Aybien pointed to the next name. “Then there’s Phenniel, an Alasian who was already working for Rampus before he got himself hired as palace cook. I’m told he was assigned to drug everyone’s wine so no one would wake up when our troops invaded their palace.”
Rampus thought of every detail. Korram couldn’t hold back a shiver. How long had the regent been scheming to conquer Alasia? And did he have equally well-thought-out schemes involving Korram’s death?
“These last five,” Aybien went on, still going through his list, “are merchants, or perhaps spies posing as merchants – Malornians, I believe – who travel back and forth regularly between the two kingdoms. They helped by sending information about how to get across the border, what route our soldiers should take to Almar so they’d be least likely to be seen along the way, how best to get through the city in the middle of the night, and so forth.”
Korram studied the list, trying to commit the names to memory. This was more information than he had expected, but it could be very useful. After I’m king, maybe I can establish closer ties with Alasia. His father had mentioned once, years ago, that the two kingdoms had never bothered to build a close relationship because there was no easy way to get large groups across the border river. Besides, the last few centuries had seen occasional skirmishes with their northern neighbors, and Malornian rulers throughout history had notoriously good memories of past wrongs.
But Korram didn’t see any point in staying bitter about incidents involving long-dead ancestors. As long as that little Alasian prince could keep from getting himself killed, there was hope for a good relationship between their kingdoms someday after they were both crowned. Maybe he and I can work out some trade agreements so Malorn can still have access to those Alasian resources Rampus is promising everybody. That would help Korram’s popularity among his own people. And this list would make an excellent bargaining chip or peace offering.
“Thank you, High Councilor,” Korram said sincerely. “This could be very helpful. I’m going to go meet with the queen now, but perhaps you and I could talk again later. I’ll be returning to my army camp in the next day or so, but I’ll probably be back to the city again soon for news.”
“I’ll be glad to help with whatever I can, Sire,” Aybien assured him. “Although I hope we can meet without the rest of the High Council knowing; otherwise I’m afraid they’ll report our meetings to Rampus. Many of them owe him their positions, after all.”
In Mother’s sitting room once more, Korram shared what he had learned with his family and friends. They were discussing possible uses for Aybien’s list when Sir Fluffle looked up from his perch on Thel’s lap and pricked up his ears. An instant later, they were interrupted by a knock on the door.
“Yes?” called Mother.
The servant who opened it looked disapproving. “I beg your pardon, my lady, but a boy who’s been helping in the stable says he has to talk to the prince. I’ve told him to go away, but he keeps insisting that it’s important and that he’s a friend of Prince Korram’s. One of the guards did see them enter together yesterday. Shall I have him escorted out?”
The queen glanced at Korram, who shook his head. “No, of course not. He is a friend of mine. Send him in!”
Jeskie appeared and bowed low to the royalty in the room. “Sorry to bother you, your Majesty and everyone. But I thought you might wanna hear what I’ve found out.”
Thel smiled welcomingly. “I’m not surprised you would have been busy talking to people and finding things out. Come sit down and you can tell us what you’ve learned!”
Kalendria looked shocked at this breech of etiquette. But if Mother was startled that a guest was taking it upon herself to welcome in another guest, her smile never faltered.
With a glance at the queen for permission, Jeskie seated himself at the hearth beside Arden, who had been softly strumming his malute while they talked.
“I rode over to the barracks this mornin’, your Highness,” the boy told Korram, “to see who was still here in Sazellia. Everyone says most o’ the soldiers are off in Alasia now, and it’s true. Only the Sazellian Battalion is left, which is two hundred an’ fifty men.”
Korram nodded. “That fits with what I heard from the High Council.”
“But did they tell you the best part, Sire?” Jeskie was grinning.
“What best part?” demanded Thel, stroking the cat’s silky white head.
“That’s Captain Ebbrem’s regiment!” Jeskie was fairly bouncing up and down in his excitement.
“Who’s Captain Ebbrem?” wondered Ernth, and Arden’s malute echoed his curiosity with a puzzled trill.
“He’s Sergeant Sanjik’s brother! I know him, and he knows me, and he’s loyal to Prince Korram just like Sanjik is. He’ll have his men do anythin’ the prince tells him to!”
Korram laughed delightedly. “That is good news! Well, done, Jeskie.”
“Well, what do you think his men should do?” Kalendria wondered.
I ought to be presenting that question to my High Council, Korram thought. That’s what they’re for, after all. But his family and closest friends were more reliable advisors to him than most of the Council members would ever be.
He had already told them about his idea of trying to find and ally with the surviving Alasian soldiers. “Do you think I should I have Ebbrem bring his regiment up to the foothills and join my Mountain Folk army?” he queried.
Arden paused in his playing and cleared his throat as though asking for permission to speak. But no, Korram realized the next moment, he hadn’t actually cleared his throat at all; he had only plucked a handful of strings with a low, throaty sound. The effect was the same, though. Everyone turned to him expectantly.
“Yes?” Korram prompted.
“Sire, perhaps you can also find a way to speak to our troops already in Alasia; or at least to the officers. If you could travel there and address them without Rampus hearing, you could tell them the truth, and then surely they would side with you. That way Ebbrem’s men wouldn’t have to end up fighting their compatriots.”
Mother nodded. “Perhaps there wouldn’t even have to be fighting at all. If you can convince them, they can help you take Rampus prisoner.”
“But I can’t prove that he’s actually done anything illegal,” Korram reminded her. “I would be the one breaking the law if I had him locked up without a trial.”
“Then wait until he does something bad,” Thel suggested. “Didn’t you say you think he’s going to try to have you killed in the next couple of moons?”
Ernth, who had been fidgeting with the teeth on his necklace, brightened. “Then I can save your life like I’m supposed to, but we won’t kill the person who tries to kill you. We’ll just catch him and make him tell everyone the truth that it was Rampus who wanted him to do it.”
“And then the High Court would convict Rampus of attempted assassination, and he would probably be executed, or at least imprisoned for life,” Korram finished. “But in any case, I think the first step should still be to get Captain Ebbrem and his men to join me, just in case. It will take time for them to learn to get along with Mountain Folk and fight alongside them. Once they’re trained and I have a larger army, then we can decide what to do with them all and think of a way for me to speak to the officers in Alasia.”
“You could come back to the city every few days,” suggested Kalendria, “and we could discuss how things are going and if we have any new ideas. That way Mother and I wouldn’t have to wait so long to see you.”
Mother nodded. “Let’s send for Ebbrem this afternoon and tell him the plan. Then he and his men can accompany you to the foothills in the morning.”
The malute gave another of its questioning trills. “I wonder,” Arden murmured, almost to himself, “how quickly Malornian soldiers could learn to fight with spears.”
Korram turned to him in surprise. “With spears? Why?”
Arden’s fingers toyed thoughtfully with the strings. �
��All Malornian soldiers know how to defend themselves against enemies wielding swords. But how many would know the right defense against a spear attack?”
Korram grinned in understanding. “If everyone on my side could use a spear the way the Mountain Folk can, we’d have a huge advantage. Rampus’s men wouldn’t know what to do with us!”
He turned to Jeskie. “That blacksmith you ordered the spears from the first time. Do you think he could make us two hundred fifty more?”
“I’m sure he could, Sire.”
“You should tell him to start today,” Thel suggested. “The Lowlander soldiers can begin practicing with our old spears, the ones without the sharp metal tips, but they’ll need good ones as soon as possible.”
Korram nodded. “Tell him I’ll pay double if he can get them done in the next week. Let’s see … this is Thursday.” He only knew that because of the meeting that morning. The High Council met on Mondays and Thursdays. “I’ll plan on coming back to town next Wednesday afternoon, and I’ll join the High Council meeting the next day; then I’ll leave for the foothills again on Friday morning. So ask the blacksmith to finish in a week if he possibly can.”
Chapter 21
“Again,” Sanjik shouted, “from the top!”
He means from the beginning. Lowlanders had strange ways of expressing things, but Ernth was used to it now. He raised his spear, holding it in that awkward way in which he was supposed to pretend it was a sword, and wheeled Hungry around again to face his opponent.
The Lowlander who was his partner in this exercise hefted his own spear, holding it the way you were really supposed to. At first none of these Lowlander soldiers had had any idea how to use spears properly, but they were learning fast. Just as the music player had suggested, Sanjik had been teaching them how to use spears against swords, or at least against spears that people were pretending were swords, and they had gotten pretty good now.
They’re not smarter than us. It’s just that they knew how to be soldiers already. These Lowlanders already knew how to march, how to ride in straight lines, how to fight with weapons, how to follow orders even when they didn’t make sense. Apparently learning how to fight with a new kind of weapon wasn’t that hard compared to everything Ernth and his people had had to learn.
Ernth swung with his fake sword, aiming for the Lowlander’s throat. The man blocked his blow easily with his shield and struck out with the spear in a perfect Offense One. Ernth ducked and nudged Hungry with his feet, and she darted left, putting him in position to slash out again. The shaft of his spear nearly found its mark this time, but the Lowlander brought up his shield and countered just in time with a quick Offense Two – a little clumsily done, but effective. It knocked Ernth off balance, and before he could get back into position, his opponent swung into an Offense Five. Ernth ducked again, but as he brought his shield up, he knew it wouldn’t quite be in time.
But Hungry, reading the situation before he could tell her what to do, dodged to one side and the Lowlander’s blow met empty air. Grinning, Ernth swung the spear around once more, wishing he could just stab out with it normally. The man’s shield rose before him again, but this time Ernth reached out with his left hand and grabbed the rim of the shield, yanking it aside so he could slash under it. There was a thud as wood met flesh.
“Yes!” Ernth exulted. Finally!
“That’s cheating,” objected the Lowlander, jerking his shield out of Ernth’s grasp and backing his horse away.
“Why does it matter? When we’re fighting, aren’t we supposed to try to win however we can?” Taking advantage of the man’s distraction, Ernth dug his heels into Hungry’s sides and struck out again as she leaped forward.
But the soldier was better prepared than Ernth had thought. His spear whipped out, struck Ernth’s, and seemed to slide around it in a circular parry that shifted it into a hard-to-grip angle and then knocked it out of Ernth’s hand entirely.
“Hey!” Ernth yelled in surprise and indignation as the weapon went flying and his opponent’s spear stabbed out at him, stopping just short of his throat. “That’s not one of the moves Sanjik taught us!”
His partner laughed, though not unkindly. “Aren’t we supposed to try to win however we can?”
He’s getting better, Ernth acknowledged grumpily as he slid off Hungry’s back to retrieve his spear. They all are. Ordinarily it would be humiliating to be beaten by a Lowlander, let alone a Lowlander using a Mountain weapon. But we’re on the same side now, he reminded himself. Korram’s side. And Korram kept reminding them all how big and how well trained Rampus’s army was, and how important it was for them all to work together to have any hope of beating him.
Two short whistle blasts followed by one long one put an end to the day’s practice. The Lowlander soldiers began to drift toward their own camp while Ernth and the others headed for theirs at the opposite end of the practice grounds.
Korram met him outside the tent they shared. “I think training has been going pretty well, don’t you?” questioned his friend, bending to toss his spear inside.
“I suppose so. At least, the Lowlanders are getting better, if that’s what you mean.”
“It is. Captain Ebbrem and Sergeant Sanjik have been doing an amazing job of merging the two fighting forces, not to mention training the newcomers.”
“Being brothers probably helps them work together better,” Ernth suggested.
“Yes, and you’re all learning to work together and trust each other,” Korram pointed out. “Anyway, I know it’s our platoon’s turn to gather the firewood, but I have to go remind Thel and Jeskie that we’re heading to Sazellia first thing tomorrow morning. Tell the others I’ll come and help as soon as I can.”
Dannel was thoughtful as his horse wove its way through the streets of Sazellia in the chill of the winter evening. He had been right: Korram was back from the Impassables, and, by all accounts, hard at work training the army he had successfully recruited. Rampus had been suspicious ever since the rumors had been confirmed, certain now that the prince had his own interests in mind and was prepared to use his new army to attain them.
If Rampus’s plan works, he’ll soon have nothing more to fear from Korram. But Korram had already proven his resourcefulness, and Dannel wasn’t so sure that the problem would be solved as smoothly as the regent hoped. And that uncertainty presented intriguing possibilities.
Dannel directed his horse around a corner and onto a smaller street. A tiny piece of his mind was looking ahead to the meeting he was to have that evening, but he gave most of his concentration to the larger situation about to come to a head. One way or another.
Korram will probably prove more difficult to eliminate than Rampus hopes. It was possible that the prince would even survive the coming encounter, especially if Dannel decided to step in and lend a hand. Which of course Dannel would be more than willing to do as long as he could be assured of adequate compensation and minimal risk of discovery by Rampus later – assuming Rampus even survived to discover his betrayal, of course.
The way Dannel saw it, four possible outcomes could emerge in the next few days. He numbered them off in his mind as he rode, mentally arranging them in order of least-to-most likely.
One. Both Rampus and Korram would end up dead. Probably not, but it was possible. That posed interesting questions as to how the void in Malorn’s leadership would be filled. Whichever High Council member was chosen to fill it, Dannel planned to continue to offer his services – for the right price, of course. He might also consider availing himself to any surviving Alasian military leaders. With the prince and regent both out of the picture and Malornian leadership in transition, it would be the perfect opportunity for the Alasians to try once more to free their kingdom. With Dannel’s assistance, they might even succeed. Of course, they would probably not be in a position to pay as well as the Malornians, so if Dannel were helping both sides, there was little doubt as to whom the eventual victors would be.
Unles
s I could convince one or both sides to pay me ahead of time. In that case, he would be free to choose whichever outcome would be likely to benefit him most in the long run. Dannel filed that intriguing possibility away for further consideration later.
Two. Korram would survive and Rampus would not. Again, that would be more likely if Dannel decided to step in and help, though perhaps not impossible without his aid. He would have to wait and learn more about the situation before he could predict the chances of Korram’s victory. But in case it did come about, Dannel would have to make sure tomorrow that Korram saw him as loyal to Malorn and willing to serve. Payment could be discussed later, after the new king had come to trust him and rely on his information and loyalty.
Three. Rampus would survive and Korram would not. That would be the easiest, though least interesting, result for Dannel to work with. Rampus already trusted him and would certainly desire his continued service after being crowned.
Four. Both Rampus and Korram would survive, at least initially. This could mean several things but would probably involve one of them winning decisively and the other fleeing for his life or being taken captive preparatory to execution.
Either way, the defeated survivor will need help to stay alive. Desperate people in need of assistance provided Dannel’s favorite type of opportunity. They have few choices or resources and are at my mercy. They’ll promise to pay me anything I ask if I can only get them to safety!
On the other hand, the victor might very well want Dannel’s help to keep the defeated enemy imprisoned or to track him down. Whoever that is won’t be as desperate, so he might not be quite as willing to pay what I want, but I can remind him that his throne will never be safe until his opponent is dead. It would probably come down to which of the two was willing to pay more at the last moment, and whose survival – and reign – would be likely to benefit Dannel more in the long run.
Prince of Malorn (Annals of Alasia Book 3) Page 40
