“And, it would be a waste. There are so few ummun, and they know so much. Even the young ones, who remember little of any world than our own, know far more than any gukuy. I would not see them wasted on a battlefield, any more than necessary.”
She made the gesture of profound respect to Joseph.
“I, too, was awed by Yoshef’s cast of the spear. But I would rather see him cast his thoughts into the sky.”
In her mind, Ushulubang also made a gesture of profound respect. Not toward Joseph, but toward Indira.
Shrewdly done, Mother of Demons. As always. There will be no hesitation, now, at selecting Kopporu.
With quite a different mental gesture, Ushulubang considered Ghodha.
I believe I shall make a point of talking more often with that one. Rather too full of the Answer, she is. Answers which would have killed her, and them, had it been she who tried to lead an entire people through the Swamp. Even now, she cannot see past Kopporu’s crude armor. It has not yet occurred to her to wonder: how is it that a “barbarian” could see things which I could not?
Because the barbarian, whether she knows it or not, follows the Way of the Question.
But that is for the future. For the moment, there is still a matter to be resolved. There is, after all, a core of meat at the center of Ghodha’s prejudices.
For the first time since the council began that day, Ushulubang spoke.
“I fully support the proposal to make Kopporu the commander of the army. But a problem remains, which is the nature of the army itself.”
She waited, allowing the council to digest her words.
“Is it to be a Kiktu army? No, clearly not. Kopporu has told us herself that she seeks to adopt Anshac methods—and even more. The methods which Inudira has begun to explain. But that will require the tribespeople to learn a whole new way of war. A difficult thing to ask, especially of warriors who are rightfully proud of their accomplishments in battle.”
Another pause.
“Then, there is the problem of the Pilgrims. Many of them will want to join the army. Some were warriors themselves, in times past. From Ansha, and other prevalates. But most are helots, with little skill or training in the craft of war.”
Another pause.
“And finally, there is the problem of the former Utuku. Warriors all, and brave ones. Do not deny it, simply because of your distaste for their former habits. They have renounced those habits, and they too must somehow be incorporated into the new army.”
A long pause.
“You see the problem? It is not enough to have a commander. She must be able to command an army—an army, a whole and well-knit cloth. But we do not have such a cloth, today. Nor do we have much time in which to weave one.”
Ushulubang looked at Rottu. “You estimate that the Beak and the main army of the Utuku will arrive at the Chiton in three eightweeks, am I not correct?”
The spymistress made the gesture of tentative affirmation.
“Approximately. The former Utuku whom I interviewed all agreed that the Beak took the main army south after the battle of the Lolopopo. Leaving only two ogghoxt to watch the Swamp in case Kopporu emerged. One ogghoxt we destroyed. The other will remain in its assigned position south and west of the Swamp. In the meantime, the Beak is preoccupied with completing the conquest of the Papti Plain. Not all of the tribes joined with the Kiktu. Several retreated south, and are still opposing the Utuku.”
She made the gesture of certainty.
“They will not succeed in that opposition. But they will keep the Beak occupied for some time. Enough time—barely—for us to weave a new army. And there is an added benefit. Refugees from broken tribes are trickling north. Some have already reached the Chiton. At my suggestion, Kopporu has already dispatched small battle groups into the plain to seek for such refugees. We can add their threads to the cloth.”
Rottu fell silent. Seamlessly, Ushulubang continued.
“We have everything we need to weave our army. We have the nashiyonu, which is our loom. And we have the warp and the weft—the ummun, the tribespeople, the Pilgrims, the former Utuku, the new refugees. But—”