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CHAPTER SIX

AMBUSH

The scene at the Ottarn battle camp wasn’t much different from what it had been hours before when Rick led his troops southward after Ganton’s abrupt dismissal. The King’s officers had made little progress in forming up a route column, and now it was too late in the day to begin travel. An advance guard might make it onto the road before dark, but the main body of the army and all the supply trains would be here at least another night and probably longer.

“Stinks here,” Bisso said.

“There isn’t enough wood to burn the dead,” Rick said. “There’ll be plague if they don’t get out of here pretty soon.”

“What you reckon they’ll eat?” Sergeant Bisso asked. “This area’s been picked over by three armies.” He glanced at Jamiy, Rick’s Tamaerthan orderly, and cocked one eyebrow. “Think even the clans could find enough to eat here?”

Jamiy shook his head, pleased to have been brought into the conversation by the star lord. Sergeant Bisso had a reputation for being surly.

“I would not think there is enough to support field mice, much less an army.”

“Maybe they’ll eat mice,” Bisso said.

“It’s happened before,” Rick said.

“Can’t say much for their security,” Bisso said. “Nobody’s said boo to us.”

“As if they knew we were coming,” Jamiy said.

“Think so? Nah, they just know who we are,” Bisso decided. “Anyway, there’s a royal page. You! Lad! Please run to the Wanax, and give him Lord Rick’s compliments. The Warlord of Drantos requests a meeting.”

“The Warlord of Drantos requests audience with the Wanax of Drantos,” the page said formally. “It shall be told.” He paced off, not quite running, conscious of his dignity.

“With luck I’ll catch Ganton alone,” Rick said. “Jamiy, when I go into the Royal tent, you wait outside in case we need anything. Bisso, I’d appreciate it if you’d nose around, see what rumors you come up with.”

“Sure, Colonel. There’s enough owe me, least I can get is a drink. Maybe some information too. Jamiy, I’ll be hanging out with the Mounted Archers.”

“Given they’re not so happy at staying behind, maybe they don’t know so much as other outfits,” Rick said.

“Yeah, maybe, Colonel, but whatever they do know I’ll find out for sure.”

Rick dismounted at the royal tent. Four sentries stood outside. None left his post to help Rick dismount. Jamiy waved one of Rick’s Tamaerthan bodyguards to hold Rick’s stirrup as the royal sentries watched dispassionately. Long cry from the Battle of Vis, Rick thought. At Vis the entire army had refused to move until Rick was out of danger.

And maybe that’s the problem, Rick thought. Ganton knows a lot of his troops think more of me than of him. Maybe that’s it. But it sure feels cold here . . .

The page looked out from the tent flap, waited until Rick was dismounted, then opened the tent entrance.

“The Warlord of Drantos,” he said formally.

“Lord Rick, I had not expected to see you so quickly.” Ganton was standing at the other end of the command tent. With a wave he dismissed three courtiers who had been engaged in earnest conversation as Rick came in. They left without acknowledging Rick in any way.

“Nor I you, Majesty, but I think the matter urgent. My greetings.”

“Greetings. An urgent matter, you said, and as you see I have dismissed my advisors. Tell us.”

“Majesty, your Parliament has urged you to press your claim to be High Rexja.”

“As you know. You were there.”

“And you accept that.”

“Yes. I am no longer accustomed to being examined as I was when I was a pupil, Lord Rick. Were we not so close, I might resent your tone.” Ganton spoke evenly, and in low tones, but Rick wondered if any of the guards and nobles in and out of the command tent would hear.

“Your pardon, Majesty, but I must be certain of your intent,” Rick said. “The matter is one of both importance and urgency.”

“That is twice you have mentioned urgency. How so?”

“If you intend this course, our best chance is now,” Rick said.

Our best chance. You believe I cannot win without you?”

Rick spread his hands.

“Do you, Sire?”

“I confess uncertainty,” Ganton said. “But only to you. It would hardly do to let my doubts become public.”

“Agreed. Doubly agreed,” Rick said. “More. You are able, and you learn fast. I think you could win without me. I also think it would take you much longer, and cost much more.”

“Then let us heartily agree, for I said the same thing to the Lord Speaker not three hours ago,” Ganton said. “So. I take it you have plans. But first, surely, you will return to your own lands to drive out Lord General Ailas and his army.”

“No. We want that army there,” Rick said. “Sire, an army in Chelm isn’t defending the capital of the Five Kingdoms. Which is where we shall be as quickly as we can travel there.”

“But our forces are not yet assembled—”

“And theirs are worse scattered,” Rick said. “Strymon returns to the Green Palace with all the force he can muster. That is a long way from Aachilos. Whatever he finds there, it will take time to sort it out, and he won’t be looking for trouble. True, he may not respond to a summons from the High Rexja to defend the realm, but he will probably defend the realm against predations, even against you. Then again if Toris has his wits, or Issardos does, they’ll pardon Strymon and summon him. All that will take time. So if we strike fast and hard, by the time he can arrive you will be host to an Electoral College. Called by you, to chambers you control, in Aachilos where the elections are always held. It is but a short step from there to having that College name you High Rexja.”

“You would kill Rexja Toris?”

“No, but I have no hesitation in deposing him,” Rick said. “For cause. Incompetence for one.”

“He may be even less competent than you know,” Ganton said.

“I’ve heard those rumors too. If so, all the better. Leave him the throne. The College meets, and we say we have no designs against the High Rexja, but the realm must be governed. We pray the College will proclaim you, as both heir and regent. And we lock the old man in a place of comfort where the only women he can father children on will be whores.”

“That would have been more pleasing to Prince Sarakos than to Toris. But what if Akkilas lives and that head was indeed that of the tanist?” Ganton asked.

“We deal with that when the time comes. If we have to, we shoot him.”

“And the religious wars? Chancellor Issardos supports Vothan. We have converts among Strymon’s army because Ta-Meltemos has long been a land where Yatar prevails, but the Five Kingdoms officially rank Vothan at least Yatar’s equal, and the priests of Vothan hold by far the most influence in the capital.”

“The best way to win converts from a religion is to show it is a religion for losers,” Rick said. “When you hold Aachilos you may build a great cathedral to Yatar and Christ, and that, I think, will be the end of the matter.”

“I do not understand you, Lord Rick. You were no enthusiast for my claims as High Rexja.”

“I am no enthusiast for more war, Sire,” Rick said. “But on reflection I believe it best for all if we unify the realms of Drantos and the Five, with Drantos in the lead. We will endure the Time better. I should think you would be pleased of my aid, Majesty.”

“Why? Was there doubt that it would be offered?” Ganton asked. “I am pleased to have your aid, Warlord, but I shall be more pleased to have it when I am ready to make use of it. Did you think I had not considered pressing forward instantly? Do you believe yourself the only strategist in Drantos? No, no, My Lord, I have looked at these possibilities as carefully as you, and with better counsel.

“You wish me to press onward, with the enemy’s best army to my southwest. On your land, but without you to oppose it there is nothing to prevent Ailas from marching swiftly to the defense of his capital. And there is another army between us and Aachilos.”

“Scattered in defeat, Majesty,” Rick said.

“Scattered and dispersed, but even as we speak it is called to muster again by Matthias, a competent enough general. Then to the east there is Strymon with all his force. Strymon who will have left spies to watch us and who will know our every move. Strymon, the best general on Tran it is said, with his army intact and ordered well enough that he was able to march homeward while we squabble over meager spoils! No, My Lord Rick, I think not. It is well to be bold, but it is another matter to be foolhardy.

“Return to your lands. Expel Ailas while I gather the strength of the realm and see to my borders. Time enough to press this claim when that is done.” Ganton smiled thinly. “I am always pleased to see you, Lord Rick, but I do not expect to see you again while Ailas is entrenched in our County of Chelm. My thanks for your suggestions. Good day, My Lord, I will not detain you longer.”

* * *

The True Sun was down, and the Firestealer was making long shadows into the thickets. Rick rode along the darkening road in silence. Jamiy and his guards had not spoken a word since they saw his mood after his interview with the Wanax.

Handed me my head, Rick thought. I suppose I should be gratified, we tried to teach him to think independently. But not independently of us!

The worst of it was that Ganton might be right. It was a chancy business, charging forward without supply lines. Not as chancy as Ganton thought. Murphy’s raiders were operating ahead, and the private reports Murphy sent to accompany his grisly trophies made it clear the Fiver armies were scattered and no organized force stood between the border and the capital. Should I have told him that? But Ganton was in no mood to listen.

A strange meeting, Rick thought. As if he expected me to come, and had his answer ready. But how would he know I was coming? Or what I would propose?

“Ambush! Alarm!” The shouts came from the mounted archers who served as advance guard for Rick’s party. There were insistent hoof beats from the road ahead. A dozen horsemen, lightly armed, had burst past the advance party and were charging directly at Rick, sabers raised high, the nearest not a hundred yards away.

“Kill the traitor!” “For the glory of Vothan!” “Vothan calls!”

“Dismount to receive cavalry!” Bisso shouted. “Jamiy, look to the Colonel!”

Jamiy spurred his horse to get between Rick and the charging enemies. He was only just in time before the raiders were on him. One engaged him. The others charged past, ignoring the orderly, their eyes fixed on Rick.

“Vothan calls! Kill the traitor! Vothan calls!”

Rick fumbled at his shoulder holster. His pistol was buckled in, his shield hung on the cantle of his saddle. Jamiy had bought him a moment, but only that. The nearest enemy was no more than five yards away, saber raised high—

Bisso must have been just behind him. His H&K battle rifle sounded like the crack of doom. Rick’s ears rang with the muzzle blast, but the first enemy screamed in pain. His saber dropped. Bisso fired again. The man stayed in the saddle, but he rode past without striking. Bisso fired a new burst, and the charging group parted, flowing around them. A saber grated on Rick’s chain mail, then they were past.

His ears rang. Someone shouted, but he couldn’t make out what was said. Jamiy was down, out of the saddle and sprawled on the ground. His bodyguards were scattered. Then he saw dust rise ahead, and a dozen new shapes in the gloom. More enemies! Grimly he drew his pistol, but there was no one between him and the new force. This was defeat.

Dimly through the ringing in his ears he heard “For Yatar and Christ!” The newcomers were his own advance guard, turned to pursue the enemy that had broken past them. Now other mounted archers came up to form beside Jamiy and shield their commander. He heard new battle cries.

“Tamaerthan! For Lord Rick!”

And as suddenly as it had begun, the attack was over. More assassins rode past at a gallop. Two were down. The others escaped.

“Pursue!”

“Hold!” Bisso’s shout stopped the pursuit before it began. He looked to Rick for instructions.

You handle it, Rick thought. You or somebody. Not me, I don’t even know what just happened. I’m too damn old for this, I never was a good tactical commander and I’m dead tired

Bisso frowned, then rose in his stirrups to shout.

“Let ’em go. You, Cambyrly, take five more Tamaerthans and scout ahead. You’ll be safe enough, they’re after the Colonel, not you. Adams! Take your partner and play connecting file between us and the advance guard. Now who’s got the best horse here?”

A young Tamaerthan lord limped up. “I do.”

“Yeah, Sean, but you’re hurt.”

“Not badly, and my horse not at all.”

“Good man. Okay, you go with the advance guard there and when they get far enough out, leave ’em behind you and ride like hell to the camp. Come back with Balquhain and some reinforcements. And make sure Lady Tylara knows the Colonel’s okay. Colonel, you all right?”

“I’m fine, Sergeant. Jamiy!”

His orderly was down, but he seemed able to sit up.

“Medic!” Rick shouted.

“None with us, Colonel,” Bisso said. “Jamiy, you bleeding?”

Jamiy nodded dully.

Bisso dismounted.

“God Almighty, no wonder you’re bleedin’,” he said. “Hang on, I got to tie that off. You two, see he gets to the surgeon as soon as we get to camp. Colonel, all due respect and we need to get movin’ before those creeps come back with an army. My Lord Dugready, is there some reason you’re not riding to camp?”

“On my way, Lord Bisso.”

Bisso nodded acknowledgment.

“Okay, Colonel, let’s get moving.”

“I’m worried about Jamiy—”

“Yes Sir, and if you get killed, we all go. The troops will get him back to camp, and there’s nothing you can do they can’t. He’s got a hell of a slice on his shield arm, and he needs sewing up, but neither one of us is going to do that. So let’s get the hell out of here.”

“I suppose.”

“Suppose hell, Colonel. Okay, troops, move out.”

Rick let himself be led away, towards the camp and safety.

* * *

Warner inspected the dead attacker.

“Looks like a Fiver to me, Sir. And you say they were shouting about Vothan?”

“Sure were,” Bisso said. “‘Favor of Vothan!’ That sort of thing. And ‘Kill the traitor,’ who I reckon is the Colonel here. That’s sure who they were after, Mr. Warner.”

“The interesting thing is, how did they know to be there?” Warner asked, and Rick nodded.

“That’s been bothering me, too.”

“Pity they didn’t leave anything but dead behind,” Warner mused. “Bad luck, that.”

“Nope,” Bisso said. “Not luck, Mr. Warner. They led their wounded off, and this guy they finished off. The bullet didn’t kill him, it was that arrow that done it, and one of his own shot that from one of them small crossbows.”

“Kill their wounded rather than let them be captured,” Warner said. “Tough bunch. Did you go through his things?”

“Yeah, mixed bag, the kind of stuff you’ll find on any trooper after a few weeks on campaign. Loot, this and that. But nothing pointing to where he came from, leastwise nothing I get any feeling from.”

“I’ll go over it later,” Warner said. “Religious objects?”

“Both Vothan and Yatar stuff,” Bisso said.

“But no cross? Nothing Christian.”

“No, Mr. Warner.”

Tylara burst into the command center.

“My Lord. They say you are all right—”

“I’m fine, sweetheart. Not a scratch on me.”

“Christ be thanked. Sergeant, I am told there were a dozen, in ambush, and that they made directly for My Lord Husband, to kill him.”

“I’d say that was an accurate picture, Lady Tylara,” Bisso said.

“A dozen, in hiding and waiting. Did you ride slowly from your meeting with the Wanax, then?” she demanded.

“No, Ma’am, we wasn’t at forced march or anything but we weren’t dawdling either.”

“If they had set out when you left the Wanax would they have been able to get into position and hide before you encountered them?”

“No, Ma’am,” Bisso said. “Not easily, anyway. I see where you’re goin’, and I don’t like it much. I don’t know, My Lady. Maybe, but it don’t seem too likely. They sure wouldn’t have had any extra time.”

“So,” Tylara said. “A dozen enemy soldiers are concealed near Wanax Ganton’s camp. They remain undetected until by happenstance they see Lord Rick and a small party set out on this road. They immediately form a plan and ride away at the gallop, still undetected. They ride past two small crossroads until, again by happenstance, they find a good place of concealment. There they lie in wait for Lord Rick. Do you believe this, Sergeant?”

“Now you put it that way, not a bit of it, My Lady,” Bisso said.

“And you, My Lord Husband?”

“No. And I’ll give you another one,” Rick said. “I think Wanax Ganton was expecting me, and knew precisely what I was going to say.”

“I’ll buy the part about expecting us,” Bisso said. “I thought it was funny at the time, the way the Wanax’s guards didn’t challenge us, and that page was right there, ready to go announce us. Didn’t wait for a tip, didn’t protest about going in to the Wanax without permission, just took off. Skipper, I’d bet he was waitin’ there for us all along.”

“I sent you to talk with the Mounties,” Rick said. “Learn anything?”

“No, Sir, and I don’t think they was hiding anything. They was surprised enough to see me. Thought we’d rode off into the sunset. Some of them was grousing about a long campaign coming, but they didn’t seem to know anything special about it.”

“You know what this means,” Rick said.

“Certainly.” Tylara’s voice was firm and assured. “We have a traitor within our camp. Someone who warned Wanax Ganton you were coming, and for what purpose. Someone who deserves to be hanged.”

“I think we might have trouble justifying that,” Rick said. “Hanging a man for loyalty to the Wanax. Okay, I buy it that Ganton has a spy in our camp. But on our staff? Hell, we’ve got agents in his army, too, but not high up enough to overhear his council meetings.”

“Didn’t need to be so high,” Bisso said. “Hell, Skipper, we didn’t make any secret of what we were going to propose to Ganton. I’d reckon half the officer corps and all of the sergeant’s mess knew every bit of that before we rode out of camp. What else would you be doing, riding back while the troops sit here?”

“Okay, not necessarily so high up,” Rick said.

“But more than Ganton’s spy,” Tylara said. “He will not hang for loyalty to the Wanax, but disloyalty!” She jerked her thumb towards the dead ambusher. “A spy for the Five Kingdoms as well.”

“Yeah,” Rick said. “Treason. That’s all we bloody need.”

“Treason to whom?” Tylara said aloud. “It is not treason to obey the orders of the Wanax, even if those involve dressing as an enemy.”

Rick gasped. She understands this stuff, he thought.

“You think Ganton sent those ambushers?”

Tylara shook her head.

“It will not matter. The traitor, if we find him, will hang as a spy for the Five. In fact I do not think our Wanax would treat us so. But are you certain he did not?”

* * *

There was stew for dinner. Rick had eaten stew for a week now, a routine broken only by the more varied fare served in Strymon’s camp.

“I weary of stew,” he announced, and Tylara grinned.

“Then let us hasten to be home where there is something else.”

“Not sure I should go home just yet,” Rick said.

“And where shall we go in preference?”

We, Rick thought. She likes being with me. As I with her. Thank God we’re back together again. But

“Not us, me. You’re needed at home. The kids need you. I think I have to go to Armagh.”

Tylara frowned. She wasn’t the kind of woman who pouted, but Rick could sense her disappointment.

“And why Armagh?”

“Ammunition,” Rick said. “All our spares are at Armagh. If I get there before the Wanax, there won’t be any trouble about gathering everything and taking it with us to Chelm. If Ganton gets there first, he may wonder why I want it all.”

“And you think it is time we took control of our resources,” Tylara mused. “After your treatment today, I agree. But I hate being parted from you.”

Rick grimaced at a spoonful of stew. It tasted of rabbit, but there was a gamier flavor Rick was afraid to ask about. Earth wildlife had been released on Tran over the centuries, and most of it thrived without natural predators, just as most native Tran species were poison, or indigestible, to humans. Over centuries human cooks had found a few Tran species edible and even nourishing, but none of those were very attractive for the appetite. Neither were the Terran rats which seemed to have taken over half the planet, but armies often ate them.

“I hate leaving you, too. But it’s the same with the surinomaz, I—we—need control of that as much as we need the ammo. I don’t know how much Harvey Rand has collected, but any is better than none, and if I’ve got it I’ve got something to trade with the Shalnuksis. Also I want some seeds, and some of the crop foremen, too.”

“You will raise madweed at Chelm?”

“Not at Chelm, but not too far away, either,” Rick said. “Someplace we control. Tylara, I’m getting scared. That crown business changes everything. Ganton’s acting independent—”

“That is the way of a Wanax,” Tylara said.

“Yeah, but it scares me the way he’s acting. I’ll feel a hell of a lot better if we have our ammunition and all the star troops near enough that I can control them. Same with the surinomaz.”

“I agree regarding the ammunition. But, Rick, you have placed the surinomaz cultivation and the visible signs of your actions at Armagh so as to draw attention away from Chelm,” Tylara reminded him. “You feared skyfire, and thought better it fall at Armagh than at our home. And I agreed, and I still believe that important.”

“Yeah, and now I’m not sure which is the bigger threat, Ganton or the Galactics,” Rick said. “The Galactics are an unknown.”

“Are they?” Tylara asked. “My Lord Husband, if there is one thing certain about the history of this realm, it is that skyfire falls when the sky demons come. It was you who put names to the demon lords, but our grandsires knew of them before ever you arrived. Wanax Ganton was our ward, and owes us, owes you, more than he can ever repay. Agreed that it is dangerous to have a Wanax in your debt. But whatever we apprehend from the Wanax, ill will and skyfire from the demon lords is certain!”

“I’m not so sure,” Rick said.

“You put your hopes on that policeman?” Tylara asked.

“Yeah, I suppose I do pin a lot of hope on Inspector Agzaral,” Rick said. “But nobody, not Les or anyone else, seems to know what the Shalnuksis are really up to this time. Just that things are different, and Agzaral has made the difference. Anyway, it’s getting close to periastron. The legends say the Demon has grown dim before skyfire falls, meaning it has finished its track through this system and is on the way out again. That’s years we’ve got. It’s pretty clear the Shalnuksis delay their skyfire as long as they can in hopes of getting more product. Inspector Agzaral said most of their motives were commercial.” Rick spooned up something indescribable, let it fall back into the stew, and brought up a carrot. “I want to string things out as long as possible.”

“Keep this new activity far from Castle Dravan, then,” Tylara said. “Your reasons for not attracting attention to our home remain strong. In the High Cumac, perhaps?”

“Not enough rain, not usually—”

“My love, there are strong legends of skyfire in the High Cumac,” Tylara said. “And of dealings with sky demons. You have said that rainfall changes at the Time.”

“By the Lord, I think you have something.”

“Do not blaspheme,” she said automatically.

“Your pardon. Tylara, I think you’re right, every place we know of that has legends of local star demon activity had the right soil for madweed even if there’s not enough rain. There are streams we can dam, for that matter. With the Littlescarp to the east the High Cumac ought to be easy enough to defend from refugees. Or Ganton if it comes to that. Defending to the west is another matter.”

“Westmen,” Tylara mused.

“And worse, if Warner’s right,” Rick said. “We’ll need to look to defenses, and good stockpiles. But nomads don’t have any use for madweed, and if we don’t grow anything else up there they won’t be interested. Nothing to steal. It does mean we’ll need good transportation and supply. And fortifications. Magazines. Damn. That means logistics, and we’ve just sent our best bureaucrat off with Strymon.”

“My Lord Father Apelles has trained apprentices,” Tylara said. “I am told that several show great promise.”

“Good. Get them on it. We’ll want to put a dozen square stadia in cultivation. I don’t know how many farmers and troops that will take, but I’ll find out when I get to Armagh and send that information along. It’s going to take a big effort, Tylara, but I think it’s worth it.”

She nodded sagely.

“As do I. But must you go to Armagh yourself? Your children will miss you.” She smiled. “As will I.”

“I’ve seen them since you have,” Rick reminded her. “They need you more than me, and I won’t be any longer than I have to be. But yes, for something this drastic, I better go myself. Ganton isn’t going to like this, you know.”

“There seems little we do that he does like,” Tylara said. “And I fear that will become worse, not better.”


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