Varna

My brother Aludar was in Whydah, with somewhere between 700 and 800 men. He was, as far as we knew, waiting on the arrival of mercenaries from Galtin's Port.

My brother Toran, with his allies Tir Beksha and Tir Moksha, was marching for Whydah with 400 men. I worried - not for the first time - that Toran was being led, rather than leading.

And now we knew that my brother Nathal was going down the river, towards Whydah, with his army, which was also between 700 and 800 strong.

Did Nathal not know about the mercenaries? Was he unaware of Toran's smaller army? Or ... however little I liked the idea, I had to face the possibility that Toran was going to join Nathal, rather than Aludar.

Haste, then. We had to seize the opportunity to join with Sanatha - to get our two forces on the same side of the river. Knowing that Nathal was gone, I sent Sezima to get some men across to the east bank of the Varna, to find Sanatha.

Glasha had to stop time-walking; she would have to come with us. There was no point in leaving a force to defend Souglad: Saska wouldn't hear of being separated from Glasha and me. The only issue, then, was what to do with Sirma, Aludar's daughter. Gerdar Tanle found an old soldier who was known to the elves. He agreed to take the little girl into his modest home for the time being. Anonymity would be her best protection.

Given the circumstances, it wasn't difficult to convince Alissara and the elves that we had to move to the river. It came as a surprise to me to learn that most of them hadn't been that far east

in their lifetimes

. Naevys and the fey agreed to follow us, and to remain in contact with the army.

I wondered how my ancestor, Arivan Cunedda, had felt during

his

civil war. It seemed to me much like walking about in the dark with your eyes closed. And I say this

despite

having the advantage of Glasha's time-walking knowledge. That made me feel better: if I knew little, then my brothers could only know less.

We pressed hard, and reached the river in less than three days. By then, I already knew the good news. Hurmas and Sezima's men had been riding back and forth, carrying reports and instructions east and west.

Sanatha had reached the river. On her own initiative, she hired what boats she could, and began ferrying troops to the western side.

It wasn't quite the army I had expected: it was a multitude. There were hundreds on the western side of the river, and hundreds more still on the eastern bank.

I arrived with Saska and her mother, with Glasha and Hurmas. Sanatha was there waiting for us, with big Durgat beside her.

Glasha and Saska dismounted in unseemly haste, and only narrowly missed twisting an ankle. I tried to be much more dignified, and alighted with as much grace as I could muster. I ignored my sister for the moment, as she was wrapped in the arms of my wife and my lover.

Instead, I strode forward, and bowed to my former bodyguard, before offering him my hand.

- "Welcome, my Lord." I said.

- "Lord Tauma." he replied, with a big grin.

- "Only Tauma, for you." I said. "I suppose we'll have to renegotiate the treaty between our peoples, now. You'll probably want more than an anvil, this time."

Durgat didn't stand on ceremony. He stepped forward, and seized me in his powerful arms, lifting me off the ground. He squeezed me so hard, I had trouble breathing. Truth be told, I was as excited as he was.

When they reached Calep, Sanatha met Tir Caenog and Gerdar Ostro, the two noblemen who'd agreed to back Gerdar Dergun in supporting me. The plan, of course, included asking the Red Knee orcs for more mercenaries. Durgat decided to take that task upon himself.

In the year of our Grand Tour, while Hurmas and I met with the chieftain, Hanurak LongArm, Sezima found a half-orc female, and ... immersed himself in the local culture. Durgat was even more ... involved. He'd met more than half a dozen willing females. He was so successful in his endeavours, in fact, that Hanurak became concerned that Durgat was going to challenge him for the leadership of the Red Knee orcs.

We defused that potential diplomatic crisis, assuring Hanurak that Durgat had no intention of unseating him. We were able to leave without causing a major incident.

But Durgat had not forgotten. While Sanatha met with notables in Calep, Durgat slipped away to the Blasted Tree, home of the Red Knees. He met quickly with some old 'friends', was introduced to a few of his infant sons and daughters, and came up with a plan.

With considerable backing, Durgat formally challenged Hanurak LongArm for the leadership of the Red Knees. Hanurak had no chance to delay or prevaricate. The two champions met in front of the Blasted Tree, and LongArm went down hard.

Durgat was now Chieftain of the Red Knee orcs.

- "I brought everyone." he said.

- "Everyone?"

- "If we support you, and lose ... neither Nathal nor Merik would leave any of us alive. There's no point in hiding near the Blasted Tree, Tauma. We'll win, with you ... or we'll cease to exist at all. I think that you

are

the Varyan."

Durgat had brought the entire Red Knee tribe. Over 150 of them were non-combatants, either too old or too young to fight. But he'd also brought us 350 half-orc warriors, both male and female.

- "Three hundred and fifty." he repeated.

Sanatha jumped on my back.

- "We have an army!" she screamed, straight into my ear.

We did.

Between Durgat and Yazgash, we had almost 400 half-orcs - the most feared heavy infantry in Varna. That would be more than enough to protect our elven archers. We had 250 of them, under Alissara and Enneiros. Gerdar Tanle, Hurmas and Sezima, and Azren, now joined by Tir Caenog, and Gerdars Dergun and Ostro gave us a little over 200 men, almost half of them mounted. That would give me many options on how to use them. And then there were the fey.

- "We have to go north." I said. "Aludar may be in danger, if Nathal and Toran combine against him. But if Toran joins Aludar, then we can catch Nathal between two forces."

Thus our goal became to get everyone over to the western bank of the Varna, so that our forces could be united. At the rate we were going, that might not be completed until tomorrow. I immediately sent Hurmas north, along the river, to learn what he could.

The mood was wonderful - it was practically a celebration. I ran into Yazgash, commander of the half-orc mercenaries.

- "Did you know he was going to do this?" I asked - referring to Durgat.

- "No. That was all him." she said. "Good idea, though."

My time that evening was divided just about equally, between worrying about the half-orcs still on the eastern side of the river, and meeting with the new arrivals. Sanatha introduced me to Tir Caenog and Gerdar Ostro, but I also found time to personally welcome many of their men. Sanatha and I did the same with as many of the Red Knees as possible.

- "You did a wonderful job." I told my sister.

- "I did reasonably well." she said. "It's Durgat who was wonderful."

- "On a more serious note ... what do you think Toran will do?"

Sanatha shook her head. "I have a bad feeling about this, Tauma. When that envoy came into Calep, he didn't look like Toran's representative. He asked Dergun and the others to join their army. Not to support Toran."

- "But who's in charge? The Mokshas, because they hate Merik? Or the Bekshas, because of their old claim on the Kingdom of Varna?"

- "Either way, Aludar may need our help." said Sanatha.

- "I know."

It was getting late, and my thoughts turned to bedding down and sleeping. It was still springtime, and the nights were still quite cool. That meant nothing to the elves, of course, and the toughness of the half-orcs was a byword. But the humans would be huddling together for warmth.

Gerdar Tanle had the foresight to bring with us as many blankets as Souglad could spare. I was looking forward to crawling under one, preferably with Glasha on one side of me, and Saska on the other.

But I found Saska sitting up, cross-legged. Glasha was lying beside her, swathed in two - no, three blankets. Saska was stroking her arm.

- "What's wrong?" I asked.

Saska was startled. "She's ... she's so cold, Tauma. I don't know what to do."

Glasha looked as if she was asleep - except that her lips were moving. I pressed my hand to her cheek; she was cold to the touch.

- "She's time-walking." I snapped. "Why did you let her? I told her not to!"

- "She knew you'd be angry." said Saska. "But she said that we had to know. And that you could sling her over the back of a horse, tomorrow, if necessary."

- "Damn it, Saska! This could hurt her!"

My wife had never heard me lose my temper. I'd never yelled at her. She was shocked to see my anger, now. But she didn't balk when I told her to slide under the blankets, and to wrap her arms around Glasha. I did exactly the same, from the other side.

- "I'm ... I'm sorry." said Saska. Her lower lip was quivering.

- "It's not your fault." I told her. "Glasha can be very persuasive. But she doesn't know her own limits. We don't want to lose her."

- "Goddesses, no!" said Saska.

Perhaps it was the warmth of our bodies. Or maybe Glasha heard Saska's invocation of the Goddesses. Whatever the reason, Glasha's eyes snapped open.

- "

Oh, no."

she said.

- "What's happening, Glasha?" I asked her.

- "

It's Toran. He's ... he's with Nathal

."

***

We were at least two full days march from Whydah. Barring a miracle, we couldn't reach the city in time to help Aludar. And yet, we had to try. Nathal and Toran, with their combined forces, outnumbered him substantially. Aludar did have the defences of Whydah, though the walls weren't very high on the landward side; the rulers of Varna had always worried more about an attack from the sea. But if his mercenaries arrived in the nick of time, he might be able to hold on until we got there.

It was taking longer than I'd expected to get the remaining Red Knee orcs across the river. By the time we would finally have accomplished that task, it would be late in the day. We simply couldn't wait that long.

I talked it over with Sanatha, Gerdar Tanle, and especially Durgat. He understood. We left a group of Red Knee orcs to supervise the continued crossing, with a force of elven archers under Enneiros.

The rest of our army began to move north.

Spirits were high - I believe that many of the half-orcs and quite a few of the humans saw this as some sort of grand adventure. Sezima was especially happy; he'd re-connected with the half-orc lover he'd met on our grand tour.

Glasha wasn't strapped to a horse, but Saska had to share a saddle with her, and support her. They would both be exhausted at the end of the day. All of us would be tired, for that matter. I pressed the pace, moving from group to group to remind them of the need for haste. We marched until it grew dark.

I had them up again at the first light of dawn. We broke our fast, and were on our way again. Glasha was still too tired to time-walk again; I simply refused to allow her to even attempt it. Saska was worried now, as well - she could tell that Glasha's fatigue was unnatural, and I believe that it frightened her.

Gerdar Tanle was riding with Sanatha and me when the first of our scouts returned. To our surprise, they were led by Hurmas himself. It was even more surprising when we realized who was riding with them.

Bathene Esin. And Benaz Corig.

- "

Oh, no

." said Sanatha.

We rode to meet them.

I slid from the saddle, and went over to Bathene's side. Both women were travel-stained, and looked exhausted.

- "Let me help you, cousin." I said.

Bathene sighed, and closed her eyes for a moment. Then she took my offered hand, and let me help her to dismount. I made sure that she was steady on her feet, and then turned to Benaz Corig. Gerdar Tanle had copied me, and was already helping the young woman from the saddle.

- "YOU!" snapped Benaz. "This is all

your

fault! If you had married me when you were supposed to, this would never have happened! But NO - you had to marry that Tanle slut, and ruin

everything

!"

I was too shocked to respond. Benaz Corig was a pretty girl; she always had been. But she was terrifically self-centred and dull. And stupid, apparently - I just hadn't known

how

stupid before. Now it seemed that she had been aware of Aludar's plan to have me marry her all along.

It was Bathene who spoke first.

- "Benaz! Do you not realize who it is that just helped you off your horse? That's Saska Tanle's mother!"

That did the trick. Benaz Corig was horrified to have made such a terrible misstep. Embarrassment silenced her. But Bathene wasn't finished.

"If you can't say something useful, don't say anything at all!"

- "Cousin." I said. "What happened?"

Bathene took another deep breath, and gathered herself. "Nathal's boats appeared, almost a week ago. Then Toran's army arrived, on the east bank of the river. Aludar was delighted; he believed that Toran had come to join us."

I understood. Whydah lies almost entirely on the western side of the mouth of the Varna. That is where the best harbour is located. Only fishermen and smugglers us the eastern side of the river.

"But then Toran's troops were ferried across the river by Nathal's boats. It was obvious that they were in league. They had over 1,000 men between them. Aludar quickly began shoring up the gaps in the landward wall, and encouraged everyone to be confident. The mercenaries were coming, he said. We could defend the city."

- "Go on."

- "We saw sails to the east. At least a dozen ships. Aludar was convinced that we were saved. That was when Nathal and Toran attacked. There was heavy fighting along the walls. Aludar and my father were there." Bathene swayed on her feet; I reached out a hand to steady her. It was either fatigue, or emotion - or perhaps both.

"We were holding. At least, I believe that we were. But when the ships came into harbour ..." She couldn't continue, for a moment.

- "The ships?" I prompted her.

- "They weren't

our

mercenaries. They began to attack us the moment they landed. Every fighting man we had was on the landward side. There was no one to stop the ships."

Caught between three forces, Aludar's supporters had never had a chance.

- "How did you escape?" I asked.

- "Benaz and I ... we found it difficult to be around my aunt. Your mother. We found reasons to be out and about, away from her. When the city fell, we were near the walls. There was a squad of Esin troopers nearby, defending a part of the wall that wasn't under attack. They helped us to climb down, and then joined us. I ... I don't know how many others escaped."

Bathene was at her limit - or perhaps she was far past it. I held out my arms, and then embraced her. holding her tightly.

- "I'm sorry." I said.

- "Tauma. Why didn't you come? Why didn't you join us?"

That hurt. It was like a punch in the chest. Did she know what she was asking?

- "That's ... a tale for another day. We have to move."

The question was, were we going to move forward - or back?

I called a conference of my captains on the spot. With Hurmas here, I sent Sezima forward, to take over the scouting. That left me with Sanatha, Gerdar Tanle, Alissara, Durgat and Yazgash, and the other human nobles who'd joined us.

Numbers tell. My voice was important, but Durgat and Alissara were almost equally influential, now. I wasn't about to do anything without their support - both of them.

Retreat was the safest option. Nathal and Toran, backed by mercenaries, outnumbered us by a significant margin.

- "Three to two." said Gerdar Tanle.

- "Bad odds." said Gerdar Azren.

That was all that was said, for a moment. I could feel the mood - perhaps it was the aether I'd gathered, to help my mental functions. Most of my captains were thinking the equivalent of

'We've come this far ...

'

- "But ..." I said.

Durgat didn't want his rule as chief of the Red Knees to begin with a long march that turned out to be pointless, followed by a withdrawal. The eastern nobles recruited by Sanatha felt the same - though they were also concerned about the reprisals that might be visited upon them and their families by the Mokshas and the Bekshas.

If we retreated, could we hide all of the half-orcs and the humans in the western woods? It didn't seem possible - or wise.

- "Let's go forward." I said. "There may yet be the opportunity for us to strike a blow."

Within hours, we came across the Esin squad that had helped Bathene and Benaz Corig to escape. They were on foot, but happy to attach themselves to us.

As we marched on, we met up with more of Hurmas' scouts - and a group I hadn't expected, including a familiar face.

- "Lord Tauma. What a pleasant sight."

- "Captain Urbo." I said. "It's a pleasure to see

you

."

- "No longer Captain, I fear. I've lost the

First Light

."

He had a tale to tell. It was very close to Bathene's, with one exception. He hadn't trusted Yavantay from the very beginning, and was surprised that my brother and the Esins had. Yavantay was the sea captain who'd been commissioned by Aludar to hire mercenaries in Galtin's Port.

"Yavantay used Aludar's money to hire men - but to support Nathal instead. What I don't understand is

why

he did it. I don't see how he gains by this."

- "He may have wanted to be on the winning side." suggested Sanatha.

- "Perhaps, Lady. But I still have this feeling that I'm missing something."

- "Do you have any news of Aludar?" I asked.

- "No, Lord. He's most likely ..."

- "Dead. Or captured." I didn't speak the rest of my thoughts aloud. If Nathal captured Aludar alive ... I knew firsthand what fate my dear brother intended for his siblings.

Urbo had fought his way out of the city with his ship's crew, plus sailors from several other trading vessels. Retreating soldiers had joined them, seeking safety in numbers. Outside the walls, Urbo found more scattered fugitives, leaderless and unsure of what to do. He had almost two hundred refugees with him - though less than half were armed.

I kept Hurmas with me, and recalled his scouts; they were due for a rest. I sent Sezima ahead in his place.

- "Find out what you can, but be careful. I don't want to lose you." I told him.

We pushed on towards Whydah. We had one major advantage: Nathal couldn't possibly expect us to be so close, in such numbers. He wouldn't be worried about us attacking him - as far as he knew, we were still at Souglad, with only 400 fighters, half of those elves who were only intent on defending their home lands.

Thanks to Glasha, we had early intelligence. And now, thanks to Sanatha and Durgat, we had numbers, and quality.

We came across quite a few more people fleeing the city, including a dozen Corig retainers and a score of Tir Esin's men. They were overjoyed to learn that Benaz and Bathene had also escaped. I added them to Captain Urbo's growing contingent.

- "Don't worry." I told him. "I'll be keeping your men in reserve."

- "You may find that many of us are eager to strike a blow - especially if it's against Yavantay and those mercenaries."

- "I'll keep it in mind."

My greatest concern, at this point, was the time of day. It was growing dark. If we couldn't get there before the light failed entirely, what were going to be able to achieve?

It was one of the elves who spotted it first. The word spread, but it still took a few moments before the rest of us could see it: the sky seemed a little bit brighter, to the north.

- "Whydah is on fire." said Sanatha.

The tide of refugees dwindled, and then faded away entirely. We were getting closer, and the light was growing brighter.