Shards of a Broken Crown (40 page)

“Understood,”
said Erik.

“When the
chaos around Krondor revealed that we had been somehow tricked by a
demonic creature and that the Emerald Queen was no longer our true
mistress, we were left to fend for ourselves. Fadawah is an ambitious
man. Kahil is also an ambitious man. I suspect it was he who proposed
to Fadawah that my fate be much the same as Duko’s.

“I was led
to believe that we would keep a soft center in Sarth, with a thousand
men secreted in the lower halls of the abbey. When your army was
safely up the road, I was to ride out and strike from behind while
Fadawah was rolling your army south along the coast.” Bitterly
he said, “I never got the men. I should have known that the
third time twenty men showed up when I expected two hundred. Instead
I got a long visit from Kahil, who inspected the abbey and told me
all was going according to plan. I got less than four hundred men in
total, most of them of questionable skills.”

Owen said,
“We’ll have to decide what to do with you later, General.
For the moment, I have the problem of getting up north and getting
the Duchy of Yabon back for my King.”

Nordan stood. “I
understand, Marshal. I will by force of circumstances await your
pleasure.”

Greylock
signaled to a guard to return the captive General to the company of
the other officers. After he was out of hearing range, Owen said, “He
said one thing that disturbs me.”

“What?”
asked Erik.

“That
remark he attributed to this Kahil: ‘All was going according to
plan.’ “

Subai said, “I
came up through the basement of the abbey. I saw nothing we need to
fear.”

“I don’t
think he meant the abbey,” said Owen. “I think he meant
some larger scheme that Fadawah is hatching.”

Erik said, “All
of which we will learn in due time.”

Owen pointed his
finger at his old friend. “That’s what has me fearful.”
He pointed at the tabletop. He motioned for food to be brought and
servants hurried to comply. To one of the junior officers standing
nearby he said, “Let me know when all the commanders report
their units are in place.”

Erik was silent
a moment, then said, “We could hit them at night.”

“At
night?” asked Subai.

Erik’s
tone indicated he didn’t strongly advocate the idea, but was
rather just speculating. “If we could get close to the
barricade before they spotted our advance units, perhaps we could
force a breach before they started doing too much damage with those
catapults and archery fire.”

Owen was
dubious. “I think we do this the traditional way. Order camp,
and tell the men to rest. At first light we assemble, we march out
and stand in ranks. I’ll ride forward with Erik and ask for
surrender, and when they say no, we’ll attack.”

Erik sighed. “I
wish I could think of something very clever.”

“Subai,
can you see any way to get some of our soldiers around the hillside
end of the barricade?”

“A few
maybe,” answered the Captain. “But not enough to do more
than get them all killed when they were discovered. If my Pathfinders
were to do it, we could get up there and be in position before we
were discovered, I’m certain.”

“But you
have to be on your way north, carrying messages,” said Owen.
“No, gentlemen, this time we must walk up and kick down the
door. See to your men.”

Erik stood up.
“I’ll inspect the deployment.”

Owen motioned
for Erik to stay, and when the other officers were gone, he said,
“Can you get some men on the beach below those cliffs?”

“I can get
them down to the beach, but I don’t know if I can get them up
the cliffs,” said Erik.

“Then
you’d better get down there and see, before you lose the
daylight. If you can get a squad up those cliffs and over the top
before they see you coming, you could spring that gate from the
inside.”

Erik considered
it. “It is closer to the cliffside than the hillside by a
hundred yards or so, isn’t it?”

“Think you
can do it?”

Erik said, “Let
me go down and take a look. I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

He heaved
himself out of the chair and moved to where his Crimson Eagles were
camped. “Jadow!” he shouted, “bring a squad!”

The large
lieutenant and a sergeant named Hudson fell in almost instantly, and
by the time Erik had moved to where the horses were picketed, he had
a dozen other men hurrying along to catch up. The horses were saddled
and ready to ride in minutes, and Erik formed up his squad. He
glanced around, astonished at how well the army was being encamped.
The move from Sarth northward had been at a forced march and the
quartermasters had been pressed to their limit to get provisions
together and underway on short notice. Yet here was the bulk of the
Armies of the West, nearly eight thousand men under arms in the van,
with another ten thousand less than a week behind, moving into
locations preselected by Owen’s staff. Logistics was still more
an abstract concept to Erik than a real one. His time on the road had
been in Calis’s small companies in Novindus, or in defensive
positions in Krondor and Darkmoor. This was his first experience
having responsibility for large numbers of men on the march.

The dust was
almost overwhelming from the thousands of men, wagons, and horses
moving along both sides of the road. He knew he could ride freely
down the cliffs to the coast and no enemy spotter would be able to
see anything that would give away his inspection of the beach area.

He found the
path leading down to a cove a mile behind the lines and led the
patrol downward. The road narrowed as it wound down to the beach, so
they rode single file.

They halted
while Erik looked up and down the coast. He turned to the men Jadow
had gathered, and said, “Any good swimmers here?”

Two of the men
held up their hands, and Erik grinned at Jadow. “Oh, no, man.
Not since we had to swim that river to get to Maharta.”

Erik jumped down
and began removing his armor. “This time we won’t have to
wear eighty pounds of iron.” Jadow dismounted and, muttering
curses, also started stripping off his armor.

The two men who
had volunteered were soon standing next to Erik and Jadow, all
wearing only their undertunics and leggings. Erik said, “We
swim in pairs. This current looks rough. And be wary of the rocks.”

He led the men
as far along the beach as they could go before encountering the
finger of cliff that extended into the rocks. Wading out into the
surf, he turned and said, “It’s safer to swim, I think,
than to risk wading through the surf as it pounds those rocks.”

The men
followed, and Erik led them out until the waves started to break. He
dove under a breaking wave and came up behind it. He struck out away
from the beach, and when the water was merely surging back and forth,
turned on a course that ran along the beach. The water was cold
despite the time of the year, and the going difficult, but after a
few minutes, Erik saw that he had left his partner behind. He waited
and let the man catch up, then started swimming again. They drew even
with the first of a series of small coves, and stopped, letting the
others catch up and tread water a moment. He said, “We need to
swim about another mile, then head in.” He pointed. “The
beach seems to open up over there.”

Jadow said, “I
can’t tell; all I see is breaking surf and rocks.”

“Well,
avoid the rocks,” said Erik, setting out again with powerful
strokes.

He led them
around a second point of land and toward more rocks. He stopped and
pointed. “There! A section of open beach.”

He swam straight
in toward the breakers, catching one to ride in, and stood up in
knee-deep water. He looked around and saw the other three men also
riding waves in, though Jadow seemed to have swallowed a fair amount
of water on the way.

Erik glanced up
to the cliffs. He motioned and said, “I think we’re
between our lines and theirs.” Looking up and down the coast,
he said, “It’s difficult to tell.”

After a moment
to catch his breath, he continued, “Come on. We’re going
to have our work cut out for us to get back before dark.”

Jadow groaned.

“What?”
asked Erik.

“Man, I
just didn’t even think; we’ve got to swim back, don’t
we?”

Erik and the
other men laughed. “Unless you want to stay down here.”

As Erik started
off at a trot up the beach, Jadow said, “I’m thinking a
beach life might be the thing; I could fish, make a hut, you know.”

Erik grinned.
“You’d get bored.”

They hurried
along the base of the cliffs, Erik looking up from time to time. They
found a long, winding beach, a series of tidal pools, and some large
outcroppings of rocks, but Erik was at last convinced they were a
safe distance behind the enemy fortification without being seen.

He looked upward
and asked, “Jadow, what do you think about climbing that
cliff?”

Jadow looked
upward and finally said, “Not much.”

“Can it be
done?”

“Possibly,
but it’s a job for the Pathfinders. They are very good at that
sort of thing.”

“The
Pathfinders are going around the eastern end of the line, up the
hills and north; Subai’s got messages to get to Yabon.”

“Well,
then, do we have anyone else in camp who might be foolish enough to
swim over here and climb those rocks for a little hand-to-hand
mayhem?”

Erik looked at
Jadow, then said, “I think I may have just the lot.”

Owen said, “Let
me get this straight. You want me only to hit them with probing
attacks tomorrow?”

Erik pointed
along the line of defense freshly drawn on Owen’s map. “We’re
going to bleed if we storm that wall. We can put that off a day or
two longer. But if I can get up over the cliff, open the gate so you
can get inside, we can shorten this attack by days. And we’ll
save a lot of men’s lives.”

“But if
you don’t get to the gate, you’re going to get yourself
chopped up,” said Owen.

Erik said, “Last
time I looked, no one promised a soldier he would live forever.”

Owen closed his
eyes, then said, “Life used to be much easier when you were
shoeing horses and I was teaching Otto’s other sons how to hold
a sword.”

Erik sat down
and said, “I won’t argue that.”

Owen said, “So,
who are you taking with you? Climbing those cliffs will be dangerous
. . . or am I stating the obvious?”

“You are,”
said Erik with a smile. He took a mug of wine offered him by an
orderly, then said, “Akee and his Hadatis just showed up this
morning. They’re the best climbers we have.”

Owen nodded
approval. “That they are. And a handy bunch with a sword, as I
recall.”

“Very.”

“Well, I
was going to send them along the ridge route, but if I give Subai all
the Pathfinders, he stands a better chance of getting through to
Yabon.”

“I haven’t
read the rolls of the fallen. How many Pathfinders have we left?”

“Too few.
We have too few of everyone,” said Owen. “We lost more
men of quality at Darkmoor and Nightmare Ridge than the Gods should
fairly ask of us. We are moving with the heart of the Army of the
West, and if we fall, there’s nothing left.” He sighed.
“Subai has fourteen Pathfinders left in his entire command.”

“Fourteen?”
Erik shook his head and his expression was one of regret. “He
had over a hundred before the war.”

“Those
trackers and scouts are rare men,” said Owen. “You don’t
train them overnight like your band of cutthroats.”

Erik smiled. “My
cutthroats have proven themselves more times than any other unit in
this army. And we’ve lost more of the Eagles than I care to
think about.” For a moment he reflected on the men whom he had
served with during two voyages to Novindus, Luis and Roo, Nakor and
Sho Pi, and those fallen at the battles along the way—Billy
Goodwin, who fell off his horse and broke his head, Biggo the pious
brawler, and Harper, who was twice the sergeant Erik had ever been,
among many others. And most of all, one man. “As much as I wish
Calis was still leading this bunch instead of myself,” he said
to Owen, “more than any other, I’d give half my remaining
years to have Bobby de Loungville back.”

Owen raised his
wine cup. “Amen to that, my boy. Amen to that.” He drank.
“But he’d be proud of you, no doubt.”

Erik said, “When
this is over, and we start taking men down to Novindus, I want to
find that ice cave and bring Bobby home.”

Owen said, “Men
have done crazier things before. But dead is dead, and buried is
buried, Erik. Of all the men who fell, why Bobby?”

“Because
he was Bobby? Most of us wouldn’t be alive today save for what
he taught us, we in the Eagles. Calis was our Captain, but Bobby was
our soul.”

“Well, if
you can get the Prince to release you from duty for a time, maybe you
can do it. Me, I’ll be asking him to promote you again to take
some weight off my shoulders.”

“Thanks,
but I’ll refuse.”

Owen said, “Why?
You’ve got a wife, and I expect someday children, and a
promotion means more money as well as rank.”

“I’m
not worried about money. I mean, I have enough, even if the
investments that Roo’s made for me don’t work out. I’ll
take care of Kitty and any children, but I just don’t want to
become a staff officer.”

Grey lock said,
“There won’t be much need for captains once the war is
over, Erik. The nobility will again come to the fore and start taking
care of keeping the peace.”

Erik shook his
head. “Idon’t think that’s wise. I think the
Riftwar and this war show we need a larger standing army. With Kesh
again making moves along the South, and with as many casualties as
we’ve taken, I think the Prince needs more men under arms at
all times than we’ve had before here in the West.”