Forged in Fire (Destiny's Crucible Book 4)

by Olan Thorensen

  Yozef started walking to the end of the wing. Carnigan’s room was the last one.

  “The other way,” said Toowin, nodding to the other direction.

  Yozef looked around, thinking he’d forgotten the location of Carnigan’s room.

  “Second one from the end,” said Toowin, after noting Yozef’s momentary confusion.

  Second room? wondered Yozef. That’s . . . oh, yes. Gwyned’s room. He’d seen a large bed being carried up the stairs several days ago and hadn’t thought to ask its destination. Yozef’s discomfiture at having to knock on their door passed when Carnigan exited the room before he reached it. Yozef hadn’t known about the new arrangement. On the tip of his tongue was a quip asking about the new bed and if was strong enough for all the weight and activity. He bit off the thought. Carnigan was his friend, but one never knew.

  “What’s this I hear about you and Anarynd’s son being a future Moreland hetman?” Carnigan asked.

  Yozef stumbled on a slight unevenness in the flooring and caught himself with a hand to the railing. “What—” he uttered, turning to the big man. “Why would you think that?”

  “Next thing I know, you’re going to be crowned king of Fuomon or whatever they call the person on top there,” said Carnigan, laughing. “Or is it just some rumor I heard at the Dead Narthani?” The owner of the previously named Happy Murvor pub had had a brainstorm and renamed his establishment the Dead Narthani. Business boomed.

  “The other night I was having an ale, and a man told me he’d heard it from his cousin. Seems to come from the cousin’s wife, who has a friend with a brother married to a Moreland woman. I told the man it was probably just one of those rumors always floating around about you. It is just a rumor, isn’t it?”

  Chapter 39: A Sea of Sails

  Sails Into the Distance

  It was another pleasant morning—not that he was enjoying it. Okan Akuyun had just finished one folder of paperwork when he heard urgent knocking at his office door. He had come to hate that pattern of knocking from Lieutenant Nestor, his aide, by now associating the sound with something unpleasant to follow. Maybe I should replace Nestor, he thought in resignation. At least the knocking pattern would be different.

  He pushed aside a folder he’d just pulled off the stack on his desk. “Enter,” he called out.

  The door opened immediately, and Nestor rushed to the front of his desk, holding a piece of paper.

  “Sir, a picket sloop in the gulf has signaled sighting Narthani ships sailing toward the city. Many ships, including ships of the line.”

  Akuyun froze. War galleons at Caedellium, he thought. So today is the day. It had been five months since Narthon replied to his report on the failure to proceed with the original mission plan. Narthon had given orders to solidify their current positions and wait for additional forces without mentioning the High Command’s view of his performance as the commander of the failure. Even though the parameters of the original plan recognized that taking the entire island with minimum troops was not certain, Akuyun never could be sure how the current political and military situation in Narthon would respond. Akuyun and his wife had discussed the possibilities too many times. They agreed that in the worst case, he would be relieved of command, be sent back to Narthon, and be relegated to dead-end posts with no possibility of advancement for the rest of his life. Yet an even more drastic possibility lurked in the darker recesses of their thoughts, unspoken by either of them: sometimes High Command ordered a commander to be not only relieved but executed. Unlikely in this case. Not impossible.

  Akuyun became aware that Nestor still stood in front of him and that through the open office door several other staff waited at their stations for his response. He composed himself. Whatever is coming—is coming, he told himself. Appearances are important.

  “Thank you, Lieutenant.” He took the message. It was short: war galleons, with frigates and many transports off to the horizon. The large numbers of troops would need shelter and feeding as soon as they came ashore. Akuyun rapidly began issuing orders for quartermaster officers to prepare temporary encampment locations already laid out in anticipation and to begin to activate field kitchens—for exactly how many men, they would know shortly, but they would at least have a start. Then he sent messages to his main subordinates, simply alerting them to the news. Then he waited.

  By mid-afternoon, Narthani ships dotted the sea off Preddi City. A cutter arrived with the “request” for Akuyun to meet with Marshal Dursun Gullar aboard the fleet’s flagship. He knew of Gullar but had never served under him and had only vague impressions of competence, though not brilliance. Akuyun went straight to his family’s villa to change into more formal and traditional Narthani officer attire, having preferred comfortable clothing since coming to Caedellium. Whatever the outcome of the meeting with Gullar, he would be there as a Narthani general.

  Rabia was surprised when he came into the main house. When he gave her the news, her mouth tightened, and a few more lines appeared at the corners of her eyes, but she gave no other indication of worry, hustling the domestics to freshen his best uniform, give his hair a trim, and force him to eat a hot sweet roll with kava. She sent him out within fifteen minutes with only “See you for evening meal” and a quick hug. She then went to her sitting room, sat in a rocker . . . and waited.

  Akuyun boarded the cutter, and it rowed out to what he assumed was the fleet flagship. He boarded with full honors by ships’ pipes, and smartly dressed sailors and soldiers lined the deck of the seventy-two-gun warship. Multiple streamers flew from the aft mast, identifying that the ship held the fleet admiral and expedition commander. The ship’s captain met him and took him into a large cabin in the rear of the ship, whereupon the captain excused himself and left.

  Marshal Gullar was of average height, a solid build that suggested a muscular younger physique only now slowly settling into late middle age; close-cropped hair, white on the sides; a round face; and close-together eyes that conveyed a confident mind behind them.

  “General Akuyun reporting to Marshal Gullar,” said Akuyun, in precisely the correct tone and with an equally precise officer-to-officer salute: right elbow snapped to his side, forearm raised upward, hand open, palm toward the object of the salute. It was the first time in seven years that he had saluted a superior.

  “General Akuyun, thank you for coming so quickly. Please have a seat.” Gullar gestured with his left hand to one of two chairs at the cabin table, where several open and sealed folders lay.

  “I couldn’t be sure if you were in Preddi City, but I wanted the two of us to meet as soon as possible before more formal meetings with other staff. There are a few issues we should discuss before then.”

  “Thank you, Marshal Gullar. I’m glad I was available. I came as quickly as I could. Although I don’t know your specific orders or requirements, I knew from a dispatch from Narthon of your coming. In anticipation, I’ve had my staff prepare encampment sites, food, and other likely needs. I’m hoping there will be minimal implementation problems, once we know more.”

  “Sounds fine, General. We’ll get to that in a while. First, let’s get right to some basic topics.”

  Gullar flipped open a folder, glanced at it and then back at Akuyun.

  “My orders are to subdue the people on this island by force of arms as quickly as possible. I have with me sixty-eight thousand men and two hundred cannon comprising the Twenty-Ninth Corps and thirty 30-pounder cannon for your use, as you see fit. We also have two 55-pounders, along with shot. I’m not sure why those were added, but I certainly can’t use them.”

  Akuyun digested the news. A few more men than the message from Narthon said, and an intact corps, not just units assembled for the mission, as were ours. That must indicate the High Command has other plans for Gullar after Caedellium is incorporated. They wouldn’t send an intact operational corps as an occupying force. On to Landolin? And the cannon? Ketin will salivate to get those incorporated into the Preddi City fo
rtifications.

  “I’ve read your reports carefully, both those on the efforts to integrate these island clans over several years and the inconclusive battle with the islanders. I must say, I would not have been in favor of the original mission plan of trying to absorb the island with so few men and taking more time. I’m sure it’s my own predilections, but I would have been inclined to just send forty or fifty thousand men and crush any opposition right from the start. However, that was not my decision. I also want to let you know that your last report was not received well universally at the High Command. Some officers were extremely disappointed at what they perceived as a failure at the command level here on Caedellium.”

  Akuyun steeled himself on hearing those words.

  “However, more rational heads seemed to have prevailed, something that doesn’t always occur at the highest levels. The consensus, with which I find myself in agreement, is that given the limited resources at your disposal and the recognition that this venture was deliberately designed to aim for success with minimal effort, if there is any reason to assign fault, it would best lie at the feet of the original plan.”

  Akuyun didn’t let it show, but his chest muscles relaxed, and his breath came slower. Looks like our unstated worst case is not to be, he thought. So let’s hear exactly what’s in store.

  “Thank you for that insight, Marshal. Naturally, I am disappointed we were not able to use what we had to bring Caedellium into the empire, but now that you are here, I’m sure that final objective will be accomplished.” No harm in sucking up to a new superior.

  “That’s certainly the idea. Now, to some details.” Gullar unfolded and laid on the table a map of Caedellium. “I am tasked to do whatever is necessary to bring the island completely into the empire quickly, by absorbing the current peoples, if possible, or by crushing opposition completely, if necessary. From your reports, and unless things have changed dramatically, I assume it will have to be the latter.”

  “Unfortunately, the situation has changed, Marshal Gullar. Since the battle I reported, we’ve lost the support of the two clans and provinces previously under our control. A month ago, two separate clan forces we estimate at ten to twelve thousand each, along with 6-pounder cannon, moved against those two clans. We had no warning. The clans had vigorously patrolled the borders and had been too successful in uncovering many of our agents who previously sent reports on clan activities.” Akuyun pointed out the two lost clans on the map. “We didn’t lose many men, but our garrison in Eywell Province was forced to withdraw back to Preddi. At the same time and under the distraction of the two clan forces, the Selfcell Clan closed the main gates of their capital. I had ordered the local garrison to concentrate with the city’s defenses, where our ships could support them. The Selfcell commander, Colonel Metan, made one unsuccessful attempt to reenter the city, but faced with uncertainty over the exact location and intentions of the clans, he withdrew back to Preddi territory. I endorsed both commanders’ decisions. There has been no major fighting since then, but skirmishes occur whenever we send patrols across the borders. I should also inform you that there is a single report from one of our few remaining agents operating within a clan of some small level of Fuomi involvement.”

  “Fuomi, huh?” grunted Gullar. “That was one of our suspicions after we read your report about the one battle and how the islanders unexpectedly used tactics and a willingness to sacrifice men. I’ll be honest with you and say that your General Zulfa may have taken the Caedelli too lightly. On the other hand, the evident precision of the islander attack seemed totally out of place for these people. That’s why we’ve had increased suspicion that the Fuomi have been somehow involved. I’d hoped you’d have better estimates of the degree of involvement.”

  “It can’t be too large,” said Akuyun. “Certainly, there are no signs of Fuomi troops, and we haven’t seen any of their ships, although we didn’t have enough ships to search extensively. With what naval strength we had, Admiral Kalcan and I agreed we needed to keep our frigates and sloops at hand for support and to keep up patrolling the coasts.”

  Gullar nodded, not otherwise indicating whether he agreed with not searching harder for Fuomi ships or he only accepted Akuyun’s explanation without comment. “Well, that will end now,” asserted Gullar. “Admiral Dimir has enough ships. I’ll have him keep constant patrols along the coasts and sweep out a few hundred miles. If Fuomi ships are around, he’ll either find them or push them too far away to be a factor.”

  Having dismissed the issue of the Fuomi, Gullar moved on. “The one aspect of my orders I’m not comfortable with is that there will be a divided command structure,” said the marshal.

  “Divided?”

  “I will be in command of only the corps I brought with me and all naval assets. Your Admiral Kalcan will be temporarily under Admiral Dimir’s authority. You will remain in charge of Narthani territory, which, as you indicate, is now just this . . .” Gullar consulted his notes. “Uh . . . what used to be the islanders’ Preddi Province. I believe the High Command thought it best to let you concentrate on the province holding our civilians and the two allied clans. Although that’s changed with the loss of those clans, orders are orders, and I don’t see a need to override them. I would have preferred a completely unified command, but it was decided that protection of the Narthani civilians and production within existing territory and keeping control of the Eywellese and Selfcell peoples would only divert my mission of subduing the rest of the island. Naturally, you are to provide support for my campaign but will not participate directly. Your attention is to be on protecting our base of operations. As I said, I would have preferred a single overall command structure, but I understand their reasoning, and I don’t see it as a problem in reaching the final objective.”

  Akuyun’s mind raced through the implications. Even though Gullar doesn’t say it, I’m not formally his direct subordinate. Naturally, I will assist where I can, but the final victory here will be attributed to him and not me.

  “Naturally, I will assist wherever I can,” said Akuyun, repeating his thoughts, “and I can see the logic behind either structure. But, as you say, it was the High Command’s decision.”

  The two men spoke for another half hour on preliminary plans for disembarking Gullar’s men and their initial support. They scheduled a full senior staff meeting on shore for the next day to go over details for a more permanent deployment and to allow Akuyun’s staff to update the new arrivals on the current situation.

  Akuyun took the same cutter back to the harbor. By now, his senior staff had gathered in his headquarters: Zulfa and the three colonels, Assessor Hizer, Admiral Kalcan, and civilian administrator Tuzere. All were anxious to learn the basic outline of the consequences of Gullar’s arrival—including Akuyun’s fate, their own positions, and any clues to Gullar’s plans. The three troop leaders were not pleased to hear they wouldn’t participate in finishing off the islanders. Kalcan was already resigned to being integrated into Admiral Dimir’s command structure, along with his men and ships. Only Tuzere seemed obviously relieved that Narthon had acknowledged the importance of his responsibilities and would likely decree no changes for him or his staff.

  Hizer’s reaction remained the only one that Akuyun couldn’t read. The fact that no additional assessor had come with the fleet meant that Hizer would now spend most of his time with Gullar—the implication being that back on Narthon, the High Command had not been disappointed with how he carried out his duties, and it further indicated that Akuyun’s status had not been fatally marred.

  It was near sundown when Akuyun returned home. He had sent word earlier to Rabia only that, “He would be home at the usual time.” She needed no other wording to know that all things considered, her husband’s status remained relatively unchanged. She was still sitting in her chair when the message arrived. She took it from the messenger, thanked him, and then went back into her sitting room. After closing the door, she sat back in her chair, hugged hersel
f tightly with both arms, and trembled for almost an hour.

  Orosz Clan Headquarters, Orosz City

  “It’s an impressive summary, Tomis,” Yozef said to the Orosz hetman. “I was worried that when we added Orosz City to the battlefield list and simultaneously decided more clanspeople from other clans would come here as their redoubt, the logistics wouldn’t work. However, you and the other hetmen have done a superb job. The people will be packed elbow to elbow in the city and mountain cleft valleys, but they’ll be fed, housed, and protected as well as in any other redoubt on the whole island.”

  “Anger, fear, and determination can add up to a mighty motivation,” said Orosz. “I’ve seen the reports on other redoubts, and I’m glad most of my people will be here.”

  “Oh, most clans are doing fine getting ready—at least, as ready as they’re going to be,” said Yozef, not sure whether Orosz’s comment was a criticism of other clans. “Although I’ll agree that not many of the others will be as well defended. On the other hand, the Narthani will be able to come right up to your walls, while most of the other redoubts are in mountains or other terrain, making them more difficult to approach. I’m just hoping for as much time as—”

  Yozef’s last words were cut off as Tomis Orosz’s office door slammed open. A man Yozef didn’t recognize rushed in, waving a piece of paper used for semaphore messages.

  “Hetman!” the man gasped, out of breath. He tried speaking but could get no more than a word or two out before Orosz grabbed the sheet. As he read, his mouth clenched, and he slapped the paper with his other hand.

  “I’m afraid we’re out of time, Yozef,” he said grimly and handed Yozef the message.

  From: Hetman Keelan

  To: All Hetmen

  Dornfeld fishermen est hundred Narthani

  ships sail to Preddi City

  many warships include 2 and 3 gun