Sorellin militia would show up. Just because they were beaten once is no reason to hang back now. Siniava’s lost a lot, and not just on the battlefield.”
Seli limped heavily to their fire and eased himself down.
“Are you supposed to be here?” asked Devlin.
Seli grinned. “The surgeon said to try walking a few steps.” Devlin looked at the distance from the surgeons’ tents and shook his head. Seli ignored him. “Well, Paks,” he said. “How do you like being corporal?”
Paks blushed. “I’m not, really. Just until you’re well.”
“You’re doing the work. You’re as much of one as I am. If you weren’t doing it right, Kef and Stammel would have replaced you by now. Or so they told me, when I was worrying about it a few weeks after my promotion. I remember I was scared stiff. Did you feel like that, Devlin? I thought my friends would think I’d gotten conceited, and wondered if anyone would obey my orders.”
Devlin nodded. “Yes—I think everyone feels like that at first. I’d been bedding a woman in Cracolnya’s cohort, and she kept teasing me about it. So I quit, and she said my new rank had made me proud. And we had a big old fellow in this cohort then—as tall as you, Paks, and immensely strong. He wasn’t too bright, but he had years on me. He’d grumbled before when someone a year junior to him made corporal, and I was sure he’d cause me trouble.” Devlin paused to drink.
“Well? Did he?”
“He started to. He complained—claimed I’d done gods know what all for my promotion—things like that. I was young and brash in those days—” Seli laughed, and Devlin grinned. “Brasher, then. And a quick tongue, that I’ve always had. So I went to him, and we had a little talk—I asked him how he thought a little runt as ugly as I was—for that’s what he’d called me—could sell his favors to anyone. And then I suggested that since he was bigger, stronger and smarter—which he claimed to be—that if I’d been chosen, it must have been with divine guidance. That was in the days when no one in this company would have considered evil influence. He hadn’t thought of that, he said, and had I any proof. The proof, I said, was in the promotion—surely he knew the captains and the Duke could recognize the gods’ will—but if he wanted proof, to wait until nightfall.”
“What did you do?” asked Seli. “Coat yourself with one of those glowing mushrooms?”
“No. Better than that, I thought. We’d had a rich haul of treasure from the last campaign, and I’d noticed something—or thought I had. The quartermaster then was a friend of mine, and as corporal I could go through the stuff. I told him what I wanted, and he laughed and agreed, as long as I brought it back by morning. I’d told my troublemaker to meet me at midwatch of the second. This was late summer, and what would be rising?”
“Torre’s Necklace—by all the gods, Dev, what did you do?”
“Don’t be hasty, Seli; it’s not good for your wound. Well, he was there, and I was, and I’d told the watch to leave us be. I think they thought that if we wanted to fight on the walls they’d rather not know. I told the old boy that my proof was this: as I saluted the Necklace of Torre, her grace would give light to my blade—only briefly, of course, unless he was one of the evil ones.”
“It’s a wonder you weren’t blasted out of the sky.”
“The gods love the brave.” Devlin stretched and went on. “When the whole Necklace was above the hills and clear to see, I drew the blade I’d borrowed, and made some kind of invocation. Sure enough, it flared as blue as could be, and my—friend—nearly fell onto his knees. I sheathed it quickly, before the glow died, and had a time keeping quiet. The thing stung my hand when it lit up, and left blisters that lasted two weeks.”
“I thought something would happen,” said Seli. “The gods may love the brave, but some of them wouldn’t like your wit. I assume the man gave you no more trouble?”
“Right, he didn’t. But there was trouble nonetheless—one of the captains was up for some reason, and saw the flash. Next thing I knew I was explaining it to her—”
“Dorrin’s sword!” exclaimed Paks.
“Yes. It wasn’t hers at the time; she took it in the captain’s draw a few days later. She did about chew my hide off for mocking the gods. When I showed her my hand, though, she said they’d taken their revenge, and all she wanted was the sword.”
“It is a magic sword, then?” asked Paks. “I thought I saw it glowing last year in Rotengre, when we’d killed the webspinner’s cleric.”
“Yes, it’s magic. Good magic, too. She doesn’t show it off—swords like that attract thieves like honey brings bees.”
“Why doesn’t it glow all the time?”
Devlin shrugged. “I don’t know—I suppose it was made that way.”
Chapter Thirty
Early the next morning they were marching again. All around the rich farmland showed scars of war: fields unsown, orchards hacked and burned, bloated corpses of cattle and sheep. Now and again they saw little bands of ragged peasants who fled into the woods and hedges at their approach. On the third day of the march, the Duke turned sharp south, and told them why.
“Our scouts report that Siniava’s holed up in a ruined city between Koury and Immervale on the river. They’ve seen his personal banner and troops in his colors. The Sorellin militia should be coming south to meet us. I’m telling them to come ahead. We’ll assault if we can, or siege until they arrive—but I don’t want to let him get loose again.”
By afternoon of the next day, they could see the old city. From a distance it looked more like a low hill of broken stone than a fortification, but as they drew closer, they saw that the city wall still held its shape around most of the mound. Where it had been breached, fresh piles of earth and brush blocked entry. Above the highest half-crumbled tower Siniava’s banner waved in the afternoon sun. Paks could not see any sentries; she had an uneasy feeling about the whole thing.
While the commanders positioned their companies on the north and west of the ruins, archers tried to ignite the brush with fire arrows, but it was still too green. No arrows returned, and nothing showed on the walls.
“They want us to charge up there carelessly,” said Vik. Paks paused beside him for a moment.
“Yes—I think so too. The Duke’s smarter than that.”
“I hope Siniava doesn’t have something like that priest at Sibili. Or a wizard.”
“If he had something that powerful, surely he’d have used it before now.”
“Yes—unless it was here. Something lurking in the ruins that he knew about.”
Paks shivered. “Don’t say that, Vik. It’s enough to spook anyone.”
“Surely not you?”
“Huh. I don’t think I’ll answer that.” Paks waved and went on. Nothing happened that night, and in the morning they prepared to assault the walls. Halveric Company would try the southern wall; Vladi’s spears, the west; and the Duke’s Company, a breach in the northwest angle of the wall. East of Phelan’s forces, the old ruins ran apparently unbroken to the river, some distance away.
After several attempts at climbing the earthworks filling the broken wall, they gave up; the outer face was slippery and sticky. An assault force could not climb that unstable slope while being pelted with stones and harried with arrows. While the main attack group stayed visible at the foot of the slope, Paks and Dorrin’s junior corporal, Malek, each took a squad and found a climbable place on the walls out of sight, around a square jutting corner.
This was easier than it might have been. Over the years stones had shifted, giving hand and foot holds; bushes had grown in the gaps. At the top of the wall, Paks peeked over cautiously. She saw the backs of a small group at the edge of the earthworks, some yards to her left, and nothing else. She passed a hand signal to those following, and eased up onto the wall. She heard the rasp and scrape of others coming over the rim as she drew her sword. Another quick glance showed few enemy soldiers anywhere: some on the far side of the earthworks, but equally intent on the action below. As soon as her squad was on the wall, Paks gave a last look to Vossik, below with reserves, and waved. He returned the gesture. She headed toward the enemy, counting on surprise to make up for numbers.
One of the soldiers across the earthwork gap saw them just before she reached the rear of those on her side
