But they keep coming back to this point.'
'Go on,' Iraj said.
'I suggest,' Fari said, 'that I be allowed to gather my wizards together and make a casting to find out exactly what happened.'
Iraj looked at Luka and Kalasariz, then back at Fari, thinking. There was good logic on both sides. It was Iraj's nature to favor quick action. But on the other hand-Iraj chopped off further speculation and made his decision. And he said to Fari:
'Call your wizards!'
CHAPTER THIRTY ONE
Leiria thought the valley was particularly beautiful that day. Blue skies, sweet breezes, joyous birds swooping over fruited fields and babbling rivers. Looking down on them from the hilltops the city of Caluz shone under the gentle sun, seemingly full of promise and hope and welcome.
Leiria thought of the palace courtyard heaped with all the Caluzian dead and turned away, choking on bile.
The business awaiting her didn't make her feel any better. At the moment she was sitting at a small camp table going over last minute arrangements with Khadji Timura and Sergeant Dario.
'No one is very happy about this latest plan of yours, Leiria,' Khadji said. 'They want you to reconsider. Some of them are even demanding it.'
Leiria sighed, shaking her head. Civilians! What could you do with them? They kept imagining orders were open to debate.
'Tell them no,' she said.
Khadji frowned. 'You really ought to at least hear them out,' he protested. 'Frankly, I'm in agreement with many of their complaints.'
Leiria's eyes hardened. It was all she could do to keep from snapping his head off. Sometimes Safar's father could be a most difficult man. Then her lips twitched with a sudden urge to smile. And so is Safar, she thought. And his mother. And his sisters. Hells, all the Timuras were absolute mules. Even Palimak seemed to have caught the disease.
Calmed, she did her best to temper her words. 'I don't know how many times we've been over this, Khadji,' she said. 'I thought we were in agreement. It might not be the best plan, but it's the only one that might, just might mind you, give us a chance.'
'I'm with the Captain, here,' Dario broke in. He nodded at the nearby field where young Kyranian soldiers were pawing through their gear, keeping some things, but throwing most of it away. 'And you can tell the knotwits on the Council of Elders that so are my lads.'
'You don't understand,' Khadji said. 'We've already lost our homes and almost all of our possessions. All we have left of our old lives are the few things we've managed to carry along in our wagons. Now you want us not only to abandon them, but to leave the wagons as well. Plus most of the animals. You're even begrudging us a few extra clothes.'
'You can't eat clothes,' Leiria said. 'You can't fight with clothes. That's a lesson everyone should have learned by now.'
Dario glowered at Khadji. 'And you can't eat clay pots, either,' he said, 'in case that's what's really stuck in your craw.'
Khadji blushed. 'I'll admit that was on my mind,' he said. 'If only I could-'
Leiria put a hand on his. 'Listen to me, Khadji,' she said. 'I promised Safar that if Iraj found us before he got back I'd do everything I could to see that as many of you as possible escape. I'm not trying to be cruel or unfeeling, but the way I've outlined is the best I can manage.'
Drawing on her last reserves of patience, she went over the plan one more time. She'd divided the Kyranians into two groups-those who would fight and those who would run. The latter was by far the largest group, women and children and those too old or infirm to fight. When and if they got the signal all of those people, led by Khadji who had the maps, were to head for the mountains.
'Aim for those peaks,' Leiria said, pointing at the twin pillars that towered over the range. 'With luck, you'll find a track there to make things easier. Just make sure the track heads north to the Great Sea.'
Khadji nodded. 'There's a port at Caspan,' he said. 'I saw it on the map.'
'Yes, Caspan,' Leiria said. 'Safar said we might be able to get some ships there. And I've given you the gold he left to hire them to take us to Syrapis.'
'What about Safar?' Khadji said mournfully. 'What about my son? And little Palimak! What about him?'
'I think it would be best if you put them out of your mind,' Leiria said. 'Concentrate on getting to those peaks. Then set your sights on Caspan. Let the rest of us, including Safar and Palimak, worry about how we're going to catch up to you.'
Then she carefully explained the rest of the plan. As Khadji and the villagers fled, Sergeant Dario and the bulk of the soldiers would follow in their footsteps as shields.
Meanwhile, Leiria and a small force of their best soldiers would attempt to hold Iraj at the breakthrough point for as long as they could. When the inevitable rout came the survivors would fall back to join Dario.
The strategy from there would be to fight a rear guard action-using every trick Dario and Leiria had drummed into the young men to keep Iraj from overtaking the refugees.
'Speed is our only real defense,' Leiria said. 'Iraj taught me the value of speed long ago. That, and surprise, win more battles than not. When Iraj breaks through he'll think his job is nearly done. In his mind all he'll have to do is overtake a caravan moving at the speed of the slowest group. Ox-drawn wagons and heavily laden people on foot. Which is why I want to leave all that behind and fool him at the start. We won't fool him long, but gods willing it will be just long enough.'
To accomplish this, Leiria had ordered that everything be abandoned but the barest necessities. Anything the Kyranians took with them would be loaded on the goats and llamas and horses, with experienced mountain lads to drive them along. The old and the sick and the very young would ferried to safety on horses and camels.
Dario gave a sharp nod of agreement when she was done. 'A fine plan,' he said. 'One of the best these old ears have ever heard.'
Khadji wavered. 'Maybe,' he said. 'Maybe.'
Dario snorted. 'No maybe to it,' he said. 'Quit chewin' on it, man, and swallow.'
'I'll do my best to make them listen,' Khadji said. 'But I can't promise what their reaction will be.'
Leiria's patience collapsed. 'I'll make it easy for you,' she said. 'From this moment on army rules will apply to all situations.'
Ignoring Khadji's puzzled look, she turned to Dario.
'Sergeant!' she snapped.
Dario stiffened. 'Yes, Captain.'
'You will tell your men that once the enemy is engaged anyone who disobeys my commands is to be killed on the spot. No questions. No excuses. No arguments. And no hesitation. Do you understand?'
Dario buried a grin and snapped a salute. 'Yes, Captain,' he growled. 'And I'll make it my personal business they start with the Council of Elders.'
Khadji goggled at her. 'You wouldn't really do that!' he said.
She gave him the hardest look she could. 'I swear on my friendship and love of Safar, your son, that I will do everything I say.'
Before he could respond there was a loud explosion from overhead. Their heads jerked up and all eyes were immediately fixed on the airship sailing over the mountains into the valley. A bright green flare guttered in its wake. Immediately there was a second explosion as Biner fired off another of Safar's magical flares.
'Iraj has found us,' Leiria said, flat. 'Now we'll see who wants to live and who wants to die.'
