Demophon frowned. Would he be opening himself to recriminations from home if he countermanded these old orders?
“I see. Then we have nothing further to discuss until I have contacted Lord Mortain. I am weary; please have one of the men show me to my quarters.”
Navarien nodded and called a man from the door to escort him to a room on the third floor. Once inside, his pleasant smile disappeared as if it had never been. Why did Godwinson do it? A sorcerer overruled by a mere legionnaire… he had never heard of anything like it. It didn’t matter now, he supposed. He had no choice but to contact Mortain—may he live forever—and ask that Navarien’s old orders be rescinded in favour of new ones to give him control of the legion.
He pursed his lips in thought. Killing Navarien wouldn’t give him control… or would it? He didn’t know who the next most senior man was, but he would be unlikely to take kindly to his general being murdered. He stripped off his disgusting clothes so he might wash and sleep. Later as he drifted toward sleep he found himself wondering what Godwinson’s game was, and what part the general played in it. He would give much to know that.
* * *
Interlude I
Talitha lay back in the water and gave herself to the attentions of her girls. Bathing was still one of her favourite pleasures, but she found her attention wandering.
Talitha and Ranen, Ranen and Talitha.
It even sounded right. The ceremony to join the First Prince of Lushan to the Matriarch in marriage was complete. Never before had a ceremony been arranged so fast. The people had been delighted and afterwards they had breathed a collective sigh of relief.
The Matriarch was wed, hallelujah!
She grinned. She wondered how long it would take them to change their worry from her marriage to her lack of pregnancy. Not long she thought. Still, the people were happy and that was good, but she and Ranen were closer to ecstatic than happy, which was marvellous. They had seen each other many times over the years, usually at court, but sometimes at other functions as well. It was only over this last year they had found an attraction, and that seemed strange now she thought on it. All men were attractive to her in varying degrees, but Ranen had never caught her eye before. That is until his father made his inexcusable blunder and was forced to commit suicide. She had seen something she liked that day, and it had blossomed into love. At least she thought it had. Love was a stranger to her, one she had been uncertain existed. Jarek was the one who told her what it was like. That was how she knew she loved Ranen. She had found love to be exciting and scary at the same time—like riding a horse at full gallop toward a jump and being uncertain if she was going to make it.
Exhilarating. That’s what it was.
Talitha lay floating with her eyes closed enjoying her bath and seeing Ranen in her mind’s eye. Since their time together began, she had hardly needed a slave in the morning. It was a relief in some ways, but a slight disappointment in others. She had always enjoyed using a boy in the morning, but now she kept thinking of Ranen and found herself uninterested in any other man. She had found in him all she needed, and was thinking of giving her slaves to Jarek to sell.
She smiled as her attendants giggled and splashed each other. It was good they enjoyed their work. “Hmmm, that’s lovely Irena.”
“I’m glad mistress. Is this good too?”
She gasped, the voice was not Irena’s! She opened her eyes to look into Ranen’s and smiled. “That was sneaky; I thought you were still asleep.”
He continued his caress. “I was, but all the giggling and sighing out here woke me. I thought I had better investigate… just in case Tymek had missed an intruder.”
Talitha chuckled and splashed him as she rose to her feet. Her girls quietly withdrew as she kissed him deeply. His hands stroked her back and his flaccid penis pressed against her. She moved against him and felt him stir as his questing tongue explored.
Ranen pulled away. “I love you more than life.”
She jumped forward with a splash to hug him. “I love you more than—bath time!” she said laughing, but he was disappointed at her jest. “I love you more than life, Ranen. Before you, there was only duty. You taught me what love is.”
“I have something else to teach you,” he said with a wicked chuckle.
She looked down; his manhood was hard and pressing against her belly despite the cooling water. “I wonder what it could be,” she said tapping a finger against her lips.
“Let me show you,” he said hoisting her into his arms. He carried her dripping and shivering out of the pool and into bed, but his lesson soon warmed her up.
Candlemarks later they sat eating breakfast near the windows overlooking the palace grounds. The snow had stopped, leaving the gardens pristine in their whiteness. This time of year was special to her. The days rolled by slower than usual and the palace was quiet. Her princes and their retainers shunned the palace at this time of year. It was almost as if the rest of the country ceased to exist, all gone except the palace and her own city. She imagined time stopped for everyone outside of her palace, and only began again when spring came. It didn’t really of course. Down in the bowels of the palace, her servants were as busy as ever running things for her. Without them, Japura really would stop. Sadly, in a few short tendays the princes would descend on Pura with their problems and concerns once again.
Thoughts of those down below brought her chamberlain to mind. Jarek had professed innocence when she spoke of his illness, but she knew he was hiding it from her. Wanikiya had asked the other healers if they knew anything of his ailment, and one had come forward. Sahamia was younger than Wani, but she was still a very good healer when all was said. Jarek had a bad heart. Worse, he would likely die if he didn’t rest. The answer seemed simple—replace Jarek so he might rest, but it wasn’t that easy. He would die of boredom if she did that.
“What’s the matter my love?” Ranen said as he pushed his plate away.
Talitha had already finished hers, and was sipping a tea Wani said was good against winter gripes. Whether it was or not, she liked it. Hot lemon tea was always nice in winter.
“I was thinking about Jarek. Wani says it’s serious, and he’ll die if he keeps on as he is.”
Ranen swirled his tea around the glass absently. “I know he’s important to you, but he wouldn’t understand if you replace him.”
“I know. We need to think of something, but what?”
Ranen smiled at being included in her decisions. Matriarchs didn't often consult their consorts; they often ignored them entirely after they performed their duty of siring an heir.
“Perhaps he needs another task—something mentally challenging that he can do from his bed.”
“Hmmm, we could—” she broke off as her guard admitted the subject under discussion. Her smile of welcome froze as she saw his face. Ranen jumped up as if expecting the older man to expire on the spot, he looked that bad. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
“Talayan… Talayan is gone!” Jarek’s face was grey. He had never looked older to her than he did right now.
“Sit down before you fall!” she commanded, and without complaint, he did.
His meekness was not like him. He was favouring his left arm again. It seemed weak and she could see his hands were trembling. Her eyes stung at this new evidence of his decline. She waved Tymek to her.
“Send for Wanikiya.”
Tymek sent one of his men off on the errand then stood back to watch. Talitha meanwhile was sitting next to Jarek listening with growing horror to his news. Ranen was silent and grim; he knew this meant war on a scale not seen for two hundred years or more.
“The city is burned, utterly destroyed. Refugees are streaming into nearby towns, hysterical for the most part. They say an army of a hundred thousand Tanjuners attacked in the night and defeated our lancers. The slaves were helping them. The city fell and the population was systematically abused and murdered. Barely twenty thousand survived the sack. That’s twenty t
housand from a possible eighty thousand, discounting the slaves. The Tanjuners looted the city and put it to the torch. Nothing remains but blackened and cracked walls where Talayan the Invincible once stood.”
“Now we know what Vexin is made of,” Talitha whispered remembering the conversation they’d had and her decision to raid Tanjung. When one of his lords raided two of her coastal cities, she had considered using diplomacy to make him desist, but history clearly showed that Tanjung never ceased raiding unless greater force in the form of counter-raiding was applied. In short, Tanjuners respected only force.
Mighty Talayan, Talayan the Invincible was gone. It was the greatest disaster ever to befall Japura in all her long history. Pirate raids and other attacks over the years were as nothing compared to this—even collectively, they were as nothing! Talayan was—had been—her greatest city. Only Orrisa in the west came close. Even her capital, Pura, didn’t match what Talayan boasted in population and wealth. Sixty thousand of her people were dead… the slaves were nothing, but sixty thousand dead Japuran citizens… it was war. No question of raiding or talking would be countenanced this time, even if she wanted to she couldn’t do other than attack. The people obeyed her absolutely, and so did the princes, but Vexin was not under her authority. What would be his next move? Destroying Talayan had lain open her entire northern border. It had to be the first move toward invasion.
What else could it be?
Why had he done such a monstrous thing? He must know she could not let this stand. Japura had been stable within her current borders for thousands of years, ever since the installation of Armina as the first Matriarch. Why now, what reason could there be? She just didn’t know.
Vexin had hit Japura where it hurt, and she had to respond—had to! For years, raiding and counter-raiding had been the norm, but this atrocity had changed that forever. It was unbelievable. Why did he do it… why? Sixty thousand dead—it meant the end of Tanjung, or the end of Japura. This war wouldn’t stop until one or the other was destroyed. The victor would own it all, but she couldn’t see gains in this. All she saw was the ruin and devastation that would result from Vexin’s action.
She stared into the distance at nothing. For years to come, her people would look back upon her reign and cry tears of woe, and there was nothing she could do to avert it. Sixty thousand dead… and how many more to follow them to the grave before it was done?
Wanikiya came in then and quickly set about examining a protesting Jarek. His colour was much improved, but Talitha noticed him surreptitiously massaging his left arm.
Wanikiya pounced instantly. “Hah! I knew it, but no, you had to pretend. Fool man!”
Jarek spluttered. “How dare you! Have you no respect for my position?”
Wanikiya laughed as she rummaged in her basket. “What position is that, deary? I’ve tried them all at one time or another!”
“I meant my position as chamberlain!”
“Oh that, no,” she said absently.
“No?” Jarek said puzzled.
“What use is a chamberlain to me? You’re just someone who needs my help… and a man of course.”
Jarek’s brows shot up at the casual addendum. Ranen smirked, but Talitha was thinking of snowy roads and travel times, supplies and cavalry. How many could she call on and how long to get them into the vicinity of Talayan? Were Talayan’s walls still standing, and could they be used as a secure camp? Tanjung had mages and she did not, would it be better to disperse her forces or concentrate them in the ruins? Dispersal leapt to mind as the obvious choice, but she immediately distrusted that. Any force had to be large enough to overwhelm the Tanjuners before their mages could do too much damage to her forces.
“Here we are deary, now put that under your tongue, and don’t swallow it.”
“Mmmph!” Jarek said as Wanikiya stuffed a wad of something rather nasty looking in his mouth. “—hy ot ollow it?”
“Because I said so! Humph, men never do anything without an argument.”
“—astes isgusting!”
“Best medicine always does deary.”
“We must call the princes and domain lords to immediate council,” Talitha said over Wanikiya’s scolding.
Ranen nodded. “The news is days old. Who knows how far Vexin has moved since Talayan? A hundred thousand men the report said. Where did he get so many?”
“Nowhere,” she said with certainty. “He would have to unite all his lords behind him to raise so many. I don’t believe he could have done that in secret. My guess is the new army at Tanjung Karang isn’t there any longer.”
“Eight thousand against Talayan? Surely they needed more than that.”
“They had more. You heard the report, Ranen. The slaves were helping. How many would you say were in Talayan?”
He paled. “At least as many as there are citizens.”
“You’re wrong there. There must be three times as many slaves as there are citizens. The slaves have always outnumbered every class except the commons. I don’t know how many Talayan had.”
Ranen nodded.
Commoners couldn’t afford slaves, but the princes, domain lords, and the wealthy could afford many. There were hundreds in the palace alone. Talitha had no idea how many resided in Pura and her other cities. Every Japuran knew his place from birth to death including those born to slavery, but Talayan was on the border. Why buy expensive slaves from Orrisa or another city when they had plenty for free right nearby? Many slaves had been captured on border raids over the years, and it made sense to keep most of them in the city. Borderers were neither fully Tanjuner nor Japuran but a mixture of the two. They were consequently a hardy folk, but unlike pure Japuran slaves, they were wilful. She had no doubt the slaves had butchered their masters with glee.
“We have this winter to prepare and that’s all,” she continued. “I don’t believe Vexin will continue his campaign through the winter snows. Supplies will be low. So many horses and men will need a lot of food. We have to be ready to meet and destroy that army in the spring.”
“If we strip Orrisa we could match him immediately,” Ranen offered.
She had already considered that. It was a terrible risk, but it might surprise Vexin… unless he was counting on her doing it. What she needed was more than one force—two armies for Vexin’s War Leader to worry about. Let the Tanjuners worry over one force while she sacked Vexin’s cities and lay waste to his empire with the other.
“I will think more on that, but I’m reluctant to strip Orrisa’s protection, especially considering what happened to Talayan.”
“Perhaps a compromise?”
“Go on.”
“We could inform Strike Leader Wakiza of the situation and have him ready to move out the instant the roads clear, but in the meantime have the princes and domain lords raise their forces. When Wakiza moves, you can replace Orrisa’s defence with men from the lords, while using the princes as a second army.”
This was a demonstration of how right they were for each other. Ranen had read her mind. “That’s exactly what we will do,” she said and turned her attention to Jarek. “How are you feeling now, father of my heart?”
Ranen breathed a shocked oath that made Talitha smile. The Matriarch calling a commoner father! What would everyone say? They would say whatever she told them to say, she thought a little grumpily. She was the Matriarch and therefore perfect. She could not be in error and could not be called to task for anything she did.
“I eel underful. I on’t eed edicine!” Jarek spat out the wad of nasty looking medicine. It was made of various evil looking leaves and mould. Talitha felt queasy just looking at the vile stuff.
“Perhaps I should meet your assistant after all,” Talitha said. “Not that you’re not capable!” she hastened to add.
Jarek was sad at the need, but pleased his Matriarch had finally seen sense. “I’ll bring him along next time, but I feel fine now. I can certainly continue my work; I don’t want to miss anything.”
“This isn’t fun Jarek!” she scolded. “People died by the thousands just a few tendays ago.”
“I know, but I meant I don’t want to miss what you’re going to do to Vexin.”
“I’m going to remove that man from this life and his festering cesspit of an empire from the world once and for all,” she said coldly.
“Good,” Jarek said, and Ranen nodded.
Good?
No, it wasn’t good, but it had to be done. For Japura, for Talayan, but especially for sixty thousand dead citizens.
* * *
6 ~ Dissension
Navarien was concerned; more than concerned if the truth were known. Demophon was about to use the mirror to contact Lord Mortain—may he live forever. What if Mortain was angry with him for the loss of so many of his men? If that was the case, then his days as commanding officer of the Fifth were over, and nothing he could do or say would change it. True, the Protectorate was a long way to the southwest, but now that Demophon was here the Legion was no longer out of contact with it. He could be replaced in an instant now. All Mortain had to do was say four little words: General, you are relieved.
Navarien stood before the mirror hanging on the wall, and watched while Demophon did whatever sorcerers did to bring images of far off places to its surface. The mirror brightened and Mortain appeared. Navarien braced to attention and saluted hand to heart.
“Demophon…” Mortain said silkily.
The sorcerer paled at the malice they heard in that single word.
“I wondered if you would have the stones to contact me after the latest fiasco perpetrated by you and your brothers.”
“I’m sorry, Lord,” Demophon said meekly. “We were intercepted by a hundred shamen and an entire clan of warriors. They took Julia from me, but she might yet die of Tancred poisoning. I ensured her thorough addiction.”
Navarien wanted to spit. No one deserved death by Tancred poisoning; the pain was extreme. A sword was much cleaner. He didn’t like learning that Julia was now among the clans. That snippet could prove dire indeed. If she didn’t die, she could prove to be a major impediment to next year’s campaign.
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