“That doesn’t sound like a problem,” Janis said slowly, glancing at the cadets.
Khollo nodded. “You’re right, that wasn’t the problem. The problem was they insisted on eighteen practice runs before they were satisfied with the results.”
“That seems . . . excessive.”
“Indeed. Kanin got a little frustrated so he tangled their lines and spun them around a fair amount, then dropped them. The world is probably still spinning for them.”
“Why are we sitting on the ceiling?” Hern asked suddenly, pointing upwards and leaning sideways out of his chair. Then, he frowned. “Wait a moment. Now we’re on the floor. How did that happen?”
“I think I see what you mean,” Janis observed wryly. “We’ll give them a few more minutes while we’re waiting for Ondus to arrive, then get down to business.”
“What sort of business?” Khollo asked curiously.
Janis smiled patiently. “You’ll find out.” Janis looked up at the soldiers who had escorted Khollo and the others up to the council room. “You can go now. Thank you for finding these three and bringing them up.”
“You’re welcome, my lord,” the leader of the small group replied, saluting. The other soldiers saluted as well, then turned smartly and disappeared through the door and out of the council room. Ondus and a cook’s assistant entered as soon as they had left, each bearing a laden tray of food.
“Fine time for a meeting, Janis,” Ondus grumbled, setting the platter down on the table. “Here I was thinking I was finally going to get to eat my dinner and a soldier turns up with a message that a meeting was to be held immediately. The good news is, the kitchen staff still fixed a tray up. They told me they hadn’t seen any of you yet either so here’s dinner for everyone.”
“Excellent,” Khollo said as Ondus assembled a plate and passed it to him. “I haven’t eaten since . . . well, somewhere in between breakfast and lunch.”
“Sermas, would you like any?” Ondus asked without looking up from his task.
Sermas said nothing and Ondus looked up frowning. “What’s got into these two?”
“Kanin,” Khollo said briefly. “Spun them around until they were too dizzy to stand, see, think, do anything useful for that matter. They’re slowly recovering.”
“Very slowly,” Janis added as Hern tried to take a plate from Ondus and nearly flipped it upside down.
“I see,” Ondus muttered. “And who are you?” he said suddenly.
Khollo looked to his right and realized that Ondus was talking to the man he did not know, who was travel stained and weary-looking. He looked almost as exhausted as Khollo felt and there were rips in his clothes.
“I am Seven,” the man said dully.
“Seven? What kind of name is that?” Ondus demanded.
“Leon numbers us so that our identities are kept secret,” Seven said in the same dull voice.
“Sensible, I suppose,” Ondus reflected.
“Ondus, quiet, let the man speak,” Janis said curtly.
“The vertaga are advancing,” Seven announced. “But they are moving slowly, under cover of night. They have looped far to the east to avoid detection and are now approaching from the southeast. They will be here between tomorrow night and the next night.”
“Numbers?” Janis asked briskly.
“That is the reason I came to deliver this report personally,” Seven said grimly. “I have been tracking the vertaga for some time, and initially reported a force between one and two thousand with a scattering of lutag riders among them. Three days ago though, they met up with another force that came up from the southeast, nearly trapped me between them.”
“How many were in the second force?” Khollo asked worriedly. “One or two thousand was already a stretch with our seven hundred defenders.”
“The second force was even larger than the first,” Seven said. “I estimate their total strength to be between three and four thousand.”
Ondus whistled appreciatively. “That could be a problem,” he observed. “You’re sure they’re headed this way?”
“Absolutely certain,” Seven assured the warrior confidently.
“So, to sum up, we have an enemy army twice the size we initially thought arriving tomorrow or the day after?” Janis asked, frowning.
“Yes.”
“And we know nothing about the whereabouts of Relam and his army?”
“Except that they’re not here, no,” Ondus confirmed.
“That is not the worst of it,” Seven said, shaking his head.
“Then what is?” Janis asked.
“The second force was larger, and also better equipped. They have more lutags, but they also have something else we did not anticipate.” He paused and looked around at the others in the council room before continuing.
“They’ve brought siege weapons. A battering ram for starters, we can deal with that. But they also brought two catapults.”
Chapter 44
“Catapults?” Khollo asked, echoing the thoughts of all those present. “You’re sure?”
“Don’t know what else they could have been,” Seven said with a weary shrug.
“That’s extremely bad news,” Janis muttered, staring down at the table in front of him. “If the vertaga start lobbing boulders at the hillside, it could destabilize the underground levels and the fortress itself.”
“Could that really happen, Khollo?” Ondus asked worriedly.
Khollo shrugged. “I don’t know, Ondus. It seems likely. I mean, most of the hillside is gone. It’s hard to predict what will happen if they lob rocks at it.”
“So, to be on the safe side, we should get rid of the catapults before they can start bombarding the hill or the fortress,” Janis observed.
“Brilliant,” Seven said sarcastically. “Except for the small detail that the catapults will doubtlessly be at the very center of the enemy army and protected by their best troops.”
“We don’t need to get close to the catapults to destroy them,” Khollo replied. “Kanin and I
