“Timing is all well and good…” Herzer said.
“How long to construct a fortified camp?” Edmund asked.
“Two hours,” Herzer replied, automatically.
“Not a full camp, just the beginnings,” Edmund said. “Stakes and one trench.”
“Say… forty-five minutes,” Herzer said. “Why the -catechism?”
“I think we can get that down to fifteen,” Edmund replied. “Okay, the first force comes out. There’s a brief clash. They run back towards camp. What happens then?”
“We pursue, the main force comes out of the portals and we get our head handed to us,” Herzer said, sighing. “They’ll probably start coming out in the middle of the battle. The retreating forces will be diverted around the camp to the side gates and the main force will sally through the north gate.”
“How long?” Edmund asked. “For the main force to reach the archers?”
“Say… fifteen, twenty minutes?” Herzer asked. “Why?”
“We don’t pursue,” Edmund replied. “Or, rather, the whole force doesn’t. We go to the archers’ hill.”
“And construct a camp?” Herzer said, aghast. “No time, sir!”
“There’s enough,” Edmund said. “We’ll have the archers and some people we’ll link up with them start on it. The Blood Lords with them can get it pegged out at least, start on the parapet. Then when the rest get there…”
“They just have to settle down and dig,” Herzer said. “Fast. But, sir, there are a hundred thousand of them, against six thousand. Even in a camp that’s long odds!”
“No, against twelve thousand,” Edmund said, poking at the table top. “Caught between two fortified camps. Two legions. Besides, it’s only going to be about fifty thousand, tops.”
“Sir,” Herzer said, frowning, “Balmoran is too far away to directly affect the main force. They’ll be concentrated, we’ll be dispersed. And they have a fortified camp in the middle…”
“Oh, I forgot that part,” Edmund admitted. “They won’t have their camp. We will.”
“And how have you been spending your time, Miss Ghorbani?” Conner asked as Rachel was led into his tent.
“Sewing up your more useable officers that forgot to duck,” Rachel replied. “How’s the siege going?”
“Slowly, slowly,” Conner answered. “Unfavorable winds slowing down the fleet, don’t you know. Can’t rush things too much. But they should be here in the morning. Since I’d hate for you to miss the show, I think your duties as a doctor are about done. You’ll be staying… closer to me. Won’t that be fun?”
“I dunno, do I have to talk to you or can I just play with Roc?” she asked, grinning. “I bet he plays chess.”
“I have… spoken to Roc about his interactions with you,” Conner said, smiling thinly. “There will be no more interaction. Understood?”
“Of course,” Rachel replied, sadly. “Hate to break the elf out of the monster, wouldn’t we?”
“That would be… quite impossible,” Conner said. “There is nothing left of what you would call the ‘elf.’ Yes, as you’ve surmised, it is a modified elf. And there will be more, many more.”
“Only so many on earth,” Rachel said, musingly. “And they can’t reproduce…”
“There are ways and ways,” Conner replied. “There will be more. Not that it will matter to you, of course.”
“Of course,” Rachel said, twitching one cheek. “Although, one of my fondest dreams is being the one that tells the Lady about it.”
“Forget those dreams,” Conner said, bluntly. “As soon as your father takes the bait, you’ll be going back to Ropasa. Where… something different awaits.”
“More or less what I expected,” Rachel sighed. “So, in the meantime, what?”
“Well, as a matter of fact, I do play chess,” Conner said, pulling out a board. “Care for a game?”
“I can’t imagine you playing chess,” Rachel said, frowning as she sat down. “There’s no way to cheat.”
“Conner is, as far as I’ve been able to determine, my opposite number with New Destiny,” Travante said. He and Sheida were present as avatars for a meeting with Edmund, Shar, Megan and Herzer. “He is… not a general. Probably a criminal before the Fall and now something like the head of their intelligence corps and assassination arranger. It was he, undoubtedly, that set the assassins on you, Duke Edmund.”
“So what is he doing in charge of this?” Edmund asked.
“The New Destiny force is commanded by General Kossin,” Travante said. “I would suspect that Conner is something on the order of a control or a political agent, sent to… watch the proceedings rather than directly command. And if part of the plan was to capture your daughter, he would probably have had some charge in that.”
“I’m getting increasingly angry and frustrated with the degree of penetration New Destiny has managed,” Sheida said, shaking her head. “They knew where Edmund was and they knew where Rachel was. We’ve determined that there is a leak here, at a very high level. We’ve even determined who it is…”
“Don’t tell us,” Edmund said.
“I wasn’t going to,” Sheida replied, frowning and looking over at Joel. “I probably shouldn’t have even mentioned that much.”
“But since you have…” Joel said, “we’ve… cocooned the known source. From now on New Destiny will get only what we want them to get. From that source, at least. There are other suspects, here and elsewhere. But the time for housecleaning is… not yet.”
“Agreed,” Edmund said, frowning. “But we need to clean house. Soon. Certainly before any counterattack.”
“We have to deal with this attack, Edmund,” Sheida reproved. “Not worry about future plans.”
“Actually, I’ve already got a staff working on future plans,” Edmund replied. “You have to start the planning at least this early. However, yes, we have to deal with this attack first. And we will.”
“You’re confident of that?” Joel asked. “The… correlation of forces is suboptimal.”
“Let’s just say that… I’m sure that tomorrow will be a day of many fell deeds,” Edmund said, smiling tightly. “If that’s all…”
“I think so,” Sheida said, frowning. “Good luck, Edmund. You’ve never failed me before…”
“This won’t break the string,” Edmund assured her.
“Since I’m here,” Joel said, coughing and clearing his throat. “I don’t suppose I could have a moment alone with my daughter?”
“I’m headed for my cabin,” Edmund said, standing up and gesturing at the door. “Mistress Travante is free to have the room as long as she wishes.”
Sheida nodded to the two of them and vanished as Edmund, Shar and Herzer left the room. Herzer looked over his shoulder as he left and Megan smiled at him. He grinned back and closed the door.
“I’m… very glad to see you well,” Joel said, his voice catching slightly. He cleared his throat and sighed. “Very glad.”
“Just as glad as I was when Herzer told me you were alive,” Megan replied, grinning. Then she paused and frowned. “Any word on mother?”
“No, unfortunately,” Joel said. “She’s in a New Destiny held portion of the Briton Isles. I haven’t asked agents to go poking around for her, obviously. Far too dangerous for her. And them. One of Edmund’s plans that he alluded to will involve the recapture of the Briton Isles, first. Then we might be able to find her. If she was home.”