Semper Indomitus: Book Five of the Fovean Chronicles

by Robert Brady

  “Eric informed me that he found that sword you spoke of on the battlefield where the Swamp Devil died,” D’gattis admitted. “I thought nothing of it. What matters, a sword dropped on a battlefield? However, he told me that since taking up the sword, he seemed to speak to himself with two voices – one he knew, and one that advised him. He thought of it as his more warlike, Volkhydran self.”

  “Does this sort of thing occur among your people?” Arath asked me.

  I shook my head. “We have no magic,” I said. “We don’t even believe in it. We have legends of swords that enable men to beat enemies, to lead nations, but those stories are symbolic.”

  “Perhaps not,” D’gattis said. “Raven, come from your world, is a powerful sorceress, and you have your chem-stree, which gave your Eldadorian Fire.”

  They just couldn’t get it that chemistry wasn’t magic.

  Or… maybe I couldn’t get it, that magic was chemistry?

  Because Raven told me, she really loved chemistry.

  I had to consider that more, later.

  “And there’s the matter of Jack’s magic,” Thorn said.

  I nodded. After the Battle of the Foveans, we finally decided to interrogate Vedeen, and when we couldn’t break her, and we couldn’t trust her, I decided to give in to Shela and put her down.

  Jack spoke the Ave Maria. I remembered it from my catechism, which like Jack’s had required me to translate the Hail Mary prayer into Latin.

  Those words put down all of us. He took on a tent full of warriors and wizards, humbled us all, rode away and called a thunderstorm to cover his tracks. Not just that, but everyone who was even barely gifted for about 200 yards was brought to their knees.

  I’d spoken a few words in Latin since, but had no effect from any of it.

  “I believe that Jack and Vedeen are still alive,” I said, “because it was Vedeen who stepped in and guided Lee when she was lost in Angron Aurelias’ void, after the altering of Central Communications. According to D’gattis, he’s collected some of my children, and there’s no reason to believe that he hasn’t collected the rest of them.”

  “And those children are carrying weapons, spoken of in a prophesy, which are designed to fight you, if indeed you are the One,” Ancenon said.

  “Which means, my allies,” I said, “we need to find those kids, and get them away from the remaining people who believe that stopping us is what those weapons are for.”

  “Consider,” D’gattis said, “one of those kids is also one of us, Black Lupus. Eric or, as the people call him, the Holy Avenger, is a member of our Daff Kanaar.

  “We can lift no hand against him, neither can we plot against him or cause him harm.”

  They all nodded. They were right.

  If Adriam was opposing War finally, this was a master stroke. However, this prophesy spoke of ‘the goddess who chose her.’

  “They will fall,” Thorn said.

  I turned to the Andaron hunter.

  “They’re my kids,” I said.

  “No,” Thorn said, “the prophesy: They will fall, who stand with her. They will fall, who oppose her. They will fall for the power of the goddess who chose her.”

  Right out of my own head!

  “They witness rise and fall,” Nantar said. “And they are too late for victory, but they win.”

  “Clearly, there is more to learn, of what we thought we’d understood completely,” Ancenon said.

  “This is the way of the gods,” Dilvesh said. “For them, time doesn’t flow as it does for us. What we see in hindsight is in fact foresight for them. What they sent to us likely was very obvious and straight forward to their thinking.”

  I nodded. There was a part of the Bible, as I recalled, that claimed that one thousand years was like a day to God.

  And when it came to the Rapture, God knew when it would happen, but only He. All of the predictors were by definition wrong.

  What if it was like that here?

  I called my friends here for answers, but it seemed that what I had instead were a lot more questions.

  Chapter Six

  The Volkhydran Strategy

  On the one hand, someone else had my kids, who were all wrapped up in a complicated prophecy that I was watching unravel.

  On the other, I had a pretty dire enemy exactly where I wanted them. We were already moving men and ships to the Black Lake. I could stage just under 70,000 warriors down there before the War months, and then be in motion down the Jeng Jeng River and on to Jeng Chao faster than anyone could stop me.

  That river was supposedly wide enough to float an armada of Sea Wolves. I could roll up their two southern cites and be up the Kwon Do before Conflu even thought of mounting a resistance – if they hadn’t already committed their troops to a campaign against Andaron or Volkhydro.

  I could invade Conflu, win some battles, and then lose the whole war when Eric plunked himself down in front of me and said, “No more,” facing me with enchanted weapons, formidable magic and the will of at least three gods.

  I lay on my back in bed, Shela laying on my chest, Chawnee in her basinet three feet from her bedside. My naked Andaron empress had thought to distract me from my worries but, if anything, she just made them worse.

  Family, or War’s will? I think both War and I would think it wasn’t even a question, but we’d come to different answers.

  In fact, I couldn’t do either, and I had to do both.

  Shela’s breath on my chest, warm and reassuring, had its way of making its way to my heart. In the back of my mind, I always thought of her as smarter than I was, anyway.

  ***

  The month of Life always marked the end of the War months. That was when the harvest began, when everyone was focused on moving and in storing goods which would take us through the Fovean winter. The month of Order ended with a week of rain and miserable temperatures, which promised a cold season right when our resources were at their lowest.

  The Eldadorian people might thrill and cheer to one military victory after another, but not if it came with starvation during the winter. Even with the relief for cattlemen, the herds would be depleted and the people eating more fish and vegetables than usual through the winter, while Sentalan and Volkhydran beef sold at a premium, moving mostly to my troops.

  “Keep your supplies moving here from Sental,” I told Tartan, sitting with him, Hectaro and J’her in a room off of my throne room. I’d added two chairs so that we could all sit at the table.

  The Duke nodded.

  I turned to Hectaro. “He’s going to sit in regency,” I said. “Normally that would go to the Duke of Galnesh Eldador, but he’s good at it, and you’re not ready.”

  “Your will, your Imperial Majesty,” Hectaro informed me. I could see he didn’t like this.

  “Your job,” I said, “is to learn from him. He does it well, learn to do it better. Next time, I expect this will be your job, if you earn it.”

  That softened the blow. Tartan smiled to himself.

  “Don’t sell your wares to the military,” I informed Tartan. “I’m going to draw from Volkhydro for that. If someone’s going to starve, let it be them.”

  “Very well,” Tartan said.

  I turned to J’her. “You’re in charge of the defense of the city,” I informed him, “but Duke Stowe and Duke Gelgelden are running it.”

  J’her nodded.

  “I’m not real pleased with how things went while he was here last time,” I said. “Someone has to run things, Supreme Commander. If I have to come back here early, it’s going to be to bury someone.”

  J’her nodded again, not saying anything.

  I’d already kicked all but 100 Angadorian Knights out of the city, and fifty of them were coming with me.

  That was a big statement to all of them right there.

  “Keep the money flowing,” I said. “We’re financing a war. It’s going to get tight. We’ll check in through Central Communications when we can, and the wizard o
n duty can alert Shela if he has to. There are reserves you don’t know about and assets I can access if I have to – don’t take it all on yourself if you get in trouble.”

  “We’re also leaving Chawnee,” I told them. I looked Hectaro right in the eye.

  “It’s too cold where we’re going – she’ll be miserable at best. If there was ever a time for the Roosters to come after her to get at me, then it would be now. Expect that they’ll do it.”

  He made a fist over his heart. “I’ve got experience protecting your daughters,” he informed me. I had to smile at that.

  I turned to J’her. “For the time being, you answer to Tartan Stowe.”

  I turned to Tartan. “That doesn’t mean that Angadorian Knights should be marching north. Keep them on the Toorian border.”

  They all nodded. I stood and took their forearms in mine – the Fovean equivalent of a hand shake.

  That was the easy part.

  ***

  Later that same day, the first of Law, I met with the Free Legion again in my War room.

  “Earl Arath of Metz,” I said, “I’m making you a Duke, and I’m giving you command of our forces in Conflu.”

  “Conflu?” Nantar asked.

  I laid down the map I’d loaned to Karel of Stone on the table between us. The rest looked on in interest.

  “This was created by my daughter, Lee,” I said. “It shows what I believe to be a river route to the capitol city of Conflu, Jeng Chao.”

  Ancenon and D’gattis leaned forward. “That close,” the Wizard in Yellow said.

  I nodded.

  “I’ll stage the bulk of my army in Wisex over the winter,” I said. “I’m going to need our intelligence network to leak that we’re doing it because I can’t feed them here.”

  “That intelligence network would agree with you,” Karel said.

  Smart ass.

  “Regardless,” I said. “I’ll be in Volkhydro, and my emissaries at the Fovean High Council are suing for peace again.”

  Ancenon chuckled. “You consider us all to be very stupid,” he said.

  “No,” I said, “I consider you all to be very smart, which is why I’m bringing this to you. If I’ve missed something, then I’m hoping you’ll see it.”

  “You’re trying to make the Trenboni believe that you are having a hard time staging another offensive,” Arath said, ever the general. “You appear to be weak, and then you hope they’ll strike.”

  I nodded.

  “If they do?” D’gattis asked.

  “Then they’ll move with the Confluni, again, because they’re the only ones who can muster an effective army,” I said. “They’ll count on the Sentalans to provide cover and, if they’re smart, they’ll try to hit Volkha and Hydrus at the same time.”

  “My people won’t tolerate a Confluni army on our soil for any length of time,” Nantar said.

  “Your people,” I said, “have already signed a mutual support agreement with me, in case that happens. When it does, both cities batten down and wait for your northern cities come to relieve the siege.”

  “And the Sentalans?” Thorn asked.

  I smiled. “They’ll have to ford the Llorando. I’ll have a couple Sea Wolves making that painful, and a couple more defending them. I’m not bringing any Wolf Soldiers – they’ll be in support of the Navy.”

  “And you?” D’gattis asked me. “Where will you be during all of this?”

  I sat back in my chair and crossed my arms. “I, Shela and Karel of Stone, if he’ll come, will go quickly and quietly into Volkhydro through Medya. We’re looking for my kids, before they come looking for me.”

  “And you’re leaving me to conquer Conflu for you?” Arath said.

  “You’re at least as good a general as I am,” I said. “Anything that I would have thought of that you might have missed – well, you’ll probably just come up with something better.”

  Arath laughed. He wasn’t one to pat his own back and I don’t think he liked it much when someone else did it, but at the same time, I know he was pretty proud of his victories with the Free Legion army, and that he thought that my victories tended to overshadow his.

  “Thorn, will you go with him?” I asked.

  He nodded. “I’ll go, as well,” Dilvesh said. “You’ll need both magic support and a way to communicate with them, and I can do both.”

  I nodded.

  “I have to think you want me in Luparran,” Nantar said, grinning through his black beard.

  “Both of us, I think,” D’gattis said. “The Dorkans are opportunists. If the rest of Fovea is in battle, they’ll come quietly to their former city to reclaim it.”

  “And meet the full force of the Free Legion army, and my Sarandi,” Nantar said. Nantar’s elite troops were his answer to my Wolf Soldier guard. He’d been itching to prove that they were, in fact, an improvement.

  Dorkans would likely give him that chance.

  My eyes swept the room. “I know I’ve asked a lot of all of you,” I said. “Totally uprooted your lives, and acted like my plans were more important than yours.”

  Nantar shrugged. “I got to fight,” he said. “I’m happy.”

  “It isn’t like there’s been no profit in it,” Ancenon added. “We’ve plundered richly. Dust covers the wealth in Outpost X.”

  “And the wealth we’ve added to it,” Thorn said.

  “Do we think that any of these Confluni cities are also Outposts?” Arath asked.

  I shook my head. “No,” I said, “if I were to guess, I would say that are the original Cheyak cities, and Conflu the original Cheyak nation. That’s why the Confluni are so jealous of it.”

  Everyone took a moment to digest that.

  “If that were proven true,” Ancenon said, “then Angron Aurelias might have become your ally, had not so many actions been taken by both sides.”

  “Angron Aurelias had that chance,” I said. “He decided to come after my daughter instead.”

  There were plenty of arguments down that road, and I didn’t have time for them.

  “We part ways on the ‘morrow,” Arath said, standing. “I have troops to review and tactics to plan.”

  He turned to me. “I assume Grak is still in command of those forces?”

  “He’ll want to see a writ,” I said. “My Oligarchs are drafting one. You’ll have it, signed, tonight.”

  He nodded. We all exchanged glances.

  Ancenon put his hand out, as he had that day in Outpost X, when we made the fire bond. We all took each others’ wrists again.

  “Adriam’s will guard us,” he said.

  And once again, I thought, I’d settle for War.

  ***

  I found Shela on the Bitch of Eldador, remaking a cabin for our voyage to Medya.

  “We won’t be onboard long enough to get uncomfortable,” I informed her, coming up on her from behind. She was standing on a carpet, looking at a smallish bed, probably piling quilts on it in her mind.

  It wasn’t freezing cold on Tren Bay at this time of year, but it could get brisk at night.

  “We’re not taking Chawnee?” she said, without turning.

  I took her in my arms. “We can’t,” I said. “We’re going to Volkhydro in winter. A baby could die on the road.”

  “Lee needs to look at her sister,” she said. “Her real sister. Not these daughters of whores.”

  Wow, I thought. Didn’t see that coming.

  “I don’t really think the Drifter and the Wet Bally girl –“ I began.

  She turned in my arms and put her hands on my chest. I was wearing a thicker version of my white homespun shirt. I held her in my arms still.

  “They came for your horses and your seed,” she said. “I know my people. I thought they’d gotten neither. I thought that, at the worst, there’d be a fair-haired child among the Waya Agiladia.”

  I hadn’t even thought that far ahead.

  Pretty much every single woman in this world whom I’d been with h
ad born at least one child by me and, with one exception, they’d decided it best that I didn’t know about it.

  Was I a monster?

  I hadn’t thought so. Now I wasn’t sure.

  “When we find them,” I said, “we’ll bring them home. All of them, Shela.

  “But you can’t bring Chawnee,” I said.

  She opened her mouth to complain, but I put my fingers against her lips, looked into her eyes.

  “We’re not invincible,” I said. “We’ve won a lot against the odds, but we can lose, and we tend to forget that.”

  She just searched my eyes with hers.

  “We need to leave a Mordetur in the Empire,” I said. “If we fall or, worse, if we’re overcome, our allies need a member of the Imperium to rally around, even if she’s just a baby.”

  That was a horrible thing to tell a mother, but it was the truth as well. I let Shela know that she could stay if she wanted, but there was no having it. If this was a dangerous thing to do, she’d be right at my side, doing it with me.

  The ship left on the morning tide on the second day of Life’s month. A strong fall wind had The Bitch skimming across the waves on Tren Bay and into the open sea before we realized it.

  Moving fifty Angadorian Knights was one thing, moving their horses was another. We ended up taking three ships and even then it was tight. Someone made the mistake of putting a stallion in the same hold as a mare in heat, and we almost had to put the beast down. As it was, he screamed himself hoarse (no pun intended) for the first five of seven days.

  For decades, the city of Medya had been barely more than a ruin. Under my influence it was a thriving coastal town with a ready trade in timber and ore going. Moving these heavier commodities through a central city rather than the bigger ports at Lupha and Hydrus meant that we could tailor the port for barges rather than our regular sailing vessels, and we could design a port for moving heavier equipment. Rails instead of roads were being planned from the main streets, which were being paved in cobblestones.

  I’d conquered this city (or, Vulpe had) in the middle of Chaos’ month, but you’d think we’d been here a year from how busy the port was.