Valour and Victory (10 page)

“Precisely.”
Robain didn’t think the time was right to go into the intricacies
of what the Lind thought about the Larg. Not enemies, whatever the
Larg might think, more of estranged cousins. “Susyc Julia has told
me where we can find them.”

“Them? How many
are there?”

“Two,” answered
Robain. “They have a hidden camp, a dom they call it, deep in the
forest to the south-east of here.”

“That forest is
inaccessible, least in the middle.”

“Not for the
Lind,” Robain assured him. He reached inside his tunic and
extracted a thin piece of paper that he unfolded and lay on the
table between them. “Look, here is the forest and this is the trail
your people should take.” He traced the route with his forefinger.
“X marks the spot. A small party I would advise, they take this map
with them, see, it’s signed by Susyc Julia herself. They are
expecting you.”

“You are full
of hidden surprises Captain Hallam. What do I tell my men to tell
them when they do manage to reach them?”

“A simple ‘yes’
should be enough.”

“I’ll think of
something suitable, words to the effect that her help is more than
welcome and my grateful thanks. A Larg army is one thing but if
what you and the Prince say is true then these Dglai are another
matter entirely. They can set out first thing in the morning,
meanwhile …”

“You should
start implementing the evacuation plans,” Robain reminded him. “The
turnaround times for the ships will be tight. Your people should be
ready.”

“They will be,”
promised Duke William. “What of you and the Prince-Heir? Will you
remain here with us?”

Robain shook
his head. “No, we must be off. You and the Duke of Graham are
mustering your levies. From what you have told us this is not the
case elsewhere.”

“Gardiner and
Graham will be ready. We northerly dukes look after each other.
Brentwood too, he’ll help though his western border is
vulnerable.”

“They should
send their non-combatants to the north too.”

“I’ll tell
them, so you, the Prince and Count James are heading south to
Fort?”

“Elliot wants
to warn all the dukes. He thinks they’ll believe him where they
might not the Lord Marshall.”

“The altruism
of youth! I don’t think they will. Distrust is endemic here.”
William shot a wry look at Robain.

“Elliot did
mention it. Can you give me any advice about how to approach them?
I don’t promise Elliot will act on your advice but he
will
listen.”

“The boy has
changed that much? Not that I know him that well. Crown-Prince Paul
keeps the children apart as much as he is able. Not that I blame
him, but, well, a more spoilt young brat I never saw when I did
manage to get an invite to the family manor.”

“He’s changed
over the last months and this crisis could well be the making of
him. He’ll come up with a plan, probably radical, possibly
impossible. He does care.”

“That will be a
novel departure for a King of Murdoch, though I’ve seen signs of a
more tolerant mindset in his father. He has had to be careful. Have
you ever heard the saying ‘uneasy lies the head that wears the
crown’? Well, that’s it in a nutshell. The King may be the King but
he spends too much of his time keeping the peace, keeping us Dukes
off each other’s throats. I would not like to be a King.”

“The
differences between the northerly and the southerly parts of the
Kingdom?” ventured Robain. “I’d gathered that there are pretty big
problems from what Elliot has told me. Elliot seeks to bring you
all together under a common goal; the defeat of the Larg and the
Dglai.”

Duke William
shook his head. “Impossible and therein lies the danger. Murdoch is
not as one. The Dukes of Cocteau, van Buren and Smith are
frightened and frightened men retrench, cling to the old ideals as
being safer and there is Prince-Duke Xavier. I tried to warn the
King but he was loath to think ill of his son. Xavier has a son and
a daughter and they are already betrothed, the son to the eldest
daughter of the Duke of Smith and the daughter to the Grandson-Heir
to Cocteau. I’ve heard that he has broken the betrothal between his
cousin Gerald and Princess Susan, Elliot’s sister and has
affiliated him to the great-niece of the Duke of van Buren. I
believe the marriage is to take place before the month is out.”

“Philip Ross
believes it was Xavier at the bottom of the assassination
attempts.”

“I’m convinced
he was correct. What worries me is what Xavier will do next, not
what he has tried to do and failed. He is a dangerous man.”

* * * * *

The Lord
Marshall

It took some
days for the news of the coup d’état at Fort to percolate
northwards and by then the five northerly Dukedoms were more
concerned with what the Larg were doing than with what Xavier was
up to at Fort. Even the Lord Marshall, Peter Duchesne, leading the
Regiments through North Baker and into Brentwood could do nothing
to stem the tide of Xavier’s actions. He could only hope and pray
that the royal family was still alive. His duty was clear - that of
defending who and what he could against the many kohorts of Larg
who were sniffing about along the Brentwood border.

“We must not
permit the two wings of the Largan’s army to join up,” he told his
senior officers. “If we do not prevent this, if the Larg take
control of the coast, we are doomed.”

“Latest
estimates indicate that they outnumber us by at least two to one if
not more,” warned General Karovitz.

“Duke Brentwood
is getting as many people to the coast as he can in the time
available. Gardiner too. They are calling in every man who can bear
arms, old and young,” added General Morgan. “I’ve heard that some
women are intending to fight, they’ve heard the north is coming to
our aid and that their women fight with the men.”

“Brentwood is
gathering his levies together at Prestonvale, some fifty miles east
of the main ford and the one which we are presuming the Larg will
use, it being the widest and shallowest,” said Peter Duchesne. “I
propose that we march to Washington which is another thirty miles
east. General Ross, if you will be so good as to send messengers to
Prince-Duke Robert and ask him to withdraw to there.”

Immediately,”
answered the General and clicked his fingers to summon his Orderly
Officer. He drew him to one side and they began to talk. After a
while the young officer saluted and left.

“We meet them
at Washington then?” asked General Karovitz. “We can’t hope to stop
them, there are too many.”

“But we can
slow them down; give the population every chance either to get to
the coast or to fortify their manors and castles.”

Peter Duchesne
had not yet informed his officers about the existence of the Dglai.
He knew that if the Dglai did exist, neither walls nor water would
save the people but he was still not a hundred per cent convinced
about the truth of the information Susyc Julia had sent him.
They have quite enough to be dealing with for the moment. Time
enough if it happens. The situation is certainly grave
enough.

He coughed and
began to expand on his initial orders. “Gardiner will fortify his
side of the River Murdoch. We will fight a delaying action, several
delaying actions I should say and tactically withdraw towards the
bridge. Once we are across; the bridge will be destroyed like the
others.”

“If there are
enough of us left by then,” noted General Ross. “Have you heard
from Duchesne and Graham?”

“They’ll hold.
They know the Larg must not reach the Island Chain. Now order your
men to march once more Gentlemen, I’d hate to be late for the
party!”

* * * * *

Elliot and
Robain

Elliot and
Robain were discussing their future plans when Duke William burst
into their chamber.

“I’ve received
a message from Fort,” he cried. “Rebellion!”

“Rebellion?”
asked Elliot, “the Regiments?”

“No My Prince,
they left Fort some days ago. All I know that the Citadel is closed
and under armed guard.”

“Has my Father
closed the Citadel?” asked Elliot who in that moment realised what
it meant when someone said ‘my blood is running cold’.

“The messenger
did not know,” answered Duke William. “The message was rather
confused, but it appears that armed men, perhaps in South Baker
livery are securing the river area and are rounding up all those
whose sympathies are, shall we say, with us northerly dukes.”

“The Lord
Marshall was right then” said Robain, looking at Elliot’s stricken
face.

“I fear so,”
replied the Duke with a sympathetic glance at Elliot.

“My Father? The
King? My mother and sisters?”

“I do not know,
the messenger only just got out before the gates were closed.” He
turned to Robain to explain further and to let Elliot have a little
time to gather his wits together. “One of my vassals is there,
guarding the Duchesne interests when Conclave is not in session.
The messenger is a member of his household. He believes my man has
been taken but is not certain.”

“My uncle is
planning a coup!” declared Elliot, jumping to the same conclusion
that William Duchesne and Robain had reached moments earlier.

“Not planning
it,
doing it.
Rumour is that Xavier is planning to secede
the southerly duchies from the Kingdom and declare himself King of
South Murdoch.”

“I don’t
understand,” said Elliot, “why now, with the Larg about to attack
us?”

“Because he
knows neither I nor my ducal neighbours can do anything to stop him
- during the present crisis,” said Duke William with suppressed
anger, “and he doesn’t believe in the Dglai. I wouldn’t put it past
him to have come to some sort of accommodation with the Largan
either.”

“What can I
do?” asked Elliot, looking at Duke William and Robain in turn.

“We continue as
if nothing has happened,” said the Duke. “The Larg are coming, I
must protect my people. You cannot go to Fort now Elliot, you must
stay here with the army. Once this is over we can ride south to the
rescue of your mother and sisters.”

Elliot shook
his head. “I understand my Father is most probably dead. He would
never agree to abdicate his rights over any part of his Kingdom. I
realise that I cannot do anything to help my mother and sisters,
but if my father is dead …”

“You don’t know
that ,” said Robain.

Elliot thrust
his chin out, “if my father is dead then I am Crown-Prince, if he
is not then I am still Prince-Heir. My duty is clear.”

He turned to
Duke William. “How long would it take Robain and I to get to
Sahara?”

“Sahara? Well,
about five to seven days on fast horses. What makes you want to
visit Sahara?”

“I’m going to
free the slaves,” said Elliot surprising the Duke of Duchesne
almost out of his skin. “I’m going to take them to the Citadel,
gathering up as many as want to join me and free what’s left of my
family. No point bringing them here, by then your battle will
either be won or lost. Then I’m going to go out and save as many
people as I can. I could stay with you My Lord Duke, fight with you
but here I’m just another soldier and a young and experienced one
at that. There I can make a difference and even if it is a little
difference, it is better than none at all.”

“I see,” said
Duke William, “so you are just going to ride down there and declare
that all slaves are free?”

“In my father’s
name.”

“There are
guards, overseers, even some estates of the minor nobility. You
think they will let you take their slaves and do nothing?”

William
Duchesne looked to Robain for support. The Duke honestly believed
that what Elliot was proposing was a form of self-suicide.

Robain said
precisely nothing and would not meet William Duchesne’s eye. All
his attention was on Elliot.

“They will when
I tell them that the Larg kohorts are on their way,” said Elliot.
“Now, James, Robain and I must leave immediately. Where is James? I
haven’t seen him since breakfast.”

“Neither have
I,” agreed Robain, “strange, he’s usually hanging around.”

“There was
another messenger,” said Duke William, “last night, from his uncle
of Cocteau. I saw no reason why James should not be permitted to
see him.”

“He will have
gone to Cocteau,” declared Elliot in a dull voice and an angry
glint. “His uncle has called him home to help with the secession
and he has gone. I thought he was my friend. My mistake. Philip
Ross warned me, he said blood is thicker than friendship. Robain
and I will go to Sahara alone.”

* * * * *

Julia

“That’s Lindar
Hanei reporting in,” announced Alyei.

Julia looked
up, “already? They’ve made good time. How many Alyei?”

“Sadei, their
Susa, tells me that they are a thousand strong,” he answered her
question in an impressive voice, “two hundred more than would be
usual.”

“The two
hundred?” asked Sindal of Alyei. Sindal and his Lind Tanya should
have been retired but Julia had made the pair responsible for both
calculating the numbers coming in to swell the ranks of the Armies
of the North and for arranging the supplies needed to feed them.
They had been 2IC Vada in the years before Davin and Razdya.

“A hundred and
fifty ltsctas, all of at least twelve summer seasons old and fifty
older, returning to the Lindar,” answered Alyei.

“Right.” Sindal
did some rapid calculations and glanced over at the timetable
attached to a portable notice board on which were affixed the
details of the travel arrangements south for the myriad parts of
the army. “There’s a spare slot for them to start over the Island
Chain first thing in the morning.” He turned to Tanya.