Parno's Peril

by N. C. Reed

  “Yes sir,” Wilbanks was surprised but didn't offer any objection.

  “After that, select another battalion and have them return here to stand by for orders. I may need to send them on a harsh ride escorting a Pioneer company. Have their commander report to me here. He needs to be someone who can exercise independent command in the field and make decisions on the fly,” he stressed. “A lot may depend on him and his men.”

  “Yes sir,” Wilbanks said once more.

  “Inform the battalion commander you send to Unity that as soon as their work is done they are to return to your command with all due haste. Scouts will be in the area to watch what the Imperials do when they find the town destroyed. Questions?”

  “No sir,” Wilbanks replied. His orders were clear and simple.

  “In the event we are attacked, I want you to move your division here and await orders,” Parno indicated a place on the map. “I have something I want you to do for me, General.” He explained over the next five minutes. By the time he was finished Wilbanks was grinning from ear-to-ear.

  “Any questions? Problems that you can see?” Parno asked at last.

  “No sir,” the reply had much more enthusiasm this time. “I understand perfectly.”

  “Then get it done.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  -

  “Do you understand?” Parno asked. Allen nodded slowly, examining the map.

  “You want me to move west and allow Imperial scouts to see us go, but then isolate them as we loop around,” the cavalryman nodded. “Once we do that we're here,” he indicated a place on the map.

  “Exactly,” Parno nodded. “Remember that it's important, no... no it's vital that you be seen,” he stressed. “I know it goes against everything we're taught, but this time it's different. I need them to see.”

  “Then they will, milord,” Allen nodded again. “How will I know -”

  “I will have a runner standing by,” Parno promised. “And you’ll know we're engaged if you hear thunder when the skies are clear,” he added.

  “Very well, milord,” Allen rolled his own map. “You want us to leave at first light?”

  “Yes, but make sure there's enough light to be seen,” Parno nodded. “Remember, until you reach your destination, nothing is more important that allowing the Imperials to see you moving.”

  “Understood. With your permission, I have a great deal of work to do.”

  “Carry on,” Parno nodded. Next, he turned to the man commanding the battalion that Wilbanks had sent him, a tough looking Lieutenant Colonel by the name of Winburn who looked like he knew his business.

  “Colonel Winburn, I need you to escort a Pioneer Company here,” he indicated a place on the map, “and await further orders. The enemy has sent a very large infantry column escorted by a strong cavalry force in this direction, we believe with the intention of occupying and fortifying the town. But there is a chance, slim though it is, that they may instead strike south. From here you can move to allow the Pioneer Company to destroy these bridges to prevent an easy river crossing. The enemy will still be able to cross, and you aren't to expend your troops to stop or even slow them. Just let the Pioneers do their work and then move on to the next job. Understand?”

  “I do, milord, but... if we aren't to fight the Imperials, what need is there for us to be there?”

  “There is a moderate size force of Tribals somewhere on this side of the Great River,” Parno replied. “Your battalion will be there in case the Tribals show up. Pioneers wouldn't last any longer than a snowball on a hot stove against them, but you and your men can.”

  “Yes sir,” the man almost growled. “We can.”

  “Good man,” Parno slapped his shoulder. “You and your men will leave in the morning. The Pioneer Company should have all their necessary gear loaded on horses by then. Make sure to make all your own preparations as well so that you're ready to go at first light. Scouts will be observing the enemy at all times. If they head your way, you should know it with plenty of time to spare. It may be that you have to make decisions of your own, so err on the side of caution. Allowing the Imperials to get such a large force behind us will hurt, Colonel. Don't let it happen.”

  “We won't, milord,” Winburn promised grimly.

  “Then see to your men, Colonel.”

  -

  “What do you think?” Parno asked Davies thirty minutes later as the two studied the map before them.

  “I think it's at least as likely as anything else we've come up with,” Davies replied slowly. “I suggest we double our watches and security around the camp. We could see some saboteurs.”

  “See to it,” Parno nodded. “I think we're right on the edge here, General, but edge of what I don't know,” he admitted. “There is definitely more going on than seizing one little town in the middle of nowhere.”

  “I believe so as well, milord,” Davies agreed. “We are as prepared as possible for any eventuality, and you have taken every precaution I can think of. Have you advised General Raines of your concerns? So that he can have scouts watching his rear and flanks?”

  “Now that you mention it, no,” Parno frowned slightly. “I’ll see to that right now. Thank you for mentioning it.”

  “It's what I do, milord,” Davies smiled faintly. “It's what I do.”

  -

  “What's going on?” Stephanie asked, seeing all the activity going on around camp.

  “Nothing as yet, just a lot of movement,” Parno admitted.

  “But you think something is going on,” she stated rather than asked.

  “I think something may happen soon, yes,” he nodded. “But I have little to no evidence to support that theory. Just a lot of uneasy feelings. What about Harrel? Is it safe for him to travel yet?”

  “I'd prefer another few days,” Stephanie admitted. “The two weeks is almost up and I'm confident that by that time he can travel so long as proper precautions are taken.”

  “Good,” Parno nodded absently. “That's good.”

  “What's really going on?” she asked him, noting his unease.

  “Nothing at the moment other than some movement among the Imperials,” Parno told her. “As I said, I have no evidence or reports to indicate enemy intentions, just a lot of supposition. And that isn't good enough to act on.” Though he had acted on it, he wasn't going to mention it to her.

  “I see,” she nodded, knowing she wasn't getting the entire story, but also realizing she wasn't actually entitled to it, either. She had promised herself she would not impose on her relationship with Parno to get something she wouldn't normally have had, and that included access to information. She had worked too hard to gain back his trust to throw it away again. She would never take that risk.

  “I'm glad, because I don't,” Parno mused, still studying whatever he was reading. “I have to just wait and see.”

  “You do a lot of that, don't you?” she asked sympathetically.

  “Far too much for my liking,” he agreed, setting the paper aside to give her his attention. “So. What are you and I doing this evening?” he smiled at her.

  “We're having dinner with Edema in her tent,” she replied.

  “Benson cooking?” he asked, almost licking his lips and she laughed.

  “I'm sure he is,” she nodded.

  “Great!”

  -

  “Carroll is actually built on the ruins of another small city,” Case said that evening as he sat around the fire with Winnie, Conway and a few others, including Doctor Bragg and Lieutenants Fain and Garrett. Rucker had the watch and was working.

  “Oh?” Bragg asked.

  “In the days before the Kingdom was formed, Tyree fought a battle on these same lands,” Case nodded, looking into the fire. “A pair of them actually, but in the final battle he was triumphant and discovered he was in a battle with foreign mercenaries in the pay of a crime lord. Men who were, among other things, trafficking in women slaves,” he added, thinking about t
heir own recent discovery.

  “What did he do?” Fain asked, curious.

  “He executed everyone who surrendered, impaled the bodies on pikes around the town square and decorated them with signs that declared them to be rapists and murderers and promised the same end to anyone else he caught in the same or similar acts,” Case replied calmly. “There was a great deal of consternation amongst the government of the time in what is now Nasil,” he added with an amused snort of understatement.

  “I should imagine,” Bragg chuckled. “What happened to the town?”

  “Burned to the ground by the crime lord's men to erase what had happened here,” Case said. “In the end it didn't matter. Tyree eventually put an end to the crime lord in question and executed the remainder of his men who had not been killed in battle. A few years later those who had migrated to Nasil with him returned to rebuild. It is their descendants in great part that you met today.”

  “Tyree led an exciting life, didn't he?” Winnie mused.

  “That's one way to put it,” Case agreed. “Our current Crown Prince is said to be a great deal like Tyree himself,” he added. “Of course, he is a direct descendant of Tyree, so there's that.”

  “I hadn't thought about that, but... that isn't inaccurate,” Winnie said slowly, mulling what she knew of both men over in her mind.

  “How well do you know the Lord Marshal?” Bragg asked.

  “Fairly well, I guess” she said after considering the question. “My father and I worked for him at Cove Canton teaching archery to what is now the Black Sheep regiment. A lot of what is said about him is untrue or at least not very accurate. He is a handful, no doubt, but... the idea that he isn't intelligent is ridiculous. He is very smart. Even crafty after a fashion.”

  “What do you mean?” Fain Garrett asked respectfully.

  “He never attacks head on,” Winnie said after a few seconds to think. “He's always looking for the angle, as he calls it, or at least as my father refers to it. Always looking for the best way to make his attack at the least cost to his men. Regardless of what the problem may be, he is always looking for a way to be on the offensive. Consider that his first move upon reaching the front was to lead a cavalry attack against the Nor. Did that himself mind, and not ordering it done. I doubt it's widely known but his skill with a sword is second to only a handful in the kingdom, and I personally know of only one who can match him.”

  “Colonel Willard?” Fain asked.

  “Colonel Willard is Karls,” Winnie shook her head. “And no, he can't. You're likely thinking of Brigadier Willard, Karls' brother, Enri. He's the holder of the King's Sword. And no, he can't do it either. Parno beat him in a duel a little over a year ago I guess.”

  “Not quite, but close,” Case nodded. “You're talking about the foreigner.”

  “Cho Feng,” Winnie nodded. “I've seen him wield two swords at once and do so with ease. It's almost comical to watch even the Black Sheep try to match him, and man for man the Sheep are probably the best taught swordsmen in the Kingdom. Of course, Feng and Darvo Nidiad taught most of them, so there you go.”

  “Two swords at once?” Fain mused. “That must be something else to see.”

  “It is,” Winnie nodded. “Cho Feng is to the sword what my father is to the bow,” she added. “They are a large part of why the Black Sheep are so strong. They got beat up by Feng on a daily basis during training,” she chuckled.

  “I've wondered about them from time to time,” Garrett admitted. “If they were as deadly as advertised. We of the Royal Regiments like to think we're a grade above the rest.”

  “Look, there's nothing wrong with you guys,” Winnie told the young officer. “It's just... the Black Sheep were a hard lot to begin with and the training they went through made them harder still. The weak and the worthless, those are Parno's words by the way, were weeded out in training. After the Gap, what was left was the hard core in the center of the Regiment. They can take on four and five times their number and win, and have done it. In fact, during the cavalry battle the Black Sheep had watched from the flank near the end of the engagement. Tribals tried to attack the read guard regiments as the army withdrew, only... well, the Black Sheep were there, and they hit the Tribals in the flank before they could attack. There were a little less than five hundred Black Sheep against an estimated eight to nine hundred Tribals. I think the estimates were that the Tribals lost around three hundred men either killed or wounded.”

  “What were the Black Sheep's losses?” Conway asked, frowning.

  “Four men injured, three of which were treated and returned to service the next day,” Winnie replied evenly. “They lost a few horses too.”

  “Are you serious?” Conway had apparently never heard that.

  “She's serious,” Case nodded. “I read the reports. Not from them but from the others in the battle. The Tribals never knew what hit them.”

  “Damn,” was all Garrett could think to say.

  “So, you see,” Winnie smiled faintly, “it's not that anyone else isn't very good. It's that they're just that much better. But it's all a matter of training,” she emphasized. “Any of them will tell you the same thing, too. They know how they got where they are, and it was through pure hard work.”

  “Same as you, gentlemen,” Case pointed out. “When you put your mind to it and back into it, you can do anything you set your mind on. Remember that going forward.”

  “Yes sir.”

  -

  Gerald Allen looked at the five men in front of him as they finished eating their breakfast. All five division commanders had been briefed the night before and their preparations started. Allen had chosen to have this brief meeting to iron out any problems.

  “Has anyone encountered any difficulties in preparations?” he asked. All responded in the negative.

  “Does anyone have any questions concerning our orders, order of march rally points or rendezvous point?”

  “I don't understand what we're doing,” Fordyce admitted. “We're deliberately allowing the Imperials to see us start in pursuit of that outfit that left yesterday, and then riding no more than a day at a walk, which means there's no way to catch up to them. After that-,”

  “After that we follow our orders,” Allen nodded. “You've participated in operations similar to this one, though not on this scale. Our orders are clear and the areas we're responsible for are clearly marked and relatively easy to find. Our divisions,” he indicated Coe and Vaughan at that, “have already conducted similar operations in the last two weeks, both in Unity and on the road between here and there. By now the Imperials likely expect us and that could be why there are so many in this movement compared to others. As to why we're allowing ourselves to be seen, that's upon the Marshal's orders. We’ll receive any updates to those orders he wishes to give us by courier. Any more questions?”

  There were no more questions.

  “I want us ready to leave when the sun has cleared the trees,” he told them. “If we're to be seen, we need good light. Remember to remind your men that Captain Parsons' scouts will be weaving in and out of our column and will help screen our movements as the day progresses. They have their own orders and are to be given every courtesy and not to be interfered with. If there's nothing further, you may be about your business.”

  The five men rose and began to exit his small tent, but Milton Vaughan stayed behind.

  “Milt?” Allen asked. “Something wrong?”

  “This is a big gamble,” the man said softly. “All of us out of position like this. More than a day's ride away. It's risky.”

  “It is,” Allen nodded, not wanting to say more. “We’ll talk more about it tonight, but for now see to your men.”

  “Right,” Vaughan nodded and ducked out of the tent. Allen sat there a bit longer, a faint smile on his face.

  -

  Imperial scouts and pickets were treated to quite the sight that morning. In the distance, nearly a mile in some cases but much close
r in others, a long line of Soulan Cavalry trailed out of the woods and into the open, following the road parallel in apparent pursuit of the Imperial 1st Corps and their escort. For perhaps an hour the horses emerged, a few bearing packs but most carrying men, moving at a steady gait that would eat ground but preserve the horses.

  Imperial Army scouts kept a careful count of what they could see, much as Felds and Earl had done the day before for the Soulan Army. Soon a rider was galloping for General Wilson's headquarters to inform him of the development.

  Wilson received the notice stoically and sent orders back up the line to try and get as much intelligence as possible on the column, then ordered a courier to be sent to inform Venable and Baxter of the situation. A concerned Sterling started to comment but a hand stopped him. Wilson merely repeated his previous orders and that was that.

  Through the day the Imperial scouts were amazed at their good fortune in being able to follow and spy on the large column. Usually the Soulanie scouts and cavalry screens would be able to keep them at a distance but through at least noon of that day such wasn't the case. They were able to identify five different Soulan Cavalry Divisions and get a rough estimate of forty-two thousand men and horses.

  As noon approached and the trail the horsemen were following veered into a more rugged and tree lined terrain, enemy scouts seemed for the first time to realize that Imperial scouts were watching and began to take action. Movements by screening elements and scouting arms began to drive the scouts back further and further from the disappearing column until sight of them was lost altogether.

  But the damage was done. Imperial scouts had for once performed their jobs magnificently, gathering the kind of information their generals needed to get their own jobs done.

  -

  General Abraham Springfield looked at the paper in his hands in astonishment, reading a second time. He had to have read that wrong.

  Nope. Still said the same thing. He looked up at the courier who was waiting for the acknowledgment he had to take back to Sterling.

  “Is this for real?” Springfield asked the young lieutenant.