John Carr - The Fireseed Wars

"Yes, I have it on good information from one of Archpriest Phyllos' informers. Even worse, he is now preaching that Dralm is the First God and that Styphon is the Lord of Demons. The peasants and townsmen appear to be devouring his words."

"Yes, the riots. Weren't they started by a play about King Kaiphranos that Great Queen Lavena oversaw and had performed at the Royal Palace?"

"Yes, by all accounts she's a silly fool," Anaxthenes pronounced. "The complete opposite of her cousin, Queen Rylla. But, Lysandros is smitten with her so we will have to accommodate him-for the time being. He is still the co-commander of the Grand Host, although I hear that he's not doing nearly as well as the former commander, Prince Phidestros. Blood will tell."

"Blood will tell, Your Divinity? What does that mean?"

"Lysandros is from a weak line of Kings, while on the other hand Prince Phidestros is the unrecognized bastard of Grand Duke Eudocles of Hos-Zygros."

"How did you learn that, Your Divinity?"

"One of our Highpriests, formerly from Hos-Zygros, noticed the physical resemblance between the two men. When he came to me with this news, I sent some of our intelligencers to search out the truth. A few bribes did the job. They are father and son. Duke Eudocles is a man after my own heart; he's not afraid to do whatever it takes to get the job done. His older brother is ailing and soon he will be the new Great King and help solidify our control over the Five Kingdoms."

"Is he in our pay?" Danthor asked.

"Oh, yes. To the sum of five hundred thousand ounces of gold. We own him and soon the Ivory Throne."

"What about Selestros, Your Divinity? What will you do with him?"

"If we had him assassinated, the uproar would be too great. Thus, we are forced to tolerate him until King Lysandros returns. Lysandros will see that he's dispatched, regardless of public opinion."

"In what capacity, Your Divinity, do you need my services?"

"Danthor, I want you to research the Royal Family lineage of Hos-Agrys. We are looking for a blood relation beneath the age of majority for the Throne of Light. Once we have our candidate, any others you've uncovered will be put away or dispatched. The younger the better, as it will be that much longer before they reach their majority."

"Your Divinity, may I use my own staff, as well as those of the Temple?"

"Of course, send men you trust to dig up anything you need. Remember, the full resources of Styphon's House are behind your quest."

The young underpriest poked his head in the door again. "Your Divinity, Archpriest Grythos is here."

"Send him in."

"Should I leave, Your Divinity?" Danthor asked.

"No. I want you to attend this meeting. You have useful ideas and this is a time for such men as ourselves."

The big Archpriest came into the room, bowing in the direction of Styphons Voice and nodding to Danthor. "I take it this meeting has something to do with the news that the morning sun brought with it, Your Divinity?"

"Yes, Grythos. We are preparing for the succession to the Throne of Light."

"What about Great King Demistophon? Will he be of use once the City has been taken?"

"Maybe, in the past. But Demistophon has thrown his lot in with the False God Dralm and his followers. He can no longer be trusted."

Grythos nodded. "Will you leave Grand Master Soton to rule in his stead?"

"No, the Grand Master is more useful elsewhere. As you have doubtlessly heard, the barbarian Warlord Sargos has returned from his war with the Mexicotal with great success and much gold and silver. They say it took a train of a thousand horses and mules to pull all his treasure wagons!"

Grythos smacked his lips. "By Styphon, such fortune is truly wasted on such a barbarian! I take it his cause was greatly helped by King Kalvan's handguns and fireseed."

"No doubt. The Mexicotal have none. We may have to make some changes to our trade agreements in the coming years."

"That would not go over well in Hos-Ktemnos, Your Divinity, were word ever to leak out of Balph that we were trading fireseed with the Mexicotal," Danthor cautioned.

"I know," Anaxthenes said. "Nor would the Middle Kingdom rulers take such a policy lightly; however, since the Fireseed Mystery has been released, we can always use intermediaries to do our work. I will put it under advisement for the time being.

"Grythos, I want you to leave in two days for Hos-Agrys. Archpriest Heraclestros will join you with his retinue. He is my choice as the new Highpriest of Hos-Agrys. Grythos, you are my choice to be the regent for our new Great King. I expect the two of you to work in close concert. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Your Divinity."

Great King Lysandros and Grand Commander Aristocles were seated at a small table in the Grand Commander's tent. Outside were the sounds of whickering horses and the hammering and sawing of wood as their new headquarters was being built. The Grand Host had moved well beyond the effective range of Kalvans new guns, and almost out of sight of the Thagnor City outer walls. All in all, a pitiful position from which to direct a siege; certainly not one to inspire confidence in the end result. Morale was down and growing worse with nightly raids by Hostigi irregulars who moved through the night like wraiths, cutting the throats of sentries and lobbing petards into the tents of sleeping troopers.

Lysandros laid his hands out on the table. "The harsh truth is that the Hostigi bombardment has demolished our plans for besieging Thagnor City. What I want to know now is, what can we accomplish before winter sets in?"

Grand Commander Aristocles shrugged his shoulders. "Your Majesty, I was given orders by both Grand Master Soton and Styphon's Own Voice that the Grand Host of Styphon's House is to stay in the Middle Kingdoms until we have destroyed the Hostigi Army and killed the Usurper and his family. My hands are tied. I can see that our siege has become a farce, as ships bearing foodstuffs arrive from the upper seas every day and we can do nothing to stop them. It appears our Grefftscharri allies have not lived up to their commitments."

Lysandros exhaled deeply. "Theovacar is not a good ally. He is more concerned with shoring up his rule than honoring his word."

"True, but we may find him useful later. Now that Kalvan's conquered Greffa City, Theovacar will learn he needs us more than we need him."

"Be that as it may," Lysandros said, "how can we expect to match Kalvan's Navy on the Saltless Seas when he's defeated the greatest Navy in the Middle Kingdoms? The minute we depart from here with our guns, the Usurper will be free to navigate Thagnor River again. He will soon own the Aesklos Sea. Then his Navy will harry our transports from Glarth Town. When that happens, how will we be able to import enough food and material to continue this war?"

Aristocles shrugged again. "We can only do our best. Kalvan is not a god, nor is he infallible; sooner or later he will make a mistake. When he does, we need to be in position to take advantage of it."

"What about our supply problems?" Lysandros asked. "It's been a moon since the last supply train. Almost all our victuals are coming by ship from Glarth at exorbitant prices. It takes over two hundred tons of victuals a day, and twice that of forage for the horses, to feed our army."

"I've contacted Tarr-Ceros about bringing supplies overland and by boat along the Erkfryn River. Let us find some use for our alliance with Grefftscharr."

"If the Rathoni irregulars under King Chartiphon don't poach them before they reach our camp."

"I'm asking for an escort of two Lances of Knights."

Lysandros sighed. "We can use them. We've lost a third of our original numbers through Prince Phidestros' leave-taking, the Ros-Zarthani defection, casualties and desertions. At the moment, we barely outnumber the Hostigi three to one and that's only if we don't count the Army of Rathon, which has grown to a significant size.