Michael Manning - The Line of Illeniel

The carpenters and masons had been busy while I was away but much of the interior of the castle was still unfinished. Today that was notable in the fact that my new reception chamber, while completed, still didn’t have a table. Instead we gathered at the high table in the feast hall after breakfast was done.

The conversation started with a much more subdued babbling than the day before. My father had been correct; a good night’s sleep had given everyone a chance to put their thoughts in order. Now we just needed to figure out how to put the county in order. “If everyone will stop talking for a moment I’d like to start our first planning session,” I had to speak loudly to get their attention. It wasn’t in my nature to run meetings, but I figured as the new Count di’Cameron I’d better get used to it.

Everyone went silent and I looked down the table. On one side sat Dorian, Marcus and my father, on the other Penny, Cyhan and Joe McDaniel. I had included Joe since he had become Dorian’s second hand man in running the town militia and since they were our only ‘military’ force at present I thought he ought to be in on the planning. In all honesty the only person at the table with any real standing was Dorian. He had already agreed to stay on permanently as my seneschal in Cameron Castle and handle my garrison (when I had one) and other such security concerns.

The others were there for less official reasons. Cyhan as an advisor obviously, and Marcus too, since he knew much more about the workings of the aristocratic world than I did. Penny was there… well I wasn’t sure what reason I could point to… but even now I wouldn’t think of leaving her out of something so important.

“As a wise friend once told me, let’s start by first cataloguing what we have. Then we’ll consider what sort of force we will be facing in the spring. Once we have those two things spelled out as clearly as possible we’ll see what can be done between now and then to solve our problem,” I stated and then I looked over at Joe, “Mister McDaniel, how many able men do we have in the militia presently?”

Joe coughed to hide his nervousness, “Begging your pardon your lordship, we have thirty two men left in the Washbrook militia. We lost two during the recent attack by the shiggreth.”

“No need to be so formal Joe. Understand I was raised a common man, I’m not quite used to titles yet. When we’re alone like this please call me Mordecai… or sir if you must,” I told him.

“Yes sir, no problem,” he answered.

“Dorian how many men can James Lancaster put in the field?”

Dorian’s brow furrowed in concentration, “Well… I’m not really certain.”

“A rough guess is all we really need,” I assured him.

“A little over a hundred trained men at arms I think, and maybe a hundred more when he calls for his levies,” Dorian replied. “But that’s a very rough estimate.”

“Do you have any idea what Baron Arundel might be able to bring to the table?” I asked.

“No more than thirty men at arms, perhaps close to a hundred if you include his peasant levies,” Dorian supplied. “I don’t know the man that well though. That’s based purely on what my father told me a few years ago.”

“He doesn’t have a castle if I remember correctly… is that right?”

“It’s more of a fortified manor. There’s no room for his people if he’s besieged, not that it would stand any sort of organized assault,” Marcus put in.

I thought for a moment. Cameron Castle was very nearly the same size as Lancaster Castle, despite the smaller size of my lands. Gododdin’s army would have to pass through my lands before reaching Lancaster. “I think we should consider using this castle as our first strongpoint. If we fail here we can withdraw to Lancaster. The enemy would be foolish to bypass us and leave us behind them.”

Cyhan spoke up, “They will have a considerably larger force than ours. If they assault us here we will probably be encircled, a successful withdrawal will be unlikely.”

“If we withdraw to Lancaster at the start James will be overwhelmed with too many mouths to feed and shelter. The enemy will gain an excellent staging area, and Lancaster will be encircled just the same. If they lay siege to us there our combined forces and civilians will be easily starved out,” I responded.

The large man’s eyes focused on me for a moment. Until then I suspect he had seen me as no more than a stubborn peasant suddenly thrown into politics. I couldn’t really blame him though; he had had no evidence to suggest otherwise. “That is true, but either way we face a crushing defeat. The only difference is in the time and place. In one we die more slowly as he isolates us from our allies, in the other he will be able to starve us out more quickly.”

“How many men do you think Vendraccus will be able to field?” I asked.

Marcus and Dorian both shrugged but Cyhan spoke again, “If history is any example it will be over ten thousand men. In the last war between Lothion and Gododdin, King Gelleron brought nearly twenty thousand against us.”

“But Lothion won that war didn’t it?”

Marcus answered first, “Barely, they smashed and burned their way almost to the capital itself before they were stopped.”

I had paid little heed to our history lessons when we were younger and I regretted it now, “That war was over a hundred years ago. What happened to Lancaster then?”

“To put it succinctly,” Marc responded, “my great great grandfather spent the next twenty years rebuilding Lancaster and Cameron took even longer.”

“As much as I’ve enjoyed rebuilding this castle, the idea of rebuilding the entire county is even less pleasing,” I mused out loud.

“You really don’t have a choice,” Cyhan stated bluntly. “There aren’t that many people in your entire county anyway. You should pull out and join the king’s forces.”

“And lose everything? Just give it to them?” I asked.

“Not everything, you’ll still have your lives. If you stay you won’t be around to rebuild, nor will any of your people,” he countered.

“There is a third option,” Penny said. It was the first time she had spoken and everyone’s eyes turned to her. “You could capitulate. Put up a token resistance and surrender when he encircles the castle. If we’re lucky Vendraccus might leave you your lands and move on with his campaign.”

That started an uproar as everyone began arguing at once.

“I’m not suggesting we actually do that!” she had to shout to be heard, “I just thought we should be clear on all of our options, even if some of them are distasteful.”

“She is correct about that,” Cyhan added and she gave him a look of gratitude. My chest tightened at her expression.

“I am not willing to consider that as an option,” I said forcefully. “I would rather die first.” I met Penny’s eyes as I said it. We hadn’t looked directly at one another in almost two days now, and I wondered what I would find.

She showed no sign of worry on my account, instead I saw disgust written plainly on her face. “What of the women and children, what is their choice? Will they die for your honor too?”

I could feel my face turning red, “I was thinking we would send them to Lancaster. We could house his troops here and concentrate most of the civilians there.”

I saw her nostrils flare as her breathing quickened. “How many more widows will you create before you’re satisfied?” she challenged.

My temper snapped, “I can think of at least one woman who won’t be a widow!” I was standing now, shouting across the table at her. I don’t think I had ever been so angry before.