped to his bridle arm. But for all the discomforts, he would not have been in other circumstances or another place than this.
Since the night of the bridge fight when, in a panic of fear, he-Geros the valet, who knew as much of weapons and warfare as a turtle knew of flying-had accidentally lanced one rebel and cut the throat of a second while his mule trampled down a third, he had been living in the very lap of his former fantasies. With his young master, the Vahrohnee-skos Ahndros, kept unconscious by the arts of Master Ahlee, the physician, there was no one to betray him, to reveal the sad truth that he had never been aught save a body servant and musician, who had always privately considered himself to be a coward.