We were a motley assortment as the western plains of Trent opened before us. Faeries, experienced garrison archers, green refugee recruits, and even a beastly Torak strode into the beleaguered Duchy. Yet I felt the grand host was marked more by absence than inclusion: specifically, the absence of my brother.
We decided to split our forces only a few miles into contested country. 50-man teams of light cavalry, sword and bow-armed skirmishers, and faerie auxiliaries were organised from half of our complement and allocated to different areas of our claim. Their goal was to harry any military targets not bearing the iconography of the houses Tfaeller or Goldmane, to disrupt supply lines, and generally to make a nuisance of themselves. Express orders were given - and then repeated - to avoid engaging any force of equal or larger size in battle. In two weeks, most of the detachments would converge on Iyasgorth and join the main bulk of the army.
In my present condition I was unable to join any of the guerrilla detachments so I remained with the main army. Alum, Tadruk, and Fraedwin led separate detachments, but were instructed not to travel to far from the main army in the event that we encountered serious resistance and their tactical expertise was required. Alum reported back through our shared portal at pre-arranged times, and though it was pleasant to be alone with him for the first time in what felt like forever, the meetings were short and to the point.
With our leadership group reduced Tefgae and Terera also disappeared, presumably into the civilian train of our caravan, leaving me and Regeda quite often alone in the royal carriage. We had not spoken of events in Vizonia, and I half-expected a reckoning now that we were able to converse without the prying ears of numerous handmaidens, but when the topic was broached, Regeda seemed quite content with how events had unfolded.
‘I quite understand, my lady,’ she said. ‘You were hoping to sneak into the archives, but things went awry. You still got me out before there was any serious risk.’
‘You don’t think I was too reckless?’ I asked, remembering my argument with Alum.
‘That’s not for me to say, my lady. You’re the only one who knows the responsibilities of rulership. But you gave no slight to me personally.’
‘That is most gratifying, Regeda,’ I told her. ‘It is good to speak to you in the absence of Terera and the other handmaidens.’
‘I like talking to you as well, Countess. You have grown much since Hollowhold; in fact, you are almost unrecognisable. Pae would be kicking herself if she knew how much more… mature… you have grown.’
‘I will accept the compliment as it was intended. Curious, however… Alum seemed to say much the opposite to me.’
Regeda shook her head sadly. ‘Men are difficult creatures. It is quite possible he prefers a youthful naivety to graceful maturity. Or maybe he wanted a quiet life but your ascension to the throne has forced both of you to make harder decisions than he’d like. You must talk to him to learn the truth.’
‘He says that I am too reckless,’ I replied, grimacing at the memory.
‘That is your prerogative, my lady. It is up to you to decide which risks are worth taking. You are the one who bears their burden.’
‘That’s what I told him!’ I exclaimed most improperly. I glanced around furtively, then reigned back my volume. ‘I haven’t been able to… I mean, we haven’t been… It’s been a while, and I think it might be making us more distant.’
‘I understand, my lady. You think Alum is having an affair.’
‘What?! No! Of course not!’ I exclaimed again, immediately forgetting propriety. ‘I mean, it has occurred to me, but I trust him. I meant simply that, well, there’s been a lot of change since our betrothal… I wonder if you might be right. Did he prefer me as I was only a year or two ago? Naive and focused entirely on finding a husband?’
‘It is quite possible, my lady. How would the Saemara of Hollowhold respond to this situation?’
I thought about it a moment. ‘The Saemara of Hollowhold would never have coped with rulership. I have been forged out of necessity. However, taking my marriage out of context, I would guess… The Saemara of Hollowhold would have focused on appeasing Alum. She would have focused wholly on retaining her husband and his good graces, and would have offered anything to him to that end. But that’s no use, I don’t have that sort of freedom anymore. I can’t spend all day tanning, and my pregnancy precludes a lot of physical activity.’
‘Then I can only suggest patience, and I think that is all you can suggest to Alum.’
I grunted, only half-satisfied, though I had to admit it was nice to talk about my personal life in the open. My handmaidens were ostensibly there to make such a thing easier, but they were so focused on social games that I could never feel fully comfortable with them.
‘I suppose you’re right,’ I replied. ‘At least out here with the army there’s little risk of an affair.’
I don’t know why I added that last sentence even as my eyes drifted to the empty carriage that trailed our own and settled on Terera’s seat. I wouldn’t put it past her to attempt to seduce Alum, but surely it was far too obvious for her to attempt such a ploy away from Trackford where she was the only woman of breeding other than myself.
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Regeda was right. I’d have to talk to Alum, if only to calm my own overthinking mind.
Unfortunately, it never seemed the right time to mention it when we were discussing military affairs in our portal meetings. At least the harrying tactic seemed to be working, with Entregwa’s forces seemingly in disarray and overextended between our own and Wilbern’s.
Our advance parties and scouts also brought news from the rest of Trent and Halivaara. The Tokuan raiders lingering in Trent had not been seen in some time, and it was determined that they had either fled or been killed in the crossfire of the civil war. I felt that there was more going on than met the eye. Their every step had been planned in concert with Vizonia, why should this not be the same?
As for the wider civil war between House Goldmane and the Vizonian Order, that was even more difficult to gauge due to the Vizonian ability to retreat back into their homeland when things were going badly. However, King Milos seemed to have gained the upper hand with the development of a new tactic: instead of leaving the Vizonian armies free to reappear in the same location whence they’d disappeared into Vizonia and wreak havoc once the King’s armies had departed, he oversaw the construction of great spiked pits beneath every exit portal. Any Vizonian who tried to return to Halivaara after fleeing the pursuit of Milos’s armies through their portal would quickly become impaled at the base of the chasm.
After our harrying tactics had been employed for just over a week, our advance scouts reported that Entregwa had pulled his men from eastern Trent and Helmfirth to defend Iyasgorth. They were expected to arrive in four or five days. In the absence of counsel, I was forced to make a major strategic decision on my own. I addressed the officers still attached to the core of the army.
‘Send word to the harrying detachments. Those that can reach us or Iyasgorth within five days are to make all speed for it. The rest are to harry Entregwa’s main army and its surroundings, with the goal of slowing its advance or forcing Entregwa to divert forces away from its core.
‘Send word also to the men. They are to say their goodbyes to their wives and mistresses in the train, for we march at dawn tomorrow - and I mean to march at dawn, not merely stumble out of hoochies and meander into formation. The train will be left behind with a minimal guard. We must reach Iyasgorth before Entregwa can reinforce it.’
One of the officers twirled a wiry moustache thoughtfully and asked, ‘What if we achieve this goal, but cannot take the city before Entregwa arrives? We will be attacked on two sides.’
‘This is not to be passed on to the men, but I intend only to feint towards Iyasgorth. Once Entregwa commits to fighting us, we will put as much distance between our army and Iyasgorth as possible so that they cannot sally and reinforce the rebel before we have time to defeat him.’
The officers nodded and set about performing their tasks. I was nervous but I felt this was the right move. Ebonreach was a large county, but in its present state it could never match a duchy for manpower or economic output, or even half a duchy. A war of attrition would not be in our favour. There was also the fact that if we delayed, Wilbern might very well look to reclaim the very lands we sought to conquer, thereby creating a diplomatic incident before we were ready.
As the subsequent few days passed we made far better speed into Trent without the train, and it soon became clear that we would reach Iyasgorth before Entregwa. Only a handful of detachments had not managed to rejoin the army, and we were bolstered also by the return of all of my advisors, including my husband. There was some discussion regarding the decision I had taken, but it was quickly agreed that its current partial implementation made it the best plan at that stage in any event.
Therefore, we discussed how best to accomplish the feint. Cavalry and faeries were both highly mobile across the plains in this part of the country and would be central to the deception, continuing the march towards Iyasgorth for several hours after the rest of the army had turned away.
There was one other worrying thing: Entregwa’s approaching army was larger than ours, and more battle-hardened. The difference was only a few thousand, but with the faerie troops untested in open combat the outcome of the battle was highly uncertain. Tadruk and Tefgae were of the opinion that the faeries would prove highly beneficial if tasked with flying above Entregwa’s shield wall and pelting it with arrows, but Alum and Fraedwin pointed out that a canny commander would have the rear ranks raise their shields overhead to defend against such a ploy, and that the absence of faeries on the frontlines would cause our own shield wall to become enveloped at each end by Entregwa’s superior numbers. I did not see how the faeries could even fight on the front lines in the absence of shields; they seemed to be armed only with knives, bows, and spears. Besides, they were too small in stature to form part of an otherwise human-sized shield wall.
For his part, the faerie king declined to participate in our war councils, but met with me personally once a day. On this occasion he supported the former proposal, and plans were made for the faeries to rain arrows from above Entregwa’s forces and harry his cavalry from beyond their reach.
Plans were set irrevocably into motion and there was some relief to that. Everyone knew their task and worked hard to carry them out. There was a lot of manoeuvring in the day or two before Entregwa’s army met ours in battle, but for this I let Alum and Fraedwin take command as there was a lot of posturing and communication with officers involved. We ended up a lot closer to the edge of the Dreadwood Forest than I’d expected, but the tactical situation was contrived to our benefit. As the cavalry and faeries rejoined our forces from their feint at Iyasgorth, Entregwa’s army was within sight and absent any reinforcements from Iyasgorth.
The midday sun burned overhead as final preparations were made for battle. Archers were positioned on hills, swords sharpened, and, eventually. shield walls manned with the bulkiest men at the front. Tadruk, Alum, and Fraedwin took up positions at the front of the shield wall on the left, centre, and right respectively. I remained in a commanding central position with only Regeda, Tefgae, and Terera at my side. They had apparently considered themselves above remaining with the baggage train.
A late piece of news reached my ears from our scouts. Steib, the previous Baron of Trackford, was apparently a lieutenant in Entregwa’s army. It surprised me not at all that he’d fallen in with such dubious company and his presence served only to double my resolve. In the courtroom, I’d been forced to show mercy. By opposing us on the battlefield, Steib could be executed as a traitor.
Wargwa remained at my side as we watched the armies stare across the field. I’d expected a demand for withdrawal from Entregwa but he must have sensed my determination because no messenger was received. Instead, the armies challenged each other with shouts and the banging of weapons against shields. The faeries remained eerily silent, their king casually chewing some sort of root.
There was no sudden charge, no instant onrush of violence. Both armies were too well-drilled for that. Instead, the battle that would decimate the armies of either Entregwa or Ebonreach began with the slow approach of men careful to maintain their shield linkage with the man beside them. When the shields from each army finally met, it was all I could do to keep my eyes open and witness the carnage.