'What did he say?' asked Tip.
'He brings news.'
'For good or ill?'
'He said 'twas ill.'
'Oh.' Tip felt his heart plummet.
They reached Lerren and dismounted.
'What is this news thou dost bear, Alor Lerren?' asked Vail.
'Nigh noon, Lyra and Elon brought word: Spaunen raze Braeton.'
Tipperton frowned. 'Oh, my, another town-ill news indeed. This Braeton, it's just inside Rimmen Gape, isn't it?'
'Aye,' replied Lerren.
'How many Rupt?' asked Vail.
'Mayhap a thousand.'
'Ah,' said Vail, 'a segment.'
'Segment?' asked Tip.
'A tenth of a Horde,' replied Lerren.
'Oh.'
'Is there aught else?' asked Vail.
Lerren looked at the buccan. 'Coron Ruar remembers the pledge he made unto Sir Tipperton, and he bids ye twain to return unto the main host and join the war council.'
Vail raised an eyebrow and gestured eastward. 'What of scouting this verge?'
Lerren frowned. ' 'Tis my task now.'
'And thy messenger?'
'Arylin… though each of us would rather ride in the vanguard.'
Vail smiled. 'If and when it comes to battle, thou wilt surely be called in from the flank.'
Lerren shrugged, then asked, 'Is there aught I should know of what ye have seen this day?'
Vail looked at Tip. 'We saw the tracks of a catamount,' said the buccan. 'And perhaps now we know why it was driven from the Rimmens, given that maggot-folk are in the gape.'
'Aye,' agreed Lerren. 'Mayhap they crept through its domain to come upon Braeton, and it fled to the safety of Darda Erynian.' He glanced at Vail and then back to Tipperton. 'Is there aught else?'
Tip shook his head, and Vail turned up a hand.
'Then ye had better be on thy way, else ye will be late to the council.'
Both Tipperton and Vail mounted and with a 'fare thee well' they rode down the hill and away, heading southerly for the Landover Road and the host and war. As Tipperton entered the forest again, he found his heart beating heavily within his chest.
As they rode into the evening campsite, Tipperton and Vail saw Coron Ruar's war council nigh the head of the camped train. They were gathered in a circle on a sward below the outreaching limbs of an oak. Tip was surprised to see Beau sitting in Ruar's circle, Melor at his side. There, too, were Chieftain Gara and Wagonleader Bwen of the Baeron and two other Baeron men, along with several Dylvana, among them Eilor and Lyra and Elon. Phais and Loric attended the council as well.
Beau scooted aside and made room for Tipperton, and he and Vail sat.
Ruar nodded at the two in acknowledgement, then motioned toward one of the Baeron. 'Thou wert saying, Durul…?'
'Just this, Coron: as much as I would like to lay these Wrg by the heels, our mission is to lift the siege at Mine-holt North. If we stop to fight every ragtag band of Foul Folk along the way, we'll be months longer getting there and less when we arrive.'
Bwen snorted. When faces turned her way, she said, 'And just how do you propose we not fight these Spawn?'
Durul raised a questioning eyebrow.
Bwen gestured westward along the road. 'I've a hundred wains filled with food and weapons and grain for the steeds and medicks and other such. We cannot roll them across the peaks of the Rimmens, no matter how hard we try. Nay, if the wagon train is to accompany the host to Mineholt North, it's through the Rimmen Gape or not at all. Heed: if you would have me and my wagons, we'll have to fight our way through.'
Durul blew out a breath in exasperation, but nodded in reluctant agreement.
Gara looked from Durul to Bwen and then 'round to all others in the ring. 'Has any a suggestion as to how we can bypass the Wrg at Braeton?'
A sudden rage filled Tipperton's heart, and he jumped to his feet, his fists clenched. 'Bypass them? I say we kill them all.'
Beau reached up and tugged at Tip's pant leg, but the buccan was too furious to heed. 'They're maggot-folk, responsible for untold deaths, not only at Braeton, but also at Stede and Annory and unnumbered places elsewhere: the Kingsmen at Twoforks, the Dylvana and Baeron and War-rows at Caer Lindor.' His face twisted in anguish. 'They killed my Rynna, and all of them deserve to die for it. All of them.'
Coron Ruar held forth a hand, palm out, and his gesture stopped Tipperton's words. And the buccan ground his teeth and plopped back down, yet the anger did not leave his face.
Now Ruar spoke, his words soft in the growing twilight. 'Durul has a point in that our main endeavor is to lift the siege at Mineholt North and not to engage every foe along the way. Yet so too does Bwen, in that the wagons must go through Rimmen Gape. Too, e'en should we find a way to bypass them, I would not have Rupt at our backs. And so it seems we have no choice but to engage the foe at Braeton, as Sir Tipperton desires. How to engage them such that we suffer the fewest losses becomes the problem before this council.'
'Seek not to accomplish by brute force that which cunning and guile will achieve instead,' said Phais.
'Eh?' said Gara, looking first to her and then to Ruar and then back to Phais again. 'Why say you this thing?'
Slowly Phais smiled. 'I say it, Chieftain Gara, for given the information brought by Lyra and Elon, I have the seed of a plan.'
The council over, Tip and Beau walked toward the rope corral where their ponies were penned. And Beau stopped and turned to his friend, Tip stopping as well.
'I say, Tip, I don't know what's gotten into you, raging at Gara as you did. I mean-'
Tip threw up a hand. 'You're right, Beau. I was over the line, but something in me snapped. I mean, the thought of maggot-folk going unpunished, well…'
'I know, Tip. I know. With what they did to Rynna and Wink and the others… -But listen, are we the ones, or rather, are you the one, to set the scales to right? I mean, is it yours to gain vengeance for all?'
'Perhaps not for all, Beau, but for Rynna, yes: I am the one who will make them pay.'
'Well then, tell me this, bucco: just how many will you have to kill before the balance is struck?'
A stricken looked came over Tipperton's features, and Beau turned and walked onward, saying, 'Just as I thought.'
'I was in the council, Tip, because Ruar said that healers would need to ride with the vanguard, and Melor was chosen to do so, and he chose me in turn. And we joined in on the planning.'
'Oh, Beau, by riding in the vanguard, you'll be in the thick of things. I should think you'd be much safer if you stuck with the wagons instea-'
'And I suppose you aren't in any danger?' interrupted Beau. 'I mean, out there nearly all alone, just you and Vail, out where the Rucks and such can spring ambushes or run you down or what have you. At least I'll have an army surrounding me.'
'Oh, Beau, let's not argue. I mean, we'll both be in the thick of it shortly. Just promise me two things: first is for you to keep safe, and second, if I should not make it through, find me and take the coin and deliver it to Agron, eh?'
'Oh, my, don't say that, Tip. I mean, we'll both make it through.'
They curried in silence a moment longer, combs scritch-ing through pony hair, then Beau added, ''But if I shouldn 't make it through, promise me you'll deliver the coin in the end. I mean, that's what we set out to do, and surely if we don't, well then, the whole trip is wasted.'
