“We don’t have to take thewhole city, my Lord of Trellheim,” Javelin said. “All we need to do is get our men inside. If we take one quarter of the town and fortify it, we can hold off the cult from the inside and Haldar from the outside. Then we simply sit tight and wait for Lord Hettar and General Brendig.”
“It’s got some possibilities,” Yarblek said. “The way things stand right now, we’re caught in a nutcracker. If those pikemen get here first, about all your friends are going to be able to do when they arrive is to pick up the pieces.”
“No fire,” Garion declared adamantly.
“I do fear me that however we proceed, we may not gain entry into the city ‘ere the walls are breached,” Mandorallen observed.
“The walls aren’t really any problem,” Durnik said quietly. “No wall is any better than its foundation.”
“It is quite impossible, Goodman,” Mandorallen told him. “A wall’s foundation hath the entire weight resting upon it. No engine in the world can move such a mass.”
“I wasn’t talking about an engine,” Durnik said.
“What have you got in mind, Durnik?” Garion asked him.
“It’s not really going to be that hard, Garion,” Durnik said. “I did a bit of looking around. The wall’s aren’t resting on rock. They’re resting on packed dirt. All we have to do is soften that dirt a bit. There’s plenty of underground water in this region. If we put our heads together, you and I ought to be able to bring it up under one section of wall without anybody inside the city knowing what we’ve done. Once the ground is soft enough, a few dozen of Yarblek’s grappling hooks ought to be enough to topple it.”
“Can it be done, Garion?” Lelldorin asked doubtfully.
Garion thought it through. “It’s possible,” he conceded. “It’s very possible.”
” And if we did it at night, we could be in position to rush into the city just as soon as the wall falls,” Barak said. “We could get inside without losing a single man.”
“It’s a novel solution,” Silk observed from the doorway of the tent. “A little unethical, perhaps, but novel all the same.”
“Where have you been, you little sneak?” Yarblek demanded.
“In Rheon, actually,” Silk replied.
“You were inside the city?” Barak asked in surprise.
Silk shrugged. “Of course. I though it might be appropriate to get a friend of ours out of there before we took the place apart.” He stepped aside with a mocking little bow to admit the honey-blonde Margravine Liselle.
“Nowthat is a splendid-looking young woman,” Yarblek breathed in admiration.
Liselle smiled at him, the dimples dancing in her cheeks.
“How did you get inside?” Garion asked the rat-faced little man.
“You really wouldn’t want to know, Garion,” Silk told him. “There’s always a way in or out of a city, if you’re really serious about it.”
“You two don’t smell too good,” Yarblek noted.
“It has to do with the route we took,” Liselle replied, wrinkling her nose.
“You’re looking well,” Javelin said conversationally to his niece, “all things considered.”
“Thank you, uncle,” she replied. Then she turned to Garion. “Are the rumors going about the city true, your Majesty?” she asked. “Has your son been abducted?”
Garion nodded grimly. “It happened just after we took Jarviksholm. That’s why we’re here.”
“But Prince Geran doesn’t seem to be in Rheon,” she told him.
“Are you sure?” Ce’Nedra demanded.
“I think so, your Majesty. The cultists inside the city are baffled. They seem to have no idea who took your son.”
Ulfgar may be keeping it secret,” Javelin said. “Only a small group may know.”
“Perhaps, but it doesn’t look that way. I wasn’t able to get close enough to him to make sure, but he has the look of a man whose plans have gone all awry. I don’t think he expected this attack on Rheon. His fortifications are not nearly as complete as they might appear from the outside. The north wall in particular is rather flimsy. His reinforcement of the walls seems a desperation move. He was not expecting a siege. If he’d been behind the abduction, he would have been prepared for the attack -unless he thought you could never trace it to him.”
“This is most excellent news, my Lady,” Mandorallen praised her. “Since we know of the weakness of the north fortifications, we can concentrate our efforts there. If Goodman Durnik’s plan proves workable, a weakening of the foundations of the north wall should bring it down most speedily.”
“What can’t you tell us about Ulfgar?” Barak asked the girl.
“I only saw him briefly at a distance. He spends most of his time inside his house, and only his closest cohorts are allowed near him. He made a speech, though, just before he sent his forces to attack you. He speaks very passionately and he had the crowd absolutely under his control. Ican tell you one thing about him, though. He’s not an Alorn.”
“He’s not?” Barak looked dumfounded.
“His face doesn’t give away his nationality, but his speech is not that of an Alorn.”
“Why would the cult accept an outsider as their leader?” Garion demanded.
“They aren’t aware of the fact that he is an outsider. He mispronounces a few words -just a couple, actually, and only a trained ear would catch them. If I’d been able to get closer to him, I might have been able to steer him toward those words that would have betrayed his origins. I’m sorry that I can’t be of more help.”
“How strong is his grip on the cult?” Javelin asked.
“It’s absolute,” she replied. “They’ll do anything he tells them to do. They look upon him as something very akin to a God.”
“We’re going to have to take him alive,” Garion said grimly. “I have to have some answers.”
“That may be extremely difficult, your Majesty,” she said gravely. “It’s widely believed in Rheon that he’s a sorcerer. I didn’t actually see any evidence of it myself, but I talked with a number of people who have, or at least who claimed they have done so.”
“You have performed a great service for us, Margravine,” Queen Porenn said gratefully. “It shall not be forgotten.”
“Thank you, your Majesty,” Liselle replied simply, with a formal little curtsy. Then she turned back to Garion. “What information I was able to glean says quite strongly that the cult forces within the walls are not nearly so formidable as we were led to believe. Their numbers are impressive, but they include a great many young boys and old men. They appear to be counting rather desperately on a force that’s marching toward the city under the command of a hidden cult-member.”
“Haldar,” Barak said.
She nodded.
“And that brings us right back to the absolute necessity of getting inside those walls,” Javelin told them. He looked at Durnik. “How long do you estimate that it’s going to take for the ground under the north wall to soften enough to topple the structure?”
Durnik sat back, staring thoughtfully at the ceiling of the tent. “We want to take them by surprise,” he said, “so I don’t think we want the water to come gushing out -not at first, anyway. A gradual seepage would be far less noticeable. It’s going to take a while to saturate the ground.”
“And we’re going to have to be very careful,” Garion added. “If this Ulfgar really is a sorcerer, he’ll hear us if we make too much noise.”
“There’ll be plenty of noise when the wall comes down,” Barak said. “Why don’t you just blow it apart the way you did the back wall of Jarviksholm?”
Garion shook his head. “There are a couple of moments after you unleash your will when you’re absolutely vulnerable to attack by anybody who has the same kind of talent. I’d sort of like to be alive and sane when I find my son.”
“How long will it take to soak the ground under the wall?” Javelin asked.
Durnik scratched at his cheek. “Tonight,” he replied, “and all day tomorrow. By midnight tomorrow, the wall ought to be sufficiently undermined. Then, just before we Garion and I can speed up the flow of water and wash out most of the dirt. It’s going to be very wet and soft already, and a good stream of water ought to cut it right out from under the wall. If we lob stones at it from the far side and get a few dozen grappling hooks into it, we should be able to pull it down in short order.”
“You might want to pick up the pace with your engines,” Yarblek said to Mandorallen. “Give them time to get used to the idea of rocks coming out of the sky. That way they won’t pay any attention when you start pounding on their walls tomorrow night.”
“Midnight tomorrow, then?” Barak said.