Council of War (21 page)

"There is no one on the road before the supply caravan," announced the fairy. "I also checked the road far behind them. There is no chance of anyone passing them before they get here."

"You have done well," smiled Kalina. "Tell Garth that I will make sure that the caravan takes the bait before I enter the city."

"I shall deliver your words," saluted the fairy.

Bitsy departed and Kalina picked up a sign and made her way to the Federation Highway. She planted the sign alongside the road and retreated into the trees. The sign said, "North gate closed for repairs." She waited patiently for the caravan to arrive, and she listened closely as they got close enough to read the sign. Two officers led the caravan, and they cursed loudly when they saw the sign.

"We will have to go around to the west gate," said one of the officers.

"And go through that warren of shacks?" balked the other officer.

"I am not taking this caravan all the way around the city to the south gate," declared the first officer. "It will be nearly dark by the time we enter through the west gate, and I am looking for some time off. I am not going to spend that time going around the whole city."

"You are cruel," retorted the second officer. "It will take hours for the men behind the wagons to clean the muck off their horses and uniforms."

"That is their problem," chuckled the first officer. "My duty is to that cold mug of ale waiting for me. Ride back and tell the drivers what we are doing."

Kalina watched the caravan roll by. In addition to the two officers leading it, there were three wagons with two soldiers upon each of them. Behind the wagons were a dozen riders. The soldiers on the wagons seemed to take the news in stride, but the soldiers at the rear cursed louder than the officers had. Kalina nodded in approval as the men validated Garth's assumption of their reactions. Kalina waited until the caravan had passed before moving out to the road and removing the sign. She moved back into the trees and transformed into an eagle.

The eagle rose in a tight spiral and then soared over the caravan and into the city. It gazed down upon the slums of Farmin and thought that it looked a lot like the mazes that tutors drew for children. Dead ends and twisting alleys dotted the slums. Most of the buildings in that area of the city were one level shacks, but there were a handful of old stone buildings, and several of them were four stories high. The eagle aimed for the roof of one of the tall buildings and landed. In a blurring of the air, the eagle disappeared and Kalina appeared. Two uniformed officers immediately approached her.

"They have taken the bait," reported Kalina. "They should be here within the hour."

"Excellent," said Garth.

"Your uniform is dashing," quipped Kalina, "but why is Natia wearing the other one? I thought it would be Tedi."

"Tedi has another part to play," replied Natia. "He will use his staff to disable the wagons if something goes wrong. One touch from his staff will destroy the spokes on the wheels, and the wagons will not be able to leave the trap."

"I don't think that will be necessary," commented Garth, "but it is a good backup plan. Your use of fog is also a backup plan," he said to Kalina. "If everything goes right, we will not need it."

"How will I know if it is needed?" asked Kalina.

Garth led his wife to the edge of the roof and pointed down at the intersection of a narrow street with a narrower alley.

Kalina gazed down at a three-way intersection. The street bent in each direction so that someone in the intersection below could not see another intersection. The alley also bent sharply in the distance.

"This is the crucial point of their journey," he explained. "By the time the caravan reaches here, we will have inserted a wagon between the officers and the first caravan wagon. The officers won't care for it much, if they notice, but there is little that they can do about it. The streets are too narrow for them to stop and let the wagon by. The caravan wagons will lose sight of the officers because they can't see past the other wagon, but when they get to this intersection, they will see Natia and me riding along the alley to the north. We want them to mistake us for the officers and follow us."

"What about all the soldiers following the wagons?" asked Kalina.

"We plan to insert another wagon after the three army wagons and before the remaining soldiers," answered Garth. "The problem is that the soldiers may see the army wagons heading down the alley. We need to prevent the soldiers from seeing them."

"Why not just let me project an image of a shack where the mouth of the alley is? That way the alley would not even appear to exist?" asked Kalina.

"That would be perfect," brightened Garth. "If you can do that without sending out magical vibrations."

"The image need not be large," replied Kalina, "and I cannot imagine the Federation watching for illusions. Besides, it will only be in place for less than a minute. It will not cause any alarm."

"Then you have the final piece of the solution," stated Garth.

"What happens after you have separated the food wagons from the escorts?" asked Kalina. "There will still be soldiers on the wagons."

"There will be," grinned Natia, "but not for long. That alley to the north bends around a corner and then narrows. Garth and I can keep riding, but the wagons will not fit in the narrower section of the alley."

"They will be stuck in an alley with nowhere to go," grinned Garth. "Behind them will be hundreds of hungry people converging on the wagons. I expect that the six soldiers will understand their predicament rather quickly. They will abandon the wagons and run after Natia and me."

"If they need help making up their minds," added Natia, "Tedi will use his staff to break the wheels of the last wagon. They will need a lot of men to drag the wagons out of there with broken wheels."

"But the escorts will notice the wagons missing rather quickly," frowned Kalina. "Won't they double back and start searching for them?"

"Of course they will," replied Garth, "and they will find them, but the food will already be gone."

"That quickly?" Kalina asked doubtfully.

"Juggler already has everything in place," replied Garth. "There are carts positioned in the buildings along that alley, and a path has been cleared through the buildings to the next street. All three wagons will be stripped within three minutes."

"Impressive," Kalina said. "There will be no bloodshed to rile the emotions of the soldiers."

"Hopefully," sighed Garth. "There is still much that can go wrong with this plan. Our success will hinge on how good a grip the Juggler has on the poor people of Farmin."

* * *

Morro watched as the army caravan rolled through the western gates of Farmin and entered the maze of the slums. The officers predictably started their journey by choosing the widest avenues through the warren of shacks, and the elven thief nonchalantly walked alongside the lead wagon. About a quarter of a league into the slums, the lead officers slowed. The broad avenue before them was filled with thousands of the poor citizens, and they didn't appear ready to disperse. Large campfires had been built in the center of the street, and the people were camped out around them. Morro continued walking as the caravan ground to a halt. When he came up alongside the lead officers, he halted to listen to their words.

"They have no right to block the streets," scowled one of the officers. "We should just plow through them."

"And ride over the fires?" retorted another officer. "I have no desire to spend the next few hours trying to bring order to this decrepit area Let's take another path and be done with it."

"I agree," said the third officer. "The sooner we get rid of this shipment, the sooner I can have an ale and relax. Let's head to the right."

The soldiers waved to the drivers of the first wagon and then turned to the right. The wagon drivers dutifully followed, and the caravan began a twisting convoluted trek towards the coast. Once off the main avenue, the streets began to narrow, and frequent turns were required because of the numerous dead ends. Morro had dropped back and continued to walk alongside the lead wagon. No one questioned his presence as the slums were teeming with people walking about. In fact, so many people were darting out in front of the lead wagon to cross the street that a gap had opened up between the first wagon and the officers. As the officers turned a corner, a wagon pulled in front of the lead caravan wagon. The soldiers on the first wagon shouted indignantly, but the noise in the slums was such that no one could hear his words.

Morro halted as the caravan wagons dutifully turned at the corner and followed the local wagon. He started walking again alongside the third army wagon. He smiled inwardly as he noticed that the crowds of locals were now choosing to cross the street behind the wagons instead of before them. The escorting soldiers at the rear of the column were more aggressive in lashing out at the locals that got in their way, but their brutality did little to influence the wanderings of the citizens. As hard as the soldiers tried to force their way through the crowds, a gap began to develop between the last wagon and the escorts.

As the caravan passed through another intersection, another local wagon joined the parade between the last caravan wagon and the trailing escorts. Morro grinned as he was forced to stop walking alongside the wagons. As narrow as the street was, the locals had piled crates and garbage along the edges of the street. Morro was forced to wait as the caravan moved by. He saw the escorting soldiers crowd up behind the local wagon and try to get by it, but there was no room for them to pass it. The elven thief chuckled inwardly as he entered the street and began following the riders.

* * *

Tedi stood a few paces into the alley, his eyes focused on the street that passed by its mouth. Every few seconds he glanced upwards toward the roof of the tall building across the street from the mouth of the alley. He saw Kalina signal that the event was about to begin. He smiled tautly and spoke softly to Garth and Natia.

"Kalina has sent the signal. Get ready to start moving."

Garth and Natia were mounted and dressed as officers of the Federation. They waited patiently in a small courtyard just off the alley. Garth nodded a silent acknowledgment to Tedi and waited for the next instruction.

"The officers have just passed by," Tedi announced. "Bring yourself into the alley so you will be seen."

Garth and Natia rode out of the courtyard as the first local wagon started slowing to a halt. Garth briefly rode to the mouth of the alley and lingered until he was sure that the first caravan wagon had noticed him. When one of the soldiers on the wagon pointed towards him, Garth turned and started riding slowly away from the intersection. When he reached Natia, she joined him, and the two Knights of Alcea rode slowly down the alley. Tedi slipped into the small courtyard to let the wagons roll by without seeing him.

Back on the narrow street, the soldiers on the first wagon grew impatient as the local wagon before them was blocking the entrance to the alley. One of them vowed to ring the neck of the local wagon driver, but before he could get off the wagon to do something about it, the local wagon started moving again. With a great deal of frustration and impatience, the soldiers turned their wagon into the alley, and the other two army wagons dutifully followed. Inexplicably, the second local wagon halted, blocking the entrance to the alley. After a few minutes, the wagon started rolling again, but the mouth of the alley no longer existed to those traveling the street. In place of the alley was a vision of a tall, crude shack.

* * *

The soldiers on the first wagon tried to close the gap with the officers leading the procession, but the alley was extremely narrow, and the driver dared not risk brushing the walls of the alley. There was barely enough room for a man to pass between the walls and the wagon, so he kept the wagon at a slow, steady pace. The soldier gritted his teeth as he saw the officers disappear around a bend in the alley before him.

"What kind of path are these fools taking us on?" he scowled. "We are almost bouncing off the walls now. Look at that turn ahead of us."

"Just take it slow," advised the other soldier. "At least there are no mobs of people swarming all around us. I would rather take a narrow, easy trip home than pass through crowds of those diseased people."

The first officer raised an eyebrow as he rounded the bend. "There is truth in your words," he commented more calmly. "I can't imagine why anyone would take a caravan through this part of the city. I will never volunteer to do so again."

"We didn't exactly volunteer this time," chuckled the second soldier. "It's not like they give us a say in where we go."

The driver did not respond to his partner's quip. Instead, he stared dumbfounded at the alley before him.

"Blazes!" he cursed. "How do they expect us to follow them? There is no way that these wagons will fit through that."

The second soldier raised his eyes and stared ahead. The alley narrowed considerably. The officers continued to ride away as if they expected the wagons to follow, but it was impossible. Where a man might have fit alongside the wagon before, the alley before them was too narrow for even the wagon to pass through. He started shouting at the officers, but they acted as if they could not hear him. The driver was forced to bring the wagon to a halt.

"Run after them," he said to the other soldier.

The second soldier immediately slid off the wagon and raced after the officers as the other wagons slowed to a halt. The driver slid to the ground and started walking back towards the other wagons to let them know the reason for the halt. As he drew alongside the second wagon, his eyes scanned the alley behind the wagon. Instead of the soldiers he had expected to see, a crowd of hundreds were racing towards the wagons.

"We have trouble!" he shouted. "Where are the soldiers?"

The other four soldiers slid off their wagons and peered at the approaching crowd. The citizens shouted angrily as they charged, and the soldiers looked at one another for ideas. The thought of five soldiers standing between a mob of starving people and three wagons of food suddenly seemed somewhat foolish. Without a word spoken, the five soldiers turned and ran.