“And Janus has, according to our intelligence, received a fresh infusion of men from Murnsk, including a large contingent of cavalry. So the odds against us would be something like three to one.”
“Not that bad, surely,” Cyte said. “They won’t have been idle in Vordan City. I’m sure there’ll be fresh troops waiting for us. And we can call out a citizens’ militia. That’s what carried the day in the revolution.”
Marcus, who’d been at that battle, remembered it a little differently, but he didn’t want to undermine Cyte’s argument. Instead he added, “There were troops on the way to Vordan City from the south and east that didn’t arrive in time to join the army, too.”
“Still not enough to match Janus’ numbers, though,” Dorsay said.
“No,” Marcus admitted. “But we’ll have the advantage of the defensive.”
“If we arrive in time.”
Marcus exchanged a look with Cyte. I can’t exactly tell him we need to be there to help Winter stop some mystical Beast that can take over people’s minds. Marcus gritted his teeth in frustration. There has to be something. Having the help they needed materialize so miraculously only to take them the wrong way was intolerable. Dorsay, clever, cautious Duke Dorsay. Of course he wants to wait, plan, reinforce.
“I think,” Marcus said, “if we don’t get to Vordan City before Janus does, it’s not going to matter how many men we have.”
“If the city falls, it can be retaken,” Dorsay said with a dismissive wave.
“With respect, Your Grace, you’re not Vordanai. When was the last time Borel was invaded?”
“Mmm. Seven hundred years ago? Seven hundred fifty? I’ve forgotten my histories.”
“Vordan City isn’t just another city,” Cyte said, joining in eagerly. “It represents the legitimate government of Vordan to our people, and that’s exactly what Janus is claiming to be. If he takes it and starts issuing orders from Ohnlei Palace, most of the country is going to go along with him.”
“I’m not sure I could even vouch for my own men, in that case,” Marcus said. “Raesinia would be just another exile, and with only the Borelgai backing her it would be easy for Janus to turn sentiment against us. Foreign puppets are never popular.”
“You see how well it worked for Orlanko,” Cyte added.
Dorsay looked from one of them to the other, clearly distressed. At last he said, “You really believe this? That this is the only way?”
“I do,” Marcus said. Somewhat to his surprise, he meant it. “Right now our greatest enemy is the idea that Janus is invincible. If we let him take the capital, by the time we get around to fighting him, nobody is going to believe he can be beaten.”
Dorsay snorted. “Are you entirely certain he isn’t invincible? He certainly gives a good impression of it.”
“I would know better than anyone, Your Grace.”
The duke let out a long sigh. “Well. My orders are to assist you, and I suppose we can interpret the specifics as... suggestions. If you want to defend Vordan City, I don’t think I can stop you. But if you lose, you may waste all Raesinia’s hard work in securing a Borelgai army. Georg won’t commit soldiers to a lost cause.”
“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that.” Marcus grinned. “We’ve got no time to waste. I’ll get my men on the march today.”
“Splendid. I’ll return to the fleet and prepare the transports.” Dorsay returned the smile. “It is good to be working with you, General. Glad to have the chance to repay the favor you did for me.”
Dorsay bowed slightly and went off toward his guards. Marcus turned to Cyte.
“Well done,” she said. “I didn’t think we were going to convince him.”
“Me either. But I think he genuinely wants to help. He’s tangled with Janus before.”
“Do you think it’s true that some of ours would switch sides if Janus took Vordan City?”
“Maybe. I suspect we’d see a lot of quiet desertion, at the very least.”
“What’s this favor you did him?”
Marcus shrugged. “I saved his life from Orlanko’s assassins, back in Murnsk.”
Cyte’s eyes widened. “And you didn’t think cashing in that chip would help?”
“Not with Dorsay,” Marcus said. “Not if he thought it was the wrong thing to do.”
Cyte looked after the duke, who was being helped onto his horse by his guards, then back to Marcus. “If you say so. What now?”
“Now,” Marcus said, “we need to break it to everyone that they’re going to be getting on board a bunch of Borelgai transports.”
*
As Marcus had expected, this did not go over well.
“You can’t trust the Borels,” Colonel Blackstream said, bristling. “Once we’re on the transports, we’ll be completely dependent on them. They could ship us to Khandar for all we could do about it.”
Blackstream was old enough to have served in the War of the Princes, Marcus reflected, which made his distrust natural enough. He and the other colonels of the Second Division had gathered in the command tent, along with Cyte, Fitz, and Give-Em-Hell.
“Not completely dependent,” Fitz said mildly. “I imagine we’ll still have access to our weapons, and we’d considerably outnumber the crews. We could take the ships, if necessary.”
“And if we did,” Blackstream shot back, “what about the men-of-war? They could blow us out of the water, no trouble.”
“Why would they bother?” said de Koste. “If the Borels wanted us out of the way, they could just leave us here in the middle of nowhere.”
“I’m more worried about what will be waiting for us at the other end,” said Sevran. “Forgive me, sir, but are you certain it’s wise to go straight to Vordan City? Perhaps we could send messages ahead and ask any forces there to meet us at Vayenne while we wait for Borelgai reinforcements.”
“Bah,” Give-Em-Hell said. “What’s the use in waiting? They’ll come for Vordan City, and we’ll be ready. You boys hold the line against the first charge, and then we’ll ride out and give ’em hell!”
“Against three-to-one odds?” Sevran said.
“We’ve faced worse,” Give-Em-Hell shot back.
Cyte leaned close to Marcus’ ear as the argument went on. “Aren’t you going to remind them who’s in command here?” she murmured.
“Let them have it out first,” Marcus said quietly. It was something he’d learned in Khandar, when his status had been more like first among equals as senior captain. People were far more likely to give in to authority after they’d worn themselves out in argument than when they were full of fight. “Besides, I can’t say they don’t have a point. We can’t tell them about Winter.”
“Enough.” To Marcus’ surprise, it was Abby’s voice that cut through the rising chatter. To this point, she’d been quiet, but now she stood with her hands flat on the table. “Of course we’re going back to Vordan City. Your queen heard that you were in difficulty, and she managed to pry a fleet out of the Borels, for God’s sake, and sent it to come get you. Now she needs you to get back into the fight.” She looked around the circle. “Are you going to say no?”
“You trust the Borels?” Blackstream said.