Richard Parker - Elsewhere

“Get the town folk to work finding more rocks,” Marcum ordered as he gazed out and down at the Deutzani camp far below. “And find Lyle…see if he knows of any other oil…or anything flammable we might use against the bastards.”

‘If they come tonight…they’ll have us. Let’s hope they wait for more shield houses,’ Marcum thought, but he knew that if the Deutzani persisted they would eventually overwhelm the defenders. He’d lost a hundred of his toughest fighting men and he was running low on heavy soldiers. The archers, though vital, would not be able to hold the Plateau by themselves. He considered contacting General Bock, but dismissed the idea…thinking instead of Gaston…now Captain Gaston. Marcum knew the young cavalry man was ordered to harass the Temple Knights and support Manse, but Marcum needed him. If Gaston could somehow hit the Deutzani from below as they were engaged in attacking the Plateau…Marcum shook away the thought, but it returned and nagged at his brain.

‘Perhaps we’ll just see if Gaston happens to be nearby,’ he thought then turned to Birdsong.

“Find Speaker Torres,” was all he said.

VII

As it happened, Captain Gaston and the Massi cavalry were just over fifty miles to the east of Manse trying to regroup after the recent attack on the Temple Knights which quickly turned into a fiasco. Most of the Massi horsemen, Gaston included, counted themselves lucky that the entire force was not completely wiped out. The Knights were good, there was no doubt about that and they’d proved it by killing or capturing nearly ten percent of Gaston’s force…and that was during a supposedly surprise attack.

In all they lost nearly two hundred men during the engagement, with another seventy-five suffering wounds serious enough to keep them out of the fighting for a while, but more importantly they lost over two hundred and fifty horses. Neither men nor horses could be replaced easily, and Gaston was gathering his courage before contacting Gwaynn to inform him of the defeat.

In the immediate aftermath of battle, after rejoining with the main contingent of Massi cavalry, Gaston decided to keep moving east. His greatest fear was that the Temple Knights would follow and capitalize on their obvious advantage, but after nearly a day and a half of hard riding they’d encountered no more of the enemy, a fact that left Gaston feeling very thankful.

“We’ve done damage to the Knights as well,” Captain Kerr said as they sat in the command tent. Kerr, who sat near the back of the tent, remained silent for so long that Gaston forgot he was present.

Gaston blinked and looked to his second in command. “Does the worry show?”

Kerr smiled, liking the younger man. “Yes, and you are wise not to let the men see you so,” he answered. “You must contact Gwaynn and General Bock…inform them of the situation.”

Gaston nodded but did not answer. They both looked up as Speaker Sarbeth entered the tent as if on cue. Gaston’s heart began to pound in his chest the moment he saw her, expecting to be told of contact by the King, but Sarbeth remained quiet, standing stiffly just inside the tent flap. The female Speaker was young, athletic and had such a strong, square jaw that it was the envy of many of the men who rode with her. Her dirty blonde hair was cut shoulder length and pulled back away from her face and as she waited Gaston thought wildly that she would have made a fine looking man. Politeness however, kept him from revealing his opinion to her, though surprisingly she would have been happy to hear it.

Gaston’s heart began to slow when the woman didn’t speak up immediately, but then Sarbeth surprised him.

“Speaker Torres has called to us, Captain Marcum wishes to speak with you,” she said in a soft, feminine voice which did not match her appearance.

Gaston frowned and glanced at Captain Kerr, who shrugged, also puzzled.

“Proceed,” Gaston told the Speaker and at once Sarbeth closed her eyes and began to weave her hands about in front of her. Gaston couldn’t help but notice that her hands were large and rough looking.

‘She would make a fine warrior,’ he thought, but then quickly amended it. ‘She was a fine warrior.’

It took several long minutes before a small distortion coalesced in the air directly before her. When, at last, her hands dropped, she opened her eyes and spoke clearly. “Speaker Torres…Captain Gaston is present.”

“Captain,” Gaston heard the voice of Captain Marcum, his old friend and mentor, “we need immediate assistance or Lynndon will fall. Where are you located?”

Gaston frowned again. “We’re five miles outside the town of Maenlarn…maybe sixty miles from you.”

“Excellent!” Marcum answered and Gaston could hear the excitement in his friend’s voice. “Can you ride on Lynndon?”

Gaston glanced at Captain Kerr once more.

“My orders are to harass and occupy the Knights,” Gaston replied carefully.

“Your orders will lose us the Plateau,” Marcum snapped back. Gaston had been under Marcum’s direct command from the time he’d joined the Massi army, back when Gwaynn’s father, Arnot was still King.

“How soon can you get here?”

Kerr stared at Gaston and shook his head negatively.

“If you want us in battle condition…maybe sixteen hours.”

They heard Marcum mutter something unintelligible. “That’s too long. We’ll all be dead by noon tomorrow.”

“After the death of Captain Tanner, King Gwaynn gave us very clear instructions as to our role in this war,” Kerr said finally speaking up.

“Who is that? Is that you Kerr?’

“Yes Sir.”

“Did Gwaynn instruct you to give the Plateau to the Deutzani? Do you know the war is lost if that happens? Do you?”

“No sir…I mean yes sir,” Kerr said clearly flustered.

“Then shut your yap and let me deal with the strategy. Gaston…I need you here…I need you here at all possible speed. Can I count on you?”

Gaston paused for only a moment. He had no wish to disobey his King, but he also knew that if he stayed on the plains and continued to trade blows with the Knights, the Massi cavalry would soon be gone.

“We’ll be there…we’ll be there before noon tomorrow, although what shape our horses will be in is hard to say.”

“Bless you Captain…and don’t worry about Gwaynn. I’ll contact him about your change of plans. Now get moving,” Marcum added and almost at once the Speaker bubble disappeared.

Gaston turned to Kerr, who was pale with worry. “Break camp,” Gaston ordered. It was late in the evening, but he thought they might have two hours of safe riding left in the day. “I know the men and horses are tired, but I’d not try to do the entire sixty miles in the morning…let’s break it up and get a bit closer.”

“As you say,” Kerr said with a nod and left the tent, hurrying to get the men up and about once more. The broke camp fifteen minutes later, most of the men actually relieved that they would be facing an enemy other than the Temple Knights.

ǂ

Captain Hothgaard was still in shock. The counter attack against the Massi cavalry was executed flawlessly, but somehow everything went wrong and they’d lost five hundred and twenty-one men and horses…five hundred and twenty-one. It was inconceivable…utterly unthinkable, but Hothgaard knew it could have been much, much worse. If the Massi commander had not foolishly broken off from the fight in all probability Hothgaard and his Knights would have been utterly wiped out. And the worst of it was that the Knights under his command were some of his most veteran men…experienced, hard combat cavalry men, not the new recruits conscripted after their losses to the Toranado. He left his green troops near Cape in the relative safety of the siege. The defeat left Hothgaard uneasy. First the Toranado and now the Massi had challenged the Temple Knights and pushed them to their limits. It was becoming painfully obvious to the Captain that the Knights no longer enjoyed complete dominance on the battlefield; the Families of the Inland Sea were learning and improving. The High King would be wise to abandon the attempt to retake the Massi lands and give the Temple Knights time to regroup, retrain and recapture their elite standing. It was a sobering thought and not one the Captain relished having, nor did he look forward to reporting such a setback to King Mastoc.