As expected, Thandor did not agree to Caderyn's terms and had insisted on his path of stubborn, foolish defiance. Thus the siege dragged on, with Caderyn's reinforced army completely encircling the city. To avoid any potential for his army to share the same fate as Ulrik's host during his failed invasion, Caderyn sent his scouts on wide-ranging patrols to watch for potential enemy reinforcements.
Like burrowing words, sappers and miners toiled beneath the earth, digging tunnels towards the great walls. In time, such efforts might well collapse one of the walls and allow his forces to assault the city directly. Hopefully such a breach would make clear how foolish it would be to resist.
The trebuchets flung great stones at the walls and gates, while minimizing bombardment of the city proper. The people beyond the walls were innocent victims, in a sense, trapped by Thandor's mad defiance. Those peasants and townsfolk would also one day be his subjects and Caderyn could ill-afford to anger them by unleashing an indiscriminate bombardment.
And yet misery could not be avoided entirely, for Caderyn could not allow supplies into the city, and such a large population would eventually devour whatever reserves Thandor's forces had stockpiled. Disease and pestilence would run rampant in such a crowded place. Various ailments were already scourging through his own crowded camps, and he knew it would be far worse within the city walls.
An assault, costly as it could be, might be the only way to alleviate the city's suffering.
Together, Tancred and Caderyn stood atop a hill, overlooking the work of engineers erecting yet another trebuchet. Laborers guided carts laden with stones into position, ready to load the great weapon as soon as it was constructed. Before long, more great stones would be flung towards the city's walls, adding to the countless dents, scars, and gouges already inflicted by past bombardments.
"I still do not understand his plan," said Tancred. "Early on during the war, I could see why he fought on, as he could have been gambling on Asparra or Tsannor entering the fray. But at this point, even their intervention would not turn the tide."
"Don't be so sure," Caderyn said. "Tsannor and Asparra nearly have the collective strength to match ours. If Duke Inacio reaches deep into his coffers, he could hire a vast army of foreign mercenaries. Thandor is a clever bastard, always balancing a hundred different schemes, so he could very well be using his agents and spies to draw the other dukes into the war."
He glanced southward, taking some reassurance in the many patrols still ranging across the countryside, keeping a watchful eye for just such a development.
"In a month, my aunt Evelyn will have raised another army, bolstered by more northern mercenaries," Tancred said. "And Berent is overseeing the raising of another one too, yes? We'll be able to stand firm against whatever that bastard throws at us."
Caderyn thought Berent's time would be better spent investigating Thandor's schemes and uncovering more spies and traitors within their midst. There could be other oathbreakers like Aelred, lurking and waiting for their time to strike.
As they watched the next wave of stones crash against the gleaming southern walls of the great city, Baron Rathgar trudged up the hill. The Kovgaardian baron gave Tancred a friendly nod, then wiped dirt from his hands.
"The sappers have reached the southern and eastern walls, my duke," he said. "They'll be ready to collapse the supports within the hour."
Caderyn's eyes swept over the grassland, imagining the army of diggers and miners beneath the surface, scurrying through the earth towards the foundations of the great walls. The enemy had sappers of their own, of course, who'd dug tunnels out to intercept the ones created by Caderyn's men. For days, ugly little battles had broken out down in the dark.
"Give the order to proceed," Caderyn said. "But send word to Baron Florian on the western flank to make a show of redeploying his forces there. I want the defenders to think we're about to collapse the western wall. Hopefully they'll pull more of their garrison to that side, easing our advance through the southern and eastern breaches."
He rubbed a hand over his chin.
"But intensify the bombardment on the southern wall, too, lest they see through the ruse to the west. I want them looking in many directions, unsure of where we'll strike."
"And who should lead the assault?" Tancred asked.
Caderyn glanced to his camp, taking note of the banners of the four allied duchies. On display were the blue-and-gold unicorns of Fellhaven, the dark raven banners of Ravenmark, the green-and-brown bear flags of Utresk, and the gray flags displaying the headless swordsman heraldry of Wolfgate. Scattered amongst them were the rag-tag militia of peasants who had risen up against Thandor and who had been folded into the ranks of the Wolfgate levies. Further afield was the camp of Girjar Bear-Bleeder and his northern mercenaries. Their banners were a wild assortment of rune-painted elk-hide, wolf skulls, and other grisly totems.
From a coldly practical standpoint, Caderyn should have chosen Girjar's mercenaries for the assault. They were the fiercest fighters in his army, and would have the advantage in the hellish close-quarters fight for the breaches. Their wild ferocity had served Caderyn well over the past few months.
And yet unleashing such men on Jadewall could create new problems. They were eager for blood and loot, and would surely rampage through the city if given the chance. Rumors still swirled due to the grim ritual Caderyn had invoked to seize Stonecurrent, and further reliance on northern mercenaries might undercut the pact he'd forged with the holy orders.
The soldiers of Fellhaven would have gladly stormed the breaches in the name of the deceased Duke Lucan, but they were battered and spent after so many months on the frontline. If anyone deserved some respite from the slaughter, it was them. The black-cloaked troops of Ravenmark were better-rested due to the lighter fighting on the western front and they also hungered for vengeance.
It was that hunger which worried Caderyn. Gripped by vengeful wrath, the troops of Ravenmark might sack the city in defiance of Caderyn's orders. Blood would stain the ancient streets as his father's name echoed over the carnage.
Shivering, he continued to inspect his forces. The troops of Wolfgate, due to taking scant losses in the early phase of the fighting, were perhaps his best option. With the duchy's reputation for piety, they would fight quite fiercely against Thandor for his crimes against the holy orders, while also sparing the city's innocents from their bloody wrath. And yet could he truly trust their barons and captains? After all, they'd been Thandor's puppets until quite recently. No doubt their ranks were filled with Thandor's spies and loyalists.
That left the Utreski contingent: fierce soldiers honed by past clashes with both Ravenmark and Kovgaard, whose mastery of horsemanship had made them the best riders in the northern Empire. Were he facing a pitched battle on an open plain, such men would have been a gift from the gods. But for an assault on a crowded city, the vaunted skill of Utresk's soldiers would be less potent.
He gritted his teeth. Every choice had its complications and downsides. Every path could lead to triumph, defeat, or the bloody destruction of the city, depending on how events unfolded.
Solveig's mantra hissed within his ear.
"One path of many."
"Summon the other commanders and barons," he said to Tancred. "I will make my decision."
As the trebuchets continued to send stones at the walls and as the miners toiled beneath the earth, the other commanders of the army ascended the hill to join him. Foremost among them was Baron Hecforth, an unassuming, elderly man in command of the Wolfgate contingent. Were it not for his baronial signet ring and fine hauberk, Caderyn might have mistaken him for a doddering old farmer. Yet the man had stood at his parents' side against the barbarians and had acquitted himself well holding the frontier against Tancred. Formerly an ally, then an enemy, Hecforth was now an ally once more.
Would his allegiances shift yet again?
Girjar Bear-Bleeder was the last to arrive. Mead dripped from the massive man's beard and sweat rippled along his tattooed forearms. Dangling from his belt was a red-dyed jawbone. Since the man had accepted Aelred's severed head as a grisly trophy, the young duke suspected the bone had once belonged to the slain traitor. No doubt other pieces of the wretched oathbreaker's skull had been scattered amongst the other Kovgaardian mercenaries. The notion brought a faint smile to Caderyn's face.
Much to Caderyn's surprise, Hecforth gave the mercenary commander a slow, dutiful nod. Due to his past service against the northerners and the holy amulet around his neck, Caderyn had assumed Hecforth's piety would make him shun or spurn the mercenaries.
"My men hunger for battle, Duke Caderyn," Girjar grumbled. "For too long we have dallied in camp. Give us blood. Give us glory."
If Caderyn denied Girjar his glory, the northerners might desert or demand some other trial as they had before. And yet if Caderyn gave them full control over the assault, they might unleash horrors upon the city.
"The assault begins soon," Caderyn said. "Girjar: select five hundred of your fiercest warriors. I want them in the vanguard when the southern and eastern walls fall."
The massive man's face split into a smile so hungry that he might as well have had wolf's fangs. Girjar thumped his chest and let out an eerie howl that echoed across the camp. Warriors in the distance took up the cry as well. Caderyn was glad the compromise had worked; a smaller contingent would make it less likely for Girjar's men to run wild through the city, while still sating their bloodlust. Even as those foreboding sounds echoes across the camp, Caderyn looked to Baron Hecforth.
"The people of Wolfgate have suffered greatly due to Thandor's ambitions. And thus the men of Wolfgate should have the honor of being first through the breach alongside the Bear-Bleeder's warriors."
