Imager’s Battalion

set of gates he saw, the ones to which the ancient road led, as straight as a quarrel.

“Do you see anyone, Ghaelyn?”

“No, sir. Scouts haven’t signaled, either.”

At slightly more than a half mille from the closed ironbound gates, Quaeryt reined up. He could see another road, also gray and apparently paved, that led from the western side of the walls that arced around the city, but because of the curvature of the walls, he could not see the other set of gates. The walls held no banners, and he saw no defenders, but since there were embrasures at regular intervals in the walls, defenders could have been watching him and first company, and probably were. He did see wisps of smoke rising from chimneys beyond the walls, enough so that it was clear that Nordeau was not deserted.

But why aren’t there sentries on the walls? Why hasn’t anyone come out to challenge us?

After several moments, he shifted his weight in the saddle and turned to Ghaelyn. “Undercaptain … we’re going to ride closer, but I’m going to try something, and I want silent riding. Not a word. Tell the men to be ready to turn and ride back at a moment’s notice.”

“Yes, sir.”

While Ghaelyn rode back and conveyed the orders to all the squad leaders, Quaeryt slowly raised a concealment shield, trying to do so in a way that might give the impression that he and first company had slowly withdrawn.

The undercaptain returned and said, “Ready, sir.” His voice was low.

Quaeryt raised his arm, then lowered it, and urged the mare forward. He’d ridden several hundred yards when he realized that holding the concealment, even over the entire company, was scarcely noticeable. He concentrated on the low gray stone walls, which had to have been built by the Naedarans, because the workmanship was similar and because the stone matched so closely that of the ancient road. Yet the stones had not come from the canal, because they were larger and cut in an interlocking pattern that made them less susceptible to siege engines-or cannon.

When they were only a few hundred yards from the gate, Quaeryt raised his arm and reined up. From there, he could see some figures on the upper level of the wall, and guards watching the road from the slits in the guard towers flanking the gates. With the interlocking stones of the walls, at first glance, Quaeryt thought imaging away the gates looked more likely, but when he studied them closely, he could see that they had iron bands at top and bottom as well as a series of heavy diagonal bands. He’d never seen walls or gates like those. Yet the walls weren’t all that high, and siege engines could easily have been built to overtop the walls.

Except Antiagon Fire would make short work of siege towers.

But what about the walls …

They’re designed to resist imagers!

It also meant that the walls had stone foundations all the way down to bedrock, and that Nordeau had been built in a place where there was bedrock near the surface. All of that indicated strongly that the only ways for Telaryn forces to enter Nordeau were either over the walls with some sort of ramps or through the gates-assuming the Bovarians didn’t have their own imagers.

Quaeryt didn’t like the idea of using the gates, because the towers surrounded the gates, and in such confined spaces it would be difficult, if not impossible, to shield troopers from boiling oil or Antiagon Fire.

After a time of studying the walls, Quaeryt turned his mount to the southwest, toward a narrow path that seemed to circle the walls, gesturing for the rest of first company to follow him. He kept looking toward the gates, but they did not open, and no Bovarian troopers appeared.

After riding another half mille, Quaeryt could see the second gate and the road leading from it. The southwest gate was closed and guarded in the same fashion as the southeast gate. The road from the southwest gate was stone paved and indeed wider than the ancient way that led to the southeast gate, but Quaeryt could see that it was not nearly so level as the older road, although it did parallel in a general way the River Aluse.

The newer road had to have been built by the Bovarians, but why had they built a road from Nordeau to Variana on the south side of the river when they had not done so anywhere else along the River Aluse, and when Villerive was larger than Nordeau with presumably more trade and commerce? Was there a similar road on the north side of the river?

He shook his head. From where he was there was no way to tell.

After more study, he turned the mare and the company and rode along a path that gradually carried them both away from the stone walls and back to the ancient road-though browning high grass and some low bushes, but not a single tree. The fact that he saw no trees-and no sign of any having been cut down-also concerned him. Was the entire plain that stretched away from the walls somehow paved under the dirt so that trees would not grow? But he’d seen trees grow through the tiniest gaps in stone.

Everything he saw raised more questions.

As he rode back toward the village to report to Skarpa, he thought over his earlier conclusions and decided he’d been too hasty. Defenses and walls usually reflected what the builders knew, not what they faced. Most likely, the Naedarans had built the way that they had because they had had trained imagers, not because they were defending against them. That also might explain their decline … if they lost too many imagers or didn’t continue to train and support them.

In turn, that raised more questions about what he planned … and how he needed to approach Bhayar about his thoughts and plans.

57

On Samedi morning just before seventh glass, the three regiments and Fifth Battalion drew up facing the walls of Nordeau. The sun hung barely above the trees to the east of the plain extending out from the gray walls, and the browning knee-high grass was heavy with dew under a crystal clear sky. The air was neither cool nor warm, but felt thick to Quaeryt as he watched Ghaelyn ride forward toward the southeast gate under the blue-bordered white parley flag.

Skarpa hadn’t been especially pleased with Quaeryt’s report on the defenses of Nordeau on Vendrei afternoon, but he’d agreed to the plan of attack Quaeryt proposed. After that agreement, Quaeryt had briefed the imager undercaptains, and then Zhelan and the company officers on what each company was to do.

On Samedi, the first step was simple enough, to send forward Ghaelyn to request the surrender of Nordeau. Neither Skarpa nor Quaeryt expected that the Bovarians would even consider surrender, but Quaeryt had insisted that Skarpa make the offer.

“Why?” Skarpa had asked. “They won’t consider it. You know that.”

“I do.”

“Then…?”

“Because I want to be able to try to soothe my conscience,” replied Quaeryt.

Skarpa had merely nodded sadly.

Skarpa and Quaeryt were right. The Bovarians refused to surrender. But they didn’t try to kill poor Ghaelyn, for which Quaeryt was most thankful, recalling as he did how the hill holders of Tilbor had dealt with troopers carrying the request for their surrender. The Bovarians had just laughed and, from the gate towers, showered the undercaptain with ridicule.

Once Ghaelyn had returned, the Telaryn forces moved forward, slowly. Fifth Battalion, led by Quaeryt with Baelthm beside him, took the old road toward the southeast gate. Eleventh Regiment, positioned some six hundred yards to the south and west of Fifth Battalion, rode through the knee-high browning grass toward a point on the walls some four hundred yards southwest of the southeast gate towers. Near the front ranks rode Voltyr and Smaethyl.

Due south of the curved walls of Nordeau, Third Regiment rode toward the southernmost point of the wall, and close to Skarpa rode Threkhyl, Desyrk, and Horan. Farther to the west, aiming at a point on the walls equidistant between the target of Third Regiment and the southwestern gate, was Fifth Regiment, without any imager undercaptains. Taking the newer road toward the southwest gate was a battalion detached from Fifth