Relam froze for a moment, then cursed. “No,” he admitted. “I quite forgot about that between the rain and getting camp set up.”
“So, you never solved the problem I presented you with?” Oreius asked.
Relam shook his head sheepishly. “No, I guess I didn’t.”
Oreius smiled grimly. “Better get busy then.” He gestured towards the ring of tents. The sergeants were beginning to gather, picking their way toward the place where Relam and Oreius waited. “You have about one minute until you have to share it with your officers.”
Relam swore under his breath and began racking his brain for a solution. He needed a way to protect the archers from attack, but also make it to where there was no chance they would accidentally shoot their own men. He could pair each archer with a swordsman who also acted as a shield bearer, but there was probably a simpler, and better, solution than that.
A series of large drops rained down on Relam as a stiff wind blew through the trees. Angrily, Relam shook the water off, glaring upwards. As he did, he noticed that where some of the larger branches met the trees there were dry patches on the otherwise soaking trunk. He wondered briefly about climbing up there for the night, rather than sleeping on the wet ground. Then, he abruptly turned away from the matter of the trees and returned to the problem of the archers.
And in that moment, the solution came to Relam. So simple, so blindingly obvious and yet so effective. He glanced at Oreius and smiled. “I’ve got it,” he announced.
“You do?” Oreius asked. “Care to share?”
Relam shook his head. “You’ll hear about it at the same time as everybody else.”
Oreius smiled slightly, blue eyes twinkling with amusement. “Any hints?”
“Of course not,” Relam replied with an impudent grin.
Chapter 17
The sergeants quickly gathered around Relam in a loose circle, all bundled in their cloaks, all with their hoods pulled forward to shield their faces. Each and every one looked cold and miserable. Oreius stood beside Relam and slightly behind him, scanning the assembled leaders, nodding to those he recognized. Relam was doing the same, counting heads, making sure everyone was present. He came up with eleven, plus himself and Oreius.
“Let’s get on with it,” Relam began. “The less time we spend standing out in the rain like this the better. As some of you may have guessed when we rode into the Midwood today, we are here to take down a bandit group that has been operating in the area. We know the location of their base, thanks to an escaped prisoner who is here with us now.”
The sergeants nodded wordlessly, well-conditioned to listen without interruption. Relam forged ahead, trying to make sure he got all the details right.
“The camp is little more than a day’s ride from our current position. We will travel most of the day tomorrow, then stop within an hour of the enemy’s camp in the afternoon. That evening, we will scout out the battlefield, and the following morning we attack, a couple of hours after dawn. The enemy number between sixty and seventy and are well equipped. Any questions so far?”
The sergeants shook their heads in unison.
“Good,” Relam said, breathing a sigh of relief. “Here is the plan for the battle. We have roughly forty archers with us. They will climb trees around the perimeter of the enemy camp and direct a plunging fire at anything that moves. The rest of our forces will stay on horseback and encircle the camp to prevent anyone getting away. The first squadron, Oreius, and I will hang back with the informer and act as a mobile reserve force in the event that a small band of bandits tries to break through the perimeter.”
“Will horses be able to get around quickly enough to be of any use?” one of the sergeants asked. “This forest gets pretty thick in some places.”
Relam frowned. He had not considered that possibility. As he hesitated a cloaked figure, the informant, stepped forward.
“The bandit camp is situated in one of the rare open spaces, and the surrounding forest is thinner.” He nodded to Relam. “The plan is a good one, there are plenty of trees for your archers. In addition, this is a very confident group, they post few sentries. Getting everyone into position without alerting the rest of their warriors shouldn’t be too hard.”
“I am no warrior myself,” the informer continued, “But I would very much like to see those bandits eradicated. They were not the kindest of captors.”
“They’ll get what’s coming to them,” Relam promised. “Every one will be either captured or killed.”
“Captured?” one of the sergeants interjected. “Does that mean we’re taking prisoners?”
“If they surrender, yes,” Relam said, glancing at the man who had spoken. “We’re not like them. We don’t slaughter helpless men. If they surrender, we will take them prisoner. There is also the chance that they may know of other bandit cells operating in the area.”
“Fair enough,” another sergeant grunted. “Can we tell all of this to our men?”
“Yes,” Relam said. “I leave it to you to deploy your individual squadrons. You know your men better than I, what they are capable of, strengths and weaknesses. Remember, archers in the trees, everyone else on horseback. Any last questions before we end the meeting?”
The sergeants all shook their heads, looking around to see if any of their fellows had questions.
“Dismissed,” Relam said curtly. “We rise with the sun tomorrow. Two men from each squadron on sentry duty, rotate every two hours.”
The sergeants grunted and began making their way back to their squads. Relam watched them go, then turned to Oreius nervously. “Did I do all right?”
“Reasonably well,” Oreius allowed reluctantly. “Not bad at all for
