“You must know, my lady…” He paused and glanced about, the very picture of a man who customarily must seek out eavesdroppers before he speaks his mind, then went on in a rush of words, “For all the respect we bore him, most of the Kindred hereabouts thought ill of your father for what was so quickly and rashly done, and your return gladdens my heart. It will gladden Bili’s, too, and those of all true Kindred. I feel free to say— Now by my steel, what’s this?”
Fifty yards ahead, the Freefighter who had ridden the point all morning rounded a turn at full gallop. But the duke was not the only man to see the oncoming rider or to be alarmed at his precipitate haste; from behind the two nobles came a ripple of metallic sounds as targets were unslung and the various points and fastenings of armor checked. Without a word, the lieutenant kneed his mount forward until he was abreast of his mistress.
When he had halted his steed, the point rider saluted. “My lady, a column approaches; their van be less than half a mile from this place. I counted a score of dragoons and at least two noblemen, no baggage.”
“Is there a banner, man?” put in Duke Bahrt. “I’d like to know what scapegrace leads armed men across my land without a by-your-leave.”
The Freefighter nodded. “Aye, my lord, it looked to be a bird of some kind. Red, I think.”
Bahrt slapped his thigh. “The Red Eagle of Morguhn, by Sun! Bili’s come to meet you himself, my lady. I should’ve expected that of him.”
The lady turned to the lieutenant “No cause for alarm, Leeahn, it’s the archduke, Bili of Morguhn, my half brother.”
Had the pointman watched a bit longer, he would have seen that the column from the south was assuredly no war party. It moved at an ambling walk, and the only man erect in his saddle was the pennon bearer, and he was kept alert only by the occasional gust of wind from off the distant mountains that unexpectedly bellied out the heavy, silken banner and made fair to tear the ashwood shaft from his grasp. The twenty troopers behind him slouched in restful postures, feet loose from stirrups and many with a leg hooked up around saddle pommel. They chatted and joked and cackled, blew at the sweat coursing down their faces and now and then sucked at the sun-warmed water in their journey-bottles.
But the short, powerful hornbows protruding from their cases were strung, the quivers were all full, and a heavy saber depended from every man’s belt The armor which peeked from under the light cotton surcoats had been polished to the sheen of fine silver, and, indeed, every scrap of their equipment mirrored the devotion and hard work of upkeep. One familiar with warriors would not have needed to see the hard-eyed, scarred faces to ascertain that these men were professionals or to guess how quickly, for all their present relaxation, they could become two tens of mounted, steel-swinging death to any rash enough to oppose them.
A few paces ahead of the pennonman, astride identical black stallions, rode two noblemen. The elder—thick of body, wide at hip and shoulder, big, square hands thickly dusted with fine blond hairs, lined, scarred face cleanly shaven— rode in silence, listening to the younger, his favorite son.
“… so there we sat, Father, through the whole damned night, all twelve thousand of us. Had we attacked immediately we arrived, at dusk, before all the barbarian host had assembled, we could have slaughtered them piecemeal. But no, we must perforce hunker down until dawn, then assault the works they’d been preparing all night. The upshot of that idiocy was near two thousand casualties. And, after the fact, when it was far too late to save those good men we’d lost Senior Strahteegos Vahrohnos Gaib of Hweelahk and his entourage rode into camp.”
“I’ve not seen Gaib in twenty years, I guess.” The elder showed strong, yellow teeth in a broad grin.
“He’s inspector of cavalry, Father. But when he saw and heard all, he relieved Strahteegos Vahrohnos Hwyt on the spot, sent the craven bastard back to Kehnooryos Atheenahs under guard, and took over command himself. Then he called all commanders of field grade to his pavilion and had each of us tell all we knew of the Djahrehtee opposing us, of Skuhltuhn, the approaches to which they were defending and of the lay of the country thereabouts. He pored over the maps for a bit, then called us all back from the wine tun and issued his orders.
“As soon as it was dark, he sent out the cats to sweep any barbarian scouts from the area. Then, ceding command of the camp and the infantry to Sub-strahteegos Vahrohnos Djak Sanderz of Kahrtuh, he took all of the cavalry on a forced march.
“Father, we kept at it all through that night—first east, then south, then southwest, then, finally, due west Sacred Sun and our columns both struck Skuhltuhn as one. Few of the tuhns are even stockaded, and none are truly walled. The cats had taken out the sentries, so the first warning the Djahrehtee had were three volleys of the kahtahfrahktoee’s arrows, every fifth a firearrow. Then we rode in from all four sides.
“When we had sabered or lanced or axed everything that moved, we fired every structure not already burning and,” he winked, his dark eyes twinkling mischievously, “my Ahrmehnee boys got in a bit of fast looting. Then Strahteegos Gaib positioned us and the kahtahfrahktoee behind thick cover on either side of the eastern road, whilst the lancers and barbarian light horse rode, whooping and cavorting, around and about the blazing tuhn.”
The elder nobleman drew out a pipe and pouch of tobacco and commenced to staff the former with the contents of the latter, as his son continued the tale.
“Well, as Strahteegos Gaib had foreseen they would, the Djahrehtee came boiling up the east road, some of them riding mountain ponies, but most afoot, and in no kind of formation.”
“No, western barbarians aren’t known for their discipline,” his father remarked drily, speaking around the stem of his pipe between puffs.
“When their vanguard saw the corpse-littered streets and the burning houses and only about a squadron strength of cavalry opposing them, I think they went a little mad. Anyhow, they forgot their normal guile and threw caution away. It was, a textbook example of a successful ambuscade. When all the arrows and darts were sped, the strahteegos led the charge.
“And then it was all over, all but the butchery. They were thoroughly broken on that road, Father, routed; the only ones that got away were those who took to the wooded slopes—the strahteegos refused to allow pursuit of those.”
The older man nodded. “As one who has fought barbarians in their mountains, I’ll say that Gaib showed good judgment in that, my boy.”
“The bulk of the survivors, though, clove to the road, fleeing back the way they’d come, so that they—and we, naturally—ran head on into the barbarians retreating from their works which had fallen to the assault of Sub-strahteegos Vahrohnos Djak and the infantry.
“A largish number of them took to the hills then, caught as they were between the pursuing infantry and us, and with all our missiles spent there was damn-all we could do about it. But at least a couple of thousand stayed on that road and fought. And they fought well, Father. Sun and Wind, they’d make firstwater soldiers, if only they could be disciplined!”
Removing his smelly pipe from between his teeth, the older man smiled. “Oh, they will be disciplined, and they will be soldiers, son, Confederation Army soldiers. Well, maybe their sons will anyway, their grandsons, certainly. The western frontier’s moved near a hundred miles within my lifetime; it’ll do as much or more in yours. And this is how it’s done. It’s the High Lord’s plan, you see. Do you remember living in Kehnooryos Atheenahs as a child?”
The younger man shook his head slowly. “No, Father, when was that?”
“For two years after your dear mother died, I couldn’t bear to bide in Morguhn, so I took you and your brother and sister with me to the capital. We lived in the palace while I further developed my farspeak at the academy. I was much the favorite of all four Undying, in those days, and the High Lord spoke long and often with me of his plans for the Confederation and its expansion.
“Ah, those were exciting days.” The older man’s blue eyes clouded over with memory. “In the wake of the Great Rebellion, the High Lord had dissolved the Ehleen Old Religion throughout the realm—lest it spawn or be the spawning ground for other insurrections. The clergy had been proscribed and all their lands and treasures had been seized in the name of the Confederation, so there was much wealth at the disposal of the Undying, and this was quite evident at the court in those days.