Bill nodded. “Then I assume Hari’ll not be taking part in the campaign?”
Vaskos’ hearty chuckle nearly slopped out his wine. “Hardly. Hell be along presently, though we’ll be in Vawn by then-hopefully. But you know Father-first come his people, then his purse, though he’s not nearly so impecunious as you’d think by his bellyaching.
“No, he wants to be sure that his folk and his horses will be well provided for and ascertain the minimum number of men required to take in the crops if the campaign outlasts this season.
“Oh, and speaking of men, Father has learned his lesson. You recall how adamant he was that he’d never maintain Freefighters at Horse Hall? Well, he’s kept eight-no, nine- of yours. But I’m sure Boh Hohguhn will cover that in his report, after which, with your permission, of course, he’s promised to go out and help me sign on a score of good Freefighters for Father’s own use.”
Lieutenant Hohguhn’s report was short and • concise. He told of one man killed by slingstone and two wounded, one of them soon to come back to the army with the old komees; the other, though he had at first appeared to have suffered only a bump on the head, had become prone to fainting fits and, after pitching down a staircase one day, had died of a broken neck. The officer had brought back the dead men’s horses and gear, and he assured Bill that when he assisted Vaskos in recruiting the Daiviz condotta, he would sign on two good fighters to replace the losses.
CHAPTER VIII
After a long, arduous march, which had included several inconclusive skirmishes with the wild mountain tribesmen, Drehkos Daiviz and his battered band at last crossed the northwestern border of Vawn, rested briefly at a deserted hall, then continued on toward Vawnpolis-which city had no Ehleen name, since there had been no city on its site in Ehleen times, nor had the duchy even been a part of the Kingdom of Karaleenos then.
The utter desolation of the countryside through which they marched appalled Drehkos, and the evidences of savageries and atrocities sickened him. Here lay the rotted remains of a whole herd of sheep and, farther on, the animal-gnawed bones of a foal, its legs looking to have been lopped off with a sword; mutilated, bird-picked human corpses dangled from trees and improvised crosses. And in empty halls and deserted villages were hints of other things, deeds so depraved that the sinister thoughts of what they might have been set Drehkos’ skin acrawl. That Drehkos had never been initiated into the Deeper Mysteries of the Faith was perhaps the wisest decision Vahrohnos Myros had ever made.
As for the vahrohnos, he had regained his senses after a week or so and, when again he could sit a horse, had expected to assume command. But by that time, the fleeing rebels-of Morguhn and Vawn alike-had come to rely upon Drehkos. Not all of the peacock-proud Myros* boasts of his own military exploits and experience or his snarled references to Vahrohneeskos Daiviz’ lack of such could shake the faith of those men who had come to appreciate Drehkos’ quiet courage, that manner which was unruffled and quick-witted even in the midst of an unexpected ambush and the tactical decisions which, though usually unorthodox, were usually right.
Denied what he considered to be his rightful station and deference, Myros became petty and spiteful, dragging out his memory and gleefully recounting to all and sundry forty years’ worth of Drehkos’ peccadilloes and profligacies and, when memory and facts failed, spinning ne,w tales. When questioned, Drehkos admitted those bits of vicious gossip which were true and quietly denied Myros’ false slanders, all the while continuing to lead as best he knew how, further uncovering a never before suspected natural aptitude for command and leadership, and learning the exacting art of mountain warfare by bitter experience.
By the time they crossed into Vawn, only Myros* servants and bodyguards would listen to a word he had to say, and even they laughed behind their hands when he launched another round of slanders against the man who was now unquestionably their commander; the other Morguhnee and Vawnee barely tolerated the vahrohnos.