friendly territory and we were making good time. My command was under control and I thought all was right with the world. Then the letter from Sheo arrived. I saw the messenger coming down the line, and though I didn't know he was looking for me, I certainly hoped he was. I had been concerned about Sheo's lack of regular reports, so I was glad to receive the letter and read it at once.
Sumto,
I am taking the cohort north east to the border with the Orduli.
“What?”
“What?” Kerral echoed me, surprised.
“Nothing!” I went back to the letter.
I have received word of the sacking of a border town of Pulindus by a large force of barbarians. The lands between there and here are pretty well populated but there are no forces to stand in their way. Don't be angry with me, please. I am not trying to steal your thunder or use your men for my own self-aggrandizement. I simply feel that this needs to be done and there is no one else to do it. I'm sure you will use my intelligence well.
In haste.
Sheo Tetris Fuliat
“Bastard!”
“What?”
“You have the command, Kerral!”
I didn't wait for his answer but pulled out of the line and galloped my surprised mare to the head of the cohort, calling a warning of my reckless pace as I did so. Pulling up I saluted Tul with the letter clenched in my fist.
“You'd better read this, sir.” My fury sounded clear even in my own ears and I struggled to get a hold of myself.
“Yes,” he said, mildly. “I suppose I better had.”
I gave him the letter and waited while he read it, keeping pace all the while, my mare skittish and anxious under me.
After reading it twice he made to pass it back, then changed his mind. “No. I'll go.” He steered his horse out of the line and galloped off.
I watched him go. A little let down by his mild response. But he was acting. I just had no clue what he intended and there was nothing seemly I could do but wait. After a while I realized I had no further reason to be there and steered my mount off the road, walking her back down the line.
“Bastard!” I whispered fiercely to myself every now and again.
He had taken my command into danger without so much as a by-your-leave. It was a clear breach of discipline for a start. And he knew damn well I wouldn't… I held that thought. I might order him to act, but I wouldn't like it. In fact, I would have had to do as I did with the letter containing the fact of his actions even if it had only contained the request. And the request might be refused by Tul or Orthand. Needs doing, I thought, large force, no one else between them and us. Bastard. He might be right. How large a force? How the hell did he know where they would be when he arrived on the scene? How did he hope to stand against them if he found them? He was throwing my men away for nothing. He should have marched when he heard, but not north and east. He should have marched south, to us, to join our force with his new information.
When I pulled back into the line by Kerral I was still white-faced with anger and swearing under my breath. He raised an eyebrow but wisely didn't say anything.
“How far to the border?”
“About a hundred miles, I'd say.”
Four days to get to where he had been. Too late to be thinking about it. He was gone and lost. Forget it, I told myself, forget your cohort, they are dead and gone.
“Bastard.”
Kerral didn't say a word.
31
My plans to eat were forgotten as I hurried across the camp to the command area. Not to the tent that I visited every day. A command had come from Orthand, couched in polite terms but a command none-the-less, and I was hurrying to obey.
I felt hollow. Empty. My brief dreams of a significant unit of my own, of equality with Tulian Dural Verrans were ashes. My money was wasted and my cohort on its way to being destroyed. Having shared the information with my cousin I could not even send a messenger telling him to get back the hell out of there and wait for me, or come back to us. I should have done it straight away but instead I had lost my temper. It was an important lesson and I had drummed it into my head all day. Stay cool! No matter what the reverse, stay calm. Think! Facts, think, decide, act. There was no place on that list for feel or want. Okay, want had a place, but only as in 'I want to achieve this thing,' then facts, think, decide, act. I had lost my men. I accepted the responsibility and swore it would never happen again. The taste of that responsibility was bitter in my mouth. Orthand would not risk a man of his to save mine; nor would Tul, though he might regret it more.
“Orchids.”
The guard at the command tent let me pass and I walked the few paces to the entrance and stepped inside.
“Good of you to join us, Cerulian.”
Orthand stood with all the commanders of his legion around a large table on which were laid papers and maps in profusion. Tul was also there. I moved to the table after saluting and greeting the commander with all the calm and respect I could muster. I was nothing and I might as well accept it. I might as well go and get drunk as I was damn little use for anything else.
“Look at this,” Orthand tapped the map that was laid out over the bulk of other papers.
I did.
He pointed at various places on the map as he spoke. “We are here, the border with the Geduri is here. It is another hundred miles to my clients. The news from there isn't good. I suspect the place will be more or less overrun by the time we arrive.” He didn't look happy but was calm and matter of fact. I briefly wished I had the ability to emulate him.
“Already,” he continued, “there are reports of the Alendi forces breaking up to slaughter and loot smaller communities. So it looks likely there will be no mass Alendi movement south, at least for now. In the meantime the Prashuli,” he waved his hand over the western area bordering the Alendi lands, “and the Orduli appear to be raising against us. Today I received good intelligence that there is a fairly significant force of Orduli here,” he stabbed the map roughly where I took Sheo to have meant. “I have reason to believe that some Alendi forces are heading that way to join with them and that further Orduli chieftains are being persuaded to rise against us and also join them. In the meantime they will, I think, advance further into friendly territory.”
He looked around the table, meeting the gaze of each man. “Cerulian, what do you think?”
I thought for a moment only. I had been following the facts, putting them in order, prioritizing. I knew what I thought but paused a second to be sure.
“If the intelligence is accurate the Alendi can wait, especially if they have men moving east. The easier pickings will hold their attention for a good while. As I understand it there is no army in the field to meet the Orduli.”
His lips twitched in a fleeting smile. “There is a single cohort. Doubtless the commander will refrain from engaging. There will be local Geduri units but I suspect they will be spread out and unorganized.”
“No doubt. However if he joined us and we moved together against the Orduli we could smash their army in time to dissuade any more of the Orduli chieftains from taking arms.” I pointed out that the border between the area under threat and the Alendi was quite close to where we would likely meet them. “If they advance against us into Geduri lands we could meet them here in eight days or less. And that would bring us almost as close to the Alendi border as if we marched on north.” I opened my mouth to continue but he interrupted me.
