“Monde tells me that the Palmerrio cavalry have been hitting the edges of the army all afternoon, trying to drive them back toward the Scar. I’ve called on my own cavalry to move up from Lynndon and join with Bock…we’ll have need of them,” Gwaynn explained.
“You expect the Palmerrio to attack soon?” Tar Myson asked.
Gwaynn nodded. “Tomorrow morning…or the day after. We should leave this evening while it is still light, I just have a few details to go over while I’m here,” he explained with a nod toward Tar Grace. “There’ll be a lot of hard riding ahead of us.”
“What of the Travelers?” Tar Halstad asked, who was by far the thickest Tar Gwaynn had ever come across. Most of those from Noble were lean and wiry from the constant running and exercise.
Gwaynn shook his head. “I’ll need them rested for the upcoming battle…the ability to move troops about during the fighting is a great asset.”
Tar Halstad nodded, liking the young prince’s manner and instincts.
“We could…” Tar Kostek began but Tarina re N’dori interrupted.
“I can take us to the Massi army,” she stated simply and though the group had just come from Noble via Tar Nev, N’dori’s revelation still shocked the other Tars. “It is not nearly so far as Noble…I believe I can manage the task.”
“We should leave immediately,” Jinja spoke up, eager to get into the fight. Fighting was his life and he did not relish missing even a moment of the battle to come.
Gwaynn frowned. “No, Zebo is keeping in contact with Monde; as long as the Palmerrio behave we’ll go in the morning…if we are to Travel.”
N’dori nodded.
The Tars took the news stoically, but each and every student wore a look of disappointment.
“Tarina Grace, if you’ll come with me I’d like to introduce you to my Captain,” Gwaynn said. “She’s quite a fighter herself…very talented. She killed an Executioner on her own several weeks back and is still recovering from her injuries…she’s a great loss to me. Master Kostek, would you join us as well?”
“Of course,” Kostek said eyeing Gwaynn with wonder and amusement. The boy had always been calm and mature for his age, but now…now he was a man, a very confident man.
“I’d like to come,” Vio chimed in, eyes only for Gwaynn. She hoped she might be over him emotionally, but seeing him again…seeing the way he was, brought every past thought and feeling home to her so strongly that at times she felt she couldn’t breathe. Everything about him was attractive to her and though she realized she could not have him in any permanent way, she was still determined to spend as much time with him as possible.
It took almost a quarter of an hour to track down Captain Huntley but in the end Gwaynn found her out near the entrance to the oxbow, manning the walls of the levee and looking out over the plains in the direction of the Temple Knights. The Knights were currently in the process of building several large siege weapons in the distance. From what they could tell the weapons were mostly towers, though what good they would do with the ditch and then the steep levee in the way, Gwaynn did not know.
“They’re not towers, they’re causeways tipped on end,” Kostek explained. “Once they reach the ditch down in front, the enemy will simply tip them over for an easier approached to the walls. Who planned your defenses?”
“My General…Lonogan Bock,” Gwaynn said and was surprised that he felt pride in the older man, now his man, though he’d fought for his father and for his old friend and Weapons Master Afton Sath.
“Impressive,” Tarina Grace said as they moved down the wall toward where Captain Huntley was deep in discussion with several older men. She stood up, very straight when she spotted them coming and waited impassively.
“Captain Huntley,” Gwaynn began, “you disappeared before I could make proper introductions earlier.”
“My bandages needed changing,” Cyndar lied and her eyes involuntarily darted toward Vio. She took deep calming breath and had to use a good deal of will power to keep her right hand from moving to the hilt of her kali.
“Yes,” Gwaynn commented then turned and introduced Grace and Kostek first.
“Gwaynn tells us that you defeated an Executioner on your own,” Tarina Grace said with a slight bow.
Cyndar only nodded. ‘Tarina Bitch!’ She thought.
“Where were you trained? It is not easy to kill an Executioner,” Kostek interjected.
Cyndar flashed a look at the man and was again thankful for her bandages. She did not like all this talk of Executioners in front of the young woman…it might help to jog her memory. “My father taught me…he was a soldier,” she explained, though it sounded weak to her. “He always said I would grow to be better with the kali than he was.”
“And this is Vio Valencia…Van’s cousin,” Gwaynn added.
“Van!” Vio said. “I’d forgotten. Is he here?”
Cyndar breathed a sigh of relief at the distraction.
“No…he’s with the army…he helps with the wounded,” Gwaynn explained.
“I must continue to prepare,” Cyndar added with just a hint of a bow.
“Please allow Tarina Grace to accompany you,” Gwaynn said. “She’ll be assisting in the defense.”
Cyndar’s eyes went cold and they reminded Gwaynn of the night he rejected her, but she said nothing and just nodded her head, then the two turned and began walking away along the ramparts.
“You all should get something to eat,” Gwaynn told his companions from Noble. “I’ll have someone show you to your quarters.” He was anxious to get back to Samantha. They had little time left together until he would be off once more to join the army. The thought of leaving her sent a pang of guilt through his chest.
Kostek nodded, but Vio appeared not to be listening. She stood watching as the Tarina Grace and Captain Huntley walked away along the defensive walls. The elder of the two walked with a slight hitch over the rough causeway, but the younger, taller woman moved with an easy grace. Vio continued to study Huntley as she sauntered into the sunset…her movements seemed familiar, but after a long moment Vio shook her head and turned to Gwaynn.
“Yes, I’m hungry,” she said with a smile and Gwaynn was struck once again by her strange, elfin beauty.
“It’s good to have you here,” he blurted impulsively, though he meant it. For the first time since the fall of Solarii he felt good about the possibility of victory.
Vio reached out her hand and touched his, but quickly pulled it back away, thinking of the girl who would one day be his queen. “It’s good to see you too,” she said softly and they looked at each other until Kostek coughed and then without embarrassment they all made their way toward the stairs which led down into the growing town.
ǂ
Captain Hothgaard watched pensively as the work crews assembled the last of the giant wooden causeways that would help breech the walls of Manse. The final causeway was very thick and sturdy. It would be lowered over the protective ditch directly before the main gates that led through the enemy levee.
Hothgaard was growing nervous, expecting the Massi cavalry to attack at any moment. The siege weapons would be the prime targets, and the enemy would undoubtedly attempt to destroy them before they could be put to use. Patrols were out constantly but they all continued to come back with reports of ‘all clear.’ It was nerve-wracking knowing the enemy was out there; knowing the enemy would attack, but unable to detect any sign of them. The Massi would be fools to meekly hide behind their walls like rabbits in a shallow hole, and from what Hothgaard had garnered thus far, the Massi were no fools. Walls never kept any army out for very long. Fortifications were made to fall, made to crumble, made to be taken and that was why the Temple Knights were such a powerful force in the lands of the Inland Sea; it was the ability to be mobile, to move anywhere on the battlefield that determined victory. It was for this very reason that Hothgaard was nervous. He needed Manse to fall and fall quickly before Prince Gwaynn could bring his army to reinforce the city and bring the talents of the Travelers to bear on the battlefield. It was very unwise of the High King to attack the Isle of Light, and more foolish still for not having a realistic plan to finish the job. Travelers were the ultimate wild card in battle; enemy troops could appear and disappear at will. It was an opposing commander’s nightmare and it was a nightmare he would soon face if he could not quickly and decisively crush the Massi people.