“Very well,” Sergen answered.
He swept through the doors of the great hall, ignoring the Shieldsworn there while his own armsmen hurried to catch up with him. The dusty old barn of a banquet hall was about as full as the last time he’d been summoned to a council by his uncle-perhaps thirty or so guards, attendants, and advisors hovered around the eight members of the harmach’s circle. Sergen noted that his stepuncle was already seated on his high seat. He quickened his step to reinforce the impression of haste, and set his face in a tight frown of determination and concern. “Forgive my tardiness,” he said as he took his seat. “I hope I haven’t kept you waiting for long.”
“Not at all, Sergen,” the harmach said. “You arrived on the heels of Lord Marstel and Master Goldhead. But now that we’re all here, we should begin immediately. Kara, the floor is yours.”
Kara stood up from her seat at the foot of the table and moved around to stand in the middle of the horseshoe-shaped space. She was fully armored, wearing her long mail coat with greaves and vambraces that were adorned with golden griffons. Her spellscar was hidden under all that metal, of course, but the eerie azure of her eyes gave away her deformity. A shame, Sergen mused… she was otherwise a very handsome woman with a fine figure, and as she was not related to him by blood, she might have made an advantageous match for him to secure his claim. On the other hand, Kara fancied herself a warrior and a captain, and it might have been difficult or impossible to break her to his will. Of course, he wouldn’t have needed to remain married to her for long to establish the facade of legitimacy, and that was all that was required.
“My friends,” Kara said gravely, “war is upon us. My scouts have discovered the Bloody Skull horde. They’re marching southward even as we speak. As of last night they were less than twenty miles from the northernmost of our watchtowers, which places them about thirty miles from Griffonwatch. The Bloody Skulls will reach our outposts tomorrow evening, descend into the northern end of Winterspear Vale, and arrive here near sunrise of the day following. We may see bands of marauders and pillagers in the Winterspear as early as tonight.
“We’re not certain of the Bloody Skulls’ numbers, but we’ve seen at least two more tribes marching with them-the Red Claw goblins and the Skullsmasher ogres. There may be more we haven’t encountered yet. My scouts believe the horde numbers at least two thousand warriors, and it may be twice that.”
“How could so many orcs approach so closely without being seen?” Master Assayer Goldhead demanded.
“The weather’s favored the Bloody Skulls for several days, Master Goldhead. The rain has hidden them well. And I fear that several Shieldsworn scouts likely found the Bloody Skulls but were caught before they could return and report. At least four are missing.”
“Can you stop them, Lady Kara?” the wizard Ebain Ravenscar asked.
“No, my lord,” Kara said. “Not without help. The Shieldsworn number two hundred. We can harry their advance with cavalry, but if we try to hold in the face of that horde, we’ll be swept away.” She looked at Sergen and then around the other faces at the table. “However, the mercantile concessions hold hundreds more trained and well-armed mercenaries. With their aid I think I might be able to prevent the Bloody Skulls from entering the Winterspear Vale.”
“What of this so-called Moonshield militia we’ve all seen on the streets lately?” Darsi Veruna asked. “It seems to me that there are hundreds of brave men ready to fight standing around on the town’s street corners.”
Sergen fought to keep a smile from his face. That was certainly one way to thin the ranks of the overly zealous Hulburgans. He hadn’t imagined any such possibility might arise when he’d intervened, so to speak, in the negotiations with the Bloody Skull messengers. It was simply an unlooked-for reward of a daring plan, executed carefully and well.
“I’ll ask them to give me what help they can, Lady Darsi,” Kara answered. “But the Spearmeet is a militia. They’re not anywhere near as well-trained, experienced, or well-equipped as the guards your House or the other Houses retain. I hope to use the Spearmeet to deal with marauding bands that might slip around our main defenses and to form a last reserve if things go poorly at the tower line.”
Maroth Marstel climbed to his feet. “All of Hulburg is threatened by this vast horde, and so all of Hulburg must give answer!” he thundered. “My House employs eighty armsmen, Lady Kara. They’re at your disposal for the duration of this crisis. And furthermore, I shall be glad to serve as a commander of the cavalry. I may not be as agile or strong as I once was, but I can still lead men into battle!”
Sergen wondered when exactly the old windbag had ever seen a battlefield, but he kept his thoughts to himself. Instead, he decided to rescue Kara from trying to figure out how to accept Marstel’s troops but decline his leadership by standing up himself. “The Merchant Council recently reached an arrangement with the Icehammer mercenary company,” he said smoothly. “We intended to employ the Icehammers to combat piracy and brigandage along the coasts and roads near Hulburg, but clearly the Bloody Skulls present an imminent threat. I believe that the Icehammers number close to two hundred and fifty highly experienced dwarf and human veterans.”
A chorus of whispers broke out among the spectators behind him, but Sergen paid them no mind. Kara stared at him suspiciously but said nothing, and Sergen could feel the harmach shift in his seat a few feet behind his right shoulder. Across the table, Lord Marstel bowed toward him. “Bravo!” he declared.
“Moreover,” Sergen continued, “I’ll relay my dear sister’s request for additional troops to the Double Moon Coster, House Sokol, and the Jannarsk Coster. I cannot speak for them, of course, but I am confident that they can contribute two hundred more armsmen among them.” He glanced at Darsi Veruna, smiled slightly, and sat down again.
Lady Veruna made a small face and motioned with her hand. “A hundred and twenty more from House Veruna,” she said calmly. “I am afraid I must reserve some of our strength to protect our camps in the Galena foothills.”
Kara nodded graciously to the mistress of House Veruna. “My thanks, Lady Darsi,” she said.
The harmach spoke next. “Kara, by my count, that puts you at close to nine hundred warriors, not counting the militia. Do you think you can meet the Bloody Skulls with those numbers?”
The castellan fell silent and considered her answer. “I think so,” she finally said. “If Hulburg had a city wall I would be inclined to simply defend the city, but since we don’t, I want to meet the Bloody Skulls as far from town as possible and still gain some advantage of terrain. The watchtowers at the north end of the Vale offer our best position. There aren’t many good paths to bring an army down from the Highfells to the Vale floor. But that means we must move at once to get as many warriors as possible to the towers by tonight or tomorrow morning.” She paused, examining her own thoughts again, and added, “The show of a strong defense may be enough to deter the Bloody Skulls-or the tribes allied to them. Neither the Red Claws nor the Skullsmashers will be eager to die for Warlord Mhurren. I’d guess he promised them plunder, so it’s possible that he’ll give up and look for some easier target once he sees that we’re ready for him. As far as I know, we’ve delivered no mortal insult or wronged him in some manner that he would feel compelled to avenge.”
That might prove important, Sergen realized. He glanced at Darsi Veruna and found her looking at him. He’d delivered exactly such an insult in the process of making sure that the Bloody Skulls supplied Hulburg with the threat he needed. Well, if matters took an unexpected turn, and he found that he needed to throw up a breakwater against the horde he’d baited to attack the harmach, he still had one more piece he could move on the board-Aesperus. Sergen thought he knew the price of the King in Copper, and he doubted that the lich’s minions would care much about being outnumbered by the Bloody Skulls and their allies.