The Warlord Ch. 03

Wantrao's troops went in with a will. They literally ran towards the gate and the front wall, carrying their ladders. Wantrao was at the very front. The enemy archers began to fire, and the first soldiers fell. I have no idea why I did it, but I counted the troopers as they went down. It was horrible. I had to skip from thirteen to sixteen as three fell at virtually the same moment. Mercifully, I was able to shut off the voice in my head after twenty-two.

Wantrao's archers followed them, and took up position only forty or fifty yards from the wall. They immediately began firing, engaging the attention of the enemy archers, and prompting the enemy infantry to keep their heads down.

Meanwhile, Malusha launched her own attack. It became immediately apparent that she had a decisive advantage. Actually, she had two.

The first were the archers. The Shorrs had obviously left a standard garrison in Jacaranda: five light infantry units and a single company of archers, who were stationed around the main gate, the most vulnerable point. Here, as Malusha's infantry reached the base of the wall and placed their ladders, there were no archers shooting at them.

But our archers set up close, only thirty yards from the wall. They immediately began firing at the defenders. I only saw three or four direct hits, but many of the Shorr troopers seemed more concerned about avoiding arrows than they were about repelling attackers.

As she'd promised, Malusha herself was first up a ladder, and first to the top of the wall. That was where her second advantage was revealed. Just as she'd told me, the peons didn't strike to kill; instead, two of them tried to fend her off with the butt end of their spears.

Malusha had no such qualms or reservations. She hurled a javelin at one lightly armoured opponent, and then drew her sword. She beat aside the second peon's spear, and then leapt onto the ramparts. An instant later that second spear wielder was slashed across the chest.

The rest of our attackers were having a much harder time of it, but Malusha was in her element. It was awesome to watch her. I couldn't even have climbed the bloody ladder, much less fight the way she did. She killed or incapacitated two more enemies, and cleared a space around herself, which allowed one of our soldiers to join her atop the wall.

That soldier was killed, but not before another of our troops had joined them. That fellow (or female - I couldn't tell) concentrated on staying alive, while Malusha went about creating even more space. That allowed two more of our troops to reach the rampart.

I looked back towards the gate. To my surprise, I saw hand to hand fighting atop the wall, above the gate. There were far too many fallen bodies at the base of the wall, but our archers were still shooting, and the light infantry were still climbing their ladders.

On Malusha's front, the archers were now creating a decisive problem for the defenders. Wherever they stood directly in front of our ladders, they were targeted with multiple arrows. Almost simultaneously, two more of our troopers reached the top of the wall. One was immediately killed. The second was also eliminated, but not before another trooper reached them.

The fighting around Malusha had spread, as more of our infantry got to the top. She began to push along the rampart, creating even more space. Then she reached the point where another of our ladders was placed, which allowed another soldier to join her.

More of our soldiers began to reach the top. Two hundred defenders couldn't stop five hundred attackers, assisted by archers - especially not with the added advantage of Malusha. There was simply no one there who could harm her. The younger, physically fit Shorr family members were with their field armies. The same was true of the Hadyks, after all.

I sent a messenger to the opposite side of the city, ordering our troops there to attack. It was a hard decision, because I knew that they were going to take casualties. But it was necessary, to tie down the defenders there. I didn't want them sending another hundred fighters to oppose Malusha. It did occur to me, though, to send half of her archers around to the other side of the city, to help out there. As it was, the more of the wall that Malusha controlled, the fewer targets there were for our archers.

For a few critical moments, I had a hard time telling what was happening. In order to see both the front gate (which faced west) and the southern side of the wall, I was far enough back that I couldn't really distinguish between their troops and ours.

There was still fighting atop the wall over the gate, but it was limited to a very few small areas. On Malusha's front, however, there was fighting almost all along the wall.

A few moments later, I heard a loud cheer from our troops. The ramparts were in our hands. Malusha knew her business, though. She didn't let our soldiers pour into the city piecemeal. First, she organized strong units to push along the ramparts, one towards the gate, and another in the opposite direction.

She certainly knew her business. More of our troops climbed to the top of the wall. Rather than let them descend into the city in dribs and drabs, she waited until she had collected at least a hundred, and then led them down herself. Her target, of course, was the main gate.

They didn't have far to go. These cities (or production centres) weren't all that big. Malusha's action produced immediate effects: the fire of the enemy archers slackened noticeably, and more of our troopers began to reach the top of the wall.

Then the gate opened, and our light infantry poured into the breach.

The end could hardly be in doubt. Still, I didn't want to rush to the gap myself. Rona and Deondra didn't think that any of the peon soldiers could attack me, but I didn't want to find out that they were wrong if some disgruntled archer decided to fire one last shot. There was also the possibility that a half-Shorr might recognize that I wasn't actually a Hadyk, and that they were entitled to take me down.

If that sounds cowardly, remember that my armour consisted of a tin foil helmet, a linen shirt over my ratty old concert t-shirt, and a pair of track pants. Also, given my own fighting skills, any angry child with a sharp stick (if they knew how to use it) could pose a threat to me.

It took me longer to get to the gate than I'd anticipated. First of all, I wasn't going to ride my horse over the bodies on the ground. I dismounted, and let one of the light cavalry hold onto my mount.

I'd never seen a dead body before. The first one looked almost like she was asleep, except for the fact that there was an arrow protruding from her chest. The next body was lying on its stomach; I couldn't see where or how they'd been struck.

There was no such doubt about the third. It was a female trooper, and an arrow had hit her in the neck. There was quite a bit of blood, and her face was contorted by what looked to be a mixture of shock and pain. It wasn't a pleasant sight.

I'd ordered these people - these peons - to assault the gate, knowing that many of them would be killed or severely injured. It was one thing to approach the whole battle intellectually. It was quite another to have to face the actual results of my handiwork.

When I came across the soldier lying on his back, with an arrow jutting from one eye, I had to turn to the side. I felt it coming, but I was helpless to do anything except vomit, heaving up my breakfast.

I spewed a stream of puke all over the boots of one of my cavalry escort. My stomach lurched, and I did it again. My head was swimming; I went down on one knee.

- "Lord Daniel?" Jashi was there, with a strong hand under my arm, helping me back to my feet.

- "Sorry..." I muttered. I didn't have to puke again, but I spat several times, trying to get the foul taste (plus the last few chunks) out of my mouth.

I managed to get to the gate, stepping over increasingly large (and high) stacks of bodies. Here I first saw those who had died from hand to hand combat, rather than arrows. It was hard to take. Spears left great sucking wounds, while swords... let's just say that many of the combatants seemed to prefer using swords as slashing or chopping weapons rather than for stabbing or thrusting.

I had to stop again, trying to breathe semi-normally and suppress my gag reflex. It was only later that I realized that I had somehow been spared the worst. The wounds themselves were gruesome, and in many cases I just couldn't bear to look at their faces. But my sense of smell wasn't engaged. There was blood - lots of blood - but no pools or urine or fecal matter. I'd read that dying people frequently lost control of their bladder and/or bowels, but that wasn't the case with peons.

There were no flies, either (something else I didn't realize until later). Honestly? My head was swimming, and I tried to concentrate on just getting past the gate. There were so many things yet to do, and me standing just inside the city, gagging, wasn't helping anybody.

- "Congratulations, Warlord." said Jashi. "Your plan worked."

- "What about Wantrao? Is he alright?"

- "I don't know, Lord."

- "You don't seem all that worried about it. Isn't he your brother? Half-brother, at least?"

She frowned. "No, Lord. We're not related at all."

- "What?" Peony had specifically said that he was Malusha's half-brother, just as Jashi was her half-sister.

- "We're not related, Lord." she repeated.

Something was off, here. But this was neither the time nor the place to question her about it.

- "I want to see him." I said. I began climbing the steps that led to the ramparts.

- "Lord - you are needed at the castle." said Jashi.

I ignored her. There were bodies to step over, of course, and pools of blood that I couldn't avoid stepping in. I saw more ghastly wounds. It was still sickening, but now I found that it also made me angry. When I played computer games, losing a battle was annoying, but I only got upset when the luck of the (invisible) dice rolls went against me. I hated when my casualties were disproportionately heavy, or when one of my favourite commanders was killed or badly wounded.

I'd never had to look at any of my dead soldiers, or to see the injuries they'd suffered. Casualty reports were a simple spreadsheet, a collection of mostly unimportant numbers. But these peons were real - frighteningly real.

Wantrao was just about exactly where I thought he'd be, sitting on the rampart with his back to one of the crenellations. There was blood all over him, and all around him; it was even splattered over the inside of the wall.

I knelt beside him.

- "How badly are you hurt?'

Wantrao grimaced. "I'll live." he said. He looked down at his bloodstained armour. "Most of it isn't mine."

He had a gash on his upper arm, and a dent in his helmet. His shoulder had been gashed as well, and his thigh was thoroughly soaked with blood.

- "Where is the physician?" I asked Jashi.

She just looked back at me.

- "Physician? Back in Hyacinth, Lord."

- "There are no physicians here? No doctors?" This was my fault; I hadn't even considered the medical services. Nobody had told me, but then I hadn't asked, either.

- "No, Lord."

- "None? What about the wounded?"

Poor Jashi: she was bearing the brunt of my angry questions. She was remarkably composed about it, though.

- "Lord, there are no wounded, other than Captain Wantrao."

- "Wait - what? That's... that's not possible."

That was when I realized that another of my senses wasn't fully engaged. After a battle involving over two thousand soldiers on both sides, there should have been more sound. Moans and cries from the wounded, calls for help, demands for water. Battlefields were noisy places, weren't they? And just because the fighting was over, it shouldn't have been so... eerily quiet.

Not completely quiet, of course. Soldiers were moving about, sub-commanders were issuing orders... and Wantrao was chuckling quietly.

- "You really didn't know?" he snorted. Then he coughed several times, and the blood on his hip looked even brighter. Fresher.

I took off my stupid helmet, and peeled the linen shirt off, over my head. I wadded it up, and pressed it against his hip.

- "Here." I said, calling on two of our soldiers standing beside us. "Put pressure on this. Press it against the wound until the bleeding slows down." I found another trooper, and had him strip one of the corpses so that he press that fabric against Wantrao's shoulder.

"As for you, Wantrao - stop talking." I turned to Jashi again. "What is it that I don't know? About the wounded."

Jashi shook her head. "There are no wounded, unless they are people. Or Half-Hadyks, like Wantrao or me. Lightly injured peons simply return to their units. Seriously injured troops simply... die. There's... there is no in-between, Lord."

Fucking hell. This was a game. An incredibly detailed, remarkably life-like (in some ways), and entirely unrealistic game. Peons survived, or they died. No wounded, no doctors, no surgeons, no hospitals. Even my DotR game was far more realistic.

Say you entered a battle with 12,000 troops. The algorithms would calculate the odds and the relevant modifiers (terrain, leaders, morale, etc), and then provide a random result (like a dice roll) between established parameters. So, for example, if your army of 12,000 fought 6,000 enemy, you might lose a sixth of your force, while your foes lost a third.

The remaining enemy would retreat. You could pause the game, and read the AAR (after-action report), if you were so inclined. There was always a number that was highlighted, though, if you hovered the cursor over your army: your current strength, versus your maximum potential.

Say, again, that you lost 3,000 men. Your current strength might be reported as 7,800 over 9,125. Given a few days of game time to rest, you could watch that army's total numbers rise from 7,800 to 8,500 and then to 9,125, as the lightly wounded returned to the ranks, exhausted fighters recovered, or men separated from the army by the fighting came back.

In the Hadyk's world, it was much simpler: peons died, or they didn't. That was it. There was one similarity between DotR and this; commanders didn't have to worry about the wounded.

- "Lord..." said Jashi.

- "I know."

I left orders that Wantrao - once the worst of his bleeding had been stopped - should be carried to the castle. Then I followed Jashi back down the steps, and into the city.

It was laid out exactly like Dahlia and Hyacinth. We only had to follow the main street, and it would lead us to the castle. We passed a number of our troopers, who looked at us with what I can only describe as semi-curiosity.

They looked at us. No one cheered, or called out a greeting. Now, I had managed to leave my stupid helmet on the ramparts, along with my linen shirt, so I was wearing only my Foreigner t-shirt, my bloody track pants, and riding boots. But given my height and girth, they had to know who I was. Nobody said anything, including two young men who - given their colouring - had to be half-Hadyks.

The castle courtyard was crowded. At least a hundred of our infantry were drawn up there, and I could see some of our troopers guarding the entrance to the keep and the stables.

But there were almost twice as many more soldiers standing in ranks, except that they had purple hair, and wore belts or ribbons of the same colour.

Malusha came over to greet me. She didn't stand on ceremony.

- "We did it! Your plan worked!"

- "Thanks to you!" I insisted. "And Wantrao."

She didn't answer. I thought that I saw her eyebrow move, but that was the extent of her reaction.

"He's badly wounded." I said.

- "Of course." Once again, her face didn't change.

- "He needs a physician. Can I take him through the Portal, back to Hyacinth?"

- "You shouldn't. Lady Rona can send the physician here, if she wishes to."

- "Which she won't." I said.

Malusha didn't disagree with me.

"Wait: did you say 'the' physician? There's only one?"

- "One is enough, for fifty-one people." she said.

People. Hadyks. Half-Hadyks didn't rate medical treatment. Why were Jashi and Wantrao loyal to the Hadyks? Why didn't they change sides?

The answer was obvious, I suppose, because it occurred to me right away: the other families treated their illegitimate offspring exactly the same way. It was likely that they wouldn't even take in deserters, like the owners of professional sports franchises who blackball troublesome athletes.

Malusha was looking at me oddly. Time to change the subject.

- "Is it safe to have the prisoners here?" I asked.

- "Perfectly safe. Their officers have surrendered, and they were given the order to stand down. They won't even move until we take control of the Touchstone and give them new orders."

- "How do we do that?"

- "Easy. We just touch it."

- "Just like that?"

- "Just like that. If an enemy can penetrate the heart of your castle, and put a hand on your Touchstone, then you've been defeated."

- "I see."

- "Are you alright, Lord Daniel?" she asked. "Somehow I expected you to be... happier. Elated, even. You've won your first victory!"

- "Ah... I saw all of the casualties, on my way in. Our losses were... heavy."

- "The price of victory." she said, with calm self-assurance.

- "How many did we lose?"

- "About 500. But we captured 200, which will help replace the gaps in our ranks."

- "You can just add them to our units like that?"

- "Of course. Once we take the Touchstone, they become our troops. You'll see. But for now, we have to move."

We entered the keep, which was laid out almost exactly the same as Dahlia and Hyacinth. The furnishings were similar, though of course the carpets, the tablecloths, and the tapestries and wall hangings were of different colours - predominantly purple, of course.

- "Did we capture any of the Shorrs?" I asked.

Malusha laughed. "No, they were all gone through the Portal soon after the wall fell."

- "And the half-Shorrs? The officers?"

She shrugged. "Some killed. Some captured."

- "What will happen to them?"

- "That's up to Lady Rona. Sometimes they're ransomed, or exchanged."

That didn't sound right. What could they be ransomed for that would be of value, when Rona could create anything she wanted through the Touchstone?

We passed through the Shorr equivalents of the Hadyks' Map Room and Dining Hall, then entered a very similar long passage, now lined with soldiers with blue hair.

I stopped for a moment, to admire the view, and then decided that a few words wouldn't be out of place.

- "Well done, soldiers." I said. "We're very proud of you."

- "Not necessary." said Malusha. She went ahead down the hallway.

I followed.

The chamber we entered was just about exactly the same as the one in Dahlia. There was the same shimmering Portal, the same curtained alcove, and an identical Touchstone, looking like the steering controls for some alien spaceship out of Star Trek. There were only three differences: one was a purple-edged wall-hanging, depicting some battle scene. The second was the fact that the shimmering flames around the Portal here were tinged with purple, and the heavy curtain which looked as though it was made of purple velvet.

I steered well clear of the Touchstone. It wasn't part of our plan to take it just yet, and I didn't want to make contact with it by accident. The Portal, though, was another matter.

- "Go ahead." said Malusha. "Touch it. Just put your finger into it."

Very slowly - very gingerly, in fact - I reached out with the index finger of my left hand. I expected to encounter the smooth, hard surface of a mirror. Instead, it was like dipping my finger into the water. In this case, though, the water was like a vertical wall. It was also damned cold. I was so surprised that my finger penetrated the mirror that I instantly yanked back my hand.

There was a loud, metallic chime.

- "That's it." said Malusha. It's done. The Portal is attuned to us, now. Look."

I did. The flames around it were now blue-tinged.

- "It worked."

- "Good to know that you can take control of them, too."

There wasn't much more to say. Time was a-wasting.

"Go ahead, Warlord. I know what to do. At dawn, I'll count to one hundred. Then I'll take control of the Touchstone."

I nodded. "You fought bravely, Lady Malusha. I'll be sure to tell your aunt about it."

- "Thank you, Daniel."

I turned back to the Portal.

- "Hyacinth." I said. Then I stepped into - and through - the mirror.

It was the oddest thing: it felt a bit like water - bitterly cold water. But the sensation was over before it became uncomfortable. I can only compare it to stepping into a waterfall, only to discover the hidden cavern behind it (except that I've never actually done that).

I emerged into the Portal Chamber in Hyacinth. Two guards were waiting for me. So was Peony.

- "Peony? How long have you been waiting here?"

- "Not long, Lord." she lied. "I am glad to see that you're safe."

- "I was never in any danger."

- "I will inform Lady Rona that you've arrived."

- "I'll go with you."

We walked down the long hall together, and turned into the Map Room. Rona was there, along with Stephanie.

- "You did it." said the Matriarch. She sounded as if she hadn't been entirely sure that we would succeed.

- "We did. We lost 500 troops, but captured 200. Malusha was exceptional; she and Wantrao were incredibly brave. We wouldn't have captured Jacaranda without them."

- "Was she hurt? Did we lose any family?'

- "No. But Wantrao was badly wounded. Five times, in fact. I would recommend that you send your physician to tend to him."

- "Your recommendation is noted." she said, dryly.

Malusha had been right; Rona wasn't going to lift a finger to save Wantrao.

- "We may need him again, Lady. His contribution was just as valuable as Lady Malusha's."

- "He'll survive. Now - are you ready for the next phase, Warlord? Do you need to eat? You have a long ride ahead of you."

I wasn't the least bit hungry, but I didn't know when my next opportunity to eat might come.

- "A light meal, perhaps." I said. "While I'm at it, I should also commend Captain Jashi: she and her cavalry did an excellent job of screening our march."

- "Yes. She is good. Peony, arrange a meal for the Warlord."

- "Yes, Lady Rona."

- "Mother," said Stephanie, "perhaps Lord Daniel could describe the storm of Jacaranda to us, while we wait. While the memory is still fresh." She looked to me. "If you're not too tired, Lord."

- "No. Not at all." I told them about our march, once again highlighting Jashi's role. Then I related what I'd seen at the city. I praised Malusha, of course, but went out of my way to make it clear that Wantrao had tied down the bulk of the enemy's forces around the main gate.

Of course, that wasn't what Lady Rona wanted to hear. Stephanie diplomatically shifted the emphasis.

- "It sounds as though the archers were especially effective." she said. "Against light infantry, in particular. We might want to consider building more archers."

- "I agree." I said. I was already thinking of other possibilities. It would be good to have the Hadyk heir's support.

I got my light meal, but no chance to speak to Peony alone. At the first opportunity, I was going to pin her down, and get the straight dope on half-Hadyks - and Wantrao in particular. Stephanie went down to the courtyard to prepare for our departure.

That's right: she was coming with me.

Deondra was commanding the main Hadyk army, a combination of the Hyacinth peacetime army and the reinforcements from Flax, in the shape of a standard field army. She had a total of 2,400 troops, to face the Morcar and Shorr field armies. But rather than wait just outside the walls of Hyacinth, she was force-marching, and would continue to do so through the night.

This was another part of my plan, a combination of speedy and unexpected movement. Rather than wait for the combined enemy armies to approach us, we had to confront them at dawn. We would march and ride at night.

In my first ride around the walls of Dahlia, I couldn't help but notice how flat and featureless the land was. There were no surprises, no cliffs or gorges, no chasms to fall into. There were no river barriers, no mountains, no impenetrable forests, no impassable rivers. They didn't even have gopher or groundhog holes. That meant that travelling by night posed little danger.

Stephanie was in the courtyard, wearing ornate amour. With her were three more Hadyks, and another half-dozen half-Hadyks. I was struck by two of them. Virdyan was a smiling, apparently happy-go-lucky young man with brown hair and only two fingers on his right hand.

Armene was a strikingly beautiful platinum blonde - there was obviously Morcar DNA in her background. Beautiful, as I said, but hard. Her eyes were icy blue. She would command our escort.

We mounted up in the deepening dark, and rode out of the castle, then out of the city. I would like to claim that my riding was improving, but that wasn't really the case. My apparent competence was entirely due to the extreme docility of my horse (which never did anything the least bit unexpected), and to the featureless plain we rode across. Even so, I had to pay attention to what I was doing. I didn't want to embarrass myself in front of Lady Stephanie.

- "It's very exciting." she said. "Riding at night. Unprecedented. Hard to believe no one thought of doing this before."

- "We'll be tired tomorrow." I said.

- "Not if we win a victory."

I had expected that our night ride would be more dramatic, but it was as easy as a walk in the park. Easier, even. It was like crossing a lawn bowling green, or a snooker table. There were stars overhead, and a half-moon that provided all the light we needed to navigate.

All I had to do was stay awake. Stephanie wasn't all that talkative; I got the feeling that she'd had plenty of practice at staying quiet, with all the time she'd spent with her mother. Armene didn't say a word. Virdyan, however, had no trouble filling the silence. He had questions about Jacaranda, from the assault on the walls to the layout of the castle. Then he had questions about my home world, the battles I'd fought, and the campaigns I'd won.

I'll admit that I skimped on details of my own life. I didn't particularly want to share too much about my less than glamorous existence. As for battles, I found out that I could tell Virdyan about one of my Defence of the Realm games, and he hung on every word.

For my part, I was happy to have something to take my mind off the upcoming battle. The strategy had been planned, and then reviewed multiple times. There might be unforeseen problems, which we would have to deal with. But I wasn't looking forward to the carnage, or the body count.

Stephanie was probably in no danger. Deondra, either. But the troops, and the half-Hadyks like Virdyan and Armene, could end up like Wantrao - or worse.

After many hours, we found Deondra's camp. It would have been hard to miss.

Deondra herself welcomed her cousin warmly, and then smiled at me.

- "You did it! You really did it." She wanted to hear all of the details, of course, but that would have to wait.

- "Have you made contact with the enemy?" I asked.

She turned to point north. "The Morcars are three thousand yards away. The Shorrs are perhaps three hundred yards from them."

- "Have they seen your army?"

- "Oh, yes."

So the enemy, with 3,400 troops between them, knew that Deondra had an over-strength field army. They might not have counted exactly 2,400 soldiers, but they had to be certain that they still held a distinct numerical advantage.

We had them right where we wanted. Now it was simply a matter of timing. Three thousand yards might not sound all that far, but it's the better part of two miles. Troops in heavy armour can't sprint two miles. Deondra was going to advance before dawn. I wanted her within a couple of hundred yards of the Morcar host when the hammer fell.

She did it, though. Deondra was very good at explaining exactly what she expected from her officers. The troops were fine; they'd handled the night march without complaint. It was the 'people' and the half-Hadyks who needed direction and reassurance.

Stephanie and I stayed with the main force until they were only five hundred yards from the Morcars. Then we and our little escort moved closer to the Shorr army. Both of the enemy field forces were maneuvering, marshalling their units into familiar positions. It was a little nerve-wracking to ride out with a total of twenty people (okay, people and others), in front of an army of 1,700.

We were no threat to them, obviously. They didn't even need to send out a light cavalry unit to chase us away - and thank goodness they didn't. We advanced to within two hundred yards. They weren't going to waste arrows on us. Their attention was fully concentrated on Deondra.

The dawn broke.

It came suddenly. There were no mountains or tall forests to block the light.

- "Now." I said.

We rode forward slowly. One hundred seconds is a long time. I really didn't know if Malusha would count properly, with an 'and' between each number. One and two...

We certainly didn't want to be too close too soon. But we had to be able to reach them quickly. I was counting in my head, and got to sixty-eight before I stopped; it wasn't my count that mattered.

The Shorrs began to march, towards Deondra. Then it happened.

The troops simply stopped. There was a weird sort of optical effect, as the soldiers' hair changed colour, from purple to blue. Scarves, badges, and ribbons changed, too. So did the unit banners and the cavalry pennants.

- "Now!" I shouted. We broke into a trot. It might even have been a crazy canter. We had less than a football field to cover, but every moment counted.

The Shorr officers were shouting. They could see that their troops had suddenly, inexplicably halted. They could see the change in hair colour. What they couldn't do - at least not quickly enough - was understand why this was happening. Some of them wasted time shouting futile orders at their former troops.

Armene galloped into the enemy lines, reining in at the very last moment.

- "Arrest your former officers!" she screamed. "Capture the Shorrs!"

Now, blue hair or not, the troopers couldn't raise a hand against 'people'. But half-Shorrs were legitimate targets. The Shorr officers suddenly realized their predicament, and chose the only option they had left: they took to their heels.

The Shorr family members, of course, got away clean, because the peons couldn't raise a hand against them. We didn't pursue; there was no point. But the half-Shorrs had a much rougher time. One was killed, and four were captured.

That was how it stood when Stephanie and I and the other Hadyk officers arrived. Virdyan and the others swiftly took command of the units.

Now, the Morcars weren't blind. But from 300 yards away, they couldn't see the Shorr troopers become Hadyk troopers. They couldn't distinguish hair colour at that distance. Besides, they were marching towards Deondra. If any of their officers saw the Shorr family officers escaping, they would have been confused, rather than alarmed.

Deondra's army clashed with the Morcars. She had a definite advantage, but as far as they were concerned, it would evaporate the moment the Shorrs brought their force to bear.

I'd read (and watched movies) that referred to the shattering of shields, or spears. I wasn't prepared for the noise, though. It was worse than the storm of Jacaranda. Much worse. The heavy cavalry thundered at each other, but it wasn't at all like in the movies.

Horses aren't stupid, or suicidal. They will not run head on into another horse - especially if they're both moving at speed. Nor will they stop on a dime. They will, however, run past the other horse while the riders try to attack each other. What ends up happening is that lanes are created, and collisions are avoided. The two cavalry units basically pass through each other, while the riders exchange blows.

That's not to say that horses aren't injured; there are weapons that splinter, and errant blows that strike the mount rather than the cavalryman. The biggest effects, though, are the loss of momentum, and the disorder of the lines as the horsemen emerge from the fray.

In this case, though, the Morcars were at a big disadvantage. Deondra had three heavy cavalry units to their two. Our third company didn't simply line up to wait their turn; they struck from the flank, against an already disordered enemy.

The infantry struggle was more even. While Deondra had an advantage in numbers there, too, it would take time for that superiority to tell. By the time it did, or even before that, the Shorrs would have arrived.

Heavy infantry units linked their shields, to present a solid wall. But there were always gaps, when a soldier stumbled, or was pushed back in the press. Spaces were created, so that spears and swords could slide between the shields. Only fools tried heavy overhanded blows; hacking at the top of an enemy's shield was a sure way to receive a thrust in the ribs in return.

The light infantry fought in formation as well. They too preferred to thrust with their spears, because there wasn't enough room to swing a sword. Lightly armoured as they were, a spearman had a significant reach advantage over a swordsman.

The Shorr field army - now a Hadyk force under Stephanie's command - aimed directly at the flank and rear of the Morcars. At the very last moment, officers at the rear recognized the danger. Even so, it must have been difficult to understand why their allies were attacking them.

Their archers fired only two volleys of arrows at us, before scattering as our light cavalry charged them. Only a few light infantry units (three, I think), were able to turn to face us - and even that only created confusion.

You see, a formation of troops can't simply about face. The front rank is usually made up of your biggest, strongest, and best fighters. The troops at the back are there for a reason. To ask them to reverse roles is to invite disaster. Now, the peon soldiers were more alike, more homogeneous than a human army would have been. But even the peons weren't identical.

There's another problem with reversing front; the soldier on your left is now on your right. Again, many of these units had only been created a couple of days ago. For them, it was at least disconcerting to be facing the wrong way. For veteran units, it was even worse. You get used to having Joe on your right, and Sally on your left. You know their tendencies, their strengths and weaknesses. Now they're on the wrong sides of you.

In the end, it didn't really matter. The Morcar army was trapped between two forces, and heavily outnumbered. Even elite troops couldn't overcome a situation like that.

Lady Rona's husband had suggested that the peon soldiers would fight to the death for the family that created them. At Jacaranda, that hadn't been the case. Once their officers fled or surrendered, the troops stopped fighting.

Something similar happened here. At first, the Morcars gave as good as they got against Deondra's army - except for the heavy cavalry engagement, where they got much the worst of it. When Stephanie crashed into their rear, I thought that it was effectively over. I was wrong.

It took time for the Morcar 'people' to see the writing on the wall. Once they did, though, they did what the Shorrs at Jacaranda had done: they fled. Somehow, one of them was accidentally killed. Another fell from his horse and knocked himself unconscious. Four of them escaped, though.

The half-Morcars needed a clear path if they were to retreat. They couldn't turn their backs in the middle of a fight. A few of them stayed with their units, and continued the fight - but most kept an eye open for a chance to escape, and took it at the first opportunity.

I'd played a lot of wargames, and read a fair bit of military history. I understood (more or less) how morale worked. There was a tipping point. At some point, the enemy's resolve would crack, and their thoughts would turn from the vanishing prospects of victory to the question of their individual survival. A few would turn to run. The contagion would spread, and a unit would break. A 'sauve qui peut' mentality would take over.

In ancient and medieval battles, as long as two armies faced each other, casualties would be limited. But when one force broke, and turned to run... that was when the real killing began. If flight wasn't an option, then surrender only made sense.

Except in the Decapolis. The peons wouldn't stop fighting unless their officers told them to.

There was also something at work that no one had told me: they didn't take prisoners. The enemy troops fought on, taking horrific casualties as they were attacked on three sides. Their cavalry were hunted down by the superior numbers of our horsemen, but the enemy infantry had been bludgeoned and hammered into a square-shaped formation.

At that point, both Deondra and Stephanie called back their units, having the troops withdraw some fifty to seventy-five yards.

Then our archers stepped forward. They began to loose arrows into the mass of enemy soldiers - who could not respond, as their own archers had been largely eliminated.

It was ugly, and it turned my stomach.

- "Can't we offer them a chance to surrender?" I asked Stephanie.

She shook her head. "No. That is not how we fight."

- "This isn't a fight - it's just... slaughter."

- "I will explain after the battle, Warlord."

- "It's not a battle, anymore. This is nothing but mass murder."

Stephanie sighed. "You deserve an explanation, Lord Daniel. I will attempt to provide one. This is not Jacaranda; we aren't about to capture the Morcar Touchstone in Goldenrod. These troops are bound to it. They won't change sides, and join us."

- "Does that mean we have to kill them all?"

- "Yes, it does. Where would we keep thousands of prisoners? Granted, we would not have to feed them, but who would guard them? They will not work for us. And they would constitute a serious danger as long as they lived. A single Morcar officer, or even a Half-Morcar, who managed to contact these prisoners could issue commands. Even unarmed, they could attack us."

- "You could... I don't know... keep them in a remote location."

- "Impractical. Again: who would guard them? And even if they were guarded, our troopers could not prevent a Morcar family member from getting through. These soldiers could rejoin our enemies, and we would have to fight them all over again."

I didn't particularly care for the sound of any of that, but in time, I came to see that she was right; that was the way things were done here. Peons weren't individuals. Their lives didn't matter, especially if they posed the slightest threat to 'real' people.

Our archers fired all of their arrows at our foes, concentrating on the light infantry, who had no shields to protect themselves with. When they had no arrows left, the archers trotted off to other parts of the battlefield, looking for arrows that could be re-used.

The last few half-Morcar officers must have realized that they were going to be gradually whittled down, even if the Hadyks had to send back to Hyacinth for more arrows. They came to a decision: they chose to sell their lives as dearly as possible.

It was the eeriest thing: one man yelled 'Charge!', and the remaining hundreds of foot soldiers lurched forward, trotting towards Deondra's army.

Yeah, I hate to disillusion you: an infantry charge isn't like a hundred yard dash. You don't sprint in armour, and most mothers tell their children not to run with scissors, much less with spears and swords.

Deondra's infantry met them head on, while her cavalry swept around the flanks. Stephanie gave the order, and her entire army moved forward, to take the enemy in the rear again.

I thought I'd seen carnage at Jacaranda. At the First Battle of Hyacinth, as it became known, we lost almost 200 cavalry and nearly 500 foot soldiers, most of them light infantry. The Morcar field army of 1,700 was eliminated. All of them, except for the officers who escaped, and the one Morcar and two half-Morcars who were captured.

Deondra and Stephanie marched their armies a mile or so away, back towards Hyacinth. The troops might not be tired, but their officers certainly were, after a day march, followed by a night march, followed by a battle.

Between them, they had four heavy cavalry units, five light cavalry, eight heavy infantry, three archers, and fourteen light infantry. In total, 3,400 troops.

The Hadyks had lost 500 at Jacaranda, and 700 here. But 200 Shorr infantry at Jacaranda and an entire field army here were now theirs. The Hadyks were actually ahead; they had 700 more soldiers than they'd had at the beginning of hostilities.

The Morcars had lost 1,700. The Shorrs had lost a field army, plus a garrison, for a total of 2,300. Our enemies had lost 4,000 troops, and a production centre.

It was a stunning success.

***

I still had so much to learn. I'd seen the storm of a city, and a battle. I'd left Jacaranda very quickly after we captured it, but now I got to not only see the aftermath of battle, but I would have to deal with it, too.

- "It's going to take an awful lot of work to bury all of these bodies." I said.

- "Bury?" said Stephanie. "Why would we do that?"

- "You can't just leave all of these corpses lying here. I mean..."

She gave me a blank look. "That is precisely what we do. The Gods will collect them within a day or two. The bodies simply... disappear."

- "It's true, Warlord." said Virdyan. "Within a few days, you wouldn't be able to find the site of the battle again. That's why we'll leave a temporary marker."

They now had me thoroughly confused.

- "We will erect a trophy." said Stephanie. "A permanent memorial to our victory, etched in stone. Your name will be included, Warlord."

- "Oh." Where had I heard of this kind of tradition before? Was it from a movie, or a history book?

Given that there was no need to clean up the battlefield, we decided to march for Hyacinth at once. We weren't going to reach it before dark, moving at the speed of our slowest units, but I desperately wanted to know what was going on elsewhere - like at Dahlia. So far, the enemy had done exactly as I'd anticipated; I wasn't sure how long that trend would continue.

The half-Hadyks and half-Morcars, it turned out, would be collected just as the peons were. That left four half-Shorr prisoners, an unconscious Morcar family member, and the corpse of another. They were put on spare horses, and brought along. Messengers were sent ahead, to bring news of our victory to Hyacinth.

Stephanie remained with the combined army. Deondra was a far better commander, but she was also more important when it came to the planning of our campaign. She and I rode back to Hyacinth with the prisoners, and with an escort of light cavalry.

Some people, apparently, can sleep in the saddle. I'm not one of them.

***

Lady Rona was pleased. She happily removed three of my little squares of paper from the map, and tore them in half. Then she sent for more paper, so that she could create new markers for our garrison in Jacaranda, and for Deondra's and Stephanie's combined Army of Hyacinth: 4 heavy and 5 light cavalry, 8 heavy and 14 light infantry, plus 3 archers.

The news from Dahlia was about as good as I'd hoped for. The Balabans and the Morcars had approached with their field armies (1,700 troops each), only to find that we'd left only infantry in the city. We had 2 heavies, 12 lights, and 4 archers.

All of their cavalry would be useless. Between them, the allies could muster 8 heavy infantry, 10 light infantry, and 6 archers. While they had an edge in quality, it was essentially 2,400 foot against our 1,800. If the defenders were doubled... any attempt to storm the city would take extremely heavy casualties. At Jacaranda, we'd had a three to one advantage, and still lost 500 troops against only 600 defenders.

I didn't know if our enemies would be tempted to try it, but part of me hoped that they would. They would lose heavily, and probably fail to succeed anyway.

Instead, the Balabans retreated the way they had come, towards Amaranth, probably to link up with their second army, on its way from Bryony. The Morcars withdrew in the direction of Caladium.

Interesting. Very interesting. Their army from Eglantine was probably arriving at Goldenrod, but that meant that both Morcar cities closest to us were defended by only a single field army. Our army at Hyacinth was twice as strong. Could we make a dash for Goldenrod, and possibly capture it? It would be a very bold stroke, but didn't Fortune favour the bold? And could we afford to be cautious, at this point?

They still had six production centres to our four.

- "How long before Turn One ends, and Turn Two starts?" I asked.

- "You can sit down, Warlord." said Lady Rona. She'd noticed me swaying just a bit. Honestly, if this was really a game, I'd have shut it down and gone to bed. My ass was dragging, by this point. But there was an opportunity here. I could sense it.

Goldenrod? I looked at the map again (for probably the hundredth time). For whatever reason, I looked at the very top corner of the map. Ivy. The Shorrs' last remaining city.

- "Deondra? If you were the commander of the Shorr field army, what would you be doing round about now?"

Bless her heart, she didn't take long to figure out what I was asking.

- "I would be shocked that Jacaranda had fallen." she said.

- "When do you think they found out about the battle?"

- "Ah." She pursed her lips, and concentrated. Then she snapped her fingers. "The Shorr officers who escaped when you took control of their field army. They would have ridden straight to their second army."

- "So, then... they only found out this afternoon? Well after the battle?"

She nodded. "I think so."

- "Alright. Now... this is crucial. What do you think that commander would do? Once they received the news of Jacaranda?"

- "I see what you mean. Where is the Shorr army? Is that what you're trying to ascertain?"

Lady Rona didn't interrupt us this time. She could sense that we were on the verge of something - something possibly game-changing.

- "Pretend that it's your army, Deondra. What would you do?"

- "Send messengers to Ivy. Lady Shorr will have learned of the capture of Jacaranda, but it might not occur to her that we might take control of its field army so swiftly. Or that we would use it that very same day. She needs to be told about the battle. I would ask for direction, as well."

- "Of course. And then?"

- "Send messengers to Goldenrod, asking what the Morcars intend to do."

- "Is there a possibility that you would turn your army around and immediately retreat? Towards Ivy?"

She thought about it for a few seconds, but then shook her head. "No. We couldn't leave Goldenrod exposed. We would need the Morcars' help to recover Jacaranda. They wouldn't be likely to grant it if we abandoned them at this stage."

- "Lady Rona? How would you react, if you were Lady Shorr?"

- "Deondra is right: the Morcars would never forgive us - the Shorrs, that is - if Goldenrod fell because we left them exposed. At the same time... I've lost half of my troops, and one of my two production centres. I would be... concerned. I would instruct my army commander to cooperate with the Morcars - but to be cautious. We cannot afford to lose our last field army."

- "Thank you."

- "Did that help, Warlord?"

- "Tremendously. It means that we can't risk attacking Goldenrod. Deondra and Stephanie have a powerful army, but if the Shorrs do support the Morcars there, it would basically be two field armies against two field armies. Even if we won, we would need enough infantry to storm the city. I don't think it's possible."

- "So we do nothing until Turn Two?" Lady Rona was disappointed.

- "No, Lady. We do something unexpected again. We make exactly the same move we did to start, but in a different location: we storm Ivy."

- "Ivy?" said Deondra.

- "How? You can't get Deondra's army past the Shorrs. And that would leave Hyacinth vulnerable."

- "No, no. I wouldn't use the combined army. Deondra will have to threaten Goldenrod - to keep the Shorrs' field army close to the Morcars. We'll go around them."

- "With what? We have no other army!"

- "Sure we do." I picked up on of the squares of paper which we'd amended. "The garrison at Jacaranda."

Lady Rona shook her head. "You can't be serious."

- "Malusha is there, with ten light infantry and two archer units - plus the two light infantry we captured, which are now ours. And we have Jashi's two light cavalry to act as a screen. We march straight north, hugging the Wall if we need to. The Shorr army will be miles away. They'll never even see us."

- "But... but..."

Deondra raised an objection. "But once you leave a garrison in Jacaranda, you'll have only 7 infantry and one archer. You can't capture Ivy with that."

- "You're thinking of a standard garrison, Lady Deondra. We don't have to leave that many. I was thinking of leaving just a single light infantry behind."

- "WHAT?" Lady Rona just about choked. "You can't leave only a hundred troops! The city would fall to the first force that came wandering by."

I tried to speak as calmly as I could. "There will be nobody wandering by. The Shorrs won't split their field army. You both said it yourselves: they can't afford to abandon the Morcars. They won't dare to try to recover Jacaranda by themselves; they don't have enough infantry in a single field army."

I spoke more soothingly now. "If you are truly concerned about leaving Jacaranda vulnerable, you could reinforce the garrison. But don't send troops from the combined army; the Shorrs could see them. Then they'd be asking themselves why we were stripping troops from our army and sending them that way. If I may make a recommendation?"

- "Alright." said Lady Rona, who was beginning to breathe more normally again.

- "I think that Jacaranda will be perfectly safe. But if you must send reinforcements, send them from here. Stephanie can send a similar number of units back from the field army. If they march straight south, neither the Shorrs nor the Morcars will see them. Stephanie can feint towards Goldenrod with a slightly inferior force. She won't be pressing that attack."

Lady Rona took another long look at the Map Table. She looked more closely at the western side of the map.

- "What makes you think that the Balabans and the Morcars won't attack Dahlia?"

I was ready for that question. "First of all, they won't know where everyone else is - not for some time. How do they know where Deondra and Stephanie's combined force is, until a messenger from Goldenrod arrives to tell them? We could very well be marching to relieve Dahlia. Also, they have to recover from the shock of losing Jacaranda and two entire field armies. They won't want to compound their misfortunes by losing Goldenrod or even Caladium."

- "You expect them to be that cautious?"

- "In future, perhaps not. That's why I would suggest, in your Turn Two builds, that you create a light cavalry unit, and split it up into ten or even twenty parties of scouts, to search for enemy forces. You will want to know where they're moving, hopefully before they reach their destinations. That way, you may have a chance to prevent them from doing unto us what we're doing unto them this turn."

"Right now? I think they're cursing and swearing, and looking around for who to blame. But they can count; they still have six production centres to our four. They can out-build us. And if they're careful, and avoid serious mistakes, they'll eventually find a way to outnumber us, and force a battle that we don't want. This is our best chance to strangle that strategy. To achieve near-parity in numbers. I think it's worth the risk."

Lady Rona wasn't sure. I wondered what Stephanie might have said, if she was here.

- "Deondra?" said the Matriarch.

- "It sounds like madness, Aunt Rona. But look what madness has achieved for us thus far."

Rona walked around the table, to the north-eastern corner of the map. She picked up my little square of paper representing the Shorr garrison in Ivy. She studied it. This went on until I was pretty sure that she couldn't even see it any more.

- "You think this could work?" she said, without even lifting her head to look at me.

- "It could. It has to, actually. It's a trick that they'll be better prepared for, in future. But I have one more argument."

- "I'll hear it."

- "If we pull back now, then the starting scenario remains the same, only at 6 to 4 instead of 7 to 3. It will take longer for the Hadyks to lose, but the end result is still predictable. And they'll be more careful, expecting me to try something unusual. Take Ivy, though? Then it's 5-5."

- "And we could gain another field army." said Deondra.

I wanted to thank her, or at least shoot a grateful look her way, but I kept my eyes on Rona. The Matriarch was studying me, now (or at least staring in my direction).

- "Get something to eat, Warlord." she said. "I want you back in Jacaranda within the hour. Leave only a single infantry unit as garrison."

- "Thank you, Matriarch."

- "Is there anything else you need?"

- "As many family members and half-Hadyks you can spare, if they can scale a wall, and fight. Wantrao is badly injured, but I'll need whatever help you can give me."

- "Deondra will need more officers, if you are successful, to take over the Shorr field army. Speaking of which... Deondra, be prepared to leave within the hour as well."

- "With all due respect, Lady..." I began. "Deondra and Stephanie need family members and half-Hadyks to command units. That could be anyone. I need fighters"

- "I understand." she said. "You will get as many as we can spare."

That amounted to one half-Hadyk named Inzhay. Rona had been keeping him in reserve because they weren't quite sure what he was capable of. He was relatively short, and his face was dominated by thick brown moustaches and a beard that you could have smuggled furniture in.

- "I will do my best, Warlord." he said.

- "You don't have to get killed trying to prove yourself." I told him.

He grinned. "Understood."

We went through the Portal together, and came through in Jacaranda.

***

"You're serious?"

- "I'm sorry, Malusha." I said. "I know that it's a lot to ask."

She was being asked - ordered, actually - to undertake another perilous flank march, at the end of which she would have to lead another assault on the walls of a city. It would be her second march and storm in three days.

- "No." she said. "You misunderstand me. This is fantastic. But... are you up to it? When was the last time you slept?"

- "I'll sleep afterwards." That was pure bravado on my part. I was seriously dragging. Deondra couldn't be feeling much better, but Rona had insisted that she ride back to the combined armies to take command of the feint. Did the Matriarch not trust her own daughter, Stephanie?

Malusha wanted to hear every detail about the battle. I promised to tell her, at the first opportunity. That just wasn't now.

We couldn't take Wantrao, of course. He looked like he might just survive, but he wasn't fit enough to crawl out of bed. Jashi, on the other hand, was quite enthusiastic, when I explained her role in the coming operations.

- "I don't think it's ever been done." she said. "I can't believe that we're trying it a second time. But I'm glad to be involved."

What had never been done, as far as she knew, was a flank march by a force composed entirely of light infantry and archers. If we encountered an enemy army with cavalry, or heavy infantry, we didn't stand a chance. But it had worked once, and we were about to try it again.

I didn't tell anyone, but I suspected that the fate of the Hadyks rested on this dubious venture.

We left Wantrao, wounded as he was, in charge of the garrison of 100 light infantry. Everybody else - me included - marched north, within sight of the Wall. I don't know what to say about it. It looked to be about two hundred metres high. While it seemed to be made of bricks, they were remarkably smooth and well-fitted, so there was no real thought that even the most skilled chimpanzee could climb it.

I was fading. Fast.

Jashi came to the rescue again. She had two cavalry troopers basically tie their horses to mine, so that I could sit semi-upright in the saddle, with a person on either side, whose only task was to keep me from falling off.

I dozed. I think. It was like that nightmarish connecting flight, when you're too tired to stay awake, but too uncomfortable to fall asleep. It didn't make me feel all that much better, but we must have covered quite a few miles while I hovered between sleep and pain.

Malusha herself serve me a cold tea infusion at some point. Was it caffeine? Or some more potent stimulant? Whatever it was, it was like smelling salts. My head snapped back, and I was instantly alert.

We were already within sight of the walls of Ivy. Lacking a Wantrao to attack the main gates, Malusha favored an approach where we assaulted the outer walls in two places, each attack supported by an archer unit.

I really wanted to contribute. Honestly? I wanted to climb the wall, and help gain us a foothold. I probably would have fallen off the ladder. I also lacked the requisite bloodthirstiness to try to kill peons.

It's odd. I could easily think of half a dozen humans from my home world that I would happily have murdered, but I bore these poor troopers no grudge at all.

Malusha had no such qualms. She went to the top of the wall in in no time. Our archers were much less effective than they'd been at Jacaranda, which surprised me.

Once again, though, Malusha gained a foothold, from which they just couldn't dislodge her. I didn't know if any of the Shorr family were confronting her in person; I imagined that their best fighters would be with their field army. Malusha slowly expanded her little bridgehead, and then Jashi went in with a new wave of attackers.

I couldn't see all that well, of course, but Jashi quickly pushed her way along the wall, so that more of our troops on the next ladder could reach the top. She seemed to have offensive skills that were almost a match for Malusha's - but without the same invulnerability. The peons could attack Jashi; she was as much at risk as Wantrao had been.

On the other side of the city, our attackers were not doing so well. The archers were no more effective there, and we had no Malusha to lead the way. I hesitated to call off their assault, though, for fear that the defenders they were presently tying down would move to reinforce against Malusha's troops.

That hesitation on my part nearly cost us. I ended up ordering a retreat, and sent the archers over to support Malusha. I don't know for sure if that made a difference, but I like to think that it did. By that point, Malusha and Jashi had led their infantry down off the wall, into the city. If they could capture the castle, and take control of the Touchstone, it would be all over.

With archers on the wall, looking down into the city, we could seriously hamper the defenders' efforts to organize and counter-attack.

We captured Ivy. By the time we did, we had 300 troops remaining from our starting numbers of 1200. There were just barely one hundred defenders left - and they immediately became our troops. That was also what would happen to the Shorr field army. Deondra and Stephanie (if she was still awake) would be able to send officers to take control of another 1,700.

The Shorrs were done. They'd lost both of their production centres, and all of their troops. They'd fallen victim to the same trick twice in a row. It was a stratagem that probably wouldn't work a third time.

Malusha was exultant. She'd led two successful storms in person, distinguished herself in both affrays, and emerged without a scratch. Jashi, fortunately, was also largely unhurt.

They'd captured sixteen members of the Shorr family.

Most were children, or senior citizens. As I'd suspected, virtually all of their best fighters and commanders had been with the first field army, or at Jacaranda.

Lady Shorr was a statuesque black woman, with fine features and purple hair that was turning grey. It was a fascinating combination. She looked like a hard woman to me, somewhere around fifty years old, but her reaction to meeting me came as something of a surprise.

- "You are the Warlord." she said.

- "I suppose I am."

- "We were informed of this - by the Gods. And then we were offered a choice of our own. I thought that I could defer that choice. That it would give me an advantage. Ha! Maybe I should have asked for a strategist, too."

- "I, ah... I'm sorry for your loss."

- "The fortunes of war." she said, philosophically. Of course she thought that I was referring to her two cities. None of her family members had been killed or seriously injured in the storm, and she was completely indifferent to the peon casualties. "I shall have the opportunity to discuss these matters with my cousin."

- "Your cousin?"

- "Rona Hadyk. You did not know? Her uncle was my father. We are related several times over, in fact. All of the families are linked in this way."

It was a game to them, too. They went to war, slaughtered each other's peons, and then intermarried again.

- "What's going to happen to them?" I asked Malusha.

- "The Shorrs? A few of the males will be asked to marry Hadyk girls. Lady Shorr will be given the choice of resigning her House."

- "Which means?"

- "As long as House Shorr exists, we will have to guard them very closely. They can take over a Touchstone again, if we let them have access. None of the other families will take them in, either. But If Lady Shorr resigns, she can bargain with whoever she thinks will win the war. The Shorrs can become soldiers of fortune, and fight on our side, hoping that if we capture more cities, we will grant them one as a reward."

- "Lady Rona would do that?"

Malusha laughed. "I doubt it. But if the Shorrs were to join us, and fought well, more of them might be invited to join us - to marry into the family and become Hadyks."

- "I see." Well, they'd been defeated, but it was hardly a fate worse than death.

- "You need to get ready, Daniel." she said. "Lady Rona will want your report as soon as possible."

- "I need sleep more than anything else."

She laughed again. "I can just imagine Aunt Rona waiting patiently for her Warlord to finish his nap."

Okay, she had a point. I wasn't talking about a nap, of course; I needed to pass out, preferably in a bed, and stay there for twelve hours, at least. But the idea of the Hadyk Matriarch waiting while I did... yeah. Unlikely.

I cleaned up as best I could, and stepped through the Portal in Ivy.

***

I should have know that she'd be there, but it was still wonderful that the very first person I saw was Peony.

- "You're safe, Lord."

- "I am. And very glad to see you, Peony."

- "Lady Rona is waiting for you, Lord."

I even recognized the two guards waiting with her.

- "Hey Nosey. Hey Pudge. How are you?"

They didn't know how to respond. I had a bad feeling, for a moment.

- "Peony? They know that I'm not teasing them, right? I'm just..."

- "Being friendly. I know, Lord. I will explain it to them again."

Lady Rona was waiting in the Map Room, alone except for four guards. The moment she saw me, she knew.

- "You did it."

- "We did."

- "You actually did it. Tell me - tell me everything."

- "It was costly. Only three of your units survived, and one of theirs. But Malusha was unstoppable, and Jashi performed great feats. We captured Lady Shorr and fifteen members of her family."

Lady Rona actually clapped her hands, and then rubbed them together. "Haha! There is a conversation I will happily look forward to."

She picked up the squares of paper on the map that were closest to Ivy, tore one up, and amended the other. She didn't seem too concerned about our heavy losses. Was it because they were just peons, or was the loss of light infantry less serious, because they were so much cheaper to build?

"We have much to talk about, Daniel. Plans to make. Builds to consider. But I know that you must be exhausted. Stephanie wrote to tell me of your efforts, and your exertions on our behalf. Before I let you go to rest - your well-earned rest, I might add - I want you to know how grateful I am, for what you've done. How grateful we all are. Asking for you was the wisest thing I could have done."

- "Thank you, Lady Rona. I only did the planning. Others have done the hard work."

She looked me in the eye. "There is no need to be so humble, Warlord. Humility is not the first quality I look for in a son-in-law."

Okay. That was fairly direct. It didn't escape my notice, though, that we were the only two 'people' in the Map Room.

Just then, there was a very loud noise. We both heard it. It was like an oriental gong struck with a sledgehammer.

- "Is that...?"

- "The end of Turn One." she said.

*****