“Even with the Sorgan and Litari Clans, you can not hope to defeat the Ragatha,” ventured Fisher. “If, for some reason, you did win, the same army could not turn around and defend against the Situ Clan. You have too much promise for Khadora to throw your life away, not to mention the lives of all your followers.”
“I will throw nothing away, Fisher,” declared Lord Marak. “The Ragatha are coming no matter what I do. I must plan on defeating them. Lord Ridak will have to wait his turn unless he helps defeat the enemies of Fardale. How much time do we have before Lord Sevrin gets here?”
“He has to go around both Glendale and Watula Valley,” explained Fisher. “He has been on the march for a week already, so he will be here within the week. That is not much time to prepare your defenses. You must finish harvesting your crop in case they try to destroy it.”
“Yes,” sighed Lord Marak. “There is much to do and little time to do it. I want you to keep me posted on the Ragatha Army. I must know when they are going to attack.”
Fisher nodded and slipped back into the trees. Lord Marak regained the path and hurried back to the mansion. He ordered Lectain Zorkil to inform the Council of Advisors that they would meet in one hour and then headed straight to Marshal Yenga’s suite. Lord Marak told Marshal Yenga of the pending attack and asked his advice on how to prepare.
“Do the Ragatha know that the Litari and Sorgan Clans owe allegiance to you?” the Marshal of Fardale asked.
“I do not see any way that they could know,” commented Lord Marak. “I was planning on using the Litari troops to attack Lord Zawbry from behind.”
“That is sound strategy,” nodded Marshal Yenga. “I think the best use of the Sorgan troops would be to flank Lord Sevrin’s approaching army. What kind of tricks can your Mage Corp provide us?”
Lord Marak’s eyes opened wide and Marshal Yenga laughed. “You may be able to hide their training from everyone in Fardale,” chuckled Marshal Yenga, “but I know how a Marshal thinks and you think like one of the finest Marshals I have ever known. In your position you need to explore every path available, whether it is a dead end or not.”
“Their battle magic is not perfected,” sighed Lord Marak. “They can create fog to confuse the enemy and provide communications to a central point. They can do more, but I do not wish to show my hand if victory can be obtained without letting anyone know we are using mages.”
“That is a sound philosophy,” agreed Marshal Yenga. “Even fog will allow us to even the odds greatly. If we can get the bulk of their army between us and the Sorgan Clan, we will do great damage with arrows before they know what is going on. Do you plan to appeal to Lord Ridak for help?”
“I feel that I must,” frowned Lord Marak. “I doubt they will come to our aid, but not to ask for it would be wrong.”
“I know Lord Marshal Grefon,” remarked Marshal Yenga. “He will not come to help you. He has visited Fardale more often than any other Situ estate. I assume that he wanted it for his own and now you have it. He will attack the Ragatha after they are victorious, but that will not help us.”
“Will he attack if we are victorious?” questioned Lord Marak.
“Not right away,” Marshal Yenga answered as he stared out the window. “He will find it hard to believe that young Marak has defeated the five estates of the Ragatha Clan. No, he will try to get more information about the battle and how it was won before he attacks. He is not a Marshal who throws troops into the unknown easily.”
“I need to choose the man I send wisely,” mused Lord Marak. “It must be somebody who can keep his mouth quiet. Lord Marshal Grefon and Lord Ridak will try to pry information out of him.”
“Send Cortain Rybak,” suggested Marshal Yenga.
“Rybak?” queried Lord Marak. “You do not know what you are saying. Why did you suggest him?”
“I do not know what has passed between you and Rybak,” noted Marshal Yenga, “but I know he is your man. He feels some deep obligation to you and has volunteered for every hazardous task that has come across my desk. I believe that he feels the need to repay you for something.”
“That may be so,” objected Lord Marak, “but he is not the right man for this job. He feels bad because he was Grefon’s stooge when we were sent out here. I know he has changed and I am happy to leave the past forgiven, but not forgotten.”
Marshal Yenga walked to his desk and sat down. After a moment, he looked Lord Marak in the eyes. “Send him,” Marshal Yenga repeated. “That is if he is willing to go. If what you have told me is true, he is the perfect man for the job. He will resent Lord Marshal Grefon enough that he will reveal nothing.”
“I could not send him,” stated Lord Marak. “Even if he did not reveal anything, Lord Marshal Grefon would like to get his hands on him.”
“Who goes to Lituk Valley is not the most pressing problem that we have,” offered Marshal Yenga. “I will leave it up to the Lectains as to who should be sent. What I need to know now is how we can use your Mage Corps to our best advantage.”
“You have a bigger challenge than that,” declared Lord Marak. “I do not want to kill the Ragatha Army. I want to capture them.”
“Capture them?” exclaimed Marshal Yenga. “We will be doing good if we can defeat them. You can’t be serious?”
“Ah, but I am,” smiled Lord Marak. “Lord Sevrin is coming with every soldier he owns. It is much larger than the three Clans I now control. If we destroy his army, we will not have enough troops to safeguard our new Ragatha estates.”
“You plan to take over the Ragatha estates?” echoed Marshal Yenga. “Shouldn’t we plan on surviving, first?”
“If we don’t survive,” remarked Lord Marak, “we won’t have to worry about the validity of our other plans. If we kill the Ragatha Clan and lose many of our men doing it, Lord Marshal Grefon will march right out here and claim his prize. I will not allow for that in my planning. We have almost a week to work on this. Let’s plan to achieve my objectives and see how it goes.”
“We have much less than a week if we are to achieve your goals,” remarked Marshal Yenga. “We will have to do something to even the odds if we are to capture the Ragatha Clan. If I know Lord Zawbry, he will attack first to draw your attention so your men have their backs to Lord Sevrin. He will attack late in the afternoon so the battle does not get too fierce. Lord Sevrin’s men will attack at dawn and you will be stuck in between.”
“But I have trained my men to fight at night,” Lord Marak pronounced excitedly.
“Exactly,” nodded Marshal Yenga. “Let Lord Zawbry start the conflict and bed down for the night. During the night we will encircle his camp and demand his surrender. It would help if one of your men could actually get to Lord Zawbry’s tent unnoticed to demand the surrender.”
“With Lord Zawbry’s men out of the way,” continued Lord Marak, “we will be facing only one front and they will expect only a third of us.”
“Precisely,” agreed Marshal Yenga. “That will be the hard part. We are going to need something very complicated to capture the armies from the other four estates.”
“We will have to discuss this later,” sighed Lord Marak. “We have a Council meeting to inform the rest of Fardale about the threat. Perhaps they will have some valuable insight.”
* * *
“You have been gone a long time,” greeted Lord Ridak. “I trust everything went well with the emissary?”
“Hardly,” frowned Lord Marshal Grefon. “The mediator did not even get to hear the grievance. Marak had already managed to quiet the Sorgan and Litari Clans before the emissary arrived. He must have given them something, but I can not figure out what is was. Marak has proven to be a poor choice for Fardale and he must be removed.”
“He was your choice,” Lord Ridak reminded the Lord Marshal. “Why didn’t you just remove him?”
“I tried,” scowled Lord Marshal Grefon. “The emissary claims the pronouncement does not allow for you to replace Marak.”