The Warlord Chapter 10

WARLORD Chapter 10

Turn Six ended that afternoon.

I'd sent back to Goldenrod for stretchers, wagons and harnesses, so that we could transport the more seriously wounded. Normally, on Earth, putting wounded in wagons would have been nothing short of cruel. The sudden shocks as wooden wheels bumped, rattled and shook would have been just like torture. But in the Decapolis, over grass as flat as a pool table, it shouldn't be so bad.

The auxiliaries acted as stretcher bearers, orderlies and teamsters. The more lightly wounded were put on horseback, or escorted by their comrades.

I waited for Armene, Faldor and Sudha to return. Faldor was first; I promoted him to Colonel on the spot. Armene came back angry.

- "The Turn ended too soon!" she complained.

Sudha was among the last to return. She was filthy, covered in sweat and blood, and she looked utterly exhausted. I didn't have the words; I helped her down from her horse, and simply hugged her.

- "You did it." I said. "The victory is yours."

- "But we lost so many."

- "You got over three thousand of them out, Sudha. Without you, very few would have made it."

She was sore all over, but resisted my suggestion that she go back to Goldenrod in a wagon.

- "I'll ride with my troopers." she said.

Back at the city, they all knew the price we'd paid. Everyone pitched in, though, to help the wounded - even those who had been wounded in the Shorrs' assault on Goldenrod. Peony wasn't afraid to get her hands dirty. She only stopped long enough to make sure that I wasn't one of the injured.

- "I'm fine." I said. "Tired, but fine."

- "You'd better be." she said. "You have a busy day ahead of you tomorrow."

- "Oh?"

- "We're getting married. I don't want to wait any longer. And the only reason we're not getting married tonight is because you're too tired to stand up straight."

She was right about that. I was trying to surreptitiously lean against a wall.

"Bed. Now." she ordered.

***

I woke up in my apartment. My shitty little alarm was complaining shrilly. I kept it far enough away that I couldn't turn it off without getting out of bed.

I was disappointed, really; I wished that I could have woken up next to Peony. But as I showered and shaved, I realized that I needed the time to plan, and to do some research. Were there any historical military campaigns that resembled the situation we were in now?

I got my coffee, and turned on my PC. I created a text document, and typed in our advantages and disadvantages. We had roughly the same number of troops as the Hadyks and Balabans combined. We had the auxiliaries, as well. We could use the Portals. We didn't have to defend our cities, though we didn't want the enemy to be able to build new troops in them. Meanwhile, if we could capture their production centres, we could turn their peons into people. And I had trusted commanders, whose abilities (and limitations) I knew reasonably well.

But they had more officers, being able to draw from two families. I decided then and there to keep the Morcars imprisoned, for now. If I let them go, they would simply swell the ranks of our enemies. Wantrao and Travot were wounded, and probably unavailable for the next Turn. Jashi and Vanea might be alright.

The biggest problem for us, though, was strategic. Our enemies didn't have to do anything to win, except continue to build every Turn. And it was probable that they would do exactly that - and no more. They knew very well, from past experience, that they simply could not allow us to take their cities. If they kept a garrison of 10,000 troops in each one, and built only infantry, then the cost of taking them would be prohibitive.

I started searching for historic parallels. Was there a case of war against an opponent who would only get stronger over time? The American Civil War? No, the South didn't really have a chance to win that one from the very beginning, unless the North lost the will to fight. The economic, industrial and population disparity was too great.

Uh oh. The Second Punic War sounded disturbingly familiar. Hannibal won the victories, including the spectacular Battle of Cannae, but he didn't dare attack the city of Rome. The Roman reservoir of manpower seemed endless, and Fabius Maximus Cunctator (the Delayer) was avoiding battle, yet preventing Italian cities from changing sides and joining the Carthaginians. That was a bad example for us.

I did finally check my email. My work was piling up. One file was fairly urgent, so I buckled down and finished it. The rest? It could wait. My mind was on the war - and on Peony.

Was the Decapolis real? I wasn't sure that it mattered anymore. Peony was real. Despite the stresses of the war, I was easily happier than I'd ever been - and the largest part of that was due to her. But those thoughts overlapped with my strategic planning. If I somehow won the war, or at least ended it, would I continue to wake up in a castle chamber? Or would my adventure there be over? The prospect of life without Peony seemed terribly bleak.

I went back to work. Who knew what Turn Seven would bring? Maybe the next time I woke up in my apartment, the military situation might be even more pressing. I couldn't afford to ignore my 'real life' entirely, or to fall too far behind. Better to get ahead while I could. Besides, if I tired myself out, and then went to bed, I would wake up in Goldenrod all the sooner.

It didn't work, of course. I did a half-assed job on a few files, ate a marginally healthy meal, and looked up some more possible historical precedents. The Byzantine Empire was interesting; they'd never had enough manpower, and after Manzikert (1071), it was even worse. Yet they survived another three hundred plus years, largely by continuing to operate the Bureau of Barbarians, whose information-gathering activities allowed the Byzantines to keep their enemies divided, and at war with each other. Was there a way that I could split the Balabans and the Hadyks?

I read up on medieval siege craft. Mining was a possibility. Maybe. If we were going to build siege engines, I would need carpenters, wrights, rope makers, and engineers... I might as well wish for helicopters. Many sieges seemed to have ended through negotiations. Maybe Peony was right.

At a certain point, I mistakenly thought that I was tired enough to go to bed. I lay in the dark, thinking about Virdyan, and then Malusha. That got me too emotional to sleep. I got up. made myself a coffee (which never interfered with my ability to sleep), and watched a video on Hannibal.

***

I woke up in Goldenrod, with Peony spooned against me.

- "Mmm..." was her reaction.

I kissed her ear, and nestled closer.

"Symenon Shorr came in last night." she said. "With most of his remaining kin."

- "Just like that?" I said. "Straight to business?"

- "You have to deal with this before the wedding."

- "The highlight of the day. The year. Actually, it'll be the highlight of my entire life."

Peony turned around, so that she could kiss me. "You say the most wonderful things. But you still have to get up."

Symenon Shorr was dark-haired, dark-eyed, and dark-skinned. He was remarkably handsome, quite slender, and short. He had three family members and four Half-Shorrs with him. I let him introduce them.

- "You're the Shorr strategist. I'm told that you're very good."

- "Not good enough, obviously." he said, with a gracious smile. I liked him from the first. It would have been so easy for him, and for his companions, to give in to despair after the disasters that had struck them in the course of the past few days. I know people who shut down completely when faced with a little adversity. Symenon looked like someone who was still looking for a way to turn things around.

- "Tell me what happened. Please." I asked him.

- "Well, we weren't expecting the stones. Or the little spike things."

- "Caltrops."

- "Ah. I should have known that they had a name. But it was the stones that did us in. That and the sheer number of troops you had on the walls. How did you keep so many here, and yet have enough to take Eglantine? There were six thousand troops in that garrison."

- "That's... a bit of a secret. I'm sorry."

- "You stripped your other garrisons." he guessed. "Even so, you shouldn't have had enough to do both. So if the Balabans and the Hadyk had marched against you, instead of us, they could have taken Flax and Hyacinth. And possibly Jacaranda."

- "I imagine."

- "Ah, well... We betrayed the Morcars. I suppose it's only fitting that we were betrayed in turn. I would recommend that you don't trust either of them."

- "That's not likely. What happened after your second assault on the walls here?"

- "Ah. Well, the troops from Eglantine turned, and then there were the three announcements. The Gods have a dreadful sense of timing, don't they? I knew that Bryony and Caladium were in danger. We regrouped and retreated."

- "Too late?"

- "Far too late. Half of the army turned red in the middle of the night. But rather than seek to extricate themselves, they turned on us. It was all very confusing. Still, we had to try to get to Lady Shorr. I think we lost nine or ten thousand troops before we got within sight of Caladium. And it was too late again."

- "The city fell too quickly?"

Symenon looked me in the eye. "We didn't have enough officers. Sixty thousand troops, and three garrisons? I made a mistake, and took too many of the family fighters with me. We thought that we would need them to attack the walls of Goldenrod. What we really needed was defenders in Eglantine, Bryony and Caladium." He shook his head slowly. "Twenty thousand troops, split between the three cities, but not enough Shorrs and Half-Shorrs to lead the fight."

I felt a little sorry for him. Not that much, but... you know. Professional sympathy.

"And then we lost five of our kin, and six of our Half-kin, attacking your city. May I ask, Lord Graham... how is that possible?"             

- "Possible?"

- "One person may be killed in an accident. Two is certainly possible, if unlikely. But five? How could your peons kill family members? Is this something you ordered? Or is this somehow connected to your boon from the Gods?"

I was tempted to tell him the truth. But I didn't know what to do with these Shorr refugees yet (or my Morcar prisoners, for that matter). And the fact that we no longer had peons was highly significant. If it could stay a secret just a little longer...

Even if it couldn't, there was nothing to gain by telling him. That may sound cold, or even Machiavellian, but remember what the Shorrs had done to the Morcars. And what the Morcars had attempted to do to us. Or what the Hadyks had planned to do to me. No, honesty and openness were for my family - and for them alone.

I met with Virdyan, and we agreed to postpone his adoption ceremony. That meant, unfortunately, that I had to saddle him with four guards. I didn't really believe that he would try to seize our Touchstone for the Hadyks, but it would have been negligent to give him free run of the castle until he was a Graham.

Boloda approved. "You're learning." she said. "It's never too late."

The Balabans requested a short meeting. They emphasized the 'short'.

- "Should I?" I asked Luth.

- "Why not?"

- "It costs you nothing to listen." said Boloda. "Just be careful not to say too much."

Three people came through the Portal. Two were heavy infantry soldiers. Bodyguards, no doubt, prepared to block us and allow the lady to escape if we tried anything underhanded. Clearly, there wasn't all that much trust.

Lady Balaban was tall, and much younger than I was expecting. She had long red hair the colour of Cabernet Franc, and magnificently arched eyebrows. She appeared to be in her early thirties. My concentration took a bit of a hit, because I hadn't been expecting someone so young, or so attractive.

Her eyes were grey, her nose and lips were perfect, and the front of her ruby-coloured gown showed a bit of cleavage. There was no doubt in my mind that this was a formidable woman. She didn't look old enough to have a daughter of marriageable age. Maybe the arrangement with Moran Hadyk was meant to be a very long engagement.

- "Welcome to Goldenrod, Lady Balaban." I said.

- "Thank you, Lord Graham. My name is Petra."

- "I'm Daniel. I'm afraid I don't know much about your family."

- "Nor I yours. I was unaware that you were so tall."

- "Likewise."

There was a moment of silence between us, because I didn't know what else to say. Lady Petra seemed to have no trouble simply standing there and examining me, as if she was a teacher and I was some sort of class presentation.

- "I wished to know if you will accept an exchange of prisoners. We will hand over Lady Shorr and four of her family members, in return for you releasing the Morcars to us, so that they may rejoin Lady Morcar and the rest of the family."

Melanie Morcar and her kin were our prisoners, after trying to kill me and take our Touchstone. Letting them go would simply provide the Balabans with more officers. Mindful of what Symenon Shorr had told me, I decided to decline.

- "I would have to consult my family." I said. "But my answer for now is no. I took them under my protection when the Shorrs turned on them, but they attempted to kill me and take a Touchstone. I will release them so that the family can be re-united... but only when we have peace."

Lady Petra took an extra few moments to consider what I'd said.

- "I understand. But if you will allow it, we would like to hand over Lady Shorr without an exchange, so that the family are together. You are still fairly new to the Decapolis; your advisors can tell you that we do not have a tradition of keeping prisoners."

- "I know that."

- "I would ask one more thing, Lord Graham. Would you be willing to meet again tomorrow? I believe that I will have more to say to you."

I wanted to look at Luth and Boloda, to see what they thought. Then I realized that I could simply cancel the meeting if they were dead-set against it. It might also look weak if I turned to them for advice at this point.

- "Very well."

- "Until tomorrow, then. It was very interesting to meet you, Lord Graham."

- "Likewise, Lady Petra."

When they went back through the Portal, I let out the breath I hadn't realized I was holding.

- "How was that?" I asked.

- "Fairly good." said Luth. "They only want the Morcars to add more officers to their army. But did you mean to accept Lady Shorr as a guest?"

Oops. I hadn't nixed that offer.

- "Why do you think they're giving her to us for nothing?" I said.

- "So that she can cause trouble." said Boloda.

***

Chalky came in that afternoon. I promoted him again, and gave him another unit of light cavalry to train as hybrid scouts. Our enemies were getting better at screening their movements; we might have to begin using our cavalry to pierce their screens, or to disguise our intentions.

I gave Faldor another assignment: digging. We had plenty of picks and shovels, from when we'd dug moats around our cities. Now it was a question of finding out if our auxiliaries and our troops could master the art of tunnelling.

Then it was time to meet Lady Shorr. I'd allowed the Shorrs a brief family reunion, but we had to consider their future. They were landless again. The first time, she had had turned down Lady Rona's offer of marriage alliances. But after her betrayal of the Morcars, and the results of Turn Six, she didn't have many options left; we Grahams were the only game in town for the Shorrs.

- "We meet again." said Lady Shorr. She was a striking woman, with dark skin and purple-streaked white hair.

- "I am sorry for your losses." I said.

- "Thank you. Do you know? You're the first person to say that to me. I know that I don't deserve sympathy, after what I did to the Morcars, but I didn't kill half of their family."

- "No."

- "So. Is this the 'What do we do with the Shorrs?' conversation?"

I had to laugh. "Pretty much, yes."

- "Use our talents. We can help you. Symenon is a skilled strategist. We can fight for you: lead troops, run cities..."

- "No."

- "Surely you need officers."

- "I wouldn't say no to that. But Lady Shorr, you must know that we can't trust you." I told her about Melanie Morcar's attempted coup. "There is no way that I would ever put the Shorrs in a position to try the same thing."

- "I wouldn't." she said. "I've learned my lesson there. But if we served with your army loyally and effectively, you could repay us by granting us the next city you capture."

- "No. That's not happening. I'll feed you and your family. But you have a choice. It can be like the Morcars; you can be prisoners. Or you can be adopted. Become Grahams."

- "What is this 'adopted'? How could we become Grahams?"

- "I officially make you members of our family. In effect, I take you as my children."

Lady Shorr only stared at me. I couldn't read her expression.

- "You would have us give up our name? It's all we have left."

- "And it will remain all you have left. Do you think that the Balabans or the Hadyks will give you another city?"

- "They might. If they defeat you, and take all ten cities, they would definitely give the Morcars and the Shorrs at least one production centre each. Just to have two more families to intermarry with."

- "If that's how you see it." I said. I stood up, indicating that our meeting was over. She was deluded if she thought the Morcars would ever forgive her. Besides, the four families were hopelessly intermingled as it was. Intermarriage was a mere formality; they were already one big family.

- "Wait!" Lady Shorr held out a hand to stop me. "I... I need time. To consider."

- "To talk to your family?"

- "Yes. That, too."

- "Very well."

Truth be told, I wasn't worried about Shorr treachery. Or another attempted coup by the Morcars. If by some horrible oversight on our part, they did succeed in taking control of a Touchstone, the only thing that would change would be the colour tone of the Portal room. A curtain, the flecks in the flames around the Portal itself, a tapestry...

They couldn't take over any of our troops. But it might be interesting to see how they behaved if they thought they could.

***

Peony had new clothes. She had on a white gown with green trim. It was high-necked, and topped with a little ruff of lace. Over that she wore a green cloak, edged with silver thread. She had a silver fillet as well, to hold her hair in place.

- "You've never looked more beautiful." I told her.

Her face was pale, but her cheeks were rosy as she blushed almost continuously.

"Are you nervous?"

- "I've never been the centre of attention for so long, like this."

The whole family was gathered in the castle courtyard. Wantrao, Travot and Stina sat on chairs, so they didn't have to stand. Two hundred and ninety-eight unit commanders ringed the yard, along with seventy representatives of the auxiliaries.

Boloda and Kisel led Peony out of the castle, while Nosey and Pudge followed close behind, holding up her cloak. The family members let out a sigh as they caught sight of her. She came to stand beside me, and took my hand.

- "Did you hear that?" I asked. "You took their breath away."

She flushed again. "The only one I want to impress is you."

- "You've done that from the start."

Peony went off script then, pulling on the front of my robe, bringing my head down so that she could kiss me. I pulled her close, and actually lifted her off the ground a little, so that I didn't have to bend over so far.

Our audience gave us an enthusiastic round of sustained applause. Everybody seemed to be grinning.

We kept our ceremony blissfully short.

- "I promise to love you, and only you, for as long as I live." I said. "I will honour, cherish and respect you."

- "You are the only one for me." she said. "I will have no other Lord as long as I live."

I put a ring on her finger, and she did the same for me. Then I lifted her up again, and kissed her. She held on tight.

After that, we moved out of the centre of the courtyard. One hundred and sixty more people marched in. They were mostly troopers, but there were almost two dozen auxiliaries as well. And two bodyguards: Nosey and Pudge wanted to marry, too.

In the sight of the family and their unit commanders, the eighty couples spoke their own vows, and then exchanged the rings I had provided them with. These little ceremonies would be repeated a little later on, in front of their respective units.

I had been afraid that this part of the proceedings might look slightly silly, or cultish, but the couples were so obviously pleased and proud to marry in front of the family, at the same time as Peony and me, that it seemed quite sweet.

The newlyweds kissed, as their unit commanders cheered. Peony, meanwhile, was kissed by just about every member of the family. She went over to Wantrao, Travot and Stina. Meanwhile, our female kin, including blind Rima, all wanted to kiss me. All except Peachy, of course; she happily punched me on the arm.

- "Way to go, Noobley." she said.

We had a feast, of course. Quite a few toasts were drunk. Inzhay had to go to the Touchstone to create some more wine and ale.

Peony and I drank sparingly, and left the party early. Thankfully, our kin only wished us well, and refrained from ribald comments or lewd suggestions.

There's no need to describe what passed between my wife and me. She cried a little, but assured me that they were tears of joy. I can happily say that the disparity in our heights and size did not prove to be the impediments I had feared.

We skipped breakfast.

And lunch.

***

In the early afternoon, I had to meet with Petra Balaban again. Peony and Luth accompanied me, along with my bodyguards. Despite our numbers, we were not so threatening or intimidating, because only four of us were armed.

Peony drew a sharp breath when she first saw Petra; I had described the Balaban ruler to her, but apparently my description had not done the Lady justice.

- "Hello, Lord Graham."

- "Welcome back, Lady Petra."

Once again, she was in no hurry to begin. I think that she enjoyed giving us all the once over, and then studying me with casual interest. I might not have been as relaxed, but remaining silent is not so difficult. You just don't talk.

- "I have a pair of proposals." she began.

I nodded. "Go ahead."

- "The first... is that we end this war. It has spawned levels of treachery never seen before. I regret accepting the Morcar invitation to ally against the Hadyks. But we are where we are, and have to make the best of it."

- "The best of it?"

- "Yes. Step one: you help us take Caladium."

- "I beg your pardon?"

- "We make peace, and the Balabans declare war on the Hadyks. You help us storm Caladium."

- "I'm sorry, but... why would we do that?"

- "That's Step three. Step two: you give us control of Eglantine and Dahlia."

- "Seriously?"

- "Yes. We exchange prisoners. You hand the Morcars over to us, and we give you the Hadyks."

- "Why would I want the Hadyks?"

- "After what they tried to do to you? Oh, yes: they've admitted it."

- "So you would turn on your allies, and hand them over to me?"

- "Yes." she said. "You turned on the Hadyks. The Shorrs turned on the Morcars. One more Turn and we can undo the damage. Establish a balance that will last forever."

Yes, I saw what she did there, with her play on the word 'Turn'. Clever. Too clever. "What's to stop either side from starting the war all over again in a few years?"

- "Step Three." she said.

- "Which is?"

- "You and I marry. Our children inherit both houses."

Peony didn't gasp, but I could hear her holding her breath.

- "I thought that your daughter was engaged to marry Moran Hadyk." I said.

Petra Balaban didn't bat an eyelash.

- "You've met the boy." she said. "Can you even picture him as part of my family?"

Honestly, I didn't like to picture the moron at all. But she did have a point.

- "I would have to discuss this with my family, since this affects them."

- "If you must. Tomorrow?"

- "Yes."

The moment Petra Balaban went back through the Portal with her guards, I turned to my wife.

- "I'm sorry, Peony. I didn't want her to know that we're married."

- "I understand." she said. "This way you can string out the negotiations."

- "No. That's not it. If I had told her that I was already married, she would have asked who it was. The moment I mentioned your name, she would begin to wonder why I'd married a peon. I didn't want her to guess that our former peons are all people now. That might still be an advantage for us."

- "Oh. I see." She smiled. She liked that answer much better than what she'd been thinking.

- "Family meeting!" I said.

Within the hour, we were gathered in the dining room. Travot and Stina needed help to get there, but Wantrao arrived under his own power, leaning heavily on a walking stick. Sudha was looking much better.

Obviously, the meetings with Petra Balaban were at the forefront of my mind. But a decision on that subject would affect our overall strategy for the next turn. Therefore I opened the meeting with a call for other business.

Faldor reported on the mining experiment. First, he explained how it was supposed to work: tunnel under the wall of a city, collapse the tunnel, and bring down the wall. He'd had hundreds of troops and auxiliaries working on it at Jacaranda.

- "Unfortunately, it's not possible." he said. "Beneath the soil, at a uniform depth of twenty feet, we struck solid rock. Smooth stone. We broke six picks without so much as scratching it. So we dug shallower tunnels, and worked our way to the city wall. There we found that the walls were set deep. There was literally no space to dig under them. I'm sorry, Daniel."

- "I'm not." I said. "It was just an idea. And collapsing a wall only creates a breach. Storming a breach could be just as costly as scaling a wall. Now we know."

Kien spoke next. "Rima and I were visiting the Shorr prisoners, hoping to influence them to work with us. Two of the Half-Shorrs would like to join our family. We explained the adoption process."

- "Would you vouch for them?" asked Wantrao.

- "I would." said Rima. "Their names are Zenon and Tya. Everyone here knows how they have been treated. The Shorrs are not so different from the Hadyks, or the Morcars. Also... they want to marry."

Peony smiled, and reached over to squeeze my hand. There was going to be an epidemic of weddings in the next few days. Unit commanders had reported to us that people were marrying left, right and centre. But there were many who wanted to speak their vows in front of the family, and especially Peony and me. They wanted a repeat of the mass wedding in the castle courtyard. There were already two hundred more couples asking for our participation.

- "Bring them in at the end of the meeting, so we can all get a look at them." said Armene. She glanced at Wantrao. Rumour had it that she'd been to see him more than once since he'd been wounded.

- "That's what we'll do." I said. "Virdyan? You asked to speak."

Little Virdyan stood up. He was bigger than Faldor, but not by much. He held his ruined hand by his side, or just slightly behind his back; that posture made him look uncertain, or overly deferential - certainly more youthful than he actually was.

- "Thank you, Lord Daniel." he began.

- "Just Daniel."

- "Sorry. Ah - I wanted to explain to everyone why I've delayed my adoption. It's not because I don't want to join you. I do. With all my heart. I've had many Turns to regret not following Daniel from the very beginning." He glanced at me. "But there may be an advantage to my still being - officially, at least - a Half-Hadyk."

- "What kind of advantage?"

- "This: what if I rode up to the gates of Caladium, and had myself admitted? At night, when there are very few officers on duty. They have so few Half-Hadyks left, and the family members don't stay up late - except to carouse - there's a good chance that I would be the only officer at the gate."

I had a feeling that I knew what he was going to suggest.

"I could take command of the gate." said Virdyan. His eyes were shining with enthusiasm. "I could order the peons to leave the gate open. Then our army - the Graham army - could simply enter."

- "That sounds very risky..." said Luth. "Not to mention uncertain."

- "It's too dangerous." said Inzhay.

Inzhay was among the most cautious officers we had. In this case, though, I thought he was right. The odds of success were slight, and there were far too many things that could go wrong.

- "They must know you're no longer with them." said Boloda. "They didn't find your body after the retreat from Caladium. So you're either a prisoner, or you came over to us."

- "The Hadyks know, yes." said Virdyan. "But the peons don't."

- "Unless they've been specifically told that you're dead." said Wantrao. "Or that they're not to open the gate at night under any circumstances. It's true that they won't show much initiative, but they won't deviate from orders, either."

Armene backed him. "There are too many things that could go wrong. A scout who see our approach. A single Half-Hadyk on duty at or near the gate. Hesitant peons, who are afraid to let you in because you've been reported missing. If Rona Hadyk is just a little more paranoid than usual, she might have taken measures."

- "Or you could be leading us into a trap." said Peachy, pushing her glasses higher on her nose. "I'm just sayin'."

- "He would never..." began Inzhay.

- "No." I said. "Peachy, Virdyan risked his life to bring out as many of the new people as possible. Without him, very few would have escaped, even with Sudha's best efforts."

- "That's true." said Sudha.

- "Still..." said Faldor. "It doesn't sound like a plan that will succeed. I have to agree with Armene."

- "That's my feeling, too." I admitted. "Virdyan, you don't have to run unacceptable risks to prove yourself to us again. Unless there's a majority of you who like the plan?"

Kisel merely shook his head. Boloda did the same.

- "What about the Balaban plan?" she said.

- "Right. Let's turn to the Balaban offer, and our strategy for the next turn. Luth?"

I didn't want to do all the talking, and Luth's memory was probably even better than mine. I let her relate what Petra Balaban had said on both of our encounters.

- "Good for you." said Wantrao, when she told them that I had turned down the request for a prisoner exchange.

- "Oh?" I raised an eyebrow.

- "They have too many troops, and too few officers. Obviously, the Balabans don't trust the Shorrs, but they would love to have the Morcars. Take the Hadyks as a case. They lost most of us here, so they have only a handful of Half-Hadyks left, as Virdyan pointed out. Now Enver and old Detsen are dead. Malusha, too. Who do they have left? Rona herself, Stephanie and Moran, Murari, Deondra, and her father and husband. That's it."

I found it hard to believe, but he was entirely right. Rona's sisters were useless, and the remaining family members were children. Deondra and Stephanie were their only remaining strategists; Moran, Deondra's father Aymort and her husband Parush were the closest they had to battlefield champions.

"The Hadyks were the most numerous family by far. If they are down to less than ten effective officers, how do the other families fare? We know the Shorrs have been cut in half, and the Morcars as well. How many Balabans are left?"

- "This is... ghoulish." said Sudha.

I shook my head. "No, Sudha. Wantrao is thinking clearly. If the Balabans are reduced in number, too, it may mean that they fear to fight us. Look around."

Including Peony and me, there were twenty-one of us. Granted, Rima, Kien and Kisel weren't battlefield commanders. But Chalky was back out in the field, and he was an officer. We were also going to discover more potential leaders, now that we were all people. I had thought that we didn't have enough officers; how much worse was the situation for our enemies?

Luth laid out Petra Balaban's plan for everyone: last-minute declarations of peace between our families, and then the Balabans declaring war on the Hadyks. A joint assault on Caladium, with the captured city going to our new allies.

When she reached the second stage of the plan - a marriage between Petra and me - just about everyone turned to look at Peony, to see how she was taking it. My new wife - and what a strange but thrilling thought that was - didn't flinch, though she did flush a little more deeply. I covered her hand with my own.

The final part of the agreement would see us hand over two more cities to the Balabans. Then we would have peace. Maybe.

- "Please tell us your thoughts." I asked. "Speak freely. Let's cover all of the aspects and possibilities."

- "You can't be serious." said Jashi. "You and Peony just married. I mean... you love each other."

- "I'm not marrying Petra Balaban. We could... re-negotiate that part, once Caladium falls."

There was a hesitation all around the table.

Then Peony spoke.

- "This is about more than Turn Seven." she said. "The goal is peace. It might take time, but that is our goal, isn't it? Daniel and I have discussed it. It's only fair that you be included. We identified a few problems. Perhaps even more will occur to you."

Peony went on to lay out the situation in sparing but precise terms. Could we assault three cities defended by garrisons of ten thousand? Or could we lure them out and defeat them in battle? How many casualties were we willing to take?

We'd all seen the suffering of the wounded and the maimed. This was something new, even for the oldest among us; in the past, peons simply died. If we could have a peace based on the status quo, would we accept it? Even if we gave up a few cities to achieve it, peace would mean the reduction of our enemies' armies - and also the extinction of thousands of peons. Peons who could have been people, if we freed them.

Leaving the Balabans and the Hadyks in possession of production centres would also mean that they continued to have a few thousand peon troops and servants to exploit and abuse.

- "It comes down to this." said Peony. "What kind of peace do we want? And what are we prepared to do to achieve it?"

There was silence, for a few moments, as everyone considered the question. Then the silence grew longer, as no one wanted to speak first. Finally, though, Rima voiced her thoughts.

- "It would have to be a peace that we could be proud of. So many have sacrificed for it already. What will we tell the future children if we settle for less than we could have achieved?"

Boloda made a rumbling noise, deep in her throat. "There won't be many children if we lose twenty thousand people fighting for it." she growled.

- "But we can't leave peons in slavery." said Sudha. "No matter what it costs."

Kisel suddenly slapped the table, so that we all turned to look at him. He nodded vigorously.

- "Well, he agrees with you, at least." grumbled Boloda.

- "As do I." said Vanea.

- "I agree, too." said Armene. "I think that we should root out the four families. Eliminate them."

- "When you say eliminate..." said Vanea.

- "Eliminate. At the very least, eliminate their power."

- "You can't keep them imprisoned for years." said Kien. "That's... too difficult. And cruel."

- "I think that a few decades of imprisonment would suit Rona Hadyk very well."

- "But what about Deondra? Or her children?"

There was silence again for a few moments.

- "I have a suggestion." said Faldor. "What if we let them into one of the cities? We'd garrison the castle, of course, to keep them away from the Touchstone. But they could live and work in the town, like everyone else."

- "Work?" said Boloda. "I like that part."

- "Or they could build their own village." said Wantrao. "Far away from the rest of us. The southwest corner of the map is remarkably empty. We could supply wood and stone, building tools, and the like - and let them have at it."

Again there was a short pause, as people pictured the Hadyks and the Balabans, the Shorrs and the Morcars all working, with tools in their hands.

- "The Morcars would drive out the Shorrs." said Virdyan. "And the Hadyks hate both of them."

- "You are all talking of a peace that involves us capturing three more cities." said Luth. "Without losing any of our own. That could prove costly. Very costly. It's very probable that we wouldn't all survive the fighting it would take."

I coughed discreetly. "That's a good point, Luth. But am I to conclude that most of you are in favour of continuing the war until we control all ten cities? What about a negotiated peace with at least the Balabans?"

- "I wouldn't trust them." said Virdyan. "They turned on their own allies."

- "Only after the Shorrs turned on the Morcars." said Faldor.

Boloda snorted. "And now they're ready to turn on the Hadyks."

- "What if they aren't?" said Peachy, speaking for the first time. Everyone turned to look at her. I knew firsthand how intelligent she was, but even I had a hard time taking her seriously when I saw how ridiculously young she looked, and how big those glasses looked on her face.

"What if it's a trap?' she said.

***

Petra Balaban seemed even more impressive when she stepped through the Portal for the third time. She radiated self-assurance. Why wouldn't she? She had the looks, the intellect, and a lifetime's worth of being obeyed without question.

- "I will repeat the terms of our agreement, so that there is no mistake." she said.

- "Good."

- "We both march on Caladium, with at least ten thousand infantry and however much cavalry you deem necessary."

- "That's wise. The Hadyks could choose to fight outside the city if we only have infantry."

- "Exactly. The moment we catch sight of your army, the Balabans will declare peace between us and the Grahams. You do likewise, and then we will declare war on the Hadyks. At that point, you and I meet on the field, to take joint command of the assault."

- "We have to meet? Is that strictly necessary?"

- "I trust your word, Lord Graham. But then... I trusted Lady Shorr. I want to be able to see you. If you chose to betray us, there would be a slight delay between you saying so and the Gods announcing it. I would have that much time to order a retreat."

- "I see." She hadn't mentioned the fact that it would work both ways. Maybe she didn't want me thinking along those lines.

- "We take Caladium, and I take control of the Touchstone. The war ends, and our armies immediately revert to peacetime levels. We can then make arrangements for the wedding. I don't know your tastes yet, but it needn't be anything too showy - unless that is what you would prefer. After the wedding, you transfer control of another city to me."

- "I thought you wanted two more production centres."

- "I do. And that would be very generous. But we could also wait until the birth of our first child."

If she'd meant to unsettle me with that remark, she succeeded. But I didn't mind, really, because it would help to explain any nervousness that I might be showing. Diplomacy wasn't exactly my strong suit. Peachy was much better at negotiating with online allies, even as she was planning to stab them in the back. Of course, in those discussions, you only heard her voice in your headset, while looking at her avatar onscreen.

"Do you agree to these terms, Lord Daniel?" said Lady Balaban.

- "I discussed them with my family. We are agreed."

- "Good. Then I need only one last assurance from you."

- "Assurance?"

- "The answer to a question. Did you order your peons to kill people?"

- "What?"

- "It's a simple question, Lord Daniel; did you give such an order?"

- "No. I wouldn't even know how."

- "Swear it."

- "I swear. I never told our peons to kill people."

- "Swear it by the Gods." she snapped, with a harsh edge to her voice.

I heard a gasp behind me, but I didn't turn around. Petra Balaban was staring at me. I didn't want her to see hesitation or confusion.

- "I swear by the Gods, I did not order our peons to attack people, or to kill people."

An instant later, a loud gong sounded in the Portal Room.

Lady Petra seemed as surprised as I was.

- "I am sorry, Lord." she said. "I had to ask. It was... the night battle. Two of the Hadyks were killed, and two Balabans as well. Accidents will happen - we all know that. But four in one battle? It seemed... wildly improbable. Lady Hadyk and I both lost our spouses the same night."

- "I didn't know that." I said. "Please accept my condolences."

- "Thank you. But you met Enver Hadyk, did you not? My husband was no more useful. The only good thing he did was help to conceive my daughter. I did not get to choose my first husband; I hope to have much better luck with my second."

- "Umm... yes."

- "I have one more question: do you know why the bodies of your dead peons do not always disappear?"

Shit. I did know; it was because they weren't peons. We had taken the bodies of our dead with us after the night battle. But many had been killed near Caladium, and we hadn't been able to recover them. I didn't have an answer.

Boloda stepped in.

- "Your pardon, Lady Balaban, but we believe that it's because we are the eleventh House, and the Decapolis was only built for ten. It's just a theory, but..."

- "The ways of the Gods are far above us." said Luth, piously.

- "Yes." said Lady Petra. "So they are." She took a deep breath, and looked me in the eye. "Are we in agreement, then, Lord Graham?"

I nodded slowly. "We are."

She smiled. "I look forward to the wedding."

Petra Balaban went back through the Portal with her bodyguards.

The curtain covering the little alcove opened, and Peachy came out. She'd been sitting on the table, so that her legs and feet wouldn't show.

She grinned at me. "Oh, it is so a trap."

***

The family meeting that followed was our most acrimonious ever.

- "Why are you so sure that it's a trap?" Faldor asked Peachy.

- "Because it's so obvious." said my pint-sized online nemesis. "Look: she asked Daniel to swear by the Gods that he hadn't ordered peons to kill 'people'. Why didn't she ask him to swear by the Gods that he wouldn't betray her?"

Faldor was no dummy. "Because... she would have had to do the same."

- "Bingo! Then she lowered her demands. Originally, she wanted us to hand over two cities, after Caladium. A day later, she's willing to wait nine months for the last one? Come on. She has absolutely no guarantee that we'll even let her have Caladium."

- "So... this was no more than a screen? A feint? On our part, I mean." He looked to me. "You have another plan, then."

- "We have a plan." Peachy and I had put it together in less than an hour. Calculating the numbers, double-checking our scouting reports, and deciding the roles our family members would play took us another hour. Peachy was having herself a grand old time.

I gathered everyone in the Map Room, and laid out the details. Predictably enough, they all reacted negatively. Peony was horrified. I took her hand in both of mine.

- "Trust me, Peony. This is our best course of action."

- "No." she said. "There has to be a better way."

- "I have to agree with her." said Luth.

- "It's madness." said Jashi.

Several voices rose in agreement.

Once again, Kisel slapped the edge of the table. It wasn't the dining room table; the edge was narrower, and the table wasn't as thick. He managed to knock over two cups of wine. One was white wine; it spilled onto the table, and soaked the western side of the map, including the city of Amaranth. But the second cup contained red wine. It was closer to full, and it landed nearby, but a little further north. A pool of red liquid spread over Caladium, Bryony, and Eglantine.

Now, I'm no fortune-teller, but you didn't need the Oracle at Delphi to decipher this one for you. It was not, as the soothsayers would have soothsaid, a good omen.

But my kin weren't in the least troubled. They mopped up the spills without comment. Apparently omens weren't a thing in the Decapolis.

Kisel, meanwhile, came around to where I stood, and offered me his hand. I took it. Without letting go, he stood beside me, and turned to face our family. Then he slowly raised our joined hands above our shoulders - and then over our heads.

- "Kisel trusts Daniel." said Boloda. "And he believes that we should, too." She snorted. "But then again, Kisel has been knocked on the head more than once."

My mute bodyguard merely winked at her. Then he hugged me.

It may bear repeating (I'm really not sure): my new family were all pretty amazing. It was hard not be impressed by Jashi and Sudha, Wantrao and Armene, and my bodyguards. Luth was incredible, too. I was discovering that Virdyan had more courage than I'd given him credit for, and that Faldor wasn't short on brains or courage. I was constantly re-discovering that the Hadyks (and the other families) had criminally under-estimated the talents of their half-brethren.

Meanwhile, those former half-kin and former peons were loyal to me. Trusting. Confident in my abilities, even when I wasn't.

Peachy and I did have a plan. I was reasonably confident that it would yield dividends.

Even if it was very dangerous for me, and some of my closest friends.

***

Peony and I had our first fight. We'd only been married a few days, and we were already having a major disagreement. She didn't yell. She didn't snap at me, or call me stupid. She was disappointed, though, and that was painful to see.

- "Peony, we talked about the kind of peace we wanted."

- "What good is it, if you're not there to share it with me?"

- "We're asking just about everyone else to risk their lives. We've asked them several times already. How can I ask, if I'm not prepared to share the danger?"

- "But why does your share have to be so big?"

She was too upset to make love, so we just held each other, and I tried to murmur fitful words until she fell into a fitful sleep.

Turn Seven began at dawn the next morning. Our scouts were on their way out before the Gods' announcement had even finished.

I led First Army, with ten thousand infantry and almost five thousand cavalry. My bodyguards were there, along with Inzhay and Virdyan. Jashi and Sudha led the light cavalry and mounted archers, covering both our flanks.

We marched halfway to Caladium. I halted the troops, and made sure that everyone ate their midday meal in peace. There was no way to know if we'd be able to have an uninterrupted evening meal. Besides, the sight of all our troops eating and drinking would certainly tip off the Balabans that we were no longer an army of peons.

We set off again. I didn't push the pace, though. The cities of the Decapolis may be virtually identical, but they aren't all equidistant. We knew from experience that Goldenrod and Caladium were among the farthest apart. Amaranth and Bryony were both much closer. There was no way that we could arrive until just before dusk - too late to launch an assault.

So I didn't ask our troops to exert themselves too much. I didn't plan to get there until the next morning. Lady Balaban knew that in advance, so she wouldn't be suspicious.

We marched for several more hours, and then made camp. I set up pickets in every direction. With all the scouts we had out, we were unlikely to be surprised, but it never pays to be overconfident.

I called all of the unit captains together, and finally explained to them what was likely to happen the next day. I can't say that they were universally pleased, but I had thirty of the very best infantry units in First Army, along with the great majority of our most experienced cavalry leaders. These were intelligent, courageous people. They might not approve, but they wouldn't let me down.

We were up and about before the dawn, ready to march. A loud gong sounded just as the first light appeared, announcing the next message from the Gods.

- "The Balabans make peace with the Grahams."

A second gong followed almost immediately.

"The Balabans declare war on the Hadyks."

There it was. Lady Petra had upheld her first part of the bargain. Now it was up to us to meet her outside the walls of Caladium.

- "We don't have to hurry." Boloda reminded me.

- "I know. But I do want them to see us. We can dawdle a bit in the final approach. What we don't want is for them to get word from their scouts - until it's too late."

- "This is the part of your plan I don't care for."

- "There's no other way."

- "Hmmph."

She was probably right to grumble. I could choose the moment to declare war on the Balabans - and I would if I had to. But I would prefer if Lady Balaban did it. That way, I could claim the moral high ground. That was important to me in terms of my self-image, but it would also affect how our people saw me. 'Treacherous bastard' was not a description I aspired to.

Peachy didn't understand that either. 'Winning is winning', she'd said.

- "Peachy," I asked her, "when was the last time I allied with you in a game of Conquest?"

- "I dunno. A while ago, I guess."

- "Over two months ago." I said. "It may sound funny, but after you burned me for the sixth time, I decided not to let you do it again."

- "You let somebody else stab you in the back."

- "Yes, that happened a couple of times. I also had a solo win, and finished ahead of you more than half the time."

- "It's just a lucky streak, Daniel. They happen."

Peachy didn't like what I was saying. Perhaps she had begun to notice it herself. Other players weren't as willing to ally with her anymore, whereas I was regularly presented with offers to team up. Yes, some of them intended to betray me at the first opportunity. But I wasn't going to let them do that more than twice. And I would never ally with Peachy unless we had the two smallest remaining armies in a three-player game.

- "Daniel!" said Boloda.

I snapped out of my daydream.

- "Sorry. I was just... remembering something Peachy said."

- "Let's hope that she and the others are in position."

A pair of Chalky's scouts brought us a report. One of the riders was Soma. She smiled happily when I greeted her by name.

- "Good to see you again, Soma."

- "Thank you, Lord. I mean, General."

- "What do you have for us?"

- "A party of riders entered the city during the night. Perhaps twenty. Then another party rode out, headed southwest. They joined the Balaban army."

- "Were they wearing colours?"

- "Our people weren't able to get that close. But we don't think so, Lord."

Boloda looked at me. "You were expecting this?"

- "Yes. It was probably an exchange of hostages. I doubt that Rona Hadyk trusts Petra Balaban all that much. And vice versa. Thank you, Soma. Would you take a message for Chalky?"

- "Of course."

- "Just remind him that there may be messengers - Balaban messengers - coming from the south, or the north. If they could be intercepted..."

- "I'm on my way."

That done, we marched to within sight of the walls of Caladium.

As Boloda wanted, I spent some time issuing orders and positioning troops. Inzhay and Virdyan handled the infantry, while Jashi and Sudha kept their flanks covered with the cavalry.

Then it was time, and there was no point in delaying any longer. With my bodyguards, and escort of a single unit of cavalry, commanded by Jashi, we rode to rendezvous with Petra Balaban.

Like me, she had four bodyguards, and a hundred cavalry behind her. Unlike me, she looked spectacular. Her armour was polished to such a degree that it sparkled as it reflected the sunlight. Her helmet appeared to be made of gold, and was topped by a horsehair plume that was dyed scarlet. She wore a bright red cloak, and every strap of her gear and every piece of her mount's harness was red.

- "Well met, Lord Graham!" she called out.

What do you answer to 'Well met'? I didn't know.

- "Hello, Lady Balaban. Ready to begin?"

- "Just about. I have a few troops still moving into position. May I introduce some of my family members?"

Troops moving into position? The Balabans had been here for hours before we arrived. So she just wanted to get a few family members closer.

- "If you like."

Lady Petra raised her arm, and waved a hand. The front rank of the cavalry behind her began to slowly move forward. I watched them come. I mean, I watched them carefully.

As far as Lady Balaban was concerned, two of my bodyguards were half-Hadyks, and two were peons. She'd made sure to have me swear, before the Gods, that our peons hadn't been ordered to kill people. 'People' of course, meant members of the Balaban and Hadyk families.

Boloda and Kisel could kill them, but anybody - people or peons - could also kill them. Petra thought that Nosey and Pudge could only defend themselves, or put themselves between me and harm.

She had her four bodyguards, and now ten family members approaching. Did the Balabans really have ten full kin who could fight? Even as the thought occurred to me, I realized that they didn't.

Now the riders were close enough for me to notice a few things. The fourth man on the right was dark-skinned. Even at this distance, I recognized him: it was Murari Hadyk. Malusha's father, and Jashi's father as well. The last two men on the end of the line were Aymort and Parush Hadyk - Deondra's father and husband.

And between them and Murari, with some of his white hair showing beneath his helmet, was Moran Hadyk. His grin was feral.

- "TRAP!" I shouted.

Petra Balaban couldn't wait any longer. She began muttering.

The gong of the Gods boomed.

- "The Balabans have declared war on the Grahams."

My bodyguards and I had already turned our horses' heads. Boloda had made me practice the move a dozen times. 'It wouldn't do to have you fall from your horse at that point', she insisted. I performed the turn just about perfectly, even if I do say so myself.

Only two of Lady Balaban's bodyguards got to us.

Jashi had brought one of her favourite units as escort. They weren't light cavalry, though; they were mounted archers. Though they were far more effective on foot, they were becoming much more adept at shooting from the saddle. In this case, they weren't even moving yet.

The front rank nocked arrows, and loosed them.

One of the Balaban bodyguards fell from his horse, struck three times, in the chest and in the throat. Another arrow hit the second bodyguard in the face. It might not have killed a person outright, but this was a peon trooper. He fell from the saddle.

Their volley delivered, the first rank of Jashi's unit veered away, to ride parallel to us. The second rank now had a clear field of fire, and they launched their arrows at the oncoming riders. I didn't dare look around, for fear of falling from my horse.

Besides, Nosey and Pudge had me hemmed in, and they made me concentrate on one thing and one thing only: riding. Boloda and Kisel took on the two other Balaban bodyguards.

The gong boomed again.

- "The Balabans have made peace with the Hadyks."

The Hadyks must have been waiting for that announcement, because the gates of Caladium opened, and cavalry began to file out.

The Battle of Caladium had begun.

*****