“Quegan fire!” Arutha exclaimed.
“They don’t call it that, but it’s the same stuff. The walls are limestone, and it’s limestone dust that turns naphtha into Quegan fire oil. Fling it from a catapult and it burns and even water won’t put it out. That’s why we have to be so careful, for it doesn’t just burn.” He looked at Locklear. “The fumes are heavy, hugging the ground, but if you let the fumes build up, vent them with a lot of air, then hit a spark, the fumes explode.” He pointed toward a far cavern, loaded up with wooden barrels. “That storage cave wasn’t there ten years ago. When a barrel is emptied, it is filled again, or put under water until used. Some dolt left three empties standing about and somehow a spark hit one and . . . Just the amount of that stuff which soaks into the wood, then evaporates, can give off a tremendous explosion. That’s why we keep the doors closed. The breeze off the mountains through the bolt hole can vent this entire complex in a day or two. And if all this went up at once . . .” He let their imaginations provide the picture. “I’ve had the Armengarians making this for two years now, to give Murmandamus a warm welcome when he comes.”
“How many barrels?” asked Arutha.
“Over twenty five thousand.”
Arutha was staggered. When he had met Amos, the pirate had had two hundred barrels in the hold of his ship, a fact not known to the Tsurani raiders who had set fire to his ship. When it had gone up, it had blown a column of flames hundreds of feet into the air, engulfing the ship in an instant, incinerating it within minutes. The light of the flames had been seen for miles up and down the coast. If half the town hadn’t already been burned by Tsurani raiders the fire would have devastated Crydee. “That’s enough . . .”
“To fire the entire city,” finished Guy.
“Why so much?” asked Jimmy.
“Something you must understand, all of you. The Armengarians have never thought of leaving here. In their judgment, there’s no other place to find refuge. They came north to flee the Kingdom, so they thought they couldn’t return south. On every side they saw enemies. Should the worst occur, they’ll fire this city rather than let Murmandamus capture it. I’ve developed a plan beyond that, but in either case, a lot of fire could prove useful.” He returned toward the tunnel leading to the lift, the others following behind.
Martin sat resting against a tree. He kissed Briana’s hair as she sank deeper into his arms. She stared off into some unseen place. Before them a small brook wound its way through a stand of woods, shrouding them in soft, cool shadows. Her patrol had broken for a noontime meal, which was being provided by the local farmers. She and Martin had stolen away to spend the time alone. The woodland setting put Martin more at ease than he had been in months, but still he was troubled. They had made love under the trees and now were simply finding pleasure in each other’s company, but Martin still felt a lack inside. In her ear he said, “Bree, I wish this could go on forever.”
She sighed and wiggled a little. “I also, Martin. You are such a man as . . . another I knew. I think I could not wish for more.”
“When this is finished -”
She cut him off. “When this is finished. Then we can talk of things. Come, we must get back.” She dressed quickly, Martin openly admiring her. She had none of the frail beauty of the women he had known at home. There was leather toughness to her makeup, tempered by a deep feminine quality. She was not a pretty woman by any standards, but she was striking and, with those arresting qualities of self-confidence and self-reliance Martin saw in her, she was stunning, even beautiful. In all ways, he had become captivated by her.
He finished dressing and before she could move away reached out and took her by the arm, turning her and bringing her to him. With a deep passion he kissed her, then said, “I need not speak, but you know my need and my desire. I have waited for you too long.”
She looked up into his dark eyes. She reached up and touched his face. “And I you.” She kissed him gently. “We must return.”
He let her lead him back to the village. A pair of guardsmen were walking toward them when they left the woods. They halted and one said, “Commander, we were about to come fetch you.”
She regarded the second man, not one of her company. “What is it?”
“The Protector commands all the patrols to ride out and order the steadings and kraals abandoned. Everyone is to move at once to the city. Murmandamus’s army is on the march. They will stand outside the walls within the week.”
Briana said, “Orders to ride. We shall split the patrol. Grenlyn, you’ll take half and head down to the lowland kraal and the river steadings. I’ll take the ones higher up along the ridge. The moment you finish, ride back as soon as possible. The Protector will need all the scouts he can muster. Now go.” She looked back at Martin. “Come, we have much to do.”