The Lleial part of the camp was set apart from the rest and farthest from the keep. Unlike the other camp, which was a mix of tents, lean-tos and shacks, there were only leather tents here. Most of them were old, ragged and heavily patched, runes, symbols and pictures in faded paint gave a hint of what they had looked like in better times.
Following his maid Elia through the rows of tents, Keir found himself the center of attention. People stopped what they were doing, running to get others, or rushing over to be closer to him. Those who were healthy, helped the sick, injured and crippled out of their tents so they could see him. All of them knelt as he walked past, children were hushed and made to kneel, while babies were held up so he could touch their heads.
For a moment he wanted to tell them to get off their knees, to tell them he wasn't a holy figure. But as a frail mother held up a newborn that was far too thin and wrapped in rags, her eyes full of hope, he realized he couldn't, not yet. Telling them the truth, forcing them to see it, it would break them. All they had left was hope.
He couldn't take it away from them.
Smiling he placed a hand on the child's head. The child's thick hair was greasy, and it felt like something was crawling in it, taking a closer look he saw it was thick with lice, as was the mother's. Peering down the path the children fidgeted, many were scratching their hair, as were some adults. The camp had to be crawling with parasites.
Drawing in some magic, he wove a basic spell of necromantic cleansing, focusing on making it as large as possible. Casting the spell he felt countless parasites, bugs and worms die all around him. Looking at the baby's hair the lice had stopped moving.
The people wouldn't know what had happened until they realized the lice and pests that plagued them were dead, and that might not happen until the bites and rashes went away. That was fine with him. There was no need to be praised for his every action, he simply needed the people healthy for the war. He'd need to regularly walk around the camp casting the spell as he went to keep the pests from coming back.
Continuing on his way, he made sure to touch each babe and child that was held out to him. It only slowed him down a little and the hope it gave the people was well worth the effort.
Finally arriving at the largest tent, which was shaped like a large dome capable of holding at least two dozen people, Keir saw a welcoming party waiting for him. An old man, balding, with a short, well groomed beard, knelt at the opening, back straight, his face grim, looked up at him, a sword rested on his lap. Behind him were four soldiers, two woman and two men, they were kneeling as well, heads bowed preventing him from seeing their faces. From the many bandages that covered them, they had fought hard against the demons.
“Regua, you honour us with your presence. I am Jan, Chief Elder of the 6th Cuirassiers, as the eldest of the council I welcome you to our tent,” the old man said, bowing his head in greeting.
“It is good to meet you Jan, we have much to discuss,” Keir replied.
“We do. But first I would like to return your sword to you,” Jan said, picking up the sword that had been given to Keir before the battle, and holding it out for him. “You used it well, and honoured our people.”
Taking the sword, he smiled in thanks, then held it at his side, since he didn't have a belt to hang it from. He wished he remembered more of the battle so he could have something insightful to say, instead he went with empty platitudes. Pitching his voice so everyone nearby would hear him, he said, “Your people brought honour to themselves by fighting so hard against the demons. Without your soldiers the battle would have been lost.”
The audience reacted as he had hoped. There were gasps and mutterings he couldn't quite make out, from the corner of his eyes, he saw people smiling, their backs straightening, a few nervously glanced around to make sure they'd heard him correctly.
“You are too kind, Regua. We simply did our duty. If it isn't too bold, I'd like to introduce you to four of the soldiers who went into the field with you, helping you fight against the demons as you charged into the horde.”
The four soldiers raised their heads. He recognized one of the women, the facial scar made her hard to forget, she'd given him the sword before the main battle. The other three he vaguely remembered, just flashes of memory surrounded by a feeling of rage.
He broadened his smile. “If I recall correctly, you are Lieutenant Floria, of the 3rd Hussars,” he said, looking at the woman.
She somehow managed to look prouder. “Yes, Regua, you honour me by remembering my name.”
“Sergeant Pol of the 10th Lancers, Private Biel of the 1st Cuirassiers, and Private Sofia of the 6th Cuirassiers, are under her command, they fought by her side, showing great bravery and loyalty,” Jan said, motioning to the three soldiers in turn.
Keir nodded to both of them. “Thank you for the help. I remember seeing you all in the battle, you did very well.”
Jan's grim expression lightened a touch at his words. “Regua, we see that you do not have an honour guard. It is our duty to see to your protection. While we cannot give you the hundreds of men you deserve, we hope you will accept these four as your personal guards. They have proven themselves in battle, and while young are some of our greatest warriors.”
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“I'd be honoured to have them at my back.”
The crowd didn't cheer, but they wanted to. Keir could feel the energy coming off of them, it was almost a physical force. He'd felt it many times as emperor, it was good to experience it again.
Jan and the soldiers rose to their feet. Floria and her men moved to stand behind him, falling in beside the two ghostly soldiers that stood silent as the grave watching for danger. The old man stepped into the tent, holding the leather flap open for him. Going into the dark tent, Keir welcomed the warmth, after the cool mountain air. A small fire was lit in the center of the tent, a bronze incense burner hung above it, filling the air with a pleasant scent. Two people, almost as old as Jan rose to their feet, heads bowed.
“These are the other surviving Elders, Regua. Lidia of the 10th Lancers, and Mateu of the 1st Cuirassiers.”
Keir now recognized the power structure of the Lleial. Each of his maids came from one of the three clans, as did three members of his new body guard. Only Lieutenant Floria was from a different clan, and hers wasn't represented among the elders. The Lleial may be loyal to him, but they were clearly doing everything possible to make sure there was some type of balance between the three, even if Jan had an edge either in age or influence. Why was Floria the outlier?
He'd need to learn more if he wanted to properly use them.
“It is good to meet you all,” he said.
“Please sit,” Jan said, motioning to some cushions around the fire.
Taking his seat, the elders followed suit. A young woman came over carrying a platter with four silver cups for each of them. Keir took a sip and forced himself to smile at the overly sweet wine. A small silver tray of dried fruit and meat was placed at his side.
“It is good to see you accepted so many Lleial children into your new school,” Jan said.
“I accepted those with enough magic to be useful. I did not purposefully choose one group over another,” Keir said. He needed the Lleial support, but he couldn't have them thinking he would favour them simply because of who they were. He wanted them to work for his favour.
“Of course, Regua,” Lidia said, her necklaces clinking together as she nodded. “We will of course make sure they learn everything you require. It is their duty as well as ours.”
“I'm glad to hear it, because I will need your help.”
“Anything you need, we will provide.”
“I will need a mage who can teach the students how to see and weave magic. I have many duties to attend to, I don't have time to teach the basics, especially this close to winter. Once they've learned how to weave magic, I will take over their studies in the necromantic arts,” he said.
Mateu, who had speared a piece of apple with a hook in place of his right hand, said, “My brother is a skilled mage, he is too old for the battlefield, but he can still teach.”
The other two Elders looked less than pleased at the sudden offer, but none spoke against it. The rivalry could be useful, but he'd need to make sure it didn't go much beyond this. “Very good. The lessons will begin at dawn, I'll expect him there beforehand so we can discuss things.”
“I'll make sure he's there on time.”
“I also need some people to help with the tent for lessons. I'll create the shadow cloth, but I'll need someone to shape it into a proper tent like this one, and set it up.”
Jan spoke before the others. “Of course. We'll have a group ready for you this afternoon.”
“Good. Now, I have not discussed the school with anyone else, and I am not sure how supplies are handled, I'll be doing that later today. But I may need you to provide food for the students, a simple breakfast and supper.”
The three Elders frowned, and he heard his body guards shift uneasily behind him. “We will do what we can,” Jan said.
“Are there problems I should know about?”
“The dogs are happy to send our people to die, they aren't so happy about sharing what they have,” Mateu said.
Lidia motioned for the man to calm down. “We have had some problems getting our share of the rations and medicine. They have largely been dealt with, but sometimes they need to be reminded that we are currently their allies.”
“I see,” Keir said. He truly did, with supplies in short supply those in control of them would want to provide for their people first. Unfortunately that wouldn't work when they needed everyone working together. “I'll be talking to General Ajani today, I'll do what I can to help smooth things out.”
“Regua, when do you plan to begin the offensive against the Demons?” Jan asked.
“That is one of the things I'll be talking to the general about. I would like to get more supplies, find any refugees, towns or villages nearby that are still holding out and bring them here for the winter. Once the snow falls, we won't be able to move before the spring. We can use the time to train people into a proper army. And the students will be able to at least raise some warriors by then.”
They nodded in agreement. “The Demons don't move much during the winter, preferring to pick off supply parties and only attack if they detect weakness. We'll have a little bit of respite, if we can get enough supplies,” Jan said.
“The city of Koder will have supplies. I've pushed the general to send out a force to gather what they can, but they haven't listened,” Mateu grumbled.
“Koder is still holding out?” Keir asked. It had been a large town when he'd been alive. He'd used it as a getaway and a place to practice the magical arts away from prying eyes.
“It was destroyed six months ago. But the Demons only kill and eat meat. Weapons, buildings, grain and vegetables, are left to rot. If we can reach the city, we could load our wagons and horses with as much as they can carry and survive the winter.”
“If, is a very important word,” Lidia said. “If we sent a hundred men at dawn, we might have ten return by nightfall.”
“We would have a chance, better than starving.”
Keir held up his hands, silencing the impending argument. “How did the Demons destroy the city? They are terrifying, but we defeated thousands of them in the battle. Against proper walls and defenses, how could they win?”
Mateu grimaced. “We were fighting their scraps, and we would have lost anyways if they hadn't decided to retreat. Against a true horde, they are almost unstoppable.”
“Do you know why they stopped attacking us?”
“You,” Jan said. “You surprised them. They don't understand your magic, so they pulled back. Whenever they have met a new threat that they can't easily defeat, they retreat and begin scouting, trying to learn more. While they do that, stronger demons are called to the area, until they have hundreds of thousands of their kind. Sometimes they'll have new types of demons made to counter the threat. When they are ready, they'll attack and destroy it.”
Dread filled Keir, he felt cold despite the warm fire. “So we have the winter to prepare and then we'll be facing an army of monsters that outnumbers us a thousand to one.”
They nodded. Shifting uneasily on their cushions, looking away to hide the fear in their eyes.
For the first time since coming back to life, Keir truly understood the grim hopelessness that hung over the camp.