Richard Parker: Elsewhere

“Your wife was horrible,” she whispered. Jasper, close to death, wanted to object; he loved his wife despite her faults, but his mouth wouldn’t work and he died thinking of her. de Baard sighed, happy and then yanked the weapon free. Jasper slid down along the door, leaving a bright trail of red behind.

de Baard looked about at the carnage in the small kitchen and smiled. ‘Now I’ll have to get my own bath,’ she thought, not truly minding. She felt better than she had in months as she wiped her kali clean on Cyndee Fenn’s floral dress, the body still sitting neatly at the table.

“No please, don’t get up,” de Baard whispered and then giggled as she left the kitchen.

ǂ

Gwaynn returned to Manse nearly six weeks from the day of his departure, and the change was utterly astounding.

“Incredible!” Krys uttered as they rode closer and closer to the outer defenses of the rapidly growing city. Manse itself was not yet visible in the distance, but all along the entrance to the oxbow new fortifications were taking shape and hundreds of men and women were busy building and adding to them.

“Bock’s amazing,” Samantha whispered and Gwaynn found that he agreed completely. The transformation was dramatic. The main thoroughfare leading out of the oxbow was wide and slightly elevated; the banks of the road near the city were reinforced with large thick timbers to help keep it from washing away. At the moment the way was packed with carts and wagons, all loaded with goods being transported between the Plateau and the busy port city of Cape. A large levee now blocked most of the opening in the oxbow and the road was the only way in and out unless you wanted to get wet and wade across the Scar River.

Bock waited patiently for them just outside the newly erected city gates. He was mounted on a chestnut mare named McGurk. He gently scratched her neck as his King and his army approached closer. Gwaynn and Samantha led the long column of men, and flapping in the wind above them was the banner of Massi, a white eagle on a dark blue field. Bock’s heart soared just seeing the image, he’d almost forgotten. Gwaynn studied the defenses closely as he rode up. The first thing that struck him was the massive gates which now towered over the flat plains below. They were anchored on either side to the high levee that made up the first line of the city’s new defenses. The gates were wide open at the moment and Gwaynn could see that they were very thick. They soared high above the road and were very impressive. Across the entire oxbow, Bock and his men excavated a large trench that was nearly twenty feet wide. Gwaynn could see that it joined with the Scar River to the west but the eastern end was lost from view. There was no telling how deep the trench was since at the moment it was filled with water diverted from the river. The water was a muddy brown and filled with fresh sediment and flowed slowly past the gates to the east.

On the far side of the trench, obviously made from the excavated dirt and rock, was a solid mound of earth, a protective berm nearly fifteen feet high. Work was still continuing on the earthen mound but near the gates it was already complete. To the east, Gwaynn could see that the levee was being erected over a strong latticework of thick timbers, ostensibly to reinforce the earthen wall. Protruding out of the thick wooden braces were long, sharpened iron spikes positioned at regular intervals. The spikes were angled downward and sticking wickedly out of the earthen works for at least a foot and a half. They would pose a nasty problem, threatening anyone attempting to climb up to the top of the mound from the watery trench below. From the looks of it, the protective levee was almost halfway completed.

Bock waited patiently on the lone bridge that now spanned the trench at the gates. He waited with Captain Marcum on one side and the formidable Lee Brandt on the other. As Gwaynn and his troop approached, a slight smile appeared on the General’s face.

“Welcome home, M’lord,” he said as Gwaynn came to a stop before him.

“I see you’ve been busy,” Gwaynn commented, understating the obvious. As they spoke hundreds of men and women continued to work, setting spikes deep into the ground, while others were tending to the new earthen walls. Now that he was closer Gwaynn could see new sprouts of grass growing from the sides of the dirt levee close to the gates.

“Wild grass,” Krys commented with an amused smile, “it will make a lovely little obstacle for the Temple Knights.”

Brandt laughed, but Bock only nodded. “Can’t have all our work eroding with the next heavy rain,” he explained then pointed farther to the west. “We’ve already begun to build the double wall atop the levee where it meets the Scar River. It’ll make up the main line of our defense. It’ll be saw-toothed, ten feet high and anchored to the timbers built into the ground,” he added and held his hands out in a “V” formation to show exactly what he meant, “mainly for archer protection.” Bock continued and smiled as Samantha’s eyes lit up.

“A double wall?” Gwaynn asked.

Bock nodded. “Two wooden walls about a foot and a half apart. We’re filling the gap with rock and dirt for strength and for protection against fire. It won’t be as substantial as stone walls but sturdy enough. As the hill stabilizes the construction will go much faster. The mill is running day and night cutting the planks and braces.”

“Who thought of the design?” Samantha asked excitedly.

“Was Hahn’s idea,” Bock told her, “should afford us at least a little protection.”

“You’re walling us in,” Krys said, voicing Gwaynn’s own thoughts.

Bock shrugged. “As long as we’re not attacked from the plains and the Plateau at the same time we should have an avenue of escape if things go wrong.”

“What’s to keep the enemy from pinning us up on the Plateau and starving our army?”

Bock smiled. “Travelers,” he said simply and Gwaynn frowned, thinking perhaps his General was overestimating the power of na Gall. He said nothing however, as Bock led him and his army through the gates and into the now teeming oxbow; Manse was expanding rapidly. Everyone fell quiet as they got their first glimpse of the new city. The road they were on held straight and true all the way through the heart of the city, but the oxbow was now broken up into uniformed grids. There were buildings going up everywhere but not in the haphazard fashion of old. This would be a city of right angles.

“Unbelievable,” Krys said then whistled.

“I want to be able to move men rapidly from the Plateau to the wall,” Bock explained, “and I don’t want winding roads and poor planning slowing them down.”

Gwaynn smiled and wished Master Sath was here to see this. He felt sure his old mentor would be proud. In Gwaynn’s estimation Bock was the most indispensible man in Massi.

“This is perfect,” Gwaynn said and didn’t bother to keep the awe from his voice.

Lonogan nodded his head. “I hoped you’d like it.”

Gwaynn grinned. “I do, I do, but I’m still worried about being hemmed in. Even with my help, na Gall won’t be able to move enough men and horses around to keep our army from being neutralized.”

Bock smiled. “Zarina Monde arrived this morning,” he explained. “It seems the High Council on Noble was growing uneasy about her continued presence on their Island.”

“Monde?” Gwaynn asked, slightly puzzled and began to wonder at the motives of his old adopted home. The Tars of Noble never acted lightly or without reason. He would like to talk with Tar Kostek and find out just how the Tars were viewing the continued conflict. Well, maybe now he would have his chance.