Chapter 16
Two weeks after my father used Shu to try and kill me, the Army of Vassa gathered in the city. I had six hundred men under my direct command. A one hundred man security force that guarded Edgerton's estate. The two hundred members of the queen's guard. And the three hundred men and women that had recently joined the queen's guard. The new recruits came from everywhere, brought here by a desire to serve the woman they believed to be Destiny's Queen.
The Baron of Elleby and the Baron of Larimore, the two northern baronies that sandwiched my northern lands, didn't show. The Baron of Reilly, one of the two southern baronies that sandwiched my lands, didn't show. The Baron of Selve, whose youngest son I sentenced to a prison camp for conspiring to kill Queen Catlett, didn't show. They sent messengers, informing me that they believed the dispute between me and the King of Dunre to be of a personal nature. They preferred not to get involved in what they considered to be a private matter.
The King of Tash didn't show. He sent a messenger, who said they preferred not to get involved in a dispute with their northern neighbor. When I pointed out that Bedard had killed their previous king, the messenger said they had no definite proof that Bedard had been behind the assassination.
I thought they were all fools, believing my father and Bedard would let them live, not to mention retain their lands. If my father succeeded in conquering the Finger States, he would kill all of them whether they took sides or not, just like he killed all the barons and dukes in Dunre.
I gathered my army of six hundred and headed east, where we hooked up with the Army of Enid. The young King of Enid contributed four hundred men to our cause, probably because he had no choice, not when his country lay between the Army of Dunre and Vassa. When we reached Holt, Shu added five hundred men to the cause. We marched into Landish fifteen hundred strong.
It wasn't as many men as I hoped to have. To make matters worse, we weren't a cohesive unit. My six hundred men never drilled with the men from the other two Finger States. Nor did I know what kind of training the armies of Enid and Holt received. That raised a question: how did we fight a larger force that had trained as a single unit? My two most senior advisers, Patera and Vomeir, both agreed that we should set up a defensive position and wait for them to come to us.
"We can't go on the offensive," Vomeir said. "We're not organized enough. The results would be disastrous. Our best chance of victory, our only chance of victory, is to establish a defensive position and wait for them to come to us."
"The Porch Hills would be a good place," Patera said. "They would give us the high ground."
The Porch Hills formed a barrier between Holt and Landish. They were a series of gently rolling hills with a few rocks and trees on them. On the southern side of the Istansada River, they overlooked a flat plain that was a good mile wide. If we took up a position there, it would give us a good view of the entire Army of Dunre.
"The Porch Hills are as good a place as any to establish a defensive perimeter," I said. "Especially on the southern side of the river. Once we set up camp, I can use my skills as a seer to monitor the Army of Dunre."
And so we set up camp on the Porch Hills. We stationed our troops on the southern side of the Istansada River, but kept a pair of corsairs, the Queen Catlett, and the newly completed Edgerton Hooks, nearby, in case they tried to flank us and we needed to ferry a large number of troops across the river.
It was late winter, so the hills were still brown. The scattered groves of trees that covered them were barren, as were the bushes that surrounded the trees. Mounted soldiers set up camp between the gently rolling hills. Foot soldiers set up camp on the hills with their commanders tents pitched at the top of the hills. I ended up on a hill in the middle. The Army of Enid was to my left. The Army of Holt was to my right. The Army of Vassa lay directly in front of me.
My tent sat on a hill void of trees and bushes. Its knee high grass was brown and flattened down by the constant winter winds. Overhead, the sky was gray, but no rain was falling. The tent itself was round and supported by a single pole. It was made out of alternating strips of red and gold silk. Unlike the King of Enid and his barons, who brought carpets and furniture for their tents, I didn't bother.
I was Adan and Adan's traveled light when they went to war. They carried food, weapons, and a bedroll. Except for the tent, I was no different from my men. My men differed from everyone else's in another way. Everyone else divided their foot soldiers into archers and swordsmen. All six hundred of my men were trained to use both weapons, three actually, swords, crossbows, and longbows. They used the longbows for long range fighting, the crossbows for medium range fighting, and the broadswords for fighting up close.
Once we had set up camp, I retired to my tent, unrolled my bedroll, and sat on it. I closed my eyes and pictured my father in my mind. A second later, I saw him. He was inside a tent, with Max and his two generals. They were sitting in their wood and leather chairs, gathered around a small round table with a leather top. They were studying a map drawn on a piece of sheepskin.
The first thing I did was make sure my presence inside their tent was too small for my father to detect. Once I did that, I listened to what he was saying.
"Does it look like they're planning on remaining there?" the first general said.
It sounded like my father had told them where we set up camp, which was to be expected.
"Hard to say," my father said. "They could be planning on making a defensive stand there, where they have the high ground, or they might be planning on moving in the morning."
"How big is their army?" Max asked.
"Not as big as ours," my father said. He looked more than a little pleased over that fact. "With our reserves having replenished our ranks, we're up to three thousand strong. They look to be about half that."
"Plus, it's not a real army," the second general said. "None of their armies have trained with each other. As such, I propose we meet them head on. A professional fighting unit such as ours will crush them.
The first general nodded in agreement. "The sooner we attack them the better. The longer we delay, the more time they'll have to train."
"Agreed," the second general said.
"Agreed," Max said.
They all looked at my father, who sighed. "I guess there's no point in delaying the inevitable. Tomorrow we march west. In two days, we'll meet the Army of the Finger States where they stand."
"And your daughter?" Max asked.
"Order your men to kill her on sight. The sooner she's dead, the sooner their army will collapse."
The meeting broke up and I let my presence fade away. The pieces were now in motion. In two days, the fate of this part of the world would be decided. Either it would fall under my father's control, or it would remain in the hands of those opposed to tyranny.