Winterspear Vale.”
“What of this so-called Moonshield militia we’ve all seen on the streets lately?” Darsi Veruna asked. “It seems to me that there are hundreds of brave men ready to fight standing around on the town’s street corners.”
Sergen fought to keep a smile from his face. That was certainly one way to thin the ranks of the overly zealous Hulburgans. He hadn’t imagined any such possibility might arise when he’d intervened, so to speak, in the negotiations with the Bloody Skull messengers. It was simply an unlooked-for reward of a daring plan, executed carefully and well.
“I’ll ask them to give me what help they can, Lady Darsi,” Kara answered. “But the Spearmeet is a militia. They’re not anywhere near as well-trained, experienced, or well-equipped as the guards your House or the other Houses retain. I hope to use the Spearmeet to deal with marauding bands that might slip around our main defenses and to form a last reserve if things go poorly at the tower line.”
Maroth Marstel climbed to his feet. “All of Hulburg is threatened by this vast horde, and so all of Hulburg must give answer!” he thundered. “My House employs eighty armsmen, Lady Kara. They’re at your disposal for the duration of this crisis. And furthermore, I shall be glad to serve as a commander of the cavalry. I may not be as agile or strong as I once was, but I can still lead men into battle!”
Sergen wondered when exactly the old windbag had ever seen a battlefield, but he kept his thoughts to himself. Instead, he decided to rescue Kara from trying to figure out how to accept Marstel’s troops but decline his leadership by standing up himself. “The Merchant Council recently reached an arrangement with the Icehammer mercenary company,” he said smoothly. “We intended to employ the Icehammers to combat piracy and brigandage along the coasts and roads near Hulburg, but clearly the Bloody Skulls present an imminent threat. I believe that the Icehammers number close to two hundred and fifty highly experienced dwarf and human veterans.”
A chorus of whispers broke out among the spectators behind him, but Sergen paid them no mind. Kara stared at him suspiciously but said nothing, and Sergen could feel the harmach shift in his seat a few feet behind his right shoulder. Across the table, Lord Marstel bowed toward him. “Bravo!” he declared.
“Moreover,” Sergen continued, “I’ll relay my dear sister’s request for additional troops to the Double Moon Coster, House Sokol, and the Jannarsk Coster. I cannot speak for them, of course, but I am confident that they can contribute two hundred more armsmen among them.” He glanced at Darsi Veruna, smiled slightly, and sat down again.
Lady Veruna made a small face and motioned with her hand. “A hundred and twenty more from House Veruna,” she said calmly. “I am afraid I must reserve some of our strength to protect our camps in the Galena foothills.”
Kara nodded graciously to the mistress of House Veruna. “My thanks, Lady Darsi,” she said.
The harmach spoke next. “Kara, by my count, that puts you at close to nine hundred warriors, not counting the militia. Do you think you can meet the Bloody Skulls with those numbers?”
The castellan fell silent and considered her answer. “I think so,” she finally said. “If Hulburg had a city wall I would be inclined to simply defend the city, but since we don’t, I want to meet the Bloody Skulls as far from town as possible and still gain some advantage of terrain. The watchtowers at the north end of the Vale offer our best position. There aren’t many good paths to bring an army down from the Highfells to the Vale floor. But that means we must move at once to get as many warriors as possible to the towers by tonight or tomorrow morning.” She paused, examining her own thoughts again, and added, “The show of a strong defense may be enough to deter the Bloody Skulls-or the tribes allied to them. Neither the Red Claws nor the Skullsmashers will be eager to die for Warlord Mhurren. I’d guess he promised them plunder, so it’s possible that he’ll give up and look for some easier target once he sees that we’re ready for him. As far as I know, we’ve delivered no mortal insult or wronged him in some manner that he would feel compelled to avenge.”
That might prove important, Sergen realized. He glanced at Darsi Veruna and found her looking at him. He’d delivered exactly such an insult in the process of making sure that the Bloody Skulls supplied Hulburg with the threat he needed. Well, if matters took an unexpected turn, and he found that he needed to throw up a breakwater against the horde he’d baited to attack the harmach, he still had one more piece he could move on the board- Aesperus. Sergen thought he knew the price of the King in Copper, and he doubted that the lich’s minions would care much about being outnumbered by the Bloody Skulls and their allies.
That raised the interesting question of whether he’d rather see the battle won or lost. A complete debacle would not be good; he was reasonably sure of Aesperus’s aid, but he’d rather approach the lich with a request for a moderate amount of aid rather than beg the lich to spare Hulburg from disaster. No, the best outcome would be a hard-fought victory in which the Bloody Skulls were turned back without the aid of the King in Copper… especially if the armsmen of the other merchant companies suffered heavily in the fighting.
“It seems that time is of the essence,” the harmach said. He stood up slowly, and the other lords and officers got to their feet as well. Sergen rose smoothly and waited for his uncle to finish. “Kara, prepare the Shieldsworn for departure as quickly as you can. Those of you who have promised your armsmen, you must have your troops ready to march within hours. Only by concerted effort will we be able to avert this new and deadly threat. Now, go! And may the gods look kindly upon our defense.”
The assemblage broke up and dispersed, with a dozen conversations beginning at once as the various lords and officials began to make their way out of the hall. Sergen shifted the position of the rapier at his hip and turned to go as well.
“One moment, Sergen.” The harmach limped closer, leaning on his heavy walking stick. “I wish to have a word with you.”
There was little that Sergen cared to discuss with his uncle at the moment, but he was standing in Griffonwatch, and there were still dozens of onlookers in the hall. He nodded and gave his stepuncle a conciliatory smile. “I have much to do if I am to persuade the other merchant companies to dispatch their soldiers with Kara,” he said. “But if it’s important to speak now, then I am at your disposal, Uncle Grigor.”
“I will not detain you for long, Sergen. Before you leave, we must settle this question of Geran’s imprisonment by the Merchant Council.”
“I fear that’s not a question we can quickly settle. It’s a complicated issue.”
“I fail to see why it is so complicated, Sergen. I’ve examined the law carefully, and I see no basis under which the Merchant Council can hold or try someone whose offense occurs outside the strict physical boundaries of the concessions. Is there some dispute over where exactly Geran and Captain Urdinger fought? If there isn’t, then it’s a matter for the harmach’s justice, not the council.”
Sergen grimaced and lowered his voice, moving closer to his uncle. He’d been expecting this for a day or two and knew how he wanted to respond. “I have much the same understanding, Uncle. But the Verunas are frankly beyond all reason at this point. They’re threatening dire repercussions if their calls for justice are ignored.”
Harmach Grigor frowned. “Dire repercussions? What do you mean?”
“I’m not sure, but I believe Lady Darsi may go so far as to completely vacate Veruna’s interests in Hulburg and then use her influence in Mulmaster to have the High Blade embargo all trade bound to Hulburg. I hardly need to describe what a disaster that would be. Mulmaster accounts for almost half our trade. We would be ruined within a month.” Sergen spread his hands helplessly. “As long as a threat such as that is hanging over our heads, I didn’t dare to defy her.”
The old lord grimaced and shot a dark look at Darsi Veruna, who was leaving the hall with her attendants and guards around her. She glided out the door with her valets hurrying to drape a stole around her neck, oblivious to the conversation at the foot of the harmach’s seat. “Darsi Veruna doesn’t have the right to tell us who to try and under what laws,” Grigor said firmly. “This is a matter for Hulburg’s justice, not her personal vendetta against Geran.”
“Well, that’s the problem. She believes that Geran will escape justice for his crimes because he is your nephew. Frankly, she doubts whether Geran would ever be brought to trial.”
“I have never allowed any member of the family to ignore our laws.”
“Until she sees Geran convicted and punished in some suitable manner, I am afraid she won’t believe that, Uncle.”
Grigor looked sharply at Sergen. “I won’t allow Geran to commit crimes and go unpunished, Sergen, but neither will I convict and punish him if he’s innocent of wrongdoing-regardless of what Darsi Veruna may think. If Geran is fairly acquitted, he will go free. If not, he’ll pay the same price any criminal would. And to make sure that
