For a moment Hecht wondered how she had been able to deflate his anger so slyly. He was very nearly on the defensive, now.
Hourli said, “That’s that. Over and done. I have some news.”
“Uhm?”
“There is an army coming up from Dreanger, mercenaries and men who accept Indala’s vision for the Holy Lands. Two thousand Sha-lug are with them, having given a truce that will last for the campaign plus forty days. The total force numbers fourteen thousand. They have no idea what they actually face.”
“Meaning?” Not focusing completely because, for the first time, he fully understood that he must, before long, make war on his own past.
That had been inevitable, of course. He had seen it intellectually but never truly with his heart.
“They have discounted the lessons of the Shades and the battles in the Antal. Though your weapon was created in Dreanger, they disdain everything to do with er-Rashal. Choose your ground well and you will have no trouble turning them back, perhaps without having to do much real damage.”
A place came to mind right away. Any army from the south would come to it before reaching Vantrad or Shartelle. A Dreangerean army had perished in the same place two thousand years ago, in a great clash of chariot forces. He had visited that ground when he was young. He told Hourli about it, told her what he wanted scouted. “And find out who is in command on the other side. That could be critical. A Sha-lug general will take a more flexible, thoughtful, and aggressive approach.”
“Iresh abd al-Kadiri.”
“Excuse me?”
“Moussa Iresh abd al-Kadiri, husband of a sister of Indala’s second wife. Family is the reason he was chosen to command. Though he demonstrated some competence during the conquest of Dreanger, Hourlr thinks he was put in charge so he would become a lightning rod for blame. Bad things were expected to happen. Iresh is not popular.”
Hecht grunted. Politics. An army might be sacrificed so Indala’s people could shed an unwanted commander.
“Find out who is next after al-Kadiri. Especially the senior Sha-lug.” His paranoid side had been triggered. “This Iresh may be in charge only within his own imagination.”
“We will examine the facts immediately.”
“Wait. You have a wicked notion.”
“Excuse me?”
“I am beginning to gain a feel for how you think, dear. You’re considering something more than just scouting.”
Hourli confessed, “You are getting to know me all over again. Yes. I was musing on what a tragedy it would be if your enemies suffered a plague of dysentery.”
His instant response was irritation. Hourli had been thinking without permission or instruction. The reaction disgusted him. Was he becoming a megalomaniac? Maybe not. Those people never questioned it. Could it be a god complex?
For some reason he thought of Osa Stile. Where was that loathsome worm these days? In Salpeno? He ought to drag Osa out here to be his creepy little conscience prod. Osa would not be impressed by Lord Arnmigal’s status. Osa had bedded Patriarchs and Princes of the Church. Osa had known Else Tage as a snot-nosed trainee who could do nothing right. Osa would not hesitate to point out his faults and shortcomings. Osa would make some up if that seemed appropriate.
Hourli said, “You spend too much time daydreaming. You can afford it here but don’t take it into the field. You might not make it back.”
What did she mean by that? Other than the obvious?
She said, “Ignoring Dreangerean politics, Indala hopes that Iresh will capture Vantrad. He believes Vantrad is vulnerable if Iresh moves decisively. King Beresmond’s health is bad. Queen Clothilde is stupid, self-absorbed, and universally loathed. Indala has been in contact with enemies of hers whom he believes will betray Vantrad. He is also convinced that capturing the Holy City will change everything. He thinks that its recapture will obsess you and the Enterprise and that will ease pressure on Shamramdi. He would then be free to break out and begin gathering strength to take the offensive. He is sure that he can smash the Enterprise.”
“Why?” Nothing had gone right for Indala so far.
“Because God is on his side. Because there are tens of thousands of Believers who want to be part of a holy war. They just haven’t found an effective, unifying leader.”
“He thinks he’s that guy?”
“He does.”
“So he’s suffering from a grand and glorious delusion.”
“Or he might be right. The warriors are out there. They think something should be done about you but aren’t yet ready to uproot themselves. That might leave their tribes vulnerable to predatory neighbors.”
“Nor will they abandon hope that a dimwit neighbor might go off with the bulk of his own warriors. Right?”
“The facts of the world are facts.”
It was ever thus. The coming of God’s Peace to the Believers had not stilled any older enmities.
* * *
A few days passed. The scrutiny of others relaxed. Helspeth became uninteresting to those unable to gain access. The soldiers got on with God’s Enterprise. Men of high station found ways to commit mischief in His Name. So much was happening, in so many directions, with so many towns and cities beleaguered, that the Shining Ones had trouble keeping Lord Arnmigal informed. It began to look like Indala had made a brilliant move. There might be no one left to intercept the army from Dreanger.
In three days that army moved barely ten miles, then stopped altogether while Iresh al-Kadiri awaited anticipated reinforcements. Meantime, news of the army’s existence created considerable excitement in Shamramdi. The besiegers grew disheartened because their opponents were so perfectly confident that the Dreangerean host would turn the war around. Capturing Vantrad would reverse Praman fortunes completely.
Other than issue orders to get a reinforced reconnaissance moving Lord Arnmigal seemed uninterested. Seemed to have turned his back on what had looked like a grand opportunity only days earlier.
He had decided that Vantrad needed a good dose of Praman moral salts. Beresmonde and Clothilde were embarrassments, he for his weakness and she for her wickedness. Perhaps Beresmonde could not help himself because of his afflictions. Clothilde had no excuse.
Just since the Enterprise had reached the Holy Lands she had, twice, gone to her cousin Rogert, doing little to disguise the purpose of her visit.
Let Iresh drive the incestuous witch out of Vantrad, to her lover. Madouc of Hoeles would not long suffer her indecency.
Saying that to Hourli and the Shining Ones caused laughter and left him red and digging for excuses. “Katrin isn’t a relative!”
“Who?” Sheaf asked.
“Oh, my!” said Wife.
“Helspeth! I meant Helspeth!”
“Whatever,” Aldi observed, with paragraphs of sarcasm riding its humped back.
He chose not to dig the hole deeper by defending himself. “That is what I want to happen.”
Wife asked, “Why?”
“I want them to occupy Vantrad, to cleanse it of the wickedness that has taken root there. Then I will rescue the city and make it a gift to the Empress.” Adding Vantrad to Helspeth’s diadem would enhance her place in the Chaldarean world magnificently.
Hourli said, “We don’t get paid to understand his motives, ladies. Any ingenious ideas about how to make a difficult wish come true?”
* * *
A chance to be alone with Helspeth sneaked up when she, having lost patience, decided to make it happen. She lighted the time candle, which she had insisted on keeping herself, and walked through Shartelle, the candle hidden in a bucket. She entered the trade exchange center the Righteous had taken for its headquarters, wandered the labyrinthine interior in search of her lover, feeling more foolish by the minute. She found Lord Arnmigal arguing with his son, who wanted to command the falcon battery accompanying the force his father was about to send to shadow Iresh abd al-Kadiri.
Helspeth was unaware of Lord Arnmigal’s strategic investment in a Praman success at Vantrad. Nor did Pella know. Helspeth caught only fragments of the argument from inside her time bubble.