Fortress Draconis (57 page)

“Yes, General?”

“Don’t leave anything out. I suspect your observations here will be the closest of any to the truth.”

Somehow Kerrigan managed to juggle all the things he had to do, and no one was more surprised about it than he was. He’d gone from being an Adept to being a historian, a scribe, and acounter-spy, which he thought was much better than being a plain old spy. He worked hard at getting the fake correspondence completed before the army started on the move, but also wrote a couple of notes while riding in a wagon since he assumed the jiggled handwriting would add verisimilitude to the note.

He didn’t work on his history while moving. Kerrigan did feel it would be a bad thing if he wrote about the deceptive letters in his journal, so he only made veiled references to writing notes for soldiers. If he were ever allowed to tell the full story, he could expand those notes and make sure all the details were there for future generations.

Hisdesire tochronicle everything asopenly and honestly as possible did force him to take more notice of the world than he might have otherwise. Though they were hideous to look at, for example, Kerrigan did study the crucified forms of the two human spies at the iron mine, taking down their names and other details. He tracked down the wagon drivers and heard from one of them a story of how a Vorquelf’s arrow had stopped in mid-air before it killed Resolute. He assumed the story was probably wrong since the difficulty of casting such a spell was enormous-just the preparation time would be too great, much less figuring out how, magickally, to identify the arrow sufficiently to stop it.

He did decide that he should ask Resolute about it, but that decision retreated in urgency as he imagined the snarl and snapped answer the Vorquelf would likely give him.

Kerrigan found his observational skills sorely tested as the army wound its way down out of the forested hills toward Lake Vriyn and the city of Svoin. Three rivers fed down into the lake from the south, originating in the mountains on the Jeranese border. One broad and sluggish river, the Svoin, flowed north from the lake to eventually join the Svar River on its journey to the Crescent Sea.

The city itself had a crescent of high walls with higher towers to protect the landward approaches. The land actually rose toward the city, which had been built on a rocky plateau, with a meandering roadway rising to the main gate. From the distance Kerrigan could see some of the city’s interior, but not too clearly. For curiosity’s sake, and that of his history, he wished he was back in Yslin, with its balloons and cable-baskets that would give him a Gyrkyme’s view of the city.

The area around the city was clearly land that had once been under extensive cultivation, as plots were level and stones had been used to set up boundary markers and some walls. Only a few fields had grain in them and as the army approached, human slaves from the city came out to harvest what they could. Orla explained this was to deny the invaders much of anything, and to emphasize that point the fields that couldn’t be cleared were burned.

If that bothered Adrogans at all, he gave no sign. He detached a portion of his force to remain in the forests to chop down trees for the siege towers, catapults, mantlets, and rams. In the fields he deployed his infantry in a great arc to cut the city off from the land. The inability to blockade the port meant there would be no starving the city, but beginning a siege this late in the season meant that starving the city into submission was not an option anyway.

“Either we take it by force before the snow begins to fly, or we retreat,” Orla explained. “As dry as the ground is now, it will be a complete morass come spring, and blanketed with snow throughout the winter.”

Aside from the cavalry units out scouting or protecting the woodcutters, the rest of the horsemen were placed well back of the infantry lines. They could easily be brought into action against any force coming out from the city, and were in position to deal with any relief force coming down from Svarskya. The most obvious point for such a force to enter the basin was along the Svoin River, but Adrogans scattered scouts throughout the hills in case thesullanciri decided not to be obvious.

Kerrigan diligently and carefully recorded all the details about Adrogans’ deployment. To his mind, the general had everything under control. As soon as the siege machinery moved up, Svoin would fall, and the history of the Okrans campaign’s first victory would be his.

A lexia held an arrow by its fletching in her right hand and /-I tapped it against her left palm. The paradox that was 1 lAdrogans continued to haunt her. King Augustus had told her that she was present to take over for Adrogans if he proved to be a fool, and half the time she felt he clearly was. Then he would go and do something that would make her reconsider, at least for a minute or two.

The layout of the troops for the siege made her take heart, at least a little bit. The Jeranese general had arrayed his troops to screen Svoin from any landward force, but it did stretch them out. He placed a force astride the coast road to forestall any troops coming down along the Svoin River from the north. Alexia would have placed it further north, in the hills through which the road ran, but she did concede that its current placement would stop any advance and allow the cavalry a chance to flank the Aurolani attackers.

Adrogans had even mixed his troops intelligently. Heavy foot occupied the center of the siege line, with light making up the bulk of both wings. The Gurolans Stoneheart Battalion had been placed as the road force, and Alexia knew they’d hold long enough for cavalry to be deployed. The cavalry had been broken into four parts, with her Wolves and the Okrans Kingsmen given the northernmost position. They’d be the first to attack any relieving force. The other forces, with the Savarese Knights and Alcidese Horse Guards in the center, were arrayed to the south, with two groups positioned to guard the baggage and supply area to the south. The Jeranese Horse Guards acted as Adrogans’ own bodyguard troops and were stationed to the south, near his headquarters.

Also to the south was the woodworks where the siege machines were being assembled. As they were completed, with trebuchets and ballistae the first things produced, they were deployed with the infantry units. Once they got their siege weaponry, they inched their lines forward. Three hundred yards seemed the effective range of the wall-mounted weapons in Svoin, and the infantry advance invited shots.

Adrogans even used the Warhawks as Alexia would have. As the Aurolani forces shot at the ground forces, Warhawks used firecocks to set their siege machines ablaze. An indiscriminate use of firecocks would have set Svoin on fire, which none of the invaders wanted, so the Aurolani stopped shooting fairly quickly. They were clearly intent on saving their shots for the final assault, when they could do the most damage.

He implemented the hostage-rescue plan, and the first infiltration of the city had been successful. Mages reported increased magickal activity in Svoin in response to magick being used in the sewers. Kerrigan and other mages worked on enchanting stones and fragments. Even the orders to gather rats from the city and surrounding area didn’t seem too odd when it was accompanied with the rumor that the Zhusk claimed rats would make a fine stew that thickened the skin.

The Zhusk, however, provided her with one of several questions that Adrogans evidenced no intent of answering. The Zhuskcombatants —she wasn’t sure the word “warrior” fit well—wandered everywhere, had no single place they seemed to gather, and answered or ignored questions at their own whim. An overwhelming number of them appeared to be older, and aside from a knife and a knotted club, none of them carried weapons.

Alexia was well aware of the stories of Zhusk tribesmen and how damnably galling their defiance of Svarskya had been during her grandfather’s day. Zhusk fighters had been the stuff to frighten Okrans children, even in exile. She recalled Misha hoping, on their dream raid, that they’d not encounter a Zhusk. “Better a thousand gibberers than one Zhusk,” he’d breathed in a hushed whisper.

She’d have dismissed them as useless, save that their arrows had found their marks during the liberation of the mines. More troubling, however, was Phfas’ ability to freeze an arrow in flight. That spoke to power she did not understand, and this troubled her because she had a hunch that Adrogans was relying on it.

Alyx had asked Orla to explain what she had seen, but the Vilwanese warmage had no answer for her. “A spell could toughen armor to stop the arrow from penetrating, but what you describe … I can’t see how it would work.” Resolute had been even more taciturn than usual on the subject, and Crow shrugged when asked about it.

Phfas merely cackled and scampered away when she approached him for clarification.

Another of Adrogans’ behaviors that perplexed her was ordering the troops to dig into the earth and set up breastworks. This wasn’t out of the ordinary, save that the water table in the area ran so high that a foot or so down, water began to weep into the holes. Adrogans’ orders required the soldiers to dig here and there, in some crazy-quilt pattern that, according to Peri after a flyover, made no sense at all. Rays extended out from Svoin in all directions, taking a field that had been solid enough for cavalry action and turning it into a quagmire.

Even that would not have been much of a problem, since much of the damage was done well behind the lines, but the arrival of scouts from the northern hills changed all that. They reported seeing two Aurolani forces. One, which they estimated to be two battalions of infantry, was coming down the coast road. The other, likewise having two infantry battalions and one of mixed cavalry, was coming straight south, through the mountains, so it would be coming in northeast to the siege line.

Leading that force was Malarkex.

The Aurolani camped in the forested hills a mile to the north, placing scouts on the ridgeline. A company of heralds came south, to the edge of the fields, and planted legion standards. The nine-skull banner represented a legion that had been at the siege of Svarskya. Alexia recognized no others by description, and when the Okrans Kingsmen heard of the nine-skull banner they wanted to ride out and take it.

She ordered them to stay put, then went off to find General Adrogans. On her way to his tent she felt a hand land on her right shoulder. She shrugged it off and turned to snap an order. She assumed the person who had touched her was her cousin Misha, hoping she’d rescind the order concerning the taking of the standard—no one else would presume to touch her. To her surprise she found Crow catching up to her, matching her long-legged strides.

He clearly caught the glare in her eyes and pulled his hand away. “Forgive me, Highness, but you’d not acknowledged my calling your name. I should have known better. Another time.”

A hint of disappointment flashed through his brown eyes, sparking a twinge of regret in her. “No, Crow, please. I am preoccupied, and going to see the general. Perhaps it is best I don’t go in there angry.”

“Angry?”

She sighed. “Things here are neither ordered nor chaotic. You clearly have had military experience, and the camp is well run, yet Adrogans has had people doing things that make no sense.” She waved an arm toward the north. “All the digging has made a battleground into a patchwork of ponds. We have a large force camped to the north, and yet we’re not shifting troops to preclude an attack. I need to understand things, but I’m certain he won’t explain them, which is why I am angry.”

“That certainly makes sense. Adrogans does make it difficult to trust him.”

“And yet we must.” She shook her head. “You didn’t find me to listen to that, however. What can I do for you?”

Crow gave her a devilish smile. “I’d heard you issued an order forbidding anyone from heading out to steal a standard.”

Alyx’s jaw dropped. “Don’t ask, Crow. You, of all people, should have known better than to even think of such foolishness.”

He shrugged. “I’ve spent a quarter century with Resolute. Compared to some of the things we’ve done, stealing one of those standards would seem the height of deliberate brilliance.”

“That may be, but you know those standards are a trap.”

“Of course.” Crow smiled, his right cheek tightening around his scar. “Resolute talked to some of the warmages, and the standards are fair pulsing with Aurolani sorcery. To touch one would be death.”

“So, what do you want of me?”

“I just wanted to make sure your order forbids thestealing of a standard, nothing more. Though we’re not part of your command, we will abide by your orders and your wishes.”

“You’re not going to get yourself killed, are you?”

“No, Highness.” Crow’s voice softened. “That would leave you saddled with Will, Adrogans, and an angry Resolute. I’d not do that to you.”

“Good.” She hesitated for a moment, tempted to forbid Crow from doing whatever he had in mind. She knew she could, in fact, take him at his word and that he would obey her. By the same token, she trusted him to avoid being stupid. Unlike her cousin or so many others, Crow wouldn’t follow through with a plan just because he said he was going to do something. If it proved impossible, if no one else’s life was at stake, he would withdraw.

Alexia gave him a sincere smile. “I don’t want to know what you are going to do. Before you do it, though, find Peri and she’ll give you the challenge and response for our lines, just in case they would be of use.”

Crow winked at her. “I thank you for your trust. We won’t betray it.”

“I know. Arel be with you.”

“Save Arel’s help for dealing with Adrogans.”

“You’d scorn the gods?”

He smiled. “I have Resolute. He does that for me; besides, I’ve long since run through any luck I ever had the right to claim.”

Crow turned and gave her one last wave, then wove his way into invisibility within the smoke and chaos of the camp. Alyx watched him go. She smiled because she realized she did not fear his failing to return.He’ll be back, with a tale to tell. And somehow, I imagine, that will be the only good I hear today.