DragonCrown Saga - The Grand Crusade Part 12

She shifted her shape back to the more slender one she'd worn when leading them there, though now naked since her clothes had not survived transformation and combat. "You don't have to be here when your spell finds her?"

"No." Kerrigan fingered his shredded robes. "I'd like to be somewhere else, really. With fresh clothes and hot food."

She spat. "Yes, something to get this taste out. I will take you back." She waved Bok toward the entrance, then lifted the puppet and tossed it to the urZrethi. Arimtara turned to the thralls and hissed a command to them.

In response, they stooped, found stones, and began to dash out the brains of the sleeping gvakra.

She glanced at Kerrigan. "You may not see the need to kill them, but I do. There will be more. There always are. And, alas, this will always be so."

In the two days since Resolute's address to the Council, things had progressed with a bit more speed, but not nearly enough to satisfy Alexia. It had been agreed that senior military advisors and staff would form a planning group to address the needs of the Saporician war. They were to have political oversight which, thankfully, did not include King Scrainwood. Erlestoke took his place.

Alexia had hoped she would be enough to occupy the place of the Okrans delegation, but Tatyana pointed out that since Alexia would be the supreme commander, she rose above her national status, so someone had to be there to represent the Okrans' point of view. The crowns had agreed, and Alexia suspected it was more to get Tatyana away from them than it was to help plan the invasion.

The political element rendered nothing simple. It was agreed, for example, that accurate maps and suitable tables would be vital for planning. Wrangling then started over whose cartographers would do the best work, and who should have access to whose charts. Some minor Saporician lords seemed to be of the opinion that if their holdings were listed as "impa.s.sable wastelands" on a map, the war would just pa.s.s them by.

There was similar confusion and obfuscation in the lists concerning personnel and equipment. On parchment, every unit in Saporicia or on its way was stuffed full of elite fighters who, bearing only a knife and an evil glint in their eyes, could win the war single-handedly. Alexia knew this was patent nonsense, but it was a matter of pride that each nation's contribution be seen as the equal of any other nations, and politicians lobbied hard for their soldiers to be the first into battle. They expected that would mean they would be the first to glory. When Alexia pointed out that it would mean they would likely be the first to die, her words did not change the politicians' opinions at all.

Alexia dispatched Peri, Crow, and Dranae to make covert inspections of the troops gathering. They a.s.sessed the units based on morale, experience, training, equipment, and leadership. Those units that had n.o.ble leaders of little experience were considered far less reliable than, say, the Alcidese units whose leaders were career soldiers. At Crow's suggestion, they also kept track of supplies and the prices of commodities in the markets, since shortages of staples would kill an army more quickly than any enemy force.

Alexia also wanted Sayce to help, but news of Will's death had crushed her Alyx felt torn between needing to plan and wanting to care for Sayce. She despaired of being able to help her friend. Then, at Crow's suggestion, Nay came and visited Sayce. He presented her with the amulet that contained the last bit of Temmer. He hung it around her neck on a stout bit of silver chain and almost immediately Sayce's melancholy lifted.

She came to Alyx and fingered the tiny dagger. "He told me that this was meant for me and for my child.

He said it was part of the Norrington legacy." Alarmed that Nay knew of her condition, Alyx questioned Crow, but he denied telling Nay anything. Alyx reluctantly accepted the idea that the fragments of Temmer communicated a lot of information to the man who had shaped them anew, and Sayce's revival told her that was a very good thing.

Sayce pitched in immediately and became Alexia's stalwart aide. Her support proved vital for a number of reasons. The Murosan troops were well aware of the spirited defense of Nawal that Alexia had led, and with Sayce at her side their allegiance transferred over easily. Sayce also had a tolerance for the politicians and a skill at extorting from them just a little bit more of whatever was needed. For reasons unknown to Alyx, Tatyana took a liking to Sayce, and even Sayce had described her great-grandaunt as "not as bad as you might think if you get past that crusty exterior."

Alyx refrained from saying she'd like to get past it with the sword Heart. As it was, Sayce managed to mollify Tatyana, and use her to bring other politicians to heel. The Murosan Princess' effort did speed things along. As a result, only two days later, they had a room, they had maps, they had troop estimates, and they could begin to go over the basics of the campaign.

The meetings had been moved out of the castle to the main garrison in Narriz. The big, blocky building had four stories, the topmost being made of two large rooms and the rooftop of the third floor. Wide windows and doors to the exterior let people wander out and talk. The planners occupied the northernmost room, so the vistas kept them focused on the problem at hand-the invaders coming from that direction.

Alexia waited for all the doors to be closed, interior and exterior, before she began speaking. The military folk, and even the politicians, with Sayce being the exception, were all older than she. In some of their eyes she could see respect and a willingness to listen. Others kept their gaze hooded as they waited to eval- uate what she was saying. Still others watched her with flat expressions that meant they would be promoting their own agendas and would disagree with her iust because it would give them a position from which they could negotiate.

She hated that latter group with a pa.s.sion. She knew she was right, and while she did not mind having her conclusions questioned, she expected those who asked the questions not only to see the wisdom of her answers, but to abide by those conclusions. The connivers would simply choose to ignore her wisdom, even though they knew they would acquiesce in the end, for their own advantage. They would be a stumbling block she did not need.

Alyx began speaking quietly, forcing them to listen closely. "Saporicia is a nation rich in military history.

The northernmost region is referred to as the highlands, and consists of mountains and valleys that can make fighting treacherous. We are fortunate in that the highlands will slow the enemy and perhaps allow us to trap and kill any Aurolani force coming along the coast road from Muroso. It will certainly make any resupply from that direction difficult."

She turned to the map on the wall and traced a line with her finger diagonally from the Loquellyn border to where the borders of Muroso, Oriosa, and Saporicia met. "Down here, at this juncture, we have the fortress city ofFronosa.In the past it has proven very useful in stopping invaders, but how long it will stand against dragonels, we cannot guess. Its advantage is that to reach it the troops must come up a road of switchbacks, leaving them very exposed."

A Helurcan cavalry general shook his head. "A dragon could just melt Fronosa and the way would be clear."

Alexia's eyes became violet slits. "That possibility holds for anything in this war. Chytrine has, so far, been sparing in the use of her dragons, for reasons we cannot comprehend. It is foolish to a.s.sume she will continue to do so, but there must have been reasons why she has just not unleashed them so far."

Others began to offer opinions on that subject, but stopped abruptly as Alexia slapped the map with her open palm. "Enough. I am not satisfied that any of you understand the strategic and tactical concerns we face. We can speculate idly about why our enemy does what she does, and we will still be doing that when she's standing right here with her troops surrounding us. It is pointless. If you do not understand that you have to know the battlefields better than you know your own homes, you will be killing yourselves, your people, and the rest of us, needlessly. There will be time for debate later, but, for now, listen."

A Savarese n.o.bleman sniffed. "I thought we were here to plan a fight, not be lectured on geography.

Find me the enemy, and I will slay her. It is as simple as that."

Alexia's nostrils flared, but before she could say anything, Tatyana turned on the man who had spoken.

"Words have power, my lord, even foolish words. Those you have just now uttered have fallen from the lips of many a warrior. Many adeadwarrior. If you do not listen, you will, most a.s.suredly,die."

The old woman's words ended in a hoa.r.s.e whisper, but the n.o.bleman did not protest. He turned almost as white as the lace frill collar he wore. He bowed his head to Alexia and shrank back a step or two.

Alexia resumed her lecture. "Here, south of Loquellyn and north of theSaporician Sea,we have plains split by two large rivers flowing down from the highlands. Those rivers have few fords and are freely navigable. The cities at the fords are fortified, but not well. If the army were to win through at Fronosa and strike northwest, they could take the northern plains. That would deprive Saporicia of much grain come next harvest, prevent Loquellyn from easily coming to our aid, and let them resupply from shipping along the coast or in theSaporician Seaitself.

"Here in Narriz we are only seventy-five miles from Fronosa, as the Gyrkyme fly, but the Bokagul foothills make the trip here difficult. As was done in Muroso, a series of hit-and-runs and delaying attacks will slow the Aurolani host and keep them away from the capital."

She moved her hand south of Narriz. "Here we have more plains that are very suitable to battles and have seen many. The plains rise a bit toward Alcida, and the whole area around the southern seaport of Sanges is thickly forested and would make for a savage place to fight."

Alexia placed a hand over Bokagul. "Bokagul was attacked by Aurolani forces, but repulsed them. I do not expect much help from the Bokas, but I do believe that flank will hold. Any army coming through Bokagul would do so slowly and, with Gyrkyme scouts and other troops ranging out there, we should be informed of any impending attack.

"Loquellyn, on the other hand, is an unknown. There is no Loquelf representative here. The Loquelves did send troops to Fortress Draconis, and their Blackfeathers are still with Adrogans in Okrannel. One of the things we must do as quickly as possible is find out what their disposition is. a.s.suming Loquellyn is a secure flank would be foolish and leave us open to disaster."

She turned from the map and pressed her hands together. "The fighting will be in the northern plains.

There are key sites, like the ford cities and a few others, where battles have been fought for ages. We will benefit from the experience of other commanders and not make the mistakes they made."

A Salnian captain raised a hand. "You've not mentioned the Oriosan flank."

"Meaning?"

The meaty man smiled. "I should think it's fairly obvious. Prince Erlestoke might be representing the Oriosans here, but he's not really in charge, is he? Regardless of what his father might do, what if Chytrine attacks there and the nation just collapses? Her hordes would be pouring through the southern plains in a heartbeat, and be here in Narriz a heartbeat later."

"You have a valid point, Captain Venes. That potentialisa problem. We need to find a solution for it.

Have you a useful suggestion, or were you merely at- tempting to embarra.s.s Prince Erlestoke with pointless gibes about how his father rules the country?"

The comment surprised the soldier. "I wasn't..."

"Because," Alexia continued, "if the prince were to take offense and demand satisfaction of you right now, out on the rooftop, I would gladly act as his second. You don't seem to understand what is going on here, despite everything that has happened. Let me explain it very carefully for everyone."

She pointed to Sayce. "Princess Sayce has seen her nation shattered, her family slaughtered, cities razed, and the countryside despoiled by an invader that is relentless. Chytrine is bent on nothing shy of the conquest of the whole of the world. Why? It doesn't matter. There will be no bargaining with her-no matter what you think King Scrainwood has done. If she succeeds, petty jealousies and rivalries will not only be forgotten, they will have been thecauseof her victory.

"Chytrine's troops are relentless and savage and brutal, but they arenotinvincible. We can stop them.

We will stop them. We will drive them back through Muroso. We will drive them back through Sebcia.

We will destroy them and their leader."

She shook her head. "This is not a gallant battle, this is awar. She has fought without quarter asked or given. She made war on the children of Vilwan-yourchildren. The butchery in Sebcia and Muroso defies description. She has broken the mightiest fortress in the north, and none other has been able to stand against her. If you look upon this as a chance to win glory for yourself, you will die stupidly. Your children will die screaming. Is that what you want? Is that what any of you want?"

Venes shook his head. "No, of course not. The point about Oriosa remains, though."

"It does. So what would you suggest?"

"Scouts. A screening force."

"Each is possible. It will be your responsibility to offer a plan or two." Alexia posted fists on her hips and looked around the room. "Other immediate problems?"

King Augustus stepped forward. "We will have a multinational force gathered. Each nation uses different signaling methods, different terminology for war. We will need to set up liaisons between units in any one force to make sure orders are understood, signals are read correctly, and the like."

"Agreed."

Her mentor smiled. "I would be honored to work on organizing that sort of thing, Princess."

She nodded. "Thank you."

The Helurcan general spoke up. "Along those same lines we need to agree on a chain of command, equality of ranks, and guarantee that one nation's troops will follow orders from another commander if their own leaders are struck down."

"Agreed, in principle, but how do we determine who should lead and take precedence? Will any lordling want to surrender his command to a commoner with more battle experience? Would you like to see someone who knows nothing directing your men in battle?"

"No, of course not."

"Good, I agree. Give me a solution."

A smile slowly grew on the man's face. "It would be my pleasure to do so, Highness. It will take some thinking."

"You have until this afternoon."

More problems were raised, and Alexia shared out the hunt for solutions. Some people got to work on the problem they themselves raised. Others were paired because their problems were similar or Alexia had a sense that even though they were from different nations, they would get along well. Moreover, since she knew everyone in the room by reputation and history, she brought together those commanders she knew she needed to work well together.

What she hadn't shared with them were two big things. The first was her overall strategy for opposing Chytrine. She'd hinted at some of it, but what she wanted to do was bold, and while some of it had been tried before, never had all the elements been combined. Nefrai-kesh and Anarus and othersullancirimight have military experience, but she wanted to hit them with so much, so fast, that their chances of coping with it were minimal.

The second big thing was who she would have in command of the armies. A force as large as the one she was dealing with had to have commanders who were close to the battle. There were going to be leaders from one nation who would be subject to orders from someone of another nation. What would be most important for the force to work, however, was if the leaders of the units themselves had confidence in each other, then in the leaders giving the orders. As long as the warriors gathered could solve problems together, orders just became more problems to solve. She would bind them together, brother to brother, before telling them how they would be linked to higher command.

The questions were beginning to taper off, and people became anxious to break away to work on solutions. Things had gone better in that regard than she expected, and she had to credit Tatyana with a part of that. The crone kept the politicians cowed, and that proved very useful.

Suddenly the door from the stairs burst open and Kerrigan dashed into the room. "Get away from her, now!"

Alexia frowned. "What's going on, Kerrigan? What are you doing here?"

"Get away from her. She's not who you think she is." The young mage advanced, pointing a quivering finger. "That's not your aunt, Princess. That's Chytrine!"

Prince Erlestoke gasped and dropped a hand to his waist, prepared to draw a sword that wasn't there.

The absurdity of being in Chytrine's presence with nothing more than a dagger shook him, as well as did the certainty of their mortal peril. Kerrigan's voice didn't contain a note of panic, just confidence and excitement. That he could be wrong seemed to have occurred to no one in the room.

Save Tatyana herself. She pressed her left hand to her flat chest and staggered. She reached out with her right hand and Sayce took it, helping to support her. The old woman bowed her head for a moment, then raised it, weakly. Her voice, however, had lost none of its edge.

"How can you accuse me of being Chytrine?" She swallowed hard and tried to straighten up, but it seemed the weight of the world had landed on her shoulders. "Everyone here knows me. They may fear me, but not as much as the Nor'witch. You have been addled, boy."

Kerrigan drew himself up, lowering his accusing finger. "But you are. My magick found you." A note of indignation tinged his words. "You have to be!"

"Do I? I know little of magick, but I know enough to a.s.sume our enemy could cast a spell that would make me appear to be her. Who knows how long ago she did so?" Tatyana's icy blue gaze swept the room, sending a shiver through Erlestoke. "Have you found her, or just another of her little traps, boy?"

Alexia strode to Kerrigan's side. "Is that possible?"

"Well, yes, but..."

"Of course it is possible." Tatyana smiled slowly as she clutched at Sayce's left shoulder. "You have been fooled, boy, simply fooled."

"But..." Kerrigan's brows arrowed together. "The thing of it is-" In mid- sentence he flicked his right hand at the crone. A blue spark shot from his fingertips straight at her face.

Tatyana's left hand came up with the ease of someone brushing a gnat away, though her hand glowed gold and the blue spark popped out of existence. After a moment's hesitation, Tatyana's hand slipped to Sayce's slender neck, took hold of the chain, and jerked it tight.

The old woman's eyes blazed. "I don't play at tricks, boy. Now you can die." Tatyana's hand came down with a slash, as if she were a sword duelist saluting her foe. A scarlet sphere congealed out of the rent in the air. Silver sparks and blue darted over the surface. It shot in at Kerrigan, but all he could do was shove Alexia away before it hit him. The resulting blast was enough to scatter everyone. Erlestoke spun to the floor and found someone else on top of him.

He shoved off the floorboards and regained his feet quickly. Kerrigan had been knocked back twenty feet, almost all the way to the door, where his robe smoked and his body twitched at the feet of Rymramoch. Augustus and Alexia had likewise managed to regain their feet. Chytrine-for she had proven herself to be the Nor'witch with that bit of magick-dragged Sayce with her as she stalked toward the doors to the roof.

The old woman looked back over her shoulder with a gold fire now roiling in her eyes. "Do not be foolish. It is her life if you follow me."

Bok vaulted the prostrate Kerrigan and bounded toward Chytrine. "This has to stop now, Chytrine."

As the malachite urZrethi leaped at her, Chytrine swept her left hand around. Invisible force smashed the urZrethi into the wall and he slid to the floor in a broken heap. "You had centuries to stop me and you failed. Again."

With another gesture she blasted open the doors for which she was heading. Out on the rooftop a fiery horse landed and a small dark form tumbled free. As he came to his feet, his cloak brushed the horse's tail and burst into flames. Above him, astride the horse, sat Nefrai-kesh, the King of thesullandri. And the hooded cloak he is wearing is Lombo's flesh!

The smaller figure Erlestoke knew to be Nefrai-laysh. "My father's made me clean of limb and, Mistress, so full of vim, it's gladly your enemies I'll cut and trim."

Though the lessersullandridrew a sword, the Oriosan prince advanced. "Chytrine, you're not taking her."

"No? You should listen as well as your father does." The old woman turned and lifted her right hand high. Sayce clawed at the chain, her face purple and her feet barely sc.r.a.ping the rooftop. "I'll leave her corpse then."

"No!"

The shout surprised both Erlestoke and Chytrine. The Aurolani Empress looked up at Nefrai-kesh.

"You dare order me?"

"Only to prevent an error, Mistress. Bring her."

"This worthless thing?" Chytrine gave Sayce a shake. "She is nothing."

Thesullandri'svoice strengthened. "Seek, Mistress. She carries my greatgrandchild. From her springs the new Norrington."

Tatyana's face blossomed with an obscene smile. "Oh, perfect. How stupid they are." She tossed the princess to Nefrai-kesh, who caught her and laid her athwart the saddlebow. As Nefrai-laysh moved to eclipse Chytrine, his father reached down, took the empress' hand, and swung her up behind him. "I will return for you."

Nefrai-laysh laughed. "Concern yourself not, for where I am got. I have here work to do. Slashing and cutting, stabbing and gutting. I'll find my way home before you."

The flaming horse sprouted dragon wings and with a powerful beat that singed Erlestoke's hair, it leaped into the air beneath its burden. Though terrible, it was also beautiful. Its tail lengthened, the red-gold flames cooling into blues and greens. As it rose a wingtip touched a pendant, instantly converting it to flame.

Nefrai-laysh tapped his black sword against the roof's stone. "Attend me, Prince, it's long since, I've slain one of royal blood."

Thesullandrilunged. Erlestoke filled his left hand with his dagger and parried the stroke. His dagger screeched as thesullandri'ssword pared a curl of metal from it, but the prince had known the dagger would be of little use. As he parried the blade wide, he pivoted on his left foot and smashed his right fist square in Nefrai-laysh's face. Bones cracked, and while the prince felt something go in his hand, he knew more had gone in the enemy's nose.