farther east the river entered the territory of the Dravs, and ran through a wide alluvial plain which was inundated in the season of rain. Then at last the river joined the eastern sea through a dozen fan-shaped mouths.
* Victoria F
Lannon pointed out the main features of this country on the model to his generals, occasionally turning for verification to his garrison commanders who had held the river during the past year. There were twenty men in the large leather tent, and the sides were lifted to allow a dry breeze to enter - and to show the view across the wide valley below the camp. The great river itself was obscured by the tall dark green growth of trees along its bank. There was an occasional flash of reflected sunlight from the water amongst the trees. Far to the north the opposite escarpment of the valley rose in smoky blue tiers of hills.
‘Our spies have marked the main towns at which the tribes are gathered. They are mostly on the high ground, a day’s march beyond the river, and it is important that each tribe be attacked on the same day.’
He went on to assign a target to each of his commanders, a crossing place over the river, and a return route.
‘There will be no danger of attack on the return march, as long as you break their spirit on the first day. Each of the tribes is at war with the others, and they will not rally to the assistance of each other. The only way in which we can fail is if warning is carried to the barbarians and they scatter before our thrust.’
He explained the plan in detail, dwelling on the logistics of supply and routes of march, until at last Lannon set a date for the attack.
‘Twelve days from now. That will give each of your legions time to march to the crossing places, and reach the towns of the barbarians.’
From the camp on the escarpment of the valley, Huy marched the Sixth Ben-Amon to the garrison fort on the banks of the great river at Sett, and here he put the legion into camp in a forest of mopane trees which would screen them from observers on the opposite bank. Fires were forbidden during the day and were carefully screened at night and the men were kept busy building the rafts for the crossing. Heavy rains in the west had swollen the river and the ford was impassable.
Mago Tellema, the garrison commander, was a tall balding disillusioned man with the yellowish skin and eyes of the shivering sickness which was endemic along the river. He seemed pathetically glad of Huy’s company during the waiting days, and Huy found his information valuable, so they dined together every evening - Huy provided the wine out of the ample stocks he had brought from Zeng.
‘I have kept my patrols on their usual routine, as you ordered.’
‘Good,’ Huy nodded over a bowl of baked river fish and wild rice. ‘Have they noticed any increase in activity since my arrival?’
‘No, Holiness. A war party of a few hundred crossed last night and attacked one of my outposts. We drove them off readily enough, killing fifty of them.’
‘What do they gain by these raids?’
‘Weapons, and an appraisal of our strength.’
‘Is the whole border so active?’
‘No, Holy Father. But here at Sett we oppose one of the more warlike tribes, the Vendi - they are exceptional. You recall how four years ago they crossed in strength, 20,000 of them overwhelmed the garrison here and left the valley—’
‘Yes,’ Huy interrupted. ‘I was with the legions when we met them at Bhor.’
‘Ah! Of course. I remember now that your legion’s number was on the honour list.’ The commander chuckled. ‘Of that 20,000 not one returned across the river.’
‘They fought well, though - for pagans,’ Huy conceded.
‘Indeed, Holiness, they are exceptional in that respect also and in the years since then they have become more formidable.’
‘Have you seen their town?’
‘No, Holiness, but I have many spies. It is set on the first slopes of the northern escarpment, where the tributary river Kal comes down from the plateau.’
‘What is the population?’
‘I believe them to number 50,000.’
‘So large!’ Huy looked up with a mouthful of fish and stared at the commander.
‘They are a numerous tribe - not all of them live in the town. They tend large herds of cattle and are spread over a vast area.’
‘Is the town fortified?’
‘It is a large and sprawling huddle of huts, Holiness. Some of the huts are ringed with primitive palisades, but these are defence against wild animals only.’
A slave refilled Huy’s wine bowl and took away his empty dish. Huy cupped the bowl in his hands and stared moodily into the dark red liquid. His silence discomforted the commander who at last blurted, ‘Is it true that the king will arrive here on the morrow?’
‘Yes. Lannon Hycanus will march with my legion in the raid.’
‘I have never been presented to him,’ the man murmured, and Huy had a penetrating insight into the career of an elderly officer doomed to a minor outpost in the wilderness without patron or prospects.
‘I will commend you to him,’ Huy promised, and saw the pathetic gratitude in the man’s eyes.
One of the biremes that patrolled the river landed a century of axemen and archers on the far bank in the night, and before dawn they had rigged the lines across the river.
