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Anna understood that, but she worried. Even though the mirror indicated that
Rabyn and his forces had just left Esaria, the ride from Elahwa back to
Denguic was farther than from Esaria to Denguic. Lord, every military
strategist ever quoted by Avery or Sandy talked about not fighting wars on two
fronts, and you've gotten into one? Was she acting out the old adage about
fools rushing in?
She pursed her lips and shifted her weight in the saddle.
48
Anna's tent was set up without the sidewalls, more as an awning to offer some
shade for the group that gathered in the late afternoon. She glanced at Jecks,
then let her eyes travel across Hadrenn, Stepan, Jimbob, Kinor, and Liende.
Liende brushed back hair that showed less and less red and more white, but
offered an amused smile to Anna.
Himar stood before the group, and his voice was raspy as he talked. "...likely
that we will meet with Bertmynn's forces on the morrow. He brings near-on
eighty score, though some are foot levies from Dolov... with little experience
or training. His own lancers are well seasoned, and they will be at the
fore..."
The faintest of breezes carried a hint of coolness from the river to the north
then faded, leaving the group sweating in the unseasonably sultry heat.
"Lady Anna has studied Bertmynn's forces with her glass, and they are here."
Using a whittled length of pencil wood, Himar pointed to a spot on the crude
map just south and east of where the River Syne and the River Dol joined.
"Where he now waits is perhaps a ride of three glasses."
Hadrenn looked at the maps and then toward Anna before speaking. "We could
circle south of him, cross at one of the lower fords, and then go downriver
and take Elahwa from behind. We would not have to face Bertmynn..."
Anna shook her head, without even thinking about getting opinions from Jecks
or
Himar. "That's not the reason I'm here. I want it set up so that all of
Bertmynn's armsmen are in one battle."
"You risk all of your armsmen as well," countered Hadrenn, "and much of my
forces."
"Yours are at risk in any eventuality; Lord Hadrenn," suggested Jecks. "You
cannot raise the numbers he has, nor can you count on assistance from the
Liedfuhr or the Sturinnese."
"Well we know that," answered the brown-haired lord of Synek. "Well we do."
Himar cleared his throat, and the others looked at the mustached overcaptain.
"Ah. . . also, if we circled south, Bertmynn could well be between us and
either
Synek or Defalk, and then we would have to fight more in a place of his
choosing." Himar addressed Hadrenn. "Also, should aught go amiss, you can
return to Synek more easily if we fight more to the north."
Jecks nodded. After a moment, so did Hadrenn.
"We'll have to move slowly in the morning," Anna said. "We can't afford to
attack from lower grounds-"
"Or be attacked from higher ground," added Jecks.
"And we'll need time to set up the players." Anna glanced toward Liende, who
nodded. Then she inclined her head to Himar.
"The Regent and Lord Hadrenn have explained our aims," Himar said. "It is now
time for you to tell your subofficers and those men who will carry them out.
Remember that the task of all the lancers is to protect the sorceress and the
players first. If we succeed in that, Bertmynn will fall."
Page 125
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As the others hurried away, in the burnt orange of twilight, Jecks and Anna
remained under the awning tent, with Kerhor and Blaz a dozen paces away.
"You do not wish Ebra to be like Dumar," Jecks offered in a low voice.
"That's partly it."
"You could take Ebra, and none would gainsay that." The white-haired lord's
eyes flicked in the direction where, a hundred paces away, Hadrenn was
speaking with
Stepan. "You would likely rule better than young Hadrenn, even from Falcor."
"I can't rule Defalk very well," Anna said. "The last thing I need... anyone
needs. . . is another set of lords to argue with. This way, the women of Ebra
who don't like the old ways have somewhere to go. Those who like the old ways
can keep them, and outside of complaining about the free state, and me..." She
shrugged. "Whatever."
"You do not wish to leave a trail of fire and spells," Jocks suggested.
"No. In Dumar, I ended up destroying a whole city of innocents-or mostly
innocents. That was because I let myself get backed into a corner."
"You backed Ehara into a corner, most would says."
"No. In losing, he forced my hand. Or I let him, because I worried about
spending too much time in Dumar with the Thirty-three machinating in Defalk.
And...I was trying to be merciful, and it didn't turn out that way. This
time..."
"Is that why Gestatr remains in Synek?" Jecks' eyes twinkled.
"Yes. He's more valuable to Ebra than Hadrenn."
"And so, to Defalk," Jecks affirmed.
Anna nodded. Except nothing works out the way you plan it, not the details or
the costs, anyway.
49
NORTHWEST OF ELAHWA, EBRA
Bertmynn runs a hand through his thick blond hair, then glances at the scroll
on the folding camp table. He picks up the scroll once more, squinting to read
it by the light of the candle. "She travels the Syne River road... she is
camped less than a half day's ride from here." He drops the scroll and stands,
stretching, before he looks at the older man, who is the only otherone in the
tent with him.
"We could swing northward, through Nuvann, and then strike at Synek..."
Ceorwyn lines a general path on the map pinned to the battered board set on a
makeshift easel of lashed branches beside the table.
Bertmynn picks up the scroll once more, studies it, and sets it back on the
table. He shakes his head. "No...we have kept the drums hidden from her, and
we cannot do that for long. Nor dare we use Darksong too often. We must ensure
that her forces are concentrated in one place, where we hold the high ground.
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