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CHAPTER 41 - A NoblE INTERludE

“You sent for me, milord?” Tohmas Stoutheart looked up from the scroll he was reading and saw Jerrance Blainesdale standing in the door of his command pavilion. He sethis writing quill down and bid the other man to come in. “Ah, yes. So I did.I have something here for you.” He reached into a dispatch pouch pulledout a small scroll case. “This recently arrived by wing for you from TraazonKeep.” The other man’s face blanched at the words. “My son?”“Worry not, your son is alive; that is the gist of the message. In fact, it

says little beyond that at all. Hard to nd a man with a sure enough handto write a message small enough to t on a pigeon’s leg.”

Half a smile crossed Jerrance’s face, and his color returned some. Hetook the missive from the Earl’s hand with a grateful nod and scannedthe few small lines of print. The Earl was right; the message didn’t saymuch.

“Relief force arrived promptly but with severe casualties. Many men wounded, many more killed. However, supplies intact; should add at least a month to the garrison’s life. Situation not yet desperate, but very grim. I am now second in command of this place. Hurry; we cannot hold through the summer. Morris Blainesdale, knight of the realm.”

Jerrance looked up at the Earl after he nished reading. “Well, at least

we know my boy is safe. And also that they bought us a few weeks’ reprieveto allow us to march this army across the plains.”“Aye, a few weeks.” The Earl grunted as he shoved the vast stack of

paperwork and scrolls on his eld desk aside. “As for myself, old friend, I

still have a hard time believing the rumors are true. Ten to twelve thousandorcs? They must have emptied the clan holds to bring numbers that greatacross the Ishkar. A part of me thinks we should ignore this siege andcross the river ourselves. With the forces we have here, we could lay wasteto the clan holds and end this threat forever.”Baron Blainesdale blanched again. “And leave Lord Mournfell and myson trapped in a castle under siege? Surely you jest, milord!”“Oh, yes,” he chuckled. “I’m kidding. But don’t think that the thoughthasn’t occurred to me.” He reached into the stack of papers and scrolls,rummaging for something. “How many men do we have under arms withus now?” Jerrance sat down on a camp stool by the door. “Well… let me see. Yourroyal guards and household troops number nearly three thousand mountedknights and men at arms. I’ve brought my levies, and Baron Grunveld has

his coming as well, as does Baroness Storm Creek. That should give us ve

thousand foot between the three of us. Baron Timmis has sent word thathe is riding hard with three hundred knights and should be here withinthree days, and he has another thousand foot coming behind him as well.With the arrival of the lesser lords, by the time all is said and done…” He

paused briey, and the Earl could almost see the numbers spinning in his

friend’s head. “By the time all is said and done,” he repeated, “We should

- 208 -have numbers nearly equal to the orcs – over three thousand knights andmounted men-at-arms and eight or nine thousand foot. Certainly, yourgrace, the largest army the Eastern Marches has seen in decades.”He sat back as if waiting for the Earl to speak, but the gray-haired oldnoble said nothing. Instead, he reached down into his saddle bag, pullingout his pipe. He packed it full and picked up the candle from his desk to

light it, pufng contentedly. He blew a smoke ring before continuing. “Well,

then it’s just a matter of time, isn’t it.” The other man nodded. “So tell me;then what?”“Then what what?”“What about after we break the siege? Don’t you agree that an assault

across the river, a full edged invasion, is the logical course of action?”

“I suppose so, Tohmas. But… you know as well as I do that the clanholds are huge! Even a force this size would get lost trying to

conquer

suchan area, let alone trying to

control

it! And to hold it – where would we nd

the troops? Our nobles have no interest trying to hold such vast emptiness. There’s nothing out there but orcs, gnolls, and a few centaurs.”“Heh,” the Earl sighed. “I suppose you’re right at that. But still, theoption is tempting, no?”“Oh, I don’t know. It does seem tempting. But Milord, if we smash themoutside the walls of Traazon Keep, and destroy this army, the orcs will beruined for a generation, at least – even if they do breed like rabbits. To behonest, I can’t imagine what they were thinking. They have to know thatour weapons and tactics are better. They always rely on numbers. When was the last time an orc army beat a human army in stand up combat? Oran elf army, or a dwarf one? For that matter, when was the last time they’vebeaten

any

army?”“Never,” The Earl replied, snorting. “At least, not in living memory. SoI suppose you’re right. What are they thinking?” He smiled wanly. “Mightas well ask the sun not to set as try and think like an orc. Well, I suppose you may be right. We will smash them this time. Even if we don’t cross theriver, there will be so little left of these clans that they will not be able tobother us for years.”He grabbed his pouch of tobacco and offered it to the Baron, but theother man shook his head. “You’re sure?” he asked, but he simply shook hishead again. “Your loss.” He set the pouch down and inhaled the pungentfragrance. “So, my friend, while we are here smashing orcs, the other threemarch lords have decided it is time to smash each other senseless back west. I haven’t had the time to ask you before now; what do you make of this damn civil war?”“What do I make of it? Foolishness. With all that’s going on, the empireneeds a strong ruler now more than ever. Before long the Highlanders will start something, or maybe the elves, or the dwarves. Hells, the damnNarvics may even stir after all this. We need to be worrying about whatothers think of us instead of being so preoccupied with who holds AverimCity and the throne. If nothing else, this orc invasion proves that.”

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Hmmm. Maybe he’s closer to my way of thinking than I thought. I can use this… use him.

Tohmas said aloud,

“Too true. Too true. So… who do youthink should take the throne?”“None of the pack of louts who currently vies for it, that’s for sure. I

mean, nobles they may be, but none of them inspire much condence as a

King. Which one of them tried to promote the idea of rulership by committeeof you four March Lords?”“That would be Lady Amorella. Have you ever met her?”“No, I’ve never had the privilege.”“Privilege? Oh, it’s no privilege at all. She’s almost old enough to be mymother, the crone. And her daughters are even worse. Why anyone wouldever want to marry one… Which explains, I guess, why no one has.” Heblew a ring of smoke from his pipe. “But that brings us back to square one.Eventually this invasion will be put down, but the facts you’ve just stated will remain. Someone has to take the reins of power. Who would you give your allegiance to?”“Tohmas, you know that you have my allegiance, and always have.”“Bah. That’s not what I meant, old friend, and you know it. You knowas well as I do that I have no desire to take the throne.”

That much, at least,is true.

“I meant who do you think I – we – should support? For these lastmonths I have been scrupulous in avoiding giving anything even hintingat my allegiance to any one. But now that Earl Proudmore has thrown intothe fray, I don’t think staying neutral will remain an option. You’ve seen thesame reports from the capital that I have. Hells, even the merchant housesare picking sides. Some of those merchant houses have as much or moreclout than any of the great houses, and the funds to hire every mercenarybetween here and Clarinar. We must choose someone to back or the empire will fall apart, lost in a three way civil war.” Jerrance sat for a long moment before saying anything, and when hespoke, he looked the Earl square in the eye. “Tohmas, I’ve known you forover forty years, and I think I know you almost as well as anyone.

youdesire the throne?”“Me?” he laughed. “No, not me. If I had any wish to claim it, don’t youthink that I would have already done so? No, my old friend, I have no wishto be Emperor. I wish only to see our people safe and protected – from theorcs, from the elves and dwarves, from anyone else who would claim to rule

our people. That is why I am here, with you, making ready to ght green

-backs instead of turning this army west.”

Mollied, Jerrance let himself chuckle softly. “I am grateful that you

would say that, Tohmas. Still… a part of me wishes you did want thethrone. Truly, I myself and all of Terrick Vale would support you.”A look of surprise crossed the Earl’s face. “So you think I should seekthe throne, despite all that goes on here in the east?”“Yes – No. I don’t know,” he chuckled. Someone has to do it. Someonehas to be the King, right?”“But not me, old friend. Not me. I seek only to safeguard our people,and I can best do it by taking care of the ones out here that already look tome for protection. Let those idiots back west fall over themselves. They may