Chapter 10
The fortification of Vadal City began.
The war council met at an estate in the warriors’ district. It was a fine mansion, but by the importance of those assembled, they should have been meeting in the Thakoor’s mansion itself. Except the last time Ashok had been there he’d ended up in a dishonorable knife duel against the Personal Guard and their Thakoor had died messily at the end. So, he took no offense at his lack of invitation there.
The council was assigned representatives from each force present. As part of their agreement with Devedas, the Vadal had demanded that Phontho Jagdish be in command. This was a slight against the Maharaja, who by his office was supposedly the supreme arbiter of all of Lok, but Devedas had no choice but accept Jagdish as their ultimate decision maker. There would be many such abuses before this was through, but Ashok reasoned that insults were a small punishment for Devedas starting a war he could not finish. The loser of most wars ended up with his head stuck on a pike outside the winner’s front gate.
By the size of the army they had present, Jagdish led Vadal. Devedas commanded the Army of Many Houses, or at least what he had managed to reassemble of it after their retreat. And Ashok represented the Sons of the Black Sword. Each of those three had brought a few of their officers as well as anyone else they suspected might be of some use.
Jagdish had caught Ashok by the arm as soon as he had arrived in the meeting hall and whispered, “Watch yourself. This could turn hostile. We’re assembling a lot of men who’ve been enemies to each other in the same room. There’s bad blood here.”
“At least they are all united in hating me,” Ashok agreed.
“There’s that too. I’ll handle things, but stay wary.”
“What if any of the Capitol’s men question your authority as their commander?”
“Then they can challenge me to a duel…Speaking of which, if that happens, do you mind if I name you my champion? That should sort out even the dumbest of them right quickly.”
There were two dozen people assembled in the meeting room so far, clustered into knots based upon their faction and status. Most of them were warriors, but there were also workers representing the industries vital to their logistics, and even a few members of Vadal’s first caste who had invited themselves, probably in order to meddle. Ashok wasn’t too worried about those. The preparations would take time, and the important men would drift away as they lost interest in the mundane issues of city defense. If those members of the First stymied them at all, Ashok expected Jagdish to stomp on them. The Thakoor had declared that Jagdish operated with his full confidence. It was rare for a warrior to be so trusted, but Jagdish had proven himself to be a phontho above reproach who cared only for the well-being of his house. Insulting him would be the same as insulting Bhadramunda.
From the corner, Ashok watched as more Vadal men arrived. Very few of them would even look his direction. Those who met his gaze did so with naked contempt or outright disgust. No offense was taken. Ashok understood he had brought them nothing but pain.
However, those same men obviously adored Jagdish, and it was obvious they would gladly follow him into battle against the hordes of hell. They clustered around their natural leader, hanging on his every word. If the Vadal loved Jagdish a bit more than they hated Ashok, that might be balanced enough to keep them in line.
Jagdish abruptly stopped his conversation with the warriors when he spotted an enormous worker hesitantly pause at the council room doors. “Oceans! It can’t be. Gutch?”
When Gutch saw Jagdish he shouted, “Why did someone put a phonto’s turban on that fish-eater?”
“Come here, you magnificent bastard!” Jagdish abandoned his confused officers and rushed toward Gutch. “Good to see you, brother!”
Overcome by genuine emotion, Gutch engulfed Jagdish in a bear hug, effortlessly lifted him off the ground, and shook him. Jagdish had a fearsome-looking bodyguard who moved to intervene, until he realized that the big worker wasn’t about to snap his charge in half, and backed off.
Gutch held Jagdish out at arm’s length. “How’re you not dead?”
“I’d ask you the same.” He thumped Gutch in his considerable gut. “Life’s clearly been kind to you! What’re you doing here?”
“I asked him to join us,” Ashok stated. “Gutch possesses knowledge that may be very useful to Vadal.”
“Were you riding with the Sons again then, Gutch?”
“Eh, affiliated. Loosely, and in an entirely non-criminal manner.”
Jagdish laughed, for there were very few things Gutch did that weren’t a violation of the Law somehow. “That doesn’t sound like you at all.”
Gutch looked to Ashok, before nodding his head toward where a masked Inquisitor was sitting in the back by himself. Nobody willingly associated with members of that Order, especially now that their leader had brought them so much dishonor. “Before I say another word about my recent endeavors before these fine Law-abiding men, Ashok promised to discuss a pardon for any potential wrongdoing which may or may not have happened in the past involving yours truly.”
“We will get to that,” Ashok assured him. It stood to reason that if Devedas could make casteless into whole men by decree, then he could just as easily choose to overlook Gutch’s fabrication of illegal weapons on the mainland.
Ashok had brought a few of the Sons with him: Ongud Khedekar dar Akershan and Eklavya Kharsawan for their strategic cunning, Laxmi as leader of his wizards, and the Fortress envoy, Praseeda Jaehnig. Ashok had ordered her to abandon her strange uniform and wear clothing made in Lok instead, so as to not be a distraction. The men of Vadal were still coming to terms with the insulting idea that they were supposed to ally with criminals. He would not overwhelm them with a curiosity like a foreigner…especially one who was a master of illegal alchemy. The Fortress folk looked the same as regular people, until they opened their mouths and their strange accent revealed them to be oddities.
Nervous, the Sons stayed close to Ashok. It had taken them great courage to come here and surround themselves with warriors who would gladly fight them in normal times. The Law granted them status now, but that was nothing compared to generations it had been legal—even mandatory—to kill religious fanatics on sight. They were trusting in the reputation of Ashok, the word of Devedas, and the honor of Jagdish to keep them safe.
The Maharaja’s contingent were the last to arrive, and were the most numerous, as they had officers in the colors of every house who had contributed soldiers to the Capitol’s army, including men of Sarnobat and Vokkan. The Vadal greeted those with nearly as much sneering hostility as they had Ashok. It would be a miracle if no duels were fought today.
“It takes some nerve for the monkey and the wolf to show their faces here,” a Vadal warrior whispered to his friend.
Jagdish silenced the complainer with a scowl.
The room went totally quiet as Devedas entered, dressed in a plain uniform lacking any ostentatious badge of office. The Maharaja took one look around the assembly and nodded, satisfied. He dispensed with the usual pomp and fanfare the arrival that a man of such considerable status would demand and simply announced, “The army of the Capitol is present and ready when you are, Phontho.”
Jagdish was no statesman, but rather a warrior’s warrior who understood that their caste lived or died based upon respect. There could be no effective defense without cooperation. This petulant animosity between their forces would not do.
“Welcome, Maharaja Devedas.” Jagdish looked around to make sure everyone was listening. When he confirmed that they were, he continued. “I wish to say, and let it be heard before all of these witnesses, that what’s behind us is done.” As the silently glaring crowd watched, Jagdish walked directly to his former foe and gave him a bow, which was the traditional style of greeting in the north. “That was a damned good fight.”
“It was a most impressive defense.” Devedas returned the bow, and then he extended his hand in the southern style. “Do you think Vadal can do as well against the armies of the sea?”
“Easily. What’s the ferocity of demons when compared to you?” Jagdish shook Devedas’ hand. “All of the offenses between us will be as forgotten as these fanatics’ gods have been.”
“Perhaps that is not the best analogy,” Ashok said.
“Maybe.” Jagdish gave him a wry grin. “But if we can hold our grudges quietly and in secret for a few hundred years before remembering them in public again, that’s sufficient for me!”
Ashok mulled that over and had to admit that Jagdish was more clever at politics than he gave him credit for. His new wife had tutored him well. “The supreme phontho of Vadal is a wise man.”
“I’m glad you are here, brothers. All of you.” And Jagdish specifically looked toward Ashok’s criminals as he said that as well, which would serve as a subtle reminder to his officers that anyone who’d lift a blade in defense of Vadal City was to be welcomed. “Together, we’ll send the demons back to hell, where they belong.”
“We’d be better off without their kind,” spat a young warrior, who could apparently no longer contain his disgust.
With surprising speed Jagdish moved to where that warrior stood and grabbed him by the sash so hard he nearly pulled him off his feet. It was an incredibly insulting gesture, but gone was the jovial welcoming leader, to be suddenly replaced suddenly by a commander who was hard as nails. “How many demons have you fought, Risalder?”
“N-none, sir,” he stammered.
“I’ve fought one to the death!” Jagdish shouted in his face. “The bravest soldiers I’ve ever known barely took it down, and it still took everything we had. When I saw a bare handful of the things working together, it was a terror beyond comprehension, and we lived only because of him.” Jagdish pointed at Ashok.
“But we are Vadal. We are—”
“A bump in the road to them,” Jagdish snarled. “Twenty or thirty demons was all it took to rip Kanok apart. Lord Devedas, how many demons did you face in the Capitol?”
“Hundreds of the things. Their numbers were so thick their crossing blotted out the desert sand.”
“Then that’s the kind of force we can expect here. Listen to me carefully, boy, for I will only say this once. I will tolerate no dissent. You will set aside your pride until after this battle or I will set aside the rest of your life. That goes for all of you!” Jagdish looked around the room to make sure he was understood, before turning back to the warrior. “This is not just a challenge to us, or our house, or even our caste. It is a challenge to our species. This time we don’t make war for land, or wealth, or the whims of the offended first. We make war to survive. We make war so our wives and children might live. We make war so there is a tomorrow. Do you understand me?”
Shamed, that young man nodded.
“On second thought, keep your pride. You will need it to fight. But temper it with the wisdom to accept help when it is offered.” Jagdish let go of his sash, then walked to the center of the room and raised his voice. “Now listen up. We don’t know how long we’ve got until the enemy arrives, so we’ll waste not a single minute. If any of you here are yearning for a righteous vengeance against anyone else here, you’ll have to wait your turn. At this dinner party the demons get the first serving before anyone asks for seconds. You have all heard now of what happened in the south and in the desert. That cannot be allowed to happen here. I will not allow that to happen here. I require every sword arm! Every wizard! Every illegal weapon and rod and bomb! If there’s a stick, we’ll sharpen it. If there’s a place for a trench, we’ll dig it. Whether they be fish-eaters or judges, everyone in this house will fight when and how I tell them to! Do you understand me?”
“Yes, sir!” all the Vadal warriors shouted in unison.
“Good! Men of the Capitol, Sons of the Black Sword, the same goes for you. From now until the demons show their ugly faces you will not care what the man by your side believes in, or which banner he follows, only that he is willing to stand with you against hell! I have ridden with the Sons of the Black Sword. I have led the armies of Vadal after being thrown in a Vadal prison. I have fought with and against the forces of the Law. Our loyalties before today do not matter for this fight. All that matters is what we do now. Would you be remembered as the men who crushed the demon menace forever?”
Every warrior, regardless of house or lack thereof, roared in affirmation.
“Then you are with me! Together we fight. Together we win!”
As the warriors of many houses cheered, Ashok nodded his approval. Jagdish had always had a natural gift for leadership. It was good to see that it had not been squandered. It was ironic that the gods had prepared for this battle for so long, molding their chosen leaders with black steel and prophecies, that now their fate depended upon the character of one humble warrior who had ended up where he was simply by constantly trying to do the right thing.
“Let’s get to work. We have a city to defend.”