Fortress Draconis (46 page)

The king’s hazel eyes narrowed. “Despite what you might think, Grand Duchess, the story of her drowning when her ship capsized was true. Had I wanted her dead, I would have arranged it later. She died before my boys had their moonmasks, and for their sake I would have wanted her to be able to look upon them pridefully as men.”

“So, you will let your reign die for a crime you did not commit?”

“I will not let it die.” Scrainwood brought his chin up. “You wish me to support Adrogans and his campaign in Okrannel? You know he cannot hold the nation against Chytrine if he retakes it.”

“Leave the fate of Okrannel to me. Alexia is not the only person who has been trained to war. We have many who will fight and make Okrannel too problematic for Chytrine to want to retake it.”

The king tapped a finger against his lips for a moment. “You will subordinate Princess Alexia’s role in what is to come to a Jeranese general’s role? How do you know Adrogans will not just take Okrannel and add it to Jerana?”

The old woman laughed harshly. “Alexia will study him and destroy him if he does that.”

“And know of enough of him to take Jerana when the time comes?”

“That will long be after my death, King Scrainwood, and yours.” The old woman reached for her wineglass again. “You will let an army march through your lands at your peril.”

“I buy the freedom of my nation with freedom for yours?” The king nodded slowly. “And the reason my thinking has shifted in this direction?”

“The most basic of premises, Highness. If we fight Chytrine in Okrannel, we fight on her territory. My nation has already been ravaged by her troops. There is no reason we should offer her the chance to despoil virgin lands. Not only does supporting Adrogans liberate my nation, but it saves so many others.

“If, by supporting the Draconis Baron’s plan, we invite her to attack Fortress Draconis, we invite her to expand her territory. We already know there is leakage past Fortress Draconis. It could easily be that she can bring down a sieging force that will bottle up the forces in Fortress Draconis while a yet larger army marches past, slashing down into the heartlands of the south. Only by attacking in Okrannel can we divert those troops from her invasion corridor.”

Scrainwood slowly nodded. “Logical and defensible. The Jeranese have not thought about the predations of foreign armies marching through their nation?”

“Adrogans wishes only to win enough glory that he can claim the queen and throne for himself. She shares this desire.”

“It will be done, then.” Scrainwood nodded. “One more thing, Highness.” Tatyana’s thin lips curled into a catty smile. “We could tie our countries more closely. Think on the idea of Alexia needing a husband.”

Me? No, she would not give Alexia to me.“Erlestoke. He would move to the throne of Okrannel, leaving Linchmere for Oriosa?”

“You would live long enough for one of Linchmere’s children to come up and be strong.”

“Indeed, much to think about, Grand Duchess.” King Scrainwood smiled and, rising, crossed to pour himself some wine. “I do believe I will join you now. We will share wine as we share planning the future. To your health.”

“And yours and ours, Highness.”

King Augustus held his palms up toward Dothan Cavarre. “You’re taking this wrong, my friend. I’m not abandoning you. I agree fully with your strategy.”

The smaller man narrowed his blue-flecked grey eyes. “Forgive me, or did I mishear you advocating my sharing dragonel science with the nations in the Council?”

Augustus glanced behind him at the double doors that led from the garden into the council chamber in Fortress Gryps. Lowering his voice, he steered the Draconis Baron deeper into the garden. “What I suggested is something we have bruited about in our own councils. I was advocating that you provide companies ofmeckanshü to operate dragonels for the various nations. They would have what they want to hold others off, yet they would not be able to use it to attack their neighbors.”

Cavarre sighed audibly. “Despite their being constructs of metal, flesh, and magick, themeckanshü are quite human. They have passions and desires, and are capable of being corrupted. Their loyalty to me and Fortress Draconis comes from our giving them a purpose in their lives. They would have been reduced to nothing, but we have made them special. They guard their old homes from the threat to the north, making their sacrifice more noble than we can imagine.

“But human they are, and were they sent here to Yslin, or to Meredo or Lakaslin, they could be seduced by life there. Promises would be made. They would be changed and turned. The secrets of the dragonel would spread unchecked. People would turn them on each other instead of reserving these hellish weapons for use on Chytrine.”

The King of Alcida nodded slowly. “I know that is a risk, but if you cannot or will not even consider this sort of concession, the Council will vote to back Adrogans. The troops you need will go to him. Okrannel will become a killing ground, and I know so very well how much blood will soak the earth there. It will be an open wound that will suck warriors in, year after year.”

“Exactly!” Cavarre’s eyes blazed and Augustus thought, not for the first time, that madness might have tinged them. “Chytrine will keep the war there going forever. Just as Jerana has done, other nations will deny me the troops I need. Queen Carus will make trade deals and alliances that will cause other troops to be sent to Jerana and into Okrannel. Worse yet, the outcry for dragonels will rise, as if they could win that war.”

Augustus shook his head. Okrannel’s mountainous terrain severely limited the effectiveness of dragonels, which were slow to move and needed very specific supplies to make them function. Laying siege to some little fort only required a supply of wood and rock if conventional siege machines were to be used against it. A dragonel was useless—save perhaps as a battering ram—without its firedirt and shot.

“We will not let that happen, Cavarre.” Augustus groaned as an ache started throbbing from temple to temple. “There are enough ofus, my brother, to counsel against that sort of thing.”

Cavarre’s hesitation told Augustus that his emphasis had not been misread. The two of them belonged to the Ancient and Most Secret Society of the Knights of the Phoenix. The Knights had hotly debated how things would go if the Adrogans’ plan was put into effect. While some thought Adrogans had a chance at inflicting some serious damage to Chytrine’s forces there, all agreed that the defenders would have a great advantage in Okrannel. That nation would serve Chytrine in the same way Fortress Draconis served the south, costing time, materiel, and lives to liberate. Given how ravaged the nation had been, keeping troops in good supply against any Aurolani counterattack would be nearly impossible, creating a second drain on the south’s resources.

Though all of the Knights understood Cavarre’s reasoning for keeping a tight grip on the secrets of the dragonel and even agreed with him on that issue, they had so far proven unable to exert influence enough to change the minds of their leaders. The simple fact of leakage of small groups of Aurolani troops past Fortress Draconis meant people no longer saw the place as the grand shield it had once been. Since it seemed to be failing a little bit, and they feared a gross failure, a plan that provided an offensive that would take the war to Chytrine proved very attractive to world leaders. Moving dragonels south would help allay some of the fear, but sow more trouble for the future of the Fortress Draconis strategy.

The small man snorted. “Even if I were to agree with your plan, and even if the leaders of thosemeckanshü companies were to joinus, the secret could still get out. Moreover, demands to supply dragonels would require time or the stripping of defenses from Fortress Draconis. Think of it, Highness. They will tell me that as soon as they have dragonels to make up for the troops they are sending to me, those troops will be released to me. Until that time, however, they will support Jerana. They will do this to make me act in haste, which weakens Fortress Draconis and leaves the world open to Chytrine’s predation.”

“Is Fortress Draconis strong enough to hold Chytrine off right now?”

Cavarre frowned. “If it were not, she would have laid waste to it already. If I am denied the things I need, however, it could be fatally weak.”

“Then you need to offer some sort of compromise.” Augustus pointed back toward the council chamber. “You heard Scrainwood. He’s come around to the idea that if war is joined in Okrannel, Chytrine will be forced to pull troops back from the lower nations and reinforce the Ghost Marches and Okrannel.”

“He’s an idiot. Chytrine has very capable leaders in Okrannel and the Ghost Marches. Adrogans has won some victories, but they have not been clean and have been the result of his having overwhelming force on his side. In Okrannel his force will be broken up and subject to ambush. Everyone seems to forget that Edamis Vilkaso— Malarkex, as she is styled now—knows how to use cavalry very well. If rumors of flocks of grand temeryces with vy-laen riders running around the Ghost Marches are even remotely true, anyone who thinks Adrogans will win anything in Okrannel are as stupid as Scrainwood.”

“There is a room full of them behind us.”

“I know.” The Snow Fox looked up at Augustus and sighed. “Chytrine has played this game very well indeed. By striking here in Alcida she has shown that no nation can escape her touch. Scrainwood and others offer the hope that she can be distracted, but they have been blinded as to her true goal: stealing back the pieces of the DragonCrown and destroying the southlands. Distraction or treasonous appeasement just delays the inevitable.”

Augustus couldn’t disagree. The most expedient plan to end the threat to his own nation would be to strike into

Oriosa, overthrowing Scrainwood and purging Oriosa of Aurolani troops. The difficulty of doing that would be that it would shatter any unity among the southland nations and create the impression that if people did not do what Augustus wanted, he would take their nation as well. The south would descend into chaos and no one would be able to oppose Chytrine.

The king scrubbed hands over his face. “What will you do when they vote to back Adrogans?”

“I will do what I have always done, Highness. I will defend three fragments of the DragonCrown as best I am able.”

“And you won’t even suggest there is room for compromise. You won’t say you will consider sharing the dragonels?”

The small man shook his head. “I cannot, for they would know it for a lie. Augustus, I am neither blind to nor ignorant of the politics and all the ramifications of what we are facing here. I truly am not. However, the second I lie to your peers, they are given grounds for distrusting everything I say after that, and many will doubt things I’ve said long before. They will assume that I have, for my own purposes, exaggerated things to such a degree that they can refuse my funding, they can refrain from sending me troops and supplies.”

“Damn and damn.” Augustus raised a fist to his mouth, then forced his hand open to smooth his moustaches. “If I pull out of any agreement, I fracture the alliance we have opposing Chytrine. Nations will support you or Adrogans or, worse yet, will sue for a separate peace with Chytrine. I will have to support Adrogans if they do, and I will, to the letter of whatever agreement we reach. I’ll also support you. I have that luxury, and I am certain I can influence a few others to join me. Naliserro doesn’t like having asullanciri claiming their nation as its home. Sebcia, Muroso, and Viarca will likewise lend you support since you are their first line of defense. I think we can prevail upon the Vilwanese as well.”

“No, spare me the sorcerers. They are angry over the slaughter of the young, and people now mistrust them. They will better serve to work with the small units in Okrannel than they will with me. I have enough to forge moremeckanshü. If I need more than that, all is lost.” Cavarre narrowed his eyes. “There is one more thing we can do, though it will be difficult.”

“And that is?”

“We need the Norrington in Okrannel.” Augustus frowned. “I don’t follow your reasoning.”

“The Norrington is the one real threat we have for Chytrine. While it has been argued whether or not he will kill her, it has been prophesied that he will liberate Vbrquellyn.Chytrine hasput herCroquelfsullanciri Winfellis, in charge of the island—her perversion of an elf watching over her perversion of an elven homeland. As long as the Norrington is out there, he poses a credible threat to the island.”

“That won’t happen if he is at Fortress Draconis?”

“Chytrine would rightly assume that I would not strip away troops for an assault on the island. Adrogans would be likely, on the other hand, to order such a reckless thing, especially if his troops get bogged down in Okrannel and he is making little headway. We’ve not got that long until winter settles in, which will be a boon to Chytrine since her troops are hardened to the cold and function so well in it.” The king nodded. “Besides which, with the Norrington at Fortress Draconis, his destruction would be added to the presence of the DragonCrown fragments to make the fortress even more irresistible.”

The Snow Fox sighed. “The only thing working against Chytrine is her impatience. Slaying the young sorcerers will weaken us a generation from now. If she waited, slackening off strikes here and there, suggesting she was weak, the leadership of the world would fall to those who don’t remember the horror of the last war. Internal pressures would tear the fragile alliance apart, with old rivalries springing up anew. The Okrans refugees would go the way of the Vbrquelves, becoming bitter, and no one would risk their lives to help liberate their nation.”

Augustus snorted a quick laugh. “She trapped herself when she sent her warning with Hawkins so many years ago. She promised that the children of today would never live to see maturity. She’s fulfilled the promise with the children from Vilwan, and the urchins of the Dim. If she let things go at that, in another generation she would take it all in a walk.”

“We can’t give her that chance.” Cavarre shifted his shoulders, then nodded toward the Council. “I will demand everything I can think of, including the Norrington. You will talk me down, and we will fight hardest over the Norrington. Perhaps, in that way, we will get what we need. If not…”