Fallen Ward (Deepwoods Saga Book 3) (6 page)

“It would be wise to not only have your group there, but also another force standing by in case they do open the gates immediately.”

Everyone was very carefully not looking at Wolf when he said this. Everyone, that was, except Tran who was not afraid to put a stick in that particular nest of vipers. He looked directly at Wolf with a challenge in his voice. “Are you going to insist you go instead?”

Wolf met the stare levelly and without any sign of anger. “No.”

“No?” Tran looked like he was biting back a smile. “So you admit I know the land from here to there better than you do?”

“Only by a little.”

Siobhan had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing. Tran was the only one in the guild to ever cross that distance by foot, and he did it on a fairly regular basis, to boot. Wolf, she believed, had only done it three times in the past ten years. But of course, neither man was about to admit that the other one might be better than they were on anything.

The real question that Tran was asking, of course, was, ‘Do you trust me with Siobhan?’ and Wolf had given a firm yes. Everyone at the table had heard it and it made Tran sit back, nearly glowing with contentment and pride. It was not often, after all, that Wolf showed him such an open gesture of trust.

Hyun Woo didn’t openly heave out a breath of relief over escaping the need to mediate a fight at the table, but he clearly was doing so on an internal level. “Then Tran-gui will take a force of two hundred and fifty men with him to hide in the dry river bed. Siobhan-jia, you will command fifty, along with Beirly-gui, to dam up the canal with.”

“Understood.”

“Beirly-gui, you said earlier that if everyone in Tran-gui’s command helps you carry the materials, you think it will only be an hour’s work to dam up the canal.”

“That’s right,” Beirly confirmed. “To do it quick like this, all we need are sandbags, but a lot of them. If each person can carry one bag, we’ll have enough to do the job.”

“Then that is what we will plan to do. Tran-gui, any objections?”

“If there’s a single man in my command that can’t carry a sandbag a mere sixty spans without fussing, then I don’t want him.”

He didn’t agree aloud, but Hyun Woo’s expression said he silently concurred with Tran’s opinion. “Then your group will carry the bulk of the materials necessary.”

“And when we’re done?” Siobhan asked, unclear about what to do after her job was finished.

“You will retreat back along the highway toward Winziane. If pursued, do so at all speed until you have drawn your pursuers well out of the city’s gates. Then, Tran-gui, I want you to do one of two things. If she is pursued, send some of your men to her defense, as she will not have enough men to fight a force off with. The other part should be sent to the gates with the focus of keeping them open. Your task is to get as many of our men through that gate as possible.”

Tran nodded understanding. “And if she isn’t pursued, stay put?”

“Indeed. You follow me well.” Hyun Woo gave him a proud smile. “As expected of my student. Can you guess what I want you to do next?”

“Provide a distraction so that all of their focus is on me, spreading their forces thin, so that the other groups can get men over the walls.”

“Precisely.”

Emalee was the one that asked, “But which do you think they’ll do?”

“I give it even odds of them either pursuing Siobhan-jia’s group immediately or staying safely inside the walls.” Hyun Woo’s mouth pursed thoughtfully. “If they had a strong commander over there, I would think he would defend the walls until they had confirmed that there was no fresh water to be had in the city. But there is no strong leadership over there, so it makes it hard to predict what they will do.”

Siobhan was personally hoping that they would choose to chase her, as it would mean less waiting around under a hot sun.

“Siobhan-jia, you will start working at pre-dawn. By the time your work is finished, the Pathmakers should have enough daylight to send the other groups forward. Each will have their designated spot along the wall they will be aiming towards. Unless, of course, Tran-gui manages to secure an open gate. Then they are to go there with all speed.” Hyun Woo was speaking to the table at large as he said this. “I will speak with each of you after this and assign you your areas. What men we cannot get there through path or with the forward group will come in by ship. They will, naturally, have to leave ahead of everyone else to make it there on time. Jonathan-gui, Gaurav-gui, you will be in charge of those men.”

“Understood.”

“Yes, Master Hyun Woo.”

“I also want our Pathmakers to board those ships as soon as their groups are at the wall. Except Rune-xian, of course. He will be leading one of the groups. But Grae-gui, I need you back here just in case. If the enemy force inside Goldschmidt does not immediately fall for our bait, and chooses to wait a few days, we will have our men trapped outside of the city without any resources. We must have a way of supplying them quickly in case this happens. Quickly and quietly, if possible. Your paths are the only way to do that. So, board a ship as soon as you arrive and come back here to Converse.”

Grae gave a soft, “Yes, of course.”

Darrens held up a hand. “Wait, I’m no strategist. Let me see if I follow this. Siobhan goes in with Tran at night, waits until predawn, then dams up the canal. Now, if the men inside immediately react, they’ll open a gate to chase after her. If that happens, you want her to run along the highway to draw them out further and have Tran rush in, keeping the gate clear. Is that right?”

“It is.”

“And while they’re doing that, the Pathmakers and the other commanders will be bringing in their groups and taking advantage of the open gate to pour into the city.”

“Correct. If this does not happen, Tran-gui and Siobhan-jia will do their best to make a disturbance to draw the guard to one section of the city, making it easier for the rest of our groups to scale the walls. Either way, we should be able to breach the city.”

“And then?”

“And then…” Hyun Woo’s expression became darker. “And then, there is little strategy that we can plan, as it will fall to street-to-street fighting, which is an ugly thing. I will prepare the men on how to do so effectively in the week we have. If all my plans fail, we will be facing what they faced here: a siege. And that is the one thing we must, at whatever cost, avoid. For if we are forced to do such a thing, we will surely lose the majority of our men.”

ӜӜӜ

The meeting more or less broke up after that, although they all lingered so that Hyun Woo and Ryu Jin Ho could meet with them individually and give them assignments. Siobhan turned to Beirly and asked, “Is there anyone that you want to take with us? Anyone that has good masonry skills and is a capable fighter?”

“Hmm. Chris Knesek comes to mind. Not sure which guild he’s from, but we worked together well when we were making all those caltrops.”

“Do you know where to find him?”

“I do,” Beirly confirmed with a bob of the head. “I’ll hunt him down and ask if he’ll come with us.”

“Anyone else?”

“Well, I don’t know about her masonry skills, but I know her fighting skills. I had to make her a new spear, as hers was broken first day. Holly Sadler.” Beirly let out a low whistle. “You think Markl’s dangerous with that spear-sword of his? You should see Holly fight with a plain old spear. I wouldn’t mess with the lass.”

“Get her too, then.” Siobhan was sure that between Hyun Woo, Wolf, Tran, and Darrens, they would put together a group of people for her, but she liked having a say in things like this. “I have one or two people I want to ask as well.”

Beirly lowered his tone even further, making it hard for her to hear him even though she was standing right next to him. “Mighty strange feel to the meeting at first. Everyone was looking at you and Wolf like they expected an explosion any minute. What was that about?”

Ah, right, she hadn’t warned Beirly about that. “Wolf and I had a fight in the first meeting. He didn’t want me going.”

Beirly looked at her steadily. “Didn’t want you going, or didn’t want you going without him?”

She puffed out her cheeks. “The second, I guess.”

“Siobhan. After ten years, don’t you know by now that Wolf will never, ever, let you go off into danger without someone he trusts at your back?”

Intellectually, she did. She just forgot, sometimes, during the heat of the moment.

“I take it the two of you haven’t made up yet.”

She mumbled something inarticulate.

“Go do that.”

Yes, she probably should. Putting it off or trying to avoid him for another hour would only make things worse. Still and all, she wasn’t really looking forward to this conversation. Grumbling to herself, she stalked out of the room.

Hyun Woo had already spoken to Wolf, and she’d seen him walk out a side door that led into a second gathering room. At this time of the day, it was empty of all people. Wolf was slouched in front of a cold hearth, sitting in a chair that was a mite small for him, eyes staring blindly at the ashes.

Siobhan had expected him to be in a better mood after the meeting, seeing as he had gotten his way and she was not going without one of her own guildsmen going with her. But that was naïve of her. Of course he wouldn’t be happy again yet, because he was convinced she was still mad at him.

Oh dear. Taking in a breath for patience, she released it with one word: “Wolf.”

Shooting up from his miserable slouch, he almost launched himself out of his chair and grabbed her with both arms. Siobhan was squashed against his chest, barely able to breathe.

“Don’t be mad,” he pleaded against the top of her head. “Here, hit me until you feel better.”

That was such a male thing to suggest. Siobhan felt like either laughing or groaning at the offer. A part of her was tempted to accept the offer, though. “Wolf, ease up. I can’t breathe.”

He did, a bare inch. Deciding she wouldn’t be able to take a proper breath until she talked him down, she went with the semi-rehearsed speech in her head. “First, I’m no longer mad at you.”

Wolf went abruptly still. Hope predominant in his voice, he asked, “You’re not?”

“No. Markl translated for you. I now understand what you were trying to say.”

Letting out a huge breath of relief, he finally let go and stepped back a pace. “I owe him one.”

“Majorly owe him,” she agreed dryly. “Now. As I understand it, it’s not my skills or my ability that you doubt, right?”

Wolf vigorously nodded.

Siobhan had to purse her lips to keep from laughing. So, wiser to just agree with her and not talk, eh? “What upset you was me going off alone with men you don’t know into a very dangerous situation. Was that it?”

Again, that vigorous nod.

“Alright. We’re now on the same page. I take it that you’re now fine with me going because Tran is going with me?”

“You’ll be fine with him nearby.”

 Phew. Thankfully this conversation wasn’t as hard as she’d feared it would be. “Delighted to hear it.” Feeling like things were more or less resolved, she felt she could finally ask. “You bounced back faster than usual. Did someone talk to you?”

“Rune.”

Siobhan felt her eyes crossing. The boy who only had a vague idea of what sympathy was had talked Wolf out of one of his moods? “Rune.”

“I was just as surprised.” Wolf shook his head in a rueful way. “Rune has actually made considerable progress, where emotions and people skills are concerned. He’s just been quiet about it.”

“Understatement,” Siobhan choked out. She’d been keeping an eye on the kid ever since he joined the guild and while she’d seen signs of progress, it wasn’t anything close to this level. “What did he say?”

“Quite a few things. The most surprising was, he’s in love with Denney. And is comfortable with it.”

Siobhan’s hand reached out blindly behind her until she found a chair, then she dropped into it. Her legs didn’t feel capable of holding her just then. “In…love with…”

Wolf gave her a look of sympathy. “I was sitting down when he told me. I was glad for that, too. Conli’s grumblings aside, I didn’t think it was anything more than what it looked: Rune had found someone he felt comfortable with and made a firm connection to her.”

Siobhan’s mind had gone numb. Likely because she’d had too many shocks to the system this morning. Still, her mouth kept moving. “Did he say what he planned to do, now that he’s realized?”

“No.” Wolf reclaimed his seat so she wasn’t craning her neck upwards to look at him. After a moment of consideration, he threw out, “He did say that he had figured out what he felt after watching Markl and Sylvie. Seems he’s using them as a role model.”

“Thank all mercy for that.” Markl and Sylvie had one of the healthiest relationships Siobhan had ever seen. If Rune was using them as an example, it put a lot of her fears at ease.

Wolf blinked, as if a thought had just occurred to him. “Should someone tell Conli about this?”

“Someone needs to break it to him gently, otherwise he’ll have heart failure if Rune just springs it on him.”

“Like he did me?”

“Exactly.” Siobhan was torn between celebrating Rune’s growth and finding a hard surface to bang her head against. Instead, she flopped back in her chair, letting her legs and arms sprawl out like a rag doll’s. “Well, the upside to this is we won’t have to worry about Denney’s safety anymore.”

“Truly. I pity the fool that crosses her. Rune doesn’t know how to pull his punches.”

That was only half the problem. When Rune decided that something was precious to him, he protected it with his life. She’d seen what happened when anything threatened the guild as a whole, and Rune’s reaction had been over the top. He’d improved, some, since Hyun Woo had taken him on as a student. But that didn’t mean he was fully in control of his darker instincts yet. “So…Rune hasn’t confessed to her yet?”

“No. I think he told me because he felt like I would understand.”

What? Siobhan canted her head, looking at him sideways. “Why would you understand?”

Wolf didn’t answer. He just looked at her, and the heat in those clear blue eyes made her blood run like quicksilver. She felt unable to move under the weight of his gaze. In that moment, she felt like he was telling her something, but she was too scared to hear him properly. Or maybe it was something else that stopped her from understanding him.