The Pen and the Sword (Destiny's Crucible Book 2) (20 page)

“Why
do I sense I’m being led somewhere?”

Breda
ignored the question, thus by implication confirming her husband’s suspicion. “Maera
has something she wants to discuss with you, dear. Something important.”

Culich’s
head tracked over to his eldest daughter, who, now that he thought about it,
had been unusually demure during the meal.  

Maera
looked steadfastly at him, but . . . wait,
was she pale
?

“Maera?”
he prompted.

“Father,
I appreciate you haven’t pushed me into marrying. I know my responsibilities to
the clan, and I accept those responsibilities. It’s been difficult for both you
and me to find a suitable husband who would benefit the clan and whom I’m
willing to marry. However, I believe I’ve found a satisfactory candidate.”

Culich
stared at his daughter, as he processed what she had just told him. He looked
at his wife and then back to Maera. He might have been initially slow in
detecting undercurrents since he returned, but his innate skill at reading men
and dealing with such currents now came into full play. He looked back and
forth again.

“Yozef
Kolsko,” he stated. “This man you propose to marry is Yozef Kolsko?”

“Yes,
Father.”

“I
assume this means
you
wish to marry
him.
What from his side? Is
he interested in you in that way?”

“He
is. I spoke to him yesterday about it.”

Culich
took a larger sip of his drink. He looked at Breda. She looked back serenely.

The
hetman grunted.
I take it from her demeanor that she approves
.

He
turned back to Maera. “And the advantages to the clan and family to marry
someone not even from the island and without formal clan affiliation?”

“Where
he’s from and his present clan status are irrelevant. Once married into Clan
Keelan, he would be a clan member. As for advantages, they are many—projected
wealth, likely even more innovations than he’s already produced, which would
enhance the clan status, and availability for advice on many matters, something
I suspect you’re coming to appreciate.”

Father
and daughter spent the next twenty minutes going over how Yozef Kolsko would be
an asset to the clan and its hetman. It was all very logical and very annoying
to Breda, even if she understood both the necessity of these considerations and
the dance going on between her husband and daughter.

The
advantage discussion exhausted, Maera switched gears. “In addition, Father, I
don’t see major disadvantages. I know it’s mainly my fault, but there aren’t
many suitors eager to come calling. Not for the last year. I’m not what is . .
.
expected
. We all know with time the choices were becoming more limited.”

“As
for what those suitors
expected
,” growled Culich, “they’re idiots.”
Then, softly, “I want you to know that I’ve
never
been disappointed in
you, Maera. Only disappointed that you felt you hadn’t found your place in the
world and I didn’t seem able to help.”

“Thank
you, Father,” she said in a small voice with a catch in it.

“Harrumph.
Now. As for this Yozef Kolsko. We’ve talked about the advantages and
disadvantages. What about
you
? Is this what you truly want yourself?”

Whatever
her internal doubts, she looked straight into her father’s eyes and said
firmly, “Yes.”

Culich
looked at his wife. “Can I assume correctly that you approve?” he asked with a
sarcastic lilt.

“Yes,
Culich, I
do
approve. I believe he’ll be an asset to the clan, but more important
is that I think he and Maera can have a good marriage.”

“Why
did this Kolsko not come to me directly, instead of sending the women?”

“He
proposed to do that,” Maera responded. “I convinced him that given all the circumstances,
it would be better if I spoke to you first.”

“And
I agreed,” added Breda.

“To
prime me so I didn’t throw him immediately out of the house for such temerity?”

“Something
like that,” said Maera honestly, with a twitch of a smile at the corner of her
mouth.

“Hmmm
. . . not an unreasonable strategy,” said a mollified Culich.

He
leaned forward in his chair. “All right. I won’t say I give my approval. I need
to talk more with Kolsko from a different viewpoint. Have him see me first
thing tomorrow morning.”

“Thank
you, Father.” Maera rose, planted a kiss on Culich’s cheek, gave her mother a
relieved smile, and went to leave Yozef a note.

Culich
looked at his wife with an affectionate smile. “I assume I’ve been handled,” he
stated simply.

“Yes,
dear,” answered his wife, equally simply.

Narthani
Headquarters, Preddi City

Okan
Akuyun walked from his office to the staff meeting room. All of the others were
already present. Brigadier Aivacs Zulfa sat at the head of the table, the
silver crossed swords on his epaulets freshly sewn on, his promotion from
colonel having arrived in the last dispatches from Narthon.

Under
most circumstances, the head chair would have been Akuyun’s, but today Zulfa
would lead the meeting as field commander and go over the final plans for invading
Moreland Province. Akuyun had already approved the broad outline of the plan
and took the empty chair at the other end of the rectangular table. Seated
along one side were Zulfa’s three sub-commanders, Colonels Erdelin, Ketin, and
Metan. On the other side were Admiral Kalcan, Assessor Hizer, and,
unfortunately, Mamduk Balcan, the senior Narth religious official on
Caedellium. Generally, Akuyun tried to exclude Balcan whenever he could, but this
was one instance where it was advisable to invite him and hope, probably fruitlessly,
that Balcan kept his mouth shut.

Akuyun
sat and nodded to Zulfa. “Brigadier Zulfa, please proceed.”

Zulfa
stood. “Thank you, General Akuyun.” His eyes swept across the other men. “You’ve
all had a part in developing the operational plan for the first major move
outside our three-province enclave. Today we’ll be going over the final details
to ensure we all know our roles and give the opportunity for any last comments.
Hopefully, nothing will require substantive changes, although, if necessary,
we’ll make adjustments.”

Zulfa
turned to the wall behind him and pulled aside a cloth that had been covering a
six- foot by six-foot map of Caedellium. While individual clans might have more
detailed maps of their own province and potentially the adjacent provinces, no
clan had global island maps of such overall detail. The maps had been
meticulously constructed during the last few years by combining observations
from Narthani ships surveying the coasts, notes taken by supposed Narthani
“traders” in the first years after the Narthani arrived in Preddi, and
information from agents still operating within clan provinces, along with
bribing Caedelli for copies of clan maps.

Zulfa
drew his sword and pointed to a red arrow drawn from Preddi City to Moreland Province
and a second arrow on to Orosz City. “The plan has two interrelated objectives.
One is to capture Orosz City, the closest to a capital the island has, given
the dispersed clan structure, and then subjugate the entire Orosz Province. By
achieving this objective, we’ll threatened to split the island in half, with
the clans to the north and south being less able to come directly to each
other’s assistance. We estimate that when combined with the psychological
impact of having lost their conclave site and the political center of the
island, many of the clans will sue for terms and end the possibility of major
united resistance.”

“Major
resistance, yes, but it may take time and effort to fully pacify the entire
island, especially those clans that can withdraw into the mountains,” said
Metan, overseer of the Selfcell Province.

“Yes,
we’ve discussed this at length,” replied Zulfa. “The problem would be more with
the northern provinces, because of the rugged mountains and their natural
fractiousness. But by that time, we’d use men from the clans that surrendered
to root out the holdouts. Even the more stubborn clans will eventually see the
futility. If they don’t, they’ll be hunted down and exterminated.”

Zulfa’s
sword point moved to Moreland City. “To get at Orosz City, we’ll first go
through Moreland Province and take their capital, Moreland City. It’s to our
benefit that the Moreland Clan leaders, especially the hetman’s family, are
widely considered hotheads prone to rash decisions. Hetman Moreland is also
detested by the other hetmen, which makes it unclear whether the other clans
will come to his aid. Even if they do, there’s unlikely to be a coordinated effort
against us. Whether other clans help Moreland or not, both scenarios will work
for us, as I’ll summarize in a moment.

“The
second objective is to tempt the Caedelli into a major field battle or battles.
No single clan can act alone and stop our advance. However, if other clans come
to the aid of Moreland and Orosz, that presents the opportunity to gain a
decisive victory. Killing enough of them should only hasten the clans falling
to us, one after the other.”

“Latest
intelligence still finds no evidence they have artillery or infantry tactics,” said
Ketin, overseer of the Preddi Province.

“None,”
asserted Zulfa flatly, “as continue to be reported by Assessor Hizer’s agents.
What few cannon there are on the island are found in harbor fortifications.
Even those few are relatively primitive and too large to be of practical use in
field maneuvers. As for infantry tactics, there is still no sign they have any
such concepts. Oh, they’ll fight on foot in the right circumstances, but when
facing our army, we expect masses of horsemen. Our best estimates are that we’ll
face a maximum of ten to twelve thousand, but even more couldn’t prevail
against our disciplined troops and the limited clan coordination.”

Metan
frowned. “I know I’ve brought this up before, but I’m still not comfortable
with that many light cavalry potentially on our rear and cutting off supply and
communication lines.”

Zulfa’s
brow wrinkled, irritated that his subordinate still harped on something they
had gone over numerous times. Akuyun thought for a moment he might have to step
in. Zulfa was a gifted leader, but even under Akuyun’s tutelage Zulfa still
needed to work on handling senior subordinates. In this case, Metan was a
valuable officer. Not the most brilliant or innovative, but solid. Akuyun was
about to speak when Zulfa’s expression smoothed from annoyance, as he addressed
the group.

“I
share Colonel Metan’s basic concern. However, it’s unlikely the Caedelli will
be organized enough to threaten our rear, particularly after losing a battle.
In their state of disorganization, we expect them to expend whatever forces
they present to us in efforts to stop the advance. However, we have included in
the operational plan two contingencies. One, we’ll take a larger than normal
supply train with us, so we can remain out of contact with Preddi for two
sixdays without resupply. Plus, enough forces remain in our occupied areas to
reopen supply lines or even come to our aid, if necessary.”

“Come
to our aid?” Erdelin said dismissively. “I hardly think that’ll be necessary.”

“Nor
do I,” said Zulfa. “But good operational plans try to consider even the
unlikely scenarios.” His tone and eyes also implied “good commanders.”

Erdelin
harrumphed, though didn’t say more.

“It’s
my hope we can draw them into a major field engagement,” Zulfa continued. “To
encourage this error, our route will maximize the number of villages and towns
we destroy on the way. Ravaging Moreland Province will convince them we’ll do
the same with Moreland City, which is where we predict the Morelanders will
make a stand, if they haven’t before. Once we near Moreland City, we’ll slow
our advance to give them time to finish gathering all their men and time for a
few clans to come to Moreland’s aid, if they’re going to.”

Zulfa
paused and looked around at the other men, some of whom were gazing pensively
at the map, others at him. “Are there any
new
general questions or
comments?” The implication was implicit not to bring up anything they had
already argued about in previous meetings.

To
Akuyun’s discomfiture, throat grumbling came from Balcan. The familiar series
of sounds announced the prelate was about to say something, usually something
Akuyun didn’t want to hear.

“To
be clear, although the objectives are to take both the Moreland and Orosz provinces,
I heard nothing in the plan to include my priests in the invasion. For example,
as soon as Moreland City is ours, it’s imperative we destroy all vestiges of
worshipping false gods and we convert their places of worship to Narth, whom we
all know is the only
true
God. My inquisitors will also need to root out
their theophists and any other religious leaders.”

The
other men at the meeting automatically turned their heads to the foot of the
table, waiting for Akuyun to answer diplomatically, which he did in place of
the response he would have preferred. He was the only one of them able to exert
direct authority over the prelate. None of the commanders were true believers
in Narth, but propriety was required.

“You’re
correct, Prelate. Although we believe the campaign will go well, there’s no
reason to risk yourself or your people if the unexpected occurs. I assure you
that as soon as we believe it safe, we’ll send back word, and you’ll be
escorted to Moreland City to begin what’s necessary.”

And
maybe you’ll fall into a river on the way and drown,
Akuyun wished to
himself.

 Balcan
drummed the fingers of both hands on the tabletop, as he considered Akuyun’s
words. “All right. I can understand the reasoning, just as long as my people
can get into Moreland City as soon as possible.”

“Naturally,
Prelate. You have my assurances. Now, moving back to Brigadier Zulfa’s request
for comments about the campaign plan. Any other questions so far?”

When
there were none, Akuyun gestured for Zulfa to continue.

“There
are no detailed operational plans past Moreland City, because the results of
our advance to that point will dictate what comes next. If our victory over
Moreland doesn’t convince other clans to capitulate, and they try to stop us
again and precipitate more battles, we’ll move on to Orosz City and beyond, splitting
the island in half and disrupting the clans’ ability to communicate and
coordinate.

“The
timetable for attacking Moreland is four months from now. In the meantime, we’ll
be giving the Caedelli reasons for keeping their men in their own provinces and
discouraging a grand alliance of all the clans. It’s a balancing act. While
we’d like to face them several at a time to speed things up, for caution’s sake
we’d prefer not to fight them
all
at once.

“Admiral
Kalcan will also see that our ships are constantly sighted all along the
Caedellium coasts and will carry out enough raids to force them to keep men
near likely targets, so they can’t be sent elsewhere.

“At
the same time, we’ll increase pressure on two major potential allies of
Moreland—the Stent Clan and the so-called Tri-Clan Alliance. Colonel Metan will
use Selfcellese to carry out minor raids into Stent Province. Similarly,
Colonel Erdelin will use Eywellese and our cavalry to threaten the coastal and
inland portions of Keelan adjacent to Eywell territory and to make them wonder
if Gwillamer is a target.

“Again,
the goal is not to seize and hold territory, but to appear threatening, to
force Keelan and Gwillamer to maintain forces along those borders, ones well
distant from Moreland City. This prevents them from sending all their fighting
men to Moreland’s aid and delays those they send until it’s too late for
effective coordination.

 “Colonel
Erdelin will also see that the Eywellese posture and carry out incursions into
Moreland to match what we’re doing with Stent, Keelan, and Gwillamer. We don’t
want to make it too obvious where our thrust will be and give the Caedelli any
reason to mass men into Moreland too early, until we’ve concentrated our forces
and are well into the drive toward Moreland City. At that point, we prefer a
few clans come to Moreland’s aid, but at the last moment and without time to
organize.

Zulfa
looked at the men around the table. “Questions?”

Metan
indicated by hand motion that he had something. “Perhaps an update from
Assessor Hizer on suborning other clans would be in order.”

Zulfa
turned to the assessor, who opened a folder in front of himself. “Not as much
success as we would like, though I believe we’ve neutralized several clans, and
several others will be hesitant to commit themselves. Whether they eventually
do
commit is not as important as delaying any such action until it’s too
late.” Hizer rose and went to the map.

“I
agree with General Zulfa’s plan to split the island. The two parts of the
island will have only four clans in the south, but these are the three clans of
the Tri-Clan Alliance and the Hewell Clan, which our reports indicated is close
to joining the alliance. These four clans are also among the richest in
resources and with better leadership. In contrast, the twelve clans in the
north are fractious, with simmering long-term feuds and suspicions of other
clans that we’ve tried to encourage. They also have no formal history of close
alliances, and several have leadership that rivals Moreland in lack of brains
and self-control.

“In
addition, our agents in clan territory will continue reporting to us and be
available should any sufficiently important target of opportunity occur, such
as removing leadership.”

Approving
nods met the last statement, assassination being an accepted tactic in Narthani
warfare.

“Thank
you, Assessor,” said Zulfa. “One scenario is that we continue on to Orosz City
and farther to Adris Province. Once the island is split, we will see which clans
perceive the inevitable. I’d be surprised if there’s a general capitulation at that
point, so I expect we’ll still have to move either north or south, where we’ll
link up with Admiral Kalcan’s ships at the first opportunity.