Paxton grinned. “In a manner of speaking. He said he’d take the job of King, after we nagged at him a couple of years, but he won’t wear a crown. So it sits in a chest in the long hall. Come along, Your Grace. We can be there by nightfall.”
The dwarves set off, and Martin fell in beside them. He felt safe for the first time in weeks, but now his mind returned to thoughts of his brother and the others at Armengar. How long could they hold? he wondered.
The camp reverberated with a cacophony of drums, trumpets and shouts. From every quarter came the response to the order to marshal. Guy watched the display as the false dawn gave way to the light of morning. He said to Arutha, “Before the globe of the sun is at noon, they’ll hit us with everything they have. Murmandamus may have felt the need to hold back some forces against the invasion of Yabon, but he can’t afford even another day’s delay. Today they will come in strength.”
Arutha nodded as he watched every company on the field before the city marshal for battle. He had never felt so bone tired. The killing of Murmandamus’s captains had thrown the enemy camp into turmoil for two days before order had been restored. Arutha had no idea what bargains had been struck or what promises made, but finally they had come again, three days later.
For a week after, the assaults had continued, and each time more attackers had gained the walls. The last assault of the day before had required the entire force of reserves being thrown into a potential breach to keep the integrity of the wall intact. Another few minutes, and the attackers would have had a position upon the walls to hold, so that more warriors could have scaled ladders in safety, unleashing a potential fatal flood of invaders into the city. Arutha thought, it has been twenty-seven days since Martin had left. Even if help was coming, it would be too late.
Jimmy and Locklear waited close by, ready for messenger duty. Jimmy regarded his young friend. Since Bronwynn’s death Locklear had become possessed. He sought out the fighting at every turn, often ignoring instructions to stay behind for courier duty. Three times Jimmy had seen the boy involve himself in combat where he should have avoided it. His skills with the sword and his speed had counted for much, and he had survived, but Jimmy wasn’t sure how long Locklear could keep surviving, or even if he really wished to. He had tried to speak to Locklear about the girl, but the younger squire had refused. Jimmy had seen too much death and destruction by the time he had reached sixteen. He had grown callous in many ways. Even when he thought Anita or Arutha dead, he had not withdrawn the way Locklear had. Jimmy wished he understood more of such things, and worried for his friend.
Guy gauged the strength of the army before him and at last, in a quiet voice, said, “We can’t hold them at the wall.”
Arutha said, “I thought as much.” In the four weeks since Martin’s departure, the city had held, the soldiers of Armengar performing beyond even Arutha’s most optimistic assessment. They had given all they had, but attrition was at last sapping the army’s reserve. Another thousand soldiers had been killed or rendered unable to fight in the last week. Now the defenders were spread out too thinly to deal with the full force of the attackers, and it was clear from the careful way Murmandamus was staging that he indeed planned to throw the full strength of his army at them today in one final, all-out assault. Guy nodded to Amos. The seaman said to Jimmy, “Carry word to the company commanders: begin the third stage of evacuation now.”
Jimmy nudged Locklear, who seemed almost in a trance, and led his friend off. They ran along the wall, seeking out the company commanders. Arutha watched as a few chosen soldiers left the wall once word was passed. They hurried down the steps to the bailey and began to sprint toward the citadel.
Arutha said, “What mix did you decide upon?”
Guy said, “One able-bodied fighter, two armed old men or women, three older children, also armed, and five little ones.” Arutha knew that within minutes dozens of such groups would begin slipping out into the mountains through the long tunnel from the cavern beneath the city. They were to work southward, seeking refuge in Yabon. It was hoped that this way at least some of the children of Armengar might survive. The single soldier would be in command of the party and each would carry orders to protect the children. And the soldiers also had orders to kill them rather than let them be captured by the moredhel.