Arms-Commander

LXXXV

The east road was the longer route to Lornth, but shorter to Duevek, given the westward course of the River Yarth south of Carpa. It was also much drier and dustier, and reddish road dust rose and sifted through everything by mid afternoon on fiveday. Saryn had been practicing the skill of making small sliding order-chaos-shields on and off for two days. She thought she had a better technique that took less effort, but how long she could keep that up was another question once they got into battle.

“If it’s this dusty farther south,” Saryn said to Spalkyn, riding to her right, “Henstrenn will see us from kays away.”

“Duevek sits on a bend in the river, with hills to the north. It’s not as dry there, but the hills would shield us from view until the last five kays or so. By then, it shouldn’t matter. One way or another, he’ll know. He still has those mages, and some mages can tell from a distance when people are coming. He must suspect we’ll attack, anyway, and he will have posted scouts on the roads.”

Did Saryn’s ability to sense people from a distance make her a mage? Hryessa had as much as said that, but Saryn certainly couldn’t throw fire-bolts.

From what she recalled, Duevek sat on a hill overlooking the main southern road from the Westhorns into Lornth, but she’d only seen the keep from the road below and from a distance. “What is the holding like?”

“I only saw it once, as a very young man,” returned Spalkyn. “It’s on top of a low hill or rise, and it overlooks the town and the River Yarth. The Yarth is narrower there, but still not an easy crossing. The villa is all one story and extensive, but it is set within rather large and solid walls. So are all the outbuildings. The walls must be a good eight cubits high and two or three thick.”

Cannon would definitely help here, but with white wizards on the other side, they’d likely use chaos to blow the powder. She frowned. Is that why they never pursued gunpowder or the like? Or was the reason simply lost in all the centuries since the old Rats colonized Cyador? “What about the gates?”

“The usual for a fortified keep. Heavy planks, backed with timber, and ironbound. The pivots and hinges are all protected by the walls.”

“So they swing inward?”

“Unless you have a moat and a drawbridge, what choice is there?” Spalkyn’s question was clearly rhetorical.

Saryn wasn’t about to get into portcullises and sliding slot gates and the like. She just nodded, idly wondering if she could use her order-chaos in some way against the gates. You can’t use it for everything. You’re not strong enough or talented enough for that. Again, it would be pick and choose…and hope that her choices were the right ones. “What if he just retreats inside the walls?”

“It’s not as defensible as Masengyl, but I doubt Henstrenn will want a siege. He wants a victory, and sitting behind walls doesn’t make him a leader. That would just erode his support.”

Given the brashness seemingly revered by the southern lord-holders, Saryn could see that.

“Also, he can’t get his harvest in. So…if he stays inside the walls, we just start to burn fields until he comes out. If he doesn’t come out, he loses it all, and that will weaken him both in the wallet and in terms of support with both his own people and the other lords.”

Saryn hadn’t thought of going that far, but she could see the possibilities. Still…Henstrenn was the type to sacrifice anything and anyone to his ambitions.

“I’m glad you had those wagons. We can carry more rations,” said Spalkyn. “The spare mounts you captured from Jaffrayt and Kelthyn also help.”

With Spalkyn’s words about the wagons, Saryn couldn’t help but think about Hryessa’s comments about Dealdron. While she had meant to talk to him on threeday, what with one thing and another, somehow she hadn’t gotten around to it. Was that because you really didn’t want to?

Finally, while Maeldyn and Spalkyn were checking with their armsmen, Saryn rode back to the rear of the column, where, amid the road dust, Dealdron was driving the first of the five supply wagons. There she eased the gelding alongside the wagon.

“How are the drafts holding up?”

“So far, so good, Commander.”

“And the wagons?”

“There’s one axle on the third wagon that’s a trace unsteady, but it’s holding so far. We have spares and extra wheels.”

“You’ve thought that out.”

“Wouldn’t be much help if I hadn’t,” he replied with a grin, looking to the team.

“You’ve been a great help wherever you’ve been,” Saryn said with a light laugh. “Even when you could barely walk with that heavy support and splint.”

“You made it clear I should be.” Dealdron’s tone was on the edge of banter, and there was no sense of resentment.

“You don’t sound too upset.”

The younger man shrugged. “You made me think about things differently.”

As he replied, Saryn realized something else. Dealdron’s speech was better than it had been when he had first come to Westwind. “You’ve gone out of your way to arrange matters for me,” she said carefully, although she did not sense any of the other teamsters in the wagon, even out of sight. “I appreciate it. I truly do.”

Dealdron smiled easily, and she could sense a certain amusement behind the expression before he replied. “You’d like to know why? Is that why you’re here?”

“I’m curious,” she admitted, wondering why she felt so guarded, but perhaps that was because she’d always had difficulty reading more than his surface feelings.

“You do your best to protect everyone else. You protected me from the Marshal. I didn’t see anyone else protecting you when you were ready to drop from the saddle. I don’t have very good arms skills, but I can make sure of…other things.”

She smiled. “Thank you. I appreciate it.”

Dealdron looked at her and smiled warmly. “Thank you for telling me.”

“You deserve it. I should have said more earlier.” After a moment, she said, “I need to head back.”

As she rode back to the front of the column, she could feel his eyes on her back, again, and a certain sense of worry and concern emanating from him. She couldn’t help but feel touched, but she also worried that, in some way, he was putting her on a pedestal, and that he really didn’t understand how much death and destruction she’d created.

Why should that bother you?

That was another question she didn’t really want to answer.

Why? Because you might care for him? Because you really don’t want to come off that pedestal?

And those were questions she also didn’t want to answer.