David Coe - The Horsemen's Gambit

"Yes, Your Lordship. I'll see to it immediately."

"Good. Keep me apprised of your progress."

"Forgive me, Your Lordship," Jenoe said. "But when last we spoke, I told you that I could pay for provisions out of my family's treasury. I fully intend-"

"No need, Jenoe," Maisaak said. "The sovereign has pledged to pay the costs of this war. We don't need your gold."

Jenoe eyed the man for just a moment. "Yes, Your Lordship." Maisaak nodded once. "That's all."

Tirnya, Jenoe, and Enly left the chamber together, none of them saying a thing as they made their way through the palace corridors. Only when they reached the city lanes did Enly stop and face them.

"I just want to repeat what my father told you in there," he said. "I have no desire to lead this army, Marshal, and I won't do anything to challenge your authority."

"Thank you, my lord," Jenoe said.

"I'd suggest you get used to calling me captain. We don't want to give the men any reason to question who's in command."

Jenoe smiled. "You're right. Captain."

Enly smiled in turn, nodded once to Tirnya, and walked away. "I'm not sure I trust him," Tirnya said, gazing after him.

"I don't trust him at all," Jenoe answered, surprising her. "I say that not as his commander-I trust him entirely in that regard." He glanced at her, his eyes twinkling. "It's as your father that I have my doubts."

Over the next several days, all of Qalsyn seemed to come to life, like a bees' nest that's been prodded with a stick. Now that it was no longer a secret, word of the impending attack on the Fal'Borna spread swiftly to every corner of the city. Suddenly, every man, woman, and child was working with a single purpose: to provision and arm Jenoe's army. Though many of the soldiers under Tinrya's command might have had their doubts about the wisdom of her plan, they all trained with a passion and purpose she had never seen in them before. And knowing now what had been concealed from them previously, they seemed to forgive Tirnya for how hard she had pushed them.

It was another six days after their meeting with Maisaak before all was ready for Jenoe's army to march from the city gates. On that seventh morning, with a fine, cold mist falling on the city, all the people of Qalsyn turned out to see the soldiers off. Zira stood at the front of the crowd with Tirnya's twin brothers, Galdry and Laeris. The boys were still a year shy of their fourth four, but they had argued with Jenoe late into the night, begging him to let them march to war. Zira had said little to Tirnya over the past few days. But Tirnya had heard her speaking with Jenoe as well, pleading with him not to go. On this morning, her face looked puffy and her eyes were red-rimmed. She wouldn't meet Tirnya's gaze.

Maisaak was there as well, standing beside Riyette, Her Ladyship, whose golden hair seemed to shimmer in the grey light.

"Gods keep you safe," the lord governor said, his voice barely carrying in the still, damp air. His pale blue eyes flicked ever so briefly toward his son. "All of you. We'll await word of your success."

"Thank you, Your Lordship," Jenoe said. He pulled his sword free and held it to his forehead in salute. The rest of the commanders and soldiers did the same.

His blade still in hand, Jenoe steered his mount through the city gate and out into the rolling hills that surrounded Qalsyn. His captains, including Tirnya and Enly, followed, and behind them came a long column of soldiers, their helms and weapons gleaming. Some in the crowd that had gathered to watch them leave cheered and called out the names of their friends and loved ones. Most remained silent. In all, it struck Tirnya as a solemn affair, and she feared there was an ill omen in the grave aspect of those who had lined the city lanes.

They marched northwestward, toward the Companion Lakes. By late in the day, the skies had cleared, and the wind had freshened from the west. With the dreary weather behind them, Tirnya's mood improved. Though Jenoe chose not to push the men too hard that first day, they still managed to cover more than two leagues before stopping for the night. As they made camp under a darkening sky of indigo, she decided that she'd been foolish that morning, and that omens were for children and superstitious fools. She was a soldier, helping to lead a fine army. Their success or failure would be determined by their training and the soundness of their strategy, not by gloomy skies and the facial expressions of wet, tired cityfolk.

Over the next several days, Jenoe gradually increased the length of their marches. Tirnya and her father had estimated the distance between Qalsyn and the southernmost Mettai villages in the Companion Lakes region at just over forty leagues, and with the good weather holding, and the moons offering some light after nightfall, they expected that they could cover that distance in twelve days or so, fewer if they were lucky.

For the most part, the soldiers remained in good spirits throughout the march. Occasionally, at the end of a particularly long day, they began to grouse a bit. But usually a meal and a good night's sleep mollified them, and by the next morning, they were ready to resume their journey northward.

Riding with her father and the other captains, Tirnya could hardly fault the soldiers for their complaints. It was a far more arduous journey for them than it was for her. Still she couldn't help but take pride in the fact that it was men from other companies who grumbled most loudly. Her soldiers comported themselves well, and if on some days they felt that the marshal drove them too hard, they kept silent about it.

Enly rode with the commanders, of course. But he spoke little, and he always made camp with his soldiers, slightly apart from the rest of Jenoe's army. He and Tirnya avoided each other, which suited her just fine. She spent most of her time with her father and Stri Balkett, or with her own lead riders. This was her first major military expedition, and despite the uncertainties and the dangers, she couldn't help but be excited.

As they approached the Companion Lakes region, the terrain began to change, and so did the weather. The plain gave way to rolling hills; the open land was replaced by thick forests of cedar, spruce, and pine. At the same time, the air grew colder, though the skies remained clear. Ravens Wash, which they had followed all the way from Qalsyn, flowed more swiftly here, its waters roiled and frothy. Before them, though still a good distance off, loomed the jagged, white-capped peaks of the Border Range. Tirnya had grown up within sight of the Aelind Mountains, but never before had she seen summits as high and imposing as these.

On the tenth day out from Qalsyn, the wind shifted so that it blew directly from the north and seemed to carry with it the cold of those distant snowy ridges. That night, the camp glowed bright orange with all the fires lit by Jenoe's army. Tirnya huddled in her sleeping roll throughout the night, sleeping poorly, and thinking, despite her better judgment, of the warm nights she had passed in Enly's bed. When she awoke the following morning, the ground and her sleeping roll both were coated with a thin white frost.

They broke camp quickly. For once every soldier under her father's command seemed eager to be marching.

As they started out, Enly rode past her, a small smile on his lips. "I thought of you last night," he said, his voice pitched just loud enough for her to hear.

She didn't answer, but she felt her face turn red.

They came to their first Mettai village later that morning. They had encountered several towns and villages along the banks of the wash as they made their way north, but during the previous two days had seen none at all. It almost seemed that over the years a boundary had formed between the Eandi villages and those of the Mettai.