"Impressive," said Lord Deiter. "I can't wait to see what Hargild will make of you."
"Hargild?" said Athgar.
"Yes, Father General Hargild. He commands the army."
"It's not you, then?"
"Ah, I see the confusion. I command the auxiliaries. That is to say, the warriors who do not fall under the Church's direct control."
"His Grace is a seasoned veteran," added Sir Raynald. "He comes to us from his palatial home in Erlingen."
"Where is that if I might ask?" said Athgar.
"It's one of the northern states," said Natalia, "close to Andover if I'm not mistaken."
"You're quite right," enthused the duke. "They are, in fact, our neighbour."
"Well, Your Grace?" said Sir Raynald. "You think them suitable?"
"By all means," the duke replied. "I shall be happy to add them to the list."
"Perchance," suggested Janik, "you might introduce them to the father general this evening?"
"What an excellent idea." The duke turned his attention back to Athgar and Natalia. "We're having a little get-together tonight at the father general's house. I'd like you to be there if that's all right with you?"
"Of course," said Natalia, "we'd be delighted."
"Good. I'll send a carriage for you this evening, shall I? See to the arrangements, Janik."
"By all means, Your Grace."
"Might I ask the reason for our presence this evening?" asked Athgar.
The duke laughed. "I want to rub the father general's nose in the fact that I have not one, but two mages, where he has none."
"Are you sure that's wise, Your Grace?" asked Natalia. "We do not wish to insult him."
"Insult him? Don't be silly; he's a member of the Church. He'll be over the moon to think we have people of your capabilities in the army. No, your presence will merely confirm I am better at raising an army."
That afternoon found the pair of them sitting in their room.
"What did you make of the duke?" asked Natalia.
"He was a reasonable man. Is that what you mean?"
"Not precisely. I wanted to know what you make of him as a leader. Sir Raynald seemed to think he is quite experienced. That doesn't bode well for the Therengians."
"No," said Athgar, "I suppose it doesn't. Did you see the number of men waiting to meet him?"
"I did," she replied. "It's as if everyone this side of the Grey Spires wants in on the fighting. You'd think the villages were rolling in gold or something."
"Tell me," said Athgar, "do these people really believe they're doing the Saint's will?"
"Some undoubtedly do, but the rest are likely only looking for wealth. After all, soldiers have to make a living too."
"I suppose that's true."
"Listen," said Natalia, "I've been thinking about this evening."
"And?"
"And we need to get our story straight. We've already blurted out our first names. We don't want it to get out that I'm a Stormwind. We need to come up with a false name."
"How about Runell? He was the captain of the Swift."
"Good idea," she said. "It'll be easy to remember."
"I would also suggest you hide that," he said, pointing at her ring. It had been a present from Illiana Stormwind and was incredibly expensive, but what was worse was that it held magerite, a gem that indicated the wearer's power, turning darker on those of sufficient skill. Every member of the family had one, though not always worn as a ring. Right now, sitting on Natalia's finger, it was almost black, displaying her power to any who knew how to read it.
"I hadn't thought of that," she admitted. "I'll tuck it away, shall I?"
"That would probably be for the best."
"What did you make of his soldiers?"
"There were lots of foot," said Athgar, "but I didn't see much horse, did you?"
"No, thank the Saints, but he still has fifty-odd knights. That's more than enough to cause problems."
"Yes," Athgar agreed, "and that's not including the knights from the Church. This is not shaping up very well for Runewald."
"We shall have to find a way to offset their advantage."
"How do we do that?"
"By fighting in a place of our own choosing," said Natalia, "somewhere that will neutralize their horsemen. Maybe we could draw them deeper into the woods?"
"How? Won't they go after the villages?"
"Not if the army tempts them," she said, warming to the task. "It would take some careful planning, but if they see us formed up for battle, their priorities will shift. How many men do you think Eadred can raise?"
"I have no idea. I can't imagine Runewald could field more than a hundred."
"Let's assume the other villages are similar, giving us an army of say, five hundred."
"Plus the Orcs," added Athgar.
"Yes," said Natalia, "but they'll have to leave some of their hunters to guard their own villages. How many do you think that leaves them?"
"Well, assuming all three tribes cooperate, I would say somewhere in the vicinity of another two hundred, maybe three if we're lucky."
"That's seven or eight hundred in total. I think that would be more than sufficient to garner some attention, wouldn't you? We can use that to lure them away from the villages."
"Yes, but is it enough to defeat them? We still don't know their numbers yet."
"True," said Natalia, "but now we have a better idea of what we can field. The Orcs of the Red Hand had those warbows of yours. Do the other tribes have them?"
"No," said Athgar, "nor do the Therengians. They favour spear and shield."
"Do they have any armour?"
"I imagine King Eadred does, and so did Cenric. Some of his personal guards might have some chainmail shirts, I suppose."
"That's not very encouraging. We need something that will defeat plate armour."
"The warbows will work well," said Athgar, "but there aren't enough of them. Our best hope is that the Stone Crushers help. At least they have Earth Mages."
"Yes," said Natalia, "I can work with that. We learned all about the power of the earth. It's perfect for creating defensive works."
"Providing we can lure this Holy Army to the right spot," added Athgar.
"Our biggest weakness is
