Alutar: The Great Demon (60 page)

“He needs no encouragement,” replied Tedi. “That is why we are trying to lure the obstinate generals out in the open for battle while leaving the others free to surrender.”

Fakir Aziz stared right through Tedi, and the Knight of Alcea wondered if something was troubling the Mage, but he held his tongue. The silence lasted for several moments.

“Hedstorus will not leave the city,” the Mage suddenly announced. “Short of a direct order from Grand General Kyrga, he will refuse to leave the relative safety of the city. His soldiers, however, might leave given the proper incentive.”

As if his words with Tedi were instantly dismissed from his mind, Fakir Aziz suddenly turned towards his group of mages and began issuing orders to pack for a journey. He walked away from the Knight of Alcea without looking back. Tedi stood still for a while, letting the Mage’s words roll around inside his head.

* * * *

Natia and Colonel Fisker had ridden through the night, and the sun was once again reaching its zenith in the clear sky. The colonel asked for another halt to let the horses rest, but Natia shook her head. Moments later, the colonel understood her hesitancy to stop. As they rounded a bend in the road, he saw a massive military camp. The encampment spread from the road clear across the prairie to the banks of the Zinbar River. Hundreds of large tents dotted the field and each of them sported a colorful banner waving from a pole attached to the tent. He was unfamiliar with the banners, but he knew that he was looking at a massive Occan army. He imagined that the banners signified the barony of the soldiers occupying the tents. As Natia led the colonel through the encampment, every Occan soldier turned to stare at him. Colonel Fisker suddenly felt very uncomfortable in his Federation uniform, but he detected no hostility from the northern horsemen.

“Is this safe?” he softly asked Natia. “I can’t imagine an enemy soldier riding through one of the Federation camps without being killed.”

“Our arrival is expected,” Natia replied. “Did you not wonder why this great army would be camped during the heat of the day?”

Colonel Fisker’s eyes grew wide in wonder. “How could they possibly know that we were coming?” he asked. “We did not even stop for the night. No messenger could have beat us here.”

Natia merely smiled, and the colonel knew that he would not get an answer from the female spy. As they traveled towards the river, the nature of the encampment eventually changed. Gone were the large tents with the colorful banners. In their places were smaller tents, and the soldiers in the area all wore uniforms of the same color, a dull gray with red bars upon their shoulders. The men also lacked the distinctive Occan facial features, and the colonel knew that he was looking upon the famed Alcean Red Swords. He examined them closely as Natia continued to lead him towards the river. In many ways, the Red Sword encampment was like any other he had seen in the Federation, but there were also differences that the colonel could not put his finger on right away. In all encampments the colonel had ever seen, there were always men gambling and sporting with one another, and he did not see any of that in the Red Sword camp, but that was understandable. They were after all in a foreign land on their way to war. The Red Swords seemed to keep themselves busy with the tasks of soldiers. They were checking their armor and servicing their weapons, but there was something else that set them apart. Colonel Fisker frowned as he tried to understand what it was as he gazed from soldier to soldier. Suddenly, it hit him. The Red Swords were more wary than any others he had known, but not wary in a paranoid manner. Their wariness was born of practice. As he watched the Red Swords, he noticed that each soldier remained cognizant of his surroundings at all times, no matter what chore he was involved in. The colonel was impressed.

As Natia and Colonel Fisker rode through the Red Sword encampment, a larger tent came into view on the banks of the Zinbar River. The tent was white with golden edges. Flying from its peak was a standard bearing the likeness of a dragon. The dragon was a bright green and had wings of black, but the tongue and eyes were a vivid red. The colonel shivered as he imagined what a tremendous foe the mythical creature would make. As he was staring at the tent, a young couple emerged from it. He stared at them in confusion. While both were dressed in white armor with golden trim, the man’s breastplate showed the same dragon as the flag above the tent, and the dragon’s eyes appeared to be staring directly at him. The colonel was so fixated on the man’s breastplate that he did not realize that his horse had stopped walking.

“It is considered rude to stay atop your horse when greeting the King and Queen of Alcea,” Natia said softly from somewhere below the colonel.

The colonel snapped out of his trance and saw Natia already dismounted. He hurriedly dismounted and bowed to the young couple.

“Welcome to our camp, Colonel Fisker,” smiled the king. “Please, come inside where we may talk without the sun beating down upon us.”

The king and queen disappeared into the tent and Colonel Fisker halted until Natia stepped up alongside him.

“You didn’t tell me that the King of Alcea would be here,” Colonel Fisker whispered. “What am I to say to him?”

“Speak only the truth to him,” Natia responded. “He will do no less for you, and your safety in this camp is guaranteed. I would not have brought you on any other terms.”

Colonel Fisker nodded and sighed with relief as Natia guided him into the tent. The Federation colonel looked around the tent as they entered. While the tent was nicely appointed and appeared to be rather comfortable, there were no trappings of royalty visible. There was a table set in the center of the tent and the king and queen were already seated. Natia led the colonel to the table and they both sat down.

“Thank you for coming, Colonel Fisker,” the king began. “I am King Arik of Alcea, and this is Queen Tanya. I understand that the purpose of your visit is to verify that the army around you is indeed headed towards Giza. I will now verify that for you. We number twenty thousand Occan lancers and three thousand Red Swords. There will also be other forces as they are needed, but I feel no need to go into such details with you. Our purpose, Colonel, is to destroy the Federation, not Aerta.”

“You see a difference between the two?” the colonel asked nervously.

“Indeed we do,” answered King Arik, “but let me be clear of my intentions so that there is no misunderstanding between us. I said that I seek the destruction of the Federation and not Aerta, but if your superiors force me to conquer Aerta to achieve my goals, I will do so. Can such bloodshed be avoided?”

The colonel felt uncomfortable in the presence of the Alcean king. In all of his years of service to Aerta, he had only been in the presence of King Anator a handful of times, and none of those occasions involved talking directly to the king as he was now doing with King Arik. He felt as if he was the wrong person for this particular mission.

“I don’t know,” the Federation colonel answered truthfully. “I would like to think that I know General Antero better than most of the men under his command, but the decision will not be his, and I cannot presume to speculate on how King Anator might react.”

“What would you do, Colonel, if it were your decision to make?” asked Queen Tanya.

Colonel Fisker remembered Natia’s admonition to state only the truth. He thought for a few moments before answering.

“I am not sure,” he admitted. “I place the country of Aerta above the Federation, so my first thought would be one of compliance, but you have not given me enough information to form a reasonable answer to your question. Are you asking Aerta to allow your army to pass through our land unmolested?”

“No, Colonel,” King Arik replied. “I am asking for the surrender of Aerta. It is the only way to ensure that your country leaves the Federation. Our intent is not to rule Aerta, but rather to make sure that it is ruled properly. King Anator must be deposed. He is not an acceptable ruler in the eyes of Alcea. He has led his people to the depths of misery, and he has conspired as one of the heads of the Federation to invade Alcea. We will not allow him to remain in any position of power.”

“The king would never accept such terms,” frowned the colonel.

“I am more interested in what the people of Aerta will accept,” retorted King Arik, “especially the army. Are they all willing to die to preserve the throne of a king who uses his citizens as pawns for his own pleasure?”

Colonel Fisker started sweating. It was obvious that King Arik was asking the Aertan soldiers to depose their own king or face the Alcean-led army in battle. It was a choice between death or treason.

“I cannot speak for the entire army,” the colonel responded weakly, “but General Antero will not commit treason, and neither will I. I know that is not what you want to hear, but it is the truth. I do not think that either the general or I would look forward to meeting your army in battle, but we are incapable of doing what you are asking of us. Is there no other way?”

Natia felt a tugging of her hair, and she rose and excused herself. She returned seconds later and took her seat.

“King Anator is dead,” she reported. “He was assassinated last night by Badgers.”

Colonel Fisker gasped and turned to stare at Natia. “How could you possibly know that?” he asked. “You cannot receive a pigeon in a temporary camp such as this, and no rider could make it here from Giza in such a short timeframe. Is this a trick to get me to agree to your plans?”

“It is no trick,” Natia said softly to the colonel, “but I will not reveal the way I receive my information.”

“Ask David Jaynes to come in,” King Arik said to Natia.

Natia nodded and left the tent. She returned moments later with a Red Sword colonel.

“David,” King Arik said, “King Anator was killed last night by Badgers. I want you to have Clint retrieve General Alden and bring him to me.”

The Red Sword colonel saluted and left the tent. Natia sat down at the table.

“I thought Clint was rather busy in Tyronia,” frowned Natia. “Couldn’t David get the general?”

“General Marashef surrendered the remnants of the 32
^nd
Corps yesterday,” answered the king. “There is no Federation army left in Tyronia.”

“Is this all real?” asked Colonel Fisker. “I feel as if I am being played for a fool.”

“It is real,” King Arik declared. “We have methods of traveling and communicating that we cannot reveal to you.”

“If you wish proof,” interjected Natia, “ask me a question that only Colonel Corry would know the answer to. I will have his answer back here within hours.”

Colonel Fisker stared at Natia for a moment and then shook his head. “You have not lied to me in the past,” he said. “Besides, I will learn the truth about King Anator when I return to Giza. For the sake of this discussion, I will take your word for it. Do you know how General Alden will respond to your offer?” he asked the king.

“I do,” answered King Arik. “He agrees with our goals. He is willing to lead Aerta out of the Federation, and he is willing to care for his people as his father refused to do. I should also note that General Antero should already know of this. Natia was to deliver a message to him from General Alden.”

“I did,” interjected Natia. “I told him it was not to be opened until after King Anator’s death. If I had known about the Badger assassination, I would have waited to see the general’s reaction.”

King Arik shrugged. “We do not control the Badgers. What will General Antero do now, Colonel?”

“He will follow the lead of General Alden,” the colonel replied without hesitation, “and so will I. If the heir is agreed to your goals then I suspect there will be no battle.”

“You are forgetting the 33
^rd
Corps, Colonel,” reminded Natia. “General Hedstorus will not surrender.”

“I should not have said no battle,” agreed the colonel. “I suspect that there will be a battle to force the 33
^rd
Corps out of the city, but that should not have to involve the Alceans.”

“We would prefer to handle the 33
^rd
Corps ourselves,” replied King Arik. “They will fall much easier to this army than yours, and I do not wish to give Despair a reason to attack Aerta.”

“Leaving the Federation is reason enough for them to attack,” frowned the colonel.

“Everyone is leaving the Federation these days,” smiled King Arik. “Kyrga does not have enough armies to attack them all. Besides, given a choice between Aertans and Alceans, I think the Federation will concentrate on us. Will General Antero be receptive to instituting the surrender based solely on the note from General Alden, or will he hold out until the heir arrives?”

“He will not take it upon himself to surrender the city,” answered Colonel Fisker, “but he will obey the heir’s wishes by not attacking you. If you want to avoid bloodshed, I think it is best to wait for the heir. How long will it take him to arrive?”

“A couple of days,” the king responded vaguely. “If we can get the 33
^rd
Corps out of Giza, he will be there about the time we finish with them.”

“So there will be no option of surrender for the 33
^rd
Corps?” frowned the colonel.

“That option always exists,” answered the king. “In fact, I would prefer it, but do you really think a surrender from them is a reasonable expectation?”

“No,” answered Colonel Fisker. “I asked the question more to gauge you as a man. I apologize.”

King Arik smiled. “I see no need for an apology, Colonel. My attitudes on warfare have confused many an enemy. I truly prefer peace to war. I take no pleasure from the deaths of thousands of men who have the misfortune of serving under an unreasonable officer or ruler, but neither will I shy away from such actions when they become necessary. The problem with offering the 33
^rd
Corps with the option of a surrender is that it announces our presence to the enemy. That will increase the casualties on my men. I will not make such an offer unless there is a reasonable expectation of acceptance.”

“If we can find a way to get the 33
^rd
Corps out of the city,” promised the colonel, “I am willing to volunteer to carry an offer to them from you. Would that be acceptable?”