5
Like a chunk of ordure floating in the middle of a cesspit, the great fortress at Taress never failed to draw the eye.
Its baleful walls and haughty towers subjugated the city as surely as the human invaders who had annexed it. Built long ago, by orcs when they were warlike, the pile had been turned from defensive to offensive by recent events. From a place of sanctuary to a place of dread. It stood as a perpetual reminder of the native population's loss of independence and dignity.
There was a great deal of bustle in its spacious central courtyard. A detachment of uniformed men, and some women, were square-bashing. Others were paired off in mock combat. Weapons were being issued, horses groomed, wagons loaded.
From the balcony of his quarters high above, the stern figure of Kapple Hacher surveyed the activity. His aide and probably closest professional confidant, the young officer called Frynt, stood beside him.
'Now we're training clerks and medics to patrol the streets,' Hacher said.
'I understand more reinforcements are due for despatch from Peczan soon, sir,' Frynt informed him.
'I'm not sure there'll ever be enough for Jennesta.'
'Sir?'
'Taress is to be entirely purged of subversive elements, to quote our mistress's own words. How many troops do you think that would take?'
'With respect, General, you've often said that the troublemakers are a minority.'
'I still think that's so. But it's a question of definitions. Who are the dissidents?'
'Isn't it our job to weed them out, sir?'
'Good question. But not one that unduly troubles m'lady Jennesta. Her view is that any orcs who arouse suspicion should be rounded up. And eliminated if they resist. In effect, they're all revolutionaries to her. So we have this ever increasing clampdown.'
'You can't deny that incidents have increased of late, sir.'
'Yes, they have. What do you expect when you prod a hornet's nest? I believe the resistance, the actual core, is quite small, but I've never said they weren't dangerous, and I'm all for coming down on them hard. But I can't help but feel that Jennesta's policy is only making matters worse.'
'Perhaps this comet the orcs are so excited about is what's really stirring them up, sir.'
'And who's putting the idea into their heads of linking it with omens and prophecies? No, we should be using a rapier here, not an axe.'
'Regrettably, sir, your counsel is unlikely to sway the lady Jennesta.'
'You're telling me.' Hacher grew thoughtful. 'Though there is one weapon in our armoury that could be useful in winkling out the real insurrectionists.'
'Your… source,' Frynt said knowingly.
The general nodded. 'Although it isn't entirely certain that I can keep that channel open, it might prove invaluable.'
'But surely, sir, all this talk of rebellion is somewhat academic in light of the nature of the orcs we're governing. The majority are passive.'
'Jennesta doesn't think so. She maintains the entire race is capable of something like savagery. Though what experience she might have had with them to reach such a conclusion is open to question.'
'And you, sir? Do you think they have some buried appetite for combat?'
Hacher turned and surveyed the city. 'Perhaps we're about to find out.'
At one of the resistance's safe houses, hidden in the tangle of the troubled capital's back streets, Jode Pepperdyne and Micalor Standeven had found a secluded room.
'How often do I have to tell you?' Standeven angrily protested.
'Try me one more time,' Pepperdyne said.
'I had nothing to do with Coilla's star going missing!'
'Why do I find that hard to believe?'
'So why do you bother asking me? You know, back where we come from, your badgering would have been seen as gross disobedience.'
Pepperdyne laughed in his face. 'But we're not there, are we?'
'More's the pity.'
'I don't like being stuck in this world any more than you do. Assuming you do mind.'
'What's that supposed to mean?'
'If the stars hadn't gone missing we wouldn't be here.'
' And that had nothing to do with me,' Standeven repeated.
'So you say. But given we are stranded here, why do you keep needling the band? They're the only allies we've got, and they don't trust us.'
'They never did.'
'Speak for yourself.'
'They're orcs. Humans aren't exactly their favourite race, in case you hadn't noticed what they're doing to them here.'
'I think they know when somebody's treating them straight. Most of them, anyway.'
'You're a fool, Pepperdyne. The only reason we're still with them, why we're still alive, is because it suits them. Don't go misplacing your trust.'
'What, I should put it in you?'
'You could do worse.'
'Only if I'd gone insane.'
Standeven's bile was rising again. 'You might do well,' he uttered vindictively, 'to think about your position if we ever get back home.'
'Your threats don't wash here. Or hasn't that dawned on you yet?'
'I'm just reminding you what our relative positions were, and how they could be that way again. How you behave here's going to have a bearing on how I choose to treat you in future.'
'You don't get it, do you? The way things are going, we might not have a future. And if we're into reminding each other about events, remember that you wouldn't be here… hell, you wouldn't be at all, if it hadn't been for me.'
'One of your obligations is to look after your master's safety. It's your duty!'
Pepperdyne lunged and grabbed him by the scruff. 'If you think you don't owe me your life, maybe I'll take it back.'
'Take your filthy hands off me, you — '
The door opened.
Pepperdyne let go of Standeven.
Coilla came in. 'Jode? Are you — Oh.'
Standeven transferred his red-faced glare from Pepperdyne to her. ' Don't mind me,' he snarled. Shoving past her, he left.
'Let him go,' Pepperdyne said.
'I wasn't thinking of stopping him,' Coilla replied. She closed the door. 'You were arguing.'
'Very perceptive.'
'If you want to be let alone I can — '
'Sorry.' His tone was conciliatory. 'It's just that he gets under my skin.'
'You're not alone.'
He nodded. 'What was it you wanted, Coilla?'
'Well, first off, I thought you could use some of this.' She handed him a brandy flask.
He accepted it, took a swig and gave it back. 'And second?'
'You two left in such a hurry, I just wanted you to know that not everybody in the band thinks badly of
