of warfare, it wouldn't stop before… before…'
Hearst shook his head. It was unthinkable.
'Surely a commander errs if he wastes flesh and blood in battles a stone egg could win… surely that's a matter of… competence.'
'The death-stone would wipe out the whole city,' said Hearst. 'Do you want to save the city by destroying it?'
'Use the death-stone against the walls.'
'The stones would come alive. People would die.'
'People will die anyway. Why are you so… so afraid of this death-stone?'
Hearst pointed at the sea.
'Out there, the Central Ocean. Out to the west, Rovac. Beyond that, the Cold West. For thousands of years Rovac has concerned itself with the history of the lands bordering the Central Ocean, inasmuch as we've fought in the armies of those lands. But if I was to use the death-stone… everything would change.'
'To live is to change,' said Farfalla. 'Birth to death. That's the cycle.'
'The death-stone would end all cycles,' said Hearst, and turned on his heel and walked away.
Knowing full well that he had another reason not to use the death-stone: Elkor Alish was in Androlmarphos, and might well become a victim of the power of the death-stone, whether it was used against the city as a whole or just against the battlements where, no doubt, the fighting men would be concentrated.
Elkor Alish led a sortie from Androlmarphos that night. There was bitter fighting under cover of darkness: confused struggles in which knots of men fought to the death with no quarter given on either side. The earth works of the siege lines gave the defenders an advantage, but they were hard pressed to hold those lines.
Then, at the height of the fighting, Hearst brought fire ships down the river. They advanced under cover of darkness – galleys with oars muffled. In Lake Ouija, they were set afire – the crews only had to swim to the eastern shore of the lake to gain the safety of their own lines. Morning revealed that half of Alish's ships in Lake Ouija had been destroyed.
At a council of war, Hearst listened to battle reports in silence.
'Will they try another sortie tonight?' said Watashi. 'They'll try something,* said Hearst. 'You can count on that.'
'So there'll be more dead,' said Farfalla. 'More maimed and mutilated war victims, crippled for the rest of their lives.'
Hearst winced. if we can't accept casualties, then we'd better surrender now,' said Hearst.
'Morale is good,' said Watashi, 'We're ready for a long siege, if that's what's necessary. But it won't be easy.'
'You don't have to tell me that,' said Hearst. 406 It was then that their council of war was interrupted as a messenger was brought into their presence by armed guards. He was exhausted, his clothing bloodstained; it was clear he had been wounded in the chest. He tried to stand up straight before them, but staggered. A guard supported him. He tried to speak, but no words came.
'What's this about?' said Hearst. 'He brings a message,' said a guard. 'He passed it to me.'
'Let me read it,' said Hearst. 'Sit him down. Bring him some water. Here. Now.'
And Hearst took a piece of parchment from the guard. On one side was the original draft, written in the language of the Harvest Plains, which he could not understand; it was adorned by an elaborate signature and a wax seal. On the other side, someone had scrawled a translation in the Galish Trading Tongue.
'Who translated this?' said Hearst.
'Patrol,' said the messenger, getting the word out with difficulty. 'Thought me a spy. Questioned me, long time. Translation by patrol leader, your attention. Believe me.'
'Maybe he is a spy,' said Hearst. 'However, the message purports to be from a fortress commander on the border between the Rice Empire and the Harvest Plains. He says his castle is besieged by part of an army from the Rice Empire, and the rest of that army marches for Selzirk. He is sending this message with a sortie party.'
Hearst passed the parchment to Watashi. it's authentic,' said Watashi. i know the seal. I know the commander, too – the original message bears his signature, and has been drafted by his hand.'
The messenger spoke again. His voice was weak: 'Only one. Me. Only one alive. All the rest…'
'We understand,' said Farfalla. 'Lie back. Rest. Don't do yourself further injury by trying to talk.'
'So the Rice Empire hopes to profit from our troubles,' said Watashi, 'If they reach Selzirk…'
'Well,' said Farfalla, looking at Hearst. 'Do you still think you have time to break Androlmarphos by siege?'
Hearst met her gaze in silence. Then spoke: 'I am not going to use the death-stone.'
'You could threaten to use it.'
'Elkor Alish knows the population of Androlmarphos is his guarantee against attack by the death-stone,' said Hearst. 'He also knows that sooner or later we'll have to take the death-stone south – or else a party from the Castle of Controlling Power will come north to take it from us. Time is on his side: he won't listen to threats.'
'Then what about that pirate creature, Ohio?' said Farfalla. isn't his brother the commander of the pirates? Isn't that what you told me?'
'I can't use a friend as a hostage,' said Hearst, regretting now that he had. in an intimate moment, revealed Ohio's secrets.
'Pretend, then,' said Farfalla. 'Ohio would surely consent to being tied up and led out on a horse in front of the battlements of Androlmarphos. If we made his brother believe we had murder in mind, perhaps he'd parley with us. We could come to an arrangement.'
'Alish won't surrender no matter what Menator says.' said Hearst.
'Then we can surely persuade Menator to murder Elkor Alish,' said Farfalla. 'He gets Ohio's life – and money, if he wants. And a treaty to guarantee his hold over Runcorn.'
'That's a foul way to work,' said Hearst. i've seen the dead,' said Farfalla. i've seen the wounded. All war is foul'
Hearst thought it through, then said, his voice heavy: 'Go and bring Ohio to me.'
Watashi moved to obey.
CHAPTER FIFTY
Hearst and Miphon stood on the plains two leagues east of Androlmarphos and a league west of the burial mound and the pyramid. In the green bottle, they had two horses and four hundred soldiers. There was nobody between them and the city; the siege lines had been evacuated the day before.
Miphon was looking inland, to the east, waiting for a signal to come from the fleet anchored upriver. Hearst, on the other hand, watched the walls of Androlmarphos, and remembered what had happened outside those walls.
Ohio had agreed readily enough that they could use him as a hostage to try and get his brother Menator to negotiate with them. Ohio had been tied up and put on a horse which had been led out onto some open ground in front of Lake Ouija.
A small party, including Hearst and Watashi, had waited to receive an equally small delegation from Androlmarphos, which had included Menator. The pirate commander had refused to make any bargain with the people from the Harvest Plains, but, thinking the threat to Ohio's life was real, had tried to rescue him, even though there had been bad blood between them in the past.
In a short fight, Menator and most of his party had been killed; Ohio had died when the horse he was seated on had reared, throwing him to the ground. With his hands tied, he had landed heavily, breaking his neck.
Hearst was now forced to use the death-stone. He did not have time to recapture Androlmarphos by siege: he had to march Farfalla's army east to defend Selzirk against the invaders from the Rice Empire. As it was, he calculated they would barely reach Selzirk in time. 'Any smoke yet?' said Hearst. 'Nothing,' said Miphon.
