“It is necessary. We need as many officers and rankers as possible. We have far fewer people than any other duchy in Hamor.”
“I thought that might be the case. I told my orderly to bring some lager and biscuits once you arrived. While we wait for them, I won’t ask questions. I will tell you what seems to have happened. You doubtless know some of it.” A crooked smile appears and then vanishes. “The first attackers landed on a spur of land south of the hunting park. They formed behind a shield wall, advanced some, repulsed an attack by Subcommander Drusyn’s halberdmen, then withdrew. The second attack went past Lubana and landed downstream and north of Luba. The Heldyans had several companies on the road before Subcommander Ascaar’s forces arrived and were able to push them back to the river, but they fought hard and withdrew largely in good order. You presumably know about the third and fourth attacks.”
Rhamuel motions, and a ranker moves from the study door to the conference table, setting a silver tray between Lerial and the arms-commander. On it are a single beaker, a pitcher, and a platter of what look to be butter biscuits. The ranker immediately bows and departs.
“Please help yourself.”
Lerial does, if not before using his order-senses to check the pitcher and the platter for the chaos that might reveal poison or the like, first half filling the beaker and taking a long swallow, and then taking a biscuit and eating it. He takes a second welcome swallow of lager and looks at Rhamuel. “I was aware of the third and fourth attacks.”
“You acted without orders, the commander tells me.”
“I did. It seemed foolish to wait for orders when the Heldyans were destroying the duke’s property and killing my rankers. As for the fourth attack, I didn’t think the duke would mind the effort to keep his people from being slaughtered, particularly since Subcommander Ascaar had his hands full, Subcommander Drusyn was too far away to reach the piers, and since I’d left a company to hold the breach in the wall against no known Heldyan attackers.”
“You acted rather effectively.” Rhamuel smiles. “More so than I even expected.”
“I just used some misdirection, and their mages, or wizards, did the rest.”
The arms-commander nods.
Lerial shrugs, deciding the less he says, the better. When Rhamuel does not speak, he adds, “I have to say that I worry about all those armsmen headed downriver.”
“So do I, but I would appreciate your not saying much about that for the next day or so.”
Lerial nods in return, then takes another biscuit, and another swallow of the lager, both of which seem to be helping his vision and his throbbing head.
“You can heal some, I understand.”
“A little,” Lerial replies. “That was what I was doing before I came here. I could only do a little. Perhaps more … later.”
“I thought that might be delaying you. Healing must run in the blood.”
“That’s possible. My aunt and my mother are both healers, as I told you earlier. It’s too early to tell how good a healer Amaira will be, but it’s clear she has some ability.”
After a silence, Rhamuel says, “So far as I have been able to determine, the only mages with the Heldyan forces were those with the armsmen who attacked Lubana. Do you know anything other than that?”
Lerial shakes his head. “There were two mages with that force. One was a chaos-wizard, and the other was an earth-mage. At least, the ground shook before the wall collapsed.” He pauses briefly. “Commander Sammyl told me you have no mages, although there are some in Swartheld.”
“A very few. My great-grandsire was less than fond of mages, and their services do not come cheaply. He also blamed the Great Fire on them, although I doubt they were the cause. So we must do what we can without mages. You say that you couldn’t tell more than you did about Khesyn’s mages?”
Lerial does not press the fact that Rhamuel has not really addressed the matter. “That was the only thing I felt—that and the chaos-blasts. I’m assuming that there were two mages, because I’ve never heard of those talents being held by the same magus … and if they were, I don’t know that Khesyn would hazard that talented a wizard on an almost casual attack.” Lerial uses the word “casual” in hopes of drawing out Rhamuel.
“What makes you think it was casual?”
“The fact that they really didn’t pursue it. Once they ran into trouble, they left. The attackers who landed north of Luba had to be forced back. At least, it looked that way from the piers.” As he finishes those words, Lerial realizes that what he has said is only half true. The hunting-park attack was casual, but he doesn’t know that about the attack on Lubana, not since he destroyed most of the attackers.
Rhamuel shakes his head. “All four attacks were designed with a deliberate purpose in mind.”
A deliberate purpose? What about two … or three? “Which was?”
“What do you think it was?” counters Rhamuel.