John Carr - Siege of Tarr-Hostigos

"I don't know anything about the military-I served as an officer before Kalvan arrived, but he actually had me demoted to a common trooper.

I left the army, of course. I fear my talent is in leading men, not armies. I do know that Kalvan has abolished the pike; that's all his soldiers talk about at the Silver Stag. I also know the Royal Army is the biggest army I've ever seen."

Obviously, Kalvan not only mistrusted the Baron, which was no surprise, but found him incompetent as an officer. Ptosphes being blood kin, Kalvan had to provide him a proper position; he was under no such obligation to marriage kin.

The fact that Kalvan had done away with the pike was very interesting intelligence. Soton had mentioned that Kalvan's infantry had been carrying firearms during the Siege of Tarr-Ceros, but pikes were not the weapon of choice when going up against nomad cavalry, as Kalvan had done at the Battle of Spirit Grove. He tried to envision what Kalvan was up to: if you converted all your pikemen to arquebusiers then you could double your fire, which would be devastating to an army expecting half that firepower! But what about cavalry? How did Kalvan expect to stop heavily armed cuirassiers, or fully armored Knights? Yes, the Baron was a fool, but he was a useful fool.

"We have heard that Kalvan has a secret technique for getting messages to the borders so quickly. Do you know how he does this?"

"He uses his semaphores. Kalvan's dotted the countryside with those wretched huts. I can't begin to tell you all the things he's done to Hostigos since he arrived from the gods only know where."

Phidestros rose to his feet and began to pace. "Do you know Kalvan uses these 'huts' to send messages?"

"He's put one of those huts right in my barony. He has troopers waving flags and flashing lights back and forth. I can see the ugly thing right out my window. I had to order that window special from Agrys City, and you wouldn't believe how much it cost…"

The chief Harphaxi Intelligencer had received reports that Kalvan was building a series of watchtowers, but no one had been able to discern their use since they weren't placed at the usual watch points. Phidestros had wondered if they were to be used for sending smoke signals, but no one had seen trails or puffs of smoke. However, flags and light signals were faster and more reliable than smoke signals. This sounded important.

"What about Kalvan's guns?"

"The Royal Foundry, yes, Kalvan makes all these noisy big guns there. He imported the most awful foreigners, from Greffa and Hos-Zygros, to tell by their accents-you know what hicks the Zygrosi are, don't you?"

Phidestros nodded, barely trusting himself to keep a straight face. Could the Baron be so ignorant-even being a Hostigi-not to know that he was a former Zygrosi? Killing was too good for the man. Fortunately, for the rest of his body-since it would not live long without the head-Sthentros was providing the most valuable intelligence of the war. Lysandros would be beside himself when he learned that the Baron was kin to Ptosphes and, by marriage, to Kalvan, himself!

"The Foundry women are doubly strange, and take more liberties-of course, it helps that they're Royal Wards-than any decent women I've known. I've heard tales about Grefftscharrer women, but these are strange fowl indeed. This one old bird-Lala, what kind of proper name is that, I ask you?-argues with everything she's told, gabbling like an old goose." Sthentros made a grabbing and jerking motion with his hands. "It took all my will power to keep from wringing her neck the one time we met."

"I understand, your feelings Your Lordship, I truly do. Did you get an opportunity to observe the brass-founders at their work?"

"What, me stay in a smelly, noisy foundry to watch a gang of foreigners and artisans! I should say not. That's another thing that's wrong with Kalvan. He spends too much time at places like the Royal Foundry and that University of his talking to riffraff and giving them airs. One of them, Ermut is his name-the Usurper even named a new potable after him!- was a former Temple-farm slave. Now he's a Master and it's rumored that Kalvan offered him the position of Rector at the University. Posts like that should only be held by those of noble blood!

"The same with his Captain-General Harmakros-his parents were merchants, ran a vegetable stall in Hostigos Town, if you can believe it! The Captain-General even has a bastard that Kalvan's made a Royal Page-the illegitimate get of vegetable merchants parading up and down the halls of Tarr-Hostigos and in the Royal Audience Chamber. I'd rather see Styphoni-I mean worshippers of the True God-in Tarr-Hostigos than lowlife townies and peasant scum."

Phidestros gritted his teeth so hard they ached. This was his penance for losing his temper with Count Sestembar. But when he'd talked about his mother as if she were some drab that had tainted his father's saintly blood-well, enough was enough. This rattlehead would have to be coddled until his wits were poured out, then he could be tossed to Roxthar and Investigated.

But first, there was much to be learned about Kalvan's underlings and the political situation in Hostigos.

"Now, tell me more about his University."

No matter how hard he tried Count Sestembar couldn't remove the smile of satisfaction from his face. He had just finished questioning the last of the brass-founders in the dungeon of Tarr-Zygros and the stink of the man's fear still clung to his clothes like bad perfume. What he had learned from the founder was worth far more than all the whale ambergris in the kingdom.

"What are you smiling about, Sestembar?" Prince Eudocles asked.

"Here we went all the way to Hos-Harphax for a treasure that was resting in our own backyard," he answered smugly.

"Enough of your riddles, old friend. I just returned from a lengthy visit with my brother's latest charlatan, a self-proclaimed wizard dressed all in black, topped with a pointed hat, who claims the voice of the dead Prince speaks through his tongue. My brother had me sitting in a dark chamber for the entire afternoon while this man threw his voice about the room, an instrument that sounded to these ears no more like Prince Pariphon's voice than my own!

"His obsession with the deceased Prince grows so desperate that it's bandied about all the wineshops on the waterfront! He will make us all a laughingstock!"

Not all, thought Sestembar. No subject who valued his life would ever consider joking about Eudocles, who was notorious for both his quick temper and his lack of humor, especially about his own person.

"Your brother will grow tired of his weeping, maybe sire another child. Your sister-in-law is still fertile, is she not?"

"Who knows, she's so ugly no other man will look at her. Now she cries both day and night with such emotion one would think the Daemon Kalvan was perched on the city gates!"

"More evidence that the kingdom needs a new ruler."

Eudocles frowned. "Be careful where you speak such thoughts. Although I will admit there is a great deal of truth to your words. Now, what is this about a treasure?"

"When I talked to the ungrateful one."

"Spit it out, Sestembar!" he growled. "I know the ungrateful whelp of whom you speak."

"During our meeting at the brothel he frequents, he asked me to have you send some of our brass-founders like those employed by the Usurper Kalvan in his Royal Foundry. The other day it struck me that if Kalvan is using our founders, he may have actually visited Zygros Town before or after his sudden appearance in Hostigos. Since so little is known about this Kalvan, I decided to visit all the foundries in the area and talk to the founders myself. It was a most enlightening visit."

Eudocles leaned forward. "Go on, old friend."