The Pen and the Sword (Destiny's Crucible Book 2) (4 page)

Finally,
one day Yozef arrived for his lesson, wondering what Kales had planned that
day.

“I
think I’ve taught you enough to satisfy your goal: being able to minimally
defend yourself and others. You’re actually much better than that. You’re
strong for your size and unusually quick. Your biggest weakness is lack of
experience in actual fighting, something I can’t give you. We could spar, and
you would continue improving, but considering who you are and the unlikelihood
you would need to improve to that degree, I doubt it’s called for.”

“You
say I’m good, but then why do I get killed so many times every session?”

Kales
looked genuinely amused.

“That’s
because you’re facing
me
. Nothing personal, but you stand no chance
against me, nor would most anyone else here on Caedellium. Maybe Carnigan,
because he’s so huge and strong, but for him I’d just stay out of his reach,
and he couldn’t catch me.”

“In
that case, I’ll be sure to always try to stay on your good side,” quipped
Yozef.

Kales’s
smile broadened. “I doubt that’ll be a problem. I’ve grown a little fond of you,
in a way. Goodbye.”

With that surprising statement and terse
dismissal, Kales walked away, and Yozef’s lessons in blade fighting were over.

What
Happened at St. Sidryn’s?

Two
months had passed since the failed Buldorian raid on Keelan. General Akuyun
walked along the harbor piers with Assessor Hizer, as they stretched their legs
and took in sea air. Each man thought himself too tied to his office.

“Still
no solid information on what happened on the Keelan raid?” Akuyun asked.

Hizer
shook his head. “Only what our agents in place transmit and our own
suppositions, since the Buldorians vanished back home, I assume, after the
raid. All we can say is that the main action was an assault on the local abbey of
. . . what was it? Yes, St. Sidryn’s. Of no particular military significance,
but one of the most respected of their abbey complexes, particularly for their
medicant training and the reputation of the abbey’s abbot . . .” He thumbed
through his memory. “Sistian Beynom. Also a known lifelong friend of the Keelan
hetman and one of his main advisors, although unofficial.

“Fragmented
reports indicate a high number of Buldorian casualties and relatively few
islanders. Whatever happened, it was a rout, and the Buldorians withdrew and
headed for home.”

“Do
you see any relation to our conclusion that the Keelanders and their allies are
the most organized and potentially troublesome for our overall mission?”

“Nothing
we can definitively determine,” replied Hizer. “It may just be bad intelligence
on their defenses, mistakes on the part of the Buldorians, or who knows what
else?”

“What
about trying to put more agents in place in Keelan?” asked Akuyun.

“Worth
considering, but there’s the danger of alerting them to those already in place.
We’d need to balance the potential gain of more information versus the losses
if they realize our agents are among them, and they root them out.”

“For
more information alone I’d be hesitant, but I’m inclined to be in favor of more
Keelan agents in place, if we decide to eliminate their hetman.”

“That’s
my own thinking,” said Hizer. “Once we move on Moreland, everything will change,
anyway.”

“All
right. See if you can insert a couple more agents into the Keelan capital.
Obviously, these will have to be capable of more direct action than the others,
in case we move against their hetman.”

Sowing
Confusion

The
two men stopped when a work crew of twenty men rounded a corner. The brown
tunics and the leather collars identified them as slaves, either Preddi or
imported from other conquered peoples. They weren’t shackled, and a single
guard led them, signaling they were docile enough not to require more security
or supervision.

“Sir!”
exclaimed the infantry non-com soldier with cavus rank markings. “Sorry, sir.
Didn’t see you coming.”

“No
problem, Cavus . . . Keznak, isn’t it?” said Akuyun.

“Yes,
sir!” said the non-com, thrusting out his chest farther at the mission
commander who knew his name, though they’d never spoken.

“Carry
on. I’m sure you have important work for these men. I’m always glad that experienced
soldiers like you are with me on missions.”

Hizer
smiled, as the non-com hustled the slaves off. “Of course, Okan, if he was that
valuable, his unit would have him leading twenty men typical of the cavus rank,
not slaves.”

“Yes,
but he’s still valuable, no matter what his assignments, and there’s no reason
for him not to think the officers don’t appreciate his efforts, no matter high
how their positions.”

They
walked out to the end of a pier and watched a recently arrived cargo ship being
unloaded of general supplies, mail and dispatches from Narthon—and a new
shipment of gunpowder, if Akuyun remembered the manifest summary he’d seen
first thing that morning.

“Well,
I think we’ve put off enough sitting on our butts at our desks for today. I
have some paperwork to do, before riding with Zulfa this afternoon to witness a
field exercise, so we’d better head back,” said Akuyun. “While we do, anything
new from your agents?”

Hizer
was an assessor, tasked by the Narthani High Command to give independent
evaluations on mission progress and commanders’ performances. While not in the
formal chain of command, Akuyun had asked him to serve as the intelligence
coordinator for the mission, a somewhat unusual arrangement, but within the
scope of Akuyun’s and Hizer’s assignments, as least as they both agreed to
define those scopes. Akuyun’s query involved efforts to suborn Caedellium clans
through
deception of true
intentions by means of disinformation, false rumors, decoy military movements,
bribes, facilitation of conflicts between clans, promises of substantial
long-term rewards for cooperation, and implied threats for non-cooperation
following the inevitable Narthani victory.

“Nothing
new,” said Hizer. “We’ve both seen Admiral Kalcan’s reports of the ongoing
raids and patrols along the entire Caedellium coast. According to my agents
within several of the coastal provinces, we’re having varying levels of success
in tying down available clan fighting capabilities. I’m reasonably confident
that the Pewitt and Swavebroke clans have put too many of their fighting men at
coastal posts to contribute to a coalition against us.

“I
also believe we’ve been successful in neutralizing the Nyvaks and Pawell clans.
Nyvaks is geographically connected to the island only by a narrow isthmus,
which probably contributed to their feeling less cultural connection to the
other clans. They’ve historically chaffed at their territory. Their histories
and legends say the clan was chased there by stronger clans in the early
century of settling the island. Concurrently, the Pawell Clan, which sits on
the other end of that isthmus, is justifiably wary of Nyvaks. We’ve given both clans
bribes and promises to the Nyvaks hetman that we intend no interest in his
province or the others in the northeast portion of Caedellium, and we wouldn’t
object to a future where Nyvaks expands into several neighboring provinces. We
also continue to trade with Nyvaks, essentially a continuing bribe—the only clan
where such trading is still ongoing, I’ll add, and only possible to be kept
hidden by their geographic remoteness from the other clans.

“With
Pawell, we continue to spread rumors and false information about the Nyvaks
planning an invasion that, when combined with the Admiral Kalcan’s operations,
will freeze Pawell from any action outside their province. 

“Similar
fomenting of distrust between clans has been less successful elsewhere,
although we’ve raised suspicions in Swavebroke about Farkesh intentions.
Swavebroke is also isolationist. Their hetman is on the dull side and wouldn’t
understand any strategy or tactic beyond his own borders, so Swavebroke is not expected
to respond.

“We’re
uncertain about the Skouks Clan on the north coast of Caedellium. The only
agent we have in place there has reported strong disagreements between the hetman
and a majority of the boyermen, with the hetman more inclined to oppose any
move by us on other clans, while the boyermen agree only if a neighboring clan
is directly threatened.

 “Less
encouraging are the failures with the other northern provinces—Farkesh, Vandinke,
and Bultecki. These, along with Skouks and Nyvaks, are descended from a
different migration to the island than the other clans, and there remains
friction between the descendants of these two migrations. These clans also have
a longer history of inter-clan conflicts. We expected to be more successful,
but Farkesh and Vandinke may join a coalition at some point, while Bultecki has
close ties to the Orosz Clan and would follow their lead. However, for the immediate
future we see none of these clans as major factors.

“There’s
also an irksome report out of Adris. Their hetman was an isolationist, but he died
last year, and his son is different. He’s held several meetings with other
hetmen, particularly Hetman Keelan. We don’t know the topics of the meetings,
but I’m not ruling out Adris forming a tighter connection to the Keelan and the
two clans in their Tri-Clan Alliance.”

“And
you still think it unlikely that more than four or five clans will come to
Moreland’s aid?”

“I
now think the number could go as high as six or seven, but that should still
pose no problem. I’ve estimated to Zulfa that the number of horsemen he might
face is between eight and fourteen thousand. And that’s all horsemen. They
still aren’t familiar with infantry tactics, plus lack any effective artillery.”

“I
agree,” said Akuyun. “Eight to fourteen thousand horsemen could be handled, but
we need to keep it at those numbers. Even without infantry and artillery,
should all the clans commit with every available man, we’d face upward of fifty
thousand light cavalry. Once we move, it needs to be quick.”

“I’ve
seen no sign of a unified front against us, but you’re right, we need to be
expeditious once you decide it’s time to move to the next phase.”

Aivacs
Zulfa

General
Okan Akuyun and Brigadier Aivacs Zulfa rode back the six miles to Preddi after spending
part of the afternoon inspecting two infantry units, one unit drilling in mixed
pike and musket defense and assaults and the other unit building a bridge to a
newly opened copper mine. Akuyun could have listened to or read reports of both
units’ activities, but he got out of his office whenever possible. He also
wanted to hear Zulfa’s thinking directly about their coming move against the
other clans. As troop commander, Zulfa would plan campaign details. Akuyun would
offer advice but intervene only if he foresaw major problems. He believed in carefully
picking his subordinates and letting them do their jobs.

“So
that’s my summary plan, Okan.” They were on a first-name basis when alone or
with the other senior officers.

“Appears
to be a solid plan, Aivacs. You have the men shaping up nicely. The drills we
saw this morning may not be as smooth as either of us would like, but
considering the quality of men we have and the need to integrate two different
sets of men sent to us, all in all, I think they’ll do fine.”

“It
just chaffs me to be drilling them with pike formations. They’ll only have to all
be retrained with all muskets when they return to Narthon. I know the High
Command didn’t see the need to change for this mission, since the Caedelli pose
no serious threat, but why bother with pikes at all? I thought the Battle of
Three Rivers against the Fuomi settled that. Their solid musket blocks
decimated our pike formations.”

“While
I can’t say I disagree,” Akuyun said, “they had already committed the units to
our mission and saw no need to change. Again, we may question the High
Command’s wisdom, but it’s our job to work with what they give us.”

“I
know, I know, and we’ll perform as necessary, still . . .”

“No
‘stills.’ This unit and others will do well, and that’s to your credit.
However, I think I have a pleasant piece of news for you. The unit building the
bridge we looked at is almost finished, and it’ll be the last such assignment
for them or any other unit. From this point on, all focus will be on training
for the coming campaign.”

Zulfa
pumped a fist. “Yes! Finally, stop with the digging and hammering.”

Although
their troops’ primary mission was to subdue the Caedelli clans, the massive
influx of Narthani settlers required support in developing infrastructure. The
mission included larger-than-normal engineering sections, but the engineers
needed workers to build bridges, roads, canals, structures, and defenses. Although
slaves were useful, some projects needed more disciplined workers. In the previous
year, the number of Narthani civilians rose beyond a hundred thousand, and the
troops had spent a third or more of their time supporting the engineers, to
Zulfa’s annoyance.

“It’s
been too hard getting larger units together for any length of time. Now we can work
more on unit cohesion and coordination.”

The
two men and their escorting guards rode through the streets of Preddi City to
the Narthani headquarters. As always, Akuyun kept to rigid schedules, and they
arrived at the end of the hours slotted to Zulfa and time for a meeting with
Admiral Morfred Kalcan, who waved as he walked to greet them.

“Okan,
Aivacs, I assume you’ve been on those horses for hours. How you stand it, I
don’t know. Stupid, smelly creatures that look to throw you off at any
opportunity.” Kalcan’s aversion to horses was even worse than most sailors’,
for good reason. His horsemanship was atrocious, with the admiral falling off
even the tamest horse, as witnessed by both Akuyun and Zulfa.

“Nonsense,
Morfred. If you’d practice a little more, you’d stay on longer.”

“By
that logic, you should sail around on my ships more often to cure your
seasickness.” Zulfa was the antithesis of a sailor and got queasy crossing a
lake.

Both
men laughed. It was a routine exchange.

“Well,
I’ll be off then, General Akuyun,” said Zulfa, switching back to formal mode.