'I heard the report,' Hata said. 'It takes time to clear the virgin forests, to establish routes.'
Elnice was silent for a time. 'Have you also heard the reports of decreasing production from the pongs?'
'I ordered that their food allotments be reduced until the work begins to produce the usual results,' Hata said.
'Have you heard, as well, the whispers of a new Master who will free all pongs?'
Hata laughed. 'The teaching of the sect of Tseeb. Yes, I have heard. I, myself, spoke with a priest of Tseeb. He was a fatuous fool, wanting to spread his message in the pens of this city, and I gave him permission. To have hope of something in the not too definable future keeps the pongs working. To believe in a du of mercy, who will give them freedom and eternal life in the afterworld, allows them to endure their otherwise intolerable condition.'
'I wonder,' Elnice said. 'Send a spy into the pens. Have him name two or three who seem most excited by these messages of hope. Have them peeled slowly, giving them plenty of time to talk. Meanwhile, activate all guard reserves, and conscript enough males to form a full conqforce.'
'A conqforce?' Hata gasped. 'High Mistress, there has been no army of that size in existence since the days of the conquest.'
'If the male who came from the north is mad,' Elnice said, 'we will use the conqforce to sweep through the western mountains, to eradicate for all time any vestige of runaway pongs.'
'It will be a severe drain on your treasury,' Hata said. Elnice laughed. 'You still have hopes, I see, that I will relent and make you my consort. Never fear, Hata, should I decide on that course, there will be enough left in the treasury to assure that you will live well.' Elnice could not say, nor, being High Mistress, did she have to, what prompted her to march out of Arutan at the head of the largest force that had been gathered since the days immediately following the Devourer migration from the humid, hot lands of the far south. Perhaps it was nothing more than a desire to see some of the land that she ruled. Perhaps, deep down, not realized even by herself, there was uneasiness at the continued silence from the new northern settlements.
'We have invested good treasure in those settlements,' she told Hata. 'I think it is time we found out why we are not yet getting a return.' She marched by easy stages to the north, spending a pleasant few days in the coastal city, giving her subjects there a chance to see her, her splendid body hinting of its beauty through her thin garments, giving the residents of that city a reason for pride with drills and reviews of the well trained conqforce. The change of season forced her to leave Tshou's pleasant beaches, for if she was going to travel past Kooh, to the first of the settlements, and return before the snows, she could not afford to waste any more time.
Actually, Hata found that being in command of a full conqforce was an exciting experience. He had no illusions, he felt, about a threat in the far north. Pongs were inferior, and incapable of fighting. But it was glorious to give commands to so large a force, and he took full advantage of the opportunity to exercise his military skills. He set problems for the traveling force, and sent out scouts just as if there was an enemy army lying in ambush in the vast northern forests. Thus it was that two of his scouts almost blundered head-on into Duwan's main force moving toward Kooh.
'Have you been at the cup?' Hata demanded, when the breathless scouts came to his tent and reported a large force of armed pongs moving toward the city. He felt first a chill of apprehension, then elation. No Devourer officer had faced combat in generations. All his life he had been a soldier, and aside from peeling a few pongs he had never had a chance to exercise his skills. He summoned the High Mistress and had the scouts repeat the story. Then he sent others and, during the night, reports came back that astounded him. Pour separate groups of armed pongs were closing on Kooh, the largest moving toward the main gate, the southern gate.
'We will attack at dawn,' Elnice said. 'Spread your forces, captain, to destroy all four of the forces that dare to threaten my city.'
'Your forgiveness, High Mistress,' Hata said. 'One of the most fundamental rules of warfare is never to split your forces in the face of an enemy of unknown strength.'
Elnice frowned. 'Then what do you suggest?'
'We will first wipe out the larger force of enemy, the force that is getting into position in front of the south gate. Then we will move to destroy the others forces one by one.'
'And if the other forces flee at the first appearance of our troops you will have to hunt them down one by one in the forests. Dus, Hata, these are pongs. Do you fear them?'
Hata drew himself up. 'I bow to your wishes.' He gave orders to split his forces, to have four separate groups move into position. He doubted that they could move fast enough to reach the eastern and northern gates before first light, but he had to admit that Elnice's reasoning was good. There could be no serious threat from pongs, and he didn't relish having to spend the winter chasing them one by one through the snows. When Duwan saw the advancing lines of enemy guardsmen, his heart leaped. He had not felt right about this attack, and now he had learned a lesson. He had learned to trust his intuition.
'Turn, turn,' he shouted, leaping among the pongs who were rushing to enter the city through the southern gate. 'Protect your rear.' He managed to turn most of his force. As he faced south, he saw pongs dying. To his great pride they did not run. They turned from the walls and faced the lines of iron, giving forth their shrill battle cries, meeting iron with iron and not dying in vain, for guards died, too. But they were being forced back. Duwan began pushing his way forward. Jai was at his side.
'Go to the rear,' he ordered. 'Send messengers to my father and Dagner. Tell them to abandon the attack and form
