John Carr - Kalvan Kingmaker

Not that Soton relaxed the tight grip he maintained on the warhammer that rested against his saddle pommel in plain view. He had reasons to be cautious, the House of Styphon and its military arm, the Holy Order of Zarthani Knights, were held responsible by many in Hos-Harphax for the beating the Harphaxi took at the hands of the Usurper Kalvan at the Battle of Chothros Heights, where the heir to the throne and a quarter of the Harphaxi nobility had been slain.

Not surprisingly, the Harphaxi appeared to have forgotten that Soton himself had lost another equally disastrous battle to this self-proclaimed Great King Kalvan-who had appeared out of nowhere like a demigod-a moon later at the Battle of Phyrax. Despite the reform movement within Styphon's House, the Temple's control over its earthly allies was in great jeopardy. Fortunately, Archpriest Roxthar and his followers had put new mettle into Styphon's Will on Earth. They had given Soton an unlimited draft on the Temple's earthly resources; much of which, gold and arms especially, he was going to need if he were going to turn the broken Harphaxi Royal Army into any semblance of a military power.

Soton halted his party before the next steep grade and peered down onto Port Harphax, which was busy for this late in the year. Galleys, galleasses, and wide-bottomed carracks were scooting across the harbor below like water beetles. The Harphaxi warships were all going into dry dock on the island naval base. As he kneed his mount into reluctant motion, Soton cursed the memory of Erasthames the Great, the legendary king who had conquered the Iroquois Alliance. Four hundred years ago it might have made sense to put Tarr-Harphax up at the top of these cliffs, when the native Ruthani were an everyday threat.

Now it was a beastly nuisance, making the provisioning and feeding Harphax City and the castle, topping an even higher hill, a nightmare. Since the lower Harph flooded almost every spring, cutting off river transport, the city had to take in enough stores to last a long winter and spring as well. Food that arrived by sea had to be carted or packed up the Upper Road, at great expense in time and animals, or pulled up in great iron buckets by the rope tramway.

During a bad year such as this one, when fields had been trampled and burnt, most of Harphax City's food had to be imported by seagoing merchants, which explained the great number of boats crowding Harphax Port's limited docking facilities. It was now dangerously late in the season and soon winter storms would make sea passage impossible. Most of the captains were less than pleased by chancing the seas this late in the year and only generous gifts of Styphon's gold kept them at sea at all.

As if this wasn't bad enough, the burnt fields and farms had brought tens of thousands of refugees into the already bursting-at-the-seams capital. Plus, all the war casualties who were too crippled or maimed to work, yet had to be housed and fed. Already the strain of short rations and overcrowding were visible on the lean faces of the city's beggars. Only great need could force them to take their chances on the steep Upper Road and the occasional visitor's generosity.

At the top of the cliffs, the city walls showed the abuse of a hundred years of neglect and civil complacency. Here and there teams of workmen were shoring up walls and replacing fallen stones, but as Soton could see-it was clearly a case of too little, too late. He was certain that Kalvan's four and six-pounder mobile field guns would quickly bring down these walls upon the head of the neglectful inhabitants of Harphax City. As for the old castle itself, Tarr-Harphax, Kalvan would have a dozen breaches in a moon-half with a few good siege guns.

Soton shuddered to think of the slaughter Kalvan's veterans would make upon the shattered remnants of the Harphaxi Army. It was a good thing that Prince Lysandros, since his brother King Kaiphranos's death three moons ago, had taken his advice and appointed the mercenary captain, Phidestros, Captain-General of the Royal Harphaxi Army, rather than one of his cronies or aging mercenary captains. Phidestros was young for such an important position, but he was one of the few captains to have fought against the Usurper Kalvan three times and lived to tell about it.

If anyone could turn this whipped rabble into a fighting force again, it was Phidestros. He had more ambition than an Archpriest of Styphon's Inner Circle and as much gall as Kalvan himself. Even so he would need Appalon's luck and Lyklos' cunning to forge this Harphaxi base metal into good fighting steel. Soton would have to watch his pupil did not come to best his master, for someday Phidestros' quest for glory and power might pose a threat to Styphon's House's own plans.

The cobblestone and dirt streets of Harphax City were lined with makeshift tents and temporary housing. The stink alone was enough to bring tears to the eyes of a seasoned soldier. Twice, Soton had been forced to use his warhammer to fend off attempts by thieves to steal the trappings off his horse-right under the noses of his guards. It took several candles for his parry to navigate their way through the narrow city streets and up Harphax Trail to Tarr-Harphax, where Captain-General Phidestros had established his headquarters.

Soton was pleased to note the severe appearance of Phidestros private audience room; the only adornments were a pair of crossed muskets, a well-used sword and a large deerskin map of Hos-Harphax, which included the Usurper's "Great Kingdom" of Hos-Hostigos outlined in red ink within Harphax's borders.

"Please take a seat, Grand Master."

"Thank you, Captain-General. My men will bring it in." This time he'd had his own chair brought with him from Tarr-Ceros, by way of Balph, and when he sat down on his elevated chair, he was eye-to-eye with Phide-stros. The broad-shouldered Captain-General looked tired and the lines in his face were etched bolder than when he and Soton had met last spring. Soton sighed; at least, it showed that Phidestros was keeping late hours and had no illusions about the near impossible task set before him.

After his chair was positioned, he signaled for Sergeant Sarmoth to step back. After the battle of Yargos Pasture, Sarmoth had become part of his personal retinue. The young Knight displayed obvious leadership potential and Soton needed someone around him, who was not locked in the old ways of war, to help sift through all the changes that had occurred since Kalvan had arrived. He also needed aides he was certain were not in Roxthar's purse.

"You may stay, Sarmoth." Soton wanted to give his aide an opportunity to watch the political side of leadership; a talent the Knights would need if they were to survive both Kalvan and Roxthar's Investigators.

After Phidestros' servant had filled their wine goblets and left, Soton asked, "How does your command look these days?"

Phidestros frowned. "Not good. The Harphaxi Army was not much of a fighting force before Kalvan ground them up. Now they're little better than rabble. I've had more luck with the mercenary companies I've been able to recruit."

"That bad?"

"Many of the units are at half strength, probably more due to desertions and the grippe than Kalvan's lead. Some, like the Royal Lancers, were almost annihilated at Chothros Heights. That might have been a blessing. I would like to disband the entire unit if Lysandros would let me-or his nobles let him! The Lancers are more worried about gaining honor than winning battles, I fear."

Soton nodded. "You might think that Kalvan's artillery would have taught them a thing or two."

"Those iron hats! No such luck. They see Kalvan's style of fighting as unjust and dishonorable. With the Succession Crisis, Prince Lysandros doesn't dare dismiss them. But, with Kalvan's help, I've reduced their number by almost half. I'm now turning them into more of a household guard rather than a line unit. I've also recruited about two thousand more mercenaries and brought the Royal Pistoleers back up to full strength. The Foot Guard is still seriously undermanned."