Richard Tuttle - Web of Deceit

“You realize that as soon as I start to gather the tribes, Grulak will attack in force?” frowned Wyant.

“That depends on how many men you gather,” interjected Marak. “I understand that the main body of his forces are quite distant from here. If he sends only a portion of his army, you may well defeat it. If he brings his entire army, then you will need some clever strategy.”

“Very clever strategy,” sighed Wyant. “He has more men than all of the free tribes put together.”

“Yes and they will be weary from the travel,” stated Lord Marak. “Perhaps they will even be harried along the way. Just having a greater number of men does not guarantee success. You will have time to learn the terrain, which will be foreign to him. You will also have time to plan for a defense.”

“Do you have armies that you are willing to offer to this solution?” Wyant asked Marak.

“I have armies,” declared Marak. “This is not Khadora’s fight though. If Rejji requests assistance, I will send what I can, but I think you Fakarans can accomplish the goal.”

“Your answer pleases me,” smiled Wyant. “At least I know that you are not encouraging this for selfish reasons. I may be crazy, but I think I am going to accept this position as your new general, Rejji.”

“May I suggest you use a different term,” interjected Marak. “If the tribes already have generals, you will appear to be usurping their titles. In Khadora we use the term Marshal.”

“Very well,” nodded Wyant. “Marshal it is. Start shipping food in, Lord Marak. We are going to need a lot of it. If I can borrow a horse, you will have thousands of men within the week. I just hope Brakas doesn’t catch wind of it before we are ready.”

“Does Brakas know you are alive?” asked Lord Marak.

“No,” answered Wyant. “I would prefer to keep it that way until I can find him again.”

“Tell the men you send to Ghala not to mention your name until you arrive then,” suggested Marak. “If Brakas returns to the city, I think he can be used to supply false information to the Jiadin. It could prove to be vital to any plan you come up with.”

“Do you think he will return?” questioned Wyant.

“I do,” interjected Rejji. “It would seem that I am Brakas’s second mission. With me and the tribes in the same place, Brakas will show. When he does, he will find his ability to leave impaired until I see fit to allow it.”

“Take one of the horses from these slavers,” offered Marak. “One word of caution before you go, Marshal. If any of these tribes intend on coming to Ghala to pillage it instead of joining in its defense, I will bring my armies from Khadora to extract retribution, and my armies are trained for battle against other armies, not raiding villages.”

Wyant looked at the ring of arrows stuck in the ground and nodded. “If that happens, Lord Marak,” he said seriously, “I will be riding with you. The days of plunder are over for Fakara. Those who do not understand that are better off joining the Jiadin than us. My back is scarred and my face is bruised, but I feel more hopeful today than I have felt in any other day of my life. We will make this work.”

Rejji and Marak watched Wyant leave. “He will work out well for you,” smiled Lord Marak.

“Yes he will,” nodded Rejji. “It is time to give the rest of these prisoners their choice of going free or joining Ghala. We could use the two empty wagons to transport them if they wish to join the city.”

“If that is what you want to do,” offered Marak, “Halman and Gunta can accompany us to Ghala and I will leave Botal and his squad to escort them.”

“Let us ask them what they want to do,” agreed Rejji.

“Rejji,” called Riktor, “I have been looking all over for you.”

“How is the unloading going?” Rejji asked Riktor.

“The first ship is empty and leaving the dock now,” Riktor replied. “There are two more anchored offshore. The warehouse is full and we are running out of room. Where am I supposed to put all of the cargo?”

“It would appear that Lord Marak has high hopes for our Marshal,” smiled Rejji. “He said he would step up shipments when he got back home.”

“Step them up?” echoed Riktor. “I have never seen so much food in my entire life. We could feed an army with what is in the warehouse now.”

“We have many armies to feed, Riktor,” smiled Rejji as he waved Plesy over to the conversation. “The problem is that the city is not large enough for them. Six thousand men joined yesterday alone and I do not think we have seen the end of it. I was going to have a lot of supplies emptied out of the warehouse today for our new arrivals. Why don’t we have them take it directly off the ships? That will free your men up to help Plesy with the clearing and lumber hauling.”

“We don’t need any more help,” Plesy interjected. “The new location for the wasooki and clova herds was cleared this morning. The animals are being moved as we speak.”

“So we can start building in the old fields then?” queried Rejji.

“As soon as the animals are all moved,” nodded Plesy. “Bakhai is handling that. He certainly has a way with animals.”

“That he does,” smiled Rejji. “There is your answer Riktor. Have your men start building the new homes that we had planned for the old grazing fields.”

“Can we start construction of the second warehouse too?” Riktor asked. “The new men may take care of what is on the next two ships, but if more arrive we have no place to put it.”

“We have the lumber,” interjected Plesy. “At least the raw logs anyway. I have never seen a forest come down so quickly. There were so many men chopping trees that they were getting in each other’s way.”

“That is a problem,” frowned Rejji. “We are growing so fast that I can not keep track of what we are doing. I don’t know how to handle this.”

“You are taking too much upon yourself,” advised Plesy. “You need to have more people managing things and then report to you. That will give you time to look more long term at things. Right now you are just reacting to each person’s request.”

“I am willing to consider anything that will bring some sense of organization to this,” stated Rejji. “What do you suggest?”

“Put Riktor in charge of supplies,” began Plesy. “Let him handle all of the unloading and distribution of food and tools. If he needs more people, he can ask you for them.”

“Done,” nodded Rejji. “What else?”

“Let Copi handle the lumber portion,” continued Plesy. “That includes felling the trees, transporting them and shaving them. He will also need to handle the distribution to people needing supplies to build.”

“Copi can handle that,” Rejji nodded. “I am beginning to like this already. What about construction?”

“I will handle that,” declared Plesy. “I have a thought regarding that already. I think each tribe that arrives should build their own homes. When their homes are complete, their men can enter the labor pool for other jobs. The men that arrived yesterday don’t know what to do, so they are standing around doing nothing. If we put them to work on their own homes, we will have time to plan what they will work on next.”

“Where does the new warehouse fit into this?” asked Riktor as people started to gather around to hear what was going on.

“Half of the men I used for clearing the forest today will work on it,” answered Plesy. “If we can get the logs shaved, that warehouse will go up in two days. With the number of people Ghala has now, I think we should build a third as well.”

“And put it where?” asked Rejji. “We are running out of room to build.”