Chapter 36- Considerations for War
Four days passed from Hayden, Gunngrul, and Rweble's leading House Faline into rebellion and desertion. It was also four days since Sinaan's disappearance. Aalyn knew he was a competent assassin and scout. She had no fear whatsoever that he could track the army, especially an army this large, and catch up by now if he were still alive.
When last she saw him he was going on a mission to shadow Hayden, Gunngrul, and Rweble. Then, in the predawn hours of the next morning, Hayden had appeared with his private guard and assaulted her, Thurdain, and Illglan with the intention of killing them afterward. Gunngrul and Rweble were still missing. No doubt one or both were still leading the rebel Faline troops. Most devastating of all was that there was no sign of Sinaan. They must have discovered him and he was most certainly dead.
Aalyn wiped tears from her cheeks. It still felt weird to touch the eyepatch where her left eye used to be. Healing was powerful magic indeed. It could repair almost any injury, but it couldn't replace what was missing.
She fought hard to stave off the depression, guilt, and grief she was feeling. So much had been taken from her and her sisters as of late. She would make House Faline pay dearly for Sinaan's death and their injuries, and then she would submit herself to her mother's punishment. She had promised her life for Sinaan's if she didn't bring him home and, indeed, she would pay that debt.
She wiped her tears away and tried to focus on more important matters. There was one more day before they were out of the mountain pass. The fog was following them now like a great gray cloak covering the land in their wake. It matched her mood perfectly.
Once out of the mountains, her army would sweep over Valeheim and the Valelands like a dark cloud. She would kill all those that fought against her and take as slaves everyone and everything. There would be much glory and great booty to claim. So, she wondered, why wasn't she more excited about it?
"Really," She mumbled quietly to herself, "Of what gain is any of this to me?"
It didn't matter now. Thurdain and Illglan were irreparably injured, and Sinaan was most probably dead. House Faline rebelled and deserted. Even if she took all of the Valelands captive, could it really replace what she had lost? Would it really make up for her failure?
Whatever trophies, accolades, or honors she achieved, they just didn't matter anymore. Her sisters were horribly disabled, she was injured, and her brother was dead. She would return home in failure and die for her sins. She would kneel before her mother and perform Skamidaudr. Death by disgrace and shame. Then, her mother would behead her.
Thurdain and Illglan sat a few feet away. The both of them had taken to residing with Aalyn these past few days. They had already paid a very heavy price in service to this campaign, and the real battle hadn't even taken place yet. They signed back and forth now as their only means of communication. They were mutes now, their tongues having been removed by Hayden's guards. They were the two most powerful priestesses in the camp. A fact clearly illustrated by Thurdain's position as the sole leader of nine-hundred and ninety-nine priestesses of Arachne, and Illglan was one of her lieutenants. But now, they were little more than common wenches.
They were still priestesses. That much could not be taken from them. However, without the ability to call on their goddess in holy rites and rituals, or cast spells, it was impossible for them to heal, give blessings, or go into battle. The result was that their authority amongst their peers was all but gone. Aalyn didn't know much about the Temple's politics and hierarchies. They liked to cloak themselves in mystery far too much for her taste. However, she did discern some facts about their hierarchy from Thurdain and Illglan's conversations in the days following their assault by Hayden. Still, she had to take what she heard and orient it with what she already knew of military structure. As far as she could tell the priestesses' camp was organized thusly:
Thurdain was, for all intents and purposes, the commander of a battalion of priestesses. Ogrethanne and Illglan were her immediate lieutenants. Illglan oversaw a company of five-hundred Disciples. The less experienced in need of the most governance. The company of priestesses Ogrethanne was in charge of numbered three-hundred and forty-seven Disciples of the more experienced temple prostitutes, and one-hundred Initiates. Those who were virgins until the army was conscripted and deployed.
Within Ogrethanne's ranks of Disciples, the five most senior about to take their final vows to Arachne were put in charge of the Initiates. This year, those five were Wrathielle Dokkskirn, Gruda Opallain, Aloufina Shouldnelle, Ashrilyn Glamrung, and Nidanth Vischra. The Initiates were then split into platoons of twenty. At least, that was their formation before House Faline's rebellion and desertion.
With great reluctance, Thurdain promoted Ogrethanne Annolstad, the only remaining Priestess in Aalyn's army, to commander instead of risking assassination or challenge. Orgrethanne accepted with malicious glee, and then unceremoniously stripped Thurdain, Illglan, and Aloufina of their authority.
Of a thousand priestesses four-hundred and fifty-six were abducted leaving only five-hundred and forty-four, and Ogrethanne let Thurdain know in no uncertain terms that if she were to have her wish Thurdain and Illglan would have been birched, drawn, and quartered, and their heads put upon pikes as a warning against such treasonous failure. So, here they were, Thurdain and Illglan, hunkering down and looking thoroughly miserable in her tent.
With only five-hundred and forty-one priestesses remaining, only a little more than half the company of Disciples and Initiates she was commanding previously, Ogrethanne wasted no time in replacing missing or incapacitated members. Of the five senior Disciples put in charge of the Initiates only Wrathielle and Aloufina remained. But with Aloufina remanded to Thurdain and Illglan's custody for her part in Hayden's treasonous assault upon House Abendroth, it left only Wrathielle to be promptly promoted to Priestess.
Gruda Opallain was kidnapped along with all twenty of her Initiates while performing services as temple prostitutes. Ashrilyn Glamrung was also among those prostituting along with sixteen of her Initiates. And Nidanth Vischra just happened to be out among the craftsmen consorting with a young male blacksmith when House Faline soldiers raided their camp for supplies, animals, and desirable young men and women.
Therefore, Ogrethanne assigned Malignathiel Wrathlust to oversee Wrathielle's twenty Initiates. Urethane Coldeath was assigned to Aloufina's Initiates. No one was needed to fill Gruda's role since all of her Initiates were missing. And Augustana Sliverstand was put over Ashrilyn's four remaining Initiates and Nidanth's twenty. Then, Ogrethanne promoted Palanthis Labrianth to Priestess and divided supervising the Disciples and Initiates between her and Wrathielle.
Thankfully, the army didn't need to make nearly as many field promotions to make up for Hayden, Gunngrul, and Rweble's deaths or disappearances. They hadn't even engaged with the enemy and already this mission was a cluster fuck!
Aalyn smiled at the thought of the new curse word she'd learned from Sinaan. She smiled and then almost immediately she was hit with remorse again over his loss. She missed his presence in her bed, but more than that she just missed him!
Casting a haunted glance back at her sisters, Aalyn left her tent to walk the camp. It was time for her to do her usual patrol and make sure everything was in order. The fog had rolled over them in the last hour and it laid heavily upon the land cutting her already halved vision in half again. It irritated her, this fog, it made her nervous, and worst of all it was affecting her troops--and House Faline's rebellion and desertion hadn't helped.
The sentries walking the parameter stared out at the fog with a mix of anger, suspicion, and fear. Some of them thought that the ghosts in the fog had made House Faline go crazy. Others thought the ghosts possessed them, and still others feared that House Faline soldiers would return and attack as wraiths.
Aalyn made sure to look every one of her soldiers in the eyes and saluted them in hopes of transferring some of her resolve to them. If they saw she was unaffected by the gloomy atmosphere, then just maybe it would reassure and reinforce their confidence and resolve. Before she knew it she was standing at the eastern edge of camp staring defiantly into the gloom toward their target. She couldn't see it of course. Valeheim of the Valelands. It was still miles away. But, her troops saw her and her composer, and that was all she needed right now. Those rebel villralfar in the valley below would get their judgment soon enough!
She stood there for a long time squinting her eye straining her diminished vision in hopes of piercing the gray veil surrounding her camp. Whether it be coincidence or something else, right at that moment a slightly darker gray smudge shifted in the fog. It moved down the road toward the camp, towards Aalyn.
The figure darkened as it drew closer and coalesced into the silhouette of a male. He moved slowly, purposefully, toward her. She shifted her stance, resting her weight on her toes, and placed her hand on the pommel of her sword. Her guards came to attention and raised small handheld crossbows.
"Who goes there?" The guard to her right yelled.
The shadow didn't answer but instead continued to close the distance between himself and Aalyn.
"Identify yourself," The guard to Aalyn's left demanded as he raised his crossbow and took careful aim, "Now! Or, we'll open fire!"
