When Nua woke up, the sun hadn’t risen yet. She stretched out with a satisfied groan, scratched an itch on her back, briefly missed her comfortable bed in her estate, and went to put on her armor.
She was halfway done when Kaiji arrived, rushing into the tent and without saying a word, immediately began to fuss over Nua’s armor and clothing. “I’m supposed to be the mistress, but why is it I can’t seem to argue with you?” Nua chuckled and Kaiji managed to send an affectionate grin her way.
“Because you can’t argue with what is done out of devotion, it’s like arguing against devotion itself. You’d be a fool to do that, and I don’t serve a fool.” Kaiji said emphatically and cinched Nua’s belt around her waist.
“Well, as soon as we get back, I am going to move my office to the bath and work there for a week. There’s got to be some way to enchant paper and ink so that it isn’t ruined by moisture.” Nua briefly sniffed her armpits and wrinkled her nose.
Kaiji gave a sage nod of understanding, “I’ll set the magic casters on it right away when we get back to the estate, speaking of… are you moving straight into the palace of the Prince… or do we stay at the estate first, and what do we do with the estate?”
Nua had the answer readily at hand, “When we finish this, all of old Komestra but for a handful of outlying places will belong to me. I assume your workers have been thorough in their rebuilding, so I’d like to start moving into the palace soon, we’ll just have to buy the furnishings we need for it. I’ll leave the estate in Pas’en the same, I don’t want it to seem like I’ve abandoned the city. This may sit uncomfortably with Prince Rasgen regardless but… I can’t be Prince of a city I don’t live in. But I’ll set him at ease, maybe I’ll do some construction and renovation projects in the city. That will keep me popular and keep him happy.”
“That would be wise, mistress.” Kaiji replied and went to her knees to bind the laces on Nua’s boots. “Now about Hanak’sen, Sado inspected the city’s defenses last night, it won’t be easy, the walls are thick, they have a large water supply, and Yanlim has very limited supplies, even if we share our own. The truth, mistress, our soldiers are meant for close combat, the ground is too soft for siege equipment even with magic to lighten the weight. This could take a very long time.”
“When will Yanlim arrive?” Nua asked as Kaiji stood up and they walked out of her private space in the direction of the command tent.
“Mistress I don’t know, he never said, but it shouldn’t be long, he can’t afford to wait.” Kaiji emphasized his desperate situation.
“I see. Well, he’d better, I dislike lazy allies.” Nua replied and entered the tent, it was lightly laid out, a single table, no chairs, blank papers, ink, wax seals for messages, and a map of the city and surrounding area.
She bent over the map and was contemplating it when Sado entered a short while later. “My lady, you weren’t in your tent.”
“Because I was here, Sado. Where else would I be?” Nua asked with a wry grin, and the former Prince gave a solemn nod despite her humor.
“Of course. I apologize, mistress.” He bowed his head to her in deference.
“Forgiven.” Nua said and began to point at various features of the city to ask questions.
Answers came fast and thorough from the gold collared prince.
“A high hill, out of bowshot but with a good view of the city, held by Yanmelu until a week ago. No supplies given, no survivors taken.”
“The ground is soft and mushy, there’s no getting a tower to that and even ladders sink, according to Yanlim.”
“Thick gates, enchanted against fire and reinforced, also they dump sand down in front of it to stop rams, as Yanlim tells it.”
On and on Sado’s answers came, until Yanlim entered the tent.
“The problem,” Yanlim said as he strode in with his armor clinking and as energetic as a half starved man could be, “is that Hanak’sen is simply difficult to siege unless you can attack from the air, and between our archers and javelin throwers, not to mention our mages, that just isn’t going to happen unless you have a dragon to spare.”
Nua jabbed her finger at the waterway. “The city is divided by this river, can’t we just sail in with a boat and knock the gate down?”
“Not a chance.” Yanlim put his finger on the same spot as soon as Nua’s finger came up. He stroked his thick, unkempt beard in frustration, “The gate is guarded, enchanted, and very thick. If you had months to build up the sort of ships you needed, ‘maybe’ you could get through it, but anyone would see that coming a mile away.”
Nua cursed. “What about going under it with water breathing magic?”
“Magic negation on the gates. Somebody tried that once. It did not end well for them.” Yanlim said, demonstrating his gift for understatement.
“My lady,” Onimeus said while stroking his beard, “Hanak’sen is not impossible to take. However it would have to be taken from the inside, as there are not nearly enough soldiers for a siege. The city can call on its citizens, its militia, and even if it is inadequate, they can supplement their food supply by fishing from the river.”
“When it fell last time, how was it taken?” Nua pressed, and Onimeus answered.
“Fire boats burned the water gates down, but as they say, a city is never taken the same way twice.”
Nua pondered the matter, recalling every battle she’d ever read about, and slowly a new plan, previously unlooked for, came to mind.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“Yanlim… will you object if I conscript the citizens in the countryside for a short time, a few days or so at most, I give my word I won’t enslave them, sell them, or abuse them. And yes, I will feed them well.” Nua asked with a rising enthusiasm and a vicious smile growing on her face.
“How long exactly?” He asked, furrowing his heavy brow.
“No more than two weeks, I can’t say ‘exactly’ but if I’m right, I can end this battle in one day.” Nua said, lovingly tracing her finger over the river.
“What can I do?” He asked, watching her finger move along the thin blue line as if it were a lover’s body.
“Just settle in for a siege at the far gate, don’t press yourselves, just make a show of constructing siege equipment, you won’t need it, just build it, and let them see you building it. Get them all over there, and keep them there. Night raids that you withdraw from, lots of marching, noise, anything. Just keep them busy for as long as you can. Make them think you’ve been getting reinforcements, take some of our tents, or borrow from the villages and make it look like you’ve been getting more people in. We want Yanmelu to think your army is growing in size. Don’t stress yourselves much, but put on a good show for him.”
“And what will you be doing with my people and all that time?” Yanlim asked with a dubious inflection and a slight tension to his posture.
“Prince to be… I could tell you, and probably should. But I know that if I did so, you simply wouldn’t believe me. So for now, let me just ask for your trust, if this fails, you’ll lose no soldiers, and I’ll even pay for supplies to be shipped here afterward so that your soldiers don’t starve.” Nua made the offer, holding out her still sliced open right hand.
His eyes fell to the injury, “You should believe her. She may speak impossible nonsense sometimes… but my mistress will do something absurd, and you will have your city.” Sado promised with absolute faith in every word.
Finally, presented with the promise of relief if it failed and unable to see a downside, he lowered his head and consented. “Alright, I’ll trust you.”
“Onimeus, I want you with our Prince to be. You know the rhythm of battle like no other man alive, when you see the opportunity I present to you, sound the charge.”
“My lady?” He looked reticent, uncertain, then slowly lowered his head in acceptance of her instruction. “As you will it.”
Nua took out her knife and stabbed the map at the gate, the knife pierced the table with a heavy ‘thock’ sound and sank to the hilt. Her slaves jumped slightly at the aggressive assault on the furniture, and Nua spoke with grave purpose to her ally. “Other than my slaves, Yanlim, this knife is my most prized possession, worth more to me than my entire demesne, my estate, and all the treasures within. I am never without it near at hand. To show you I am serious, I will leave this treasured object here until the day we go to take the city.”
The aspiring Prince looked at the hilt of human bone, and the way her hand reflexively reached for it only to be consciously pulled away and put behind her back to keep from breaking her word. It was enough for Yanlim to relax. “Good luck to you then. Tell me when it is time.” He said, and bowing to her, he left the tent.
As soon as he was gone, Nua turned on Sado, “Go get the cavalry, go round up every draft horse and draft peasant and slave, cart, and ox you can, then meet us here.” Nua stabbed her finger at a space beyond the bend of a distant forest. “Be stealthy about it, Yanmelu may have eyes outside the city, I doubt it, but we can’t rule it out and I don’t want him knowing we’re here if I can avoid it.”
“As you wish, mistress.” Sado replied.
“Kaiji, explain to Botisa we’re about to move, and then get the soldiers to break down the tents, I want us in position before this day is out.” Nua gave the orders, and though there was nobody in the tent who wasn’t confused by them, there was no resistance either.
Her energy was almost manic, but also infectious, her happiness seemed to spread like milk spilled over a table, going every which way and touching everything it could.
Though the journey over the soft ground off road was slower going than if it had been the hard packed earth of the roads, they made do, going the long way around the city, sticking behind hills and going behind clumps of trees whenever possible, until late afternoon hit and they reached their destination. A single hour’s trip, took many with the winding path they’d taken, but when they arrived, the cavalry and all those Sado had managed to round up, were waiting.
The peasants and slaves looked more than a little desperate.
“First, establish camp!” Nua barked the order out, and as if sensing that work would garner them food, peasants rushed to assist the soldiers.
Clad in clothing that was frequently torn or burnt, often shoeless, entirely unbathed, and with the noise of many aching bellies, they were a pathetic sight.
But they worked.
Nua watched them get the camp established by the river even faster than the soldiers usually did by themselves. “Many hands, easy work.”
That however, presented its own problems, as when the camp was established, Nua held her formation, with her soldiers, but before she could begin, an elderly man wobbled his way over to her, and before the eyes of his village and her soldiers, he fell to his knees. They squelched in the mud, and he raised his frail, shaking hands to her.
“You are the commander here… aren’t you… yes… I am n-not wrong?” He was all but begging just to know that much, his lips were pale and chapped, his body was bowed from years of labor, but in the clear eyes she saw the ghost of what a strong man he must have been in his youth. Pity for humans welled up in her, but she pushed that aside to answer him.
“Yes, I am… why, old man?” Nua asked as evenly as she could.
“Your cavalry officer, he said only you could accept these offers… please… we h-haven’t had a meal since the Prince burned our crops and stole our provisions, some of us haven’t eaten for days. Others haven’t eaten for two weeks or more. We try to hunt, but most of the game is gone, we can’t live off a handful of deer and birds… some of our younger ones, they won’t last much longer if they don’t get something, some of the younger mothers are no longer even producing milk…”
He lowered his head and went to all fours. “Please… let us sell some of ourselves to you… just… feed us, a few loaves, that’s all. Our women are hungry, but still beautiful, our children were strong before the hunger. They’ll work hard… we have a few slaves, you can have those too, just don’t let us go another day without something to eat…” His stomach growled, and it was answered by a chorus of growls among the gaggle of numerous peasant families off to one side.
Nua crouched down to him, “Old man, I saw your people working, help me, and I’ll feed you all, when we get into the city, I’ll confiscate enough food for you all to go home and eat again. For now, rations will be tight, but you’ll live. But… you’re going to have to keep working. Remember this…” Nua said loud enough for the others to hear even over the flowing water, “The faster you work on what I task you with, the sooner everything returns to normal.”
Murmurs of desperate eagerness swept over the peasants, and Nua stood up and explained her wishes.
Shovels came out as positions were marked off, and the peasants and soldiers alike, all began to dig. Channel after channel, stopping just short of the riverbank itself. The sound of shovels scraping over dirt, feet tramping through soft, green, grassy ground, the constants quelching, the rush of water and the smell of the disturbed earth and grass became commonplace.
The smell of human waste was thankfully no problem as people simply dumped it into the water itself where it was quickly carried away by the rushing current. The peasants however, worked like they were possessed by demons, their shovels drove on and on, but their eyes were always on the wagons with supplies of food rather than on the dirt.
Sado had the sense to establish a round the clock guard on the wagons, and to keep them all in one place, but it did not make Nua feel any better. Nothing much did.
The days went by and progress continued. Though as it did, Nua tended to prefer to remain in her tent.
Thirteen days later, she was in her tent looking at her map of the city for the thousandth time, when Kaiji approached her. Nua made note of it as she hadn’t called for her servant, but when she felt the warmth of an embrace forming from behind, she spoke up.
“Is something wrong, slave?” Nua asked without looking up or back.
“No, my lady. I just worry about you sometimes. When you see unhappy fates, it touches you. You have an easier time killing people than you do dealing with suffering, you’re a very strange mistress.” Kaiji tittered a bit and tightened her embrace.
“Maybe so. But not to worry, even morose, I don’t lose focus, I’ve been spending my time going over the map of the city, when everything is ready, the whole place will come tumbling down, a good thing too. I expect everybody is tired of eating without cookfires. Raw potatoes, jerky, and bread may fill you up, but a feast it is not.”
Kaiji whispered closely into Nua’s ear, “No, mistress. But everything is ready, we have ladders made, as well as a ram as a precaution, we’ve done everything you said. Your soldiers are ready to fight for you, and to avenge what was done to Diana.”
“Good.” Nua said softly, “Let the soldiers rest then, and ask Botisa how good his nightvision is. It would be a shame if he were to miss this. Oh, and send me Sado, he’ll have to go over the plan with the other officers. We can’t let this capture turn into a massacre. I need everyone at their best. Yanlim is an ally, this is his city, anyone caught in the act of rape or theft is to be summarily hanged.”
“As you wish, mistress.” Kaiji then relaxed her embrace and went to carry out her lady’s orders.