King Broderick, the current ruler of Valleya, had received warning of Westland’s army’s march through the mountains towards his capital, but only a few days before the force’s expected arrival. He had taken those days to set up the defenses of the city, and to call the wealth of Valleya inside the walls for protection. The horse herds were the pride, and primary commodity, of the kingdom. They had to be protected at any cost.
The wall that encircled the city was taller than any building inside it, save for the twin towers of the modest Royal Castle. The wall stood thirty feet high, and the city was so widely spread, that it took a perimeter patrol a full shift to march all the way around on the top of it.
There was a lot to defend. Unlike most cities, the spaces inside the wall were open and un-crowded. Nearly every building, be it tavern, mercantile establishment, warehouse, or home sported a fenced-in stockyard, complete with stables and troughs. Some even had lush, magically fortified grazing pens, which were larger than an average family’s farm plot, that stayed green year round.
Even with all of the people and animals filtering into the city, Dreen didn’t have the feel of a place that was about to be attacked or besieged. The atmosphere, and the attitude of the people, was more like that of an open market day, or a minor festival. None of them had any idea of what was headed their way.
The Royal Castle itself was only a three storey rectangle, with a pair of crenellated towers rising up above it. The castle’s defensive wall was more like a tall fence, made to keep the Royal Herd in, more than to keep others out. The Valleyan way had always been the same. Save the horses, let the enemy tear the city down. There was enough of the easily worked red clay in the foothills to rebuild the city a hundred times over. It was in this spirit, that King Broderick, who had only a month ago sent the better half of his men to march against Highwander, went about gathering up the best of his personal herd, with the full intention of fleeing with them to the south.
If the Westlanders took the city, then so be it. He would never take the knee to young King Glendar, thus Valleya would never really fall to the west. Already, he had riders speeding with orders to recall those troops he had sent to Highwander. He also had riders on their way to Seaward City, to beg his cousin, Queen Rachel, to send those men of hers, that were about to march on Highwander, back to help save Dreen. She would not refuse him. After all, they were blood relatives. Since King Broderick’s wife had died childless, and he was without an heir, Princess Rosa, Queen Rachel’s daughter, stood to claim his throne, as well as her mother’s. As long as he didn’t take another wife, Queen Rachel would do anything he asked. Keeping the Red City out of Westland’s hands was in Queen Rachel’s best interest anyway.
King Broderick was confident that King Glendar wouldn’t expect a force of nearly ten thousand Valleyans and Seawardsmen to come bearing down on him so quickly. Glendar’s army would be driven right back into the mountains, and chased all the way back to Westland.
The Westland army was too small to occupy much more than the red city, King Broderick told himself. Valleya was far too vast. From Dreen, it was nearly three hundred miles south to the sea coast, and just over a hundred miles east to the Seaward border. If by chance, Glendar did get rooted into Dreen, it would only be a matter of days before King Broderick’s southern forces arrived and besieged the invaders. If the rumors out of Dakahn and Ultura were true, if a million lizards, and a dragon riding sorceress had risen out of the swamp, and invaded Westland, then the foolish young King of the west couldn’t afford to meddle with Valleya very long anyway.
All things considered, King Broderick decided that he could better manage the defense of Dreen from afar. In truth, he was as cowardly as a man could be. He was afraid for his life. Along with the rumors of Westland’s new Dragon Queen, he was beginning to hear tales of the wizard Pael’s display of destructive power on Wildermont. He had no intention whatsoever of getting caught up in something like that here. Thus, as dawn rose on the day his scouts expected the lion hordes to come calling, he and a dozen guards, along with two dozen handpicked horses from the Royal Herd, started south towards Stroud.