Post by Charlie Brown on Dec 3, 2011 16:10:32 GMT -5
((Note: This takes place a day after the Battle for Ironpass.))
Cauldwyn slept still as she slipped out from under the furs. The morning air had a bit of a bite to it, the coals in the braisers having died down through the night. She could almost see her breath on the air and it brought goosebumps to her skin. The water left in a pitcher by the basin was ice cold when she poured it into the large bowl and splashed some on her face and cleaned herself up. It brought her mind instantly awake as the cloth she’d soaked in it passed over her skin.
With awareness came the memories of their night in bed and it made her shiver for another reason. Sometimes at night when she was in his arms she forgot that she was here to seduce him with her mind and cunt and not with her heart. The more time she spent with him the harder that seemed to be. He was a good man and the kind of man she could see herself falling in love with. Love made women weak though, she’d been told that time and time again as a child by her mother before she’d died. She’d always told her that a strong woman loved only herself and her children. Sometimes she wondered if her mother had ever loved her father in some small way before she and her would be brother had left this world. Could love real make a woman weak? Wouldn’t love in this case make Cauldwyn all the more loyal to her lords cause?
She muttered softly under her breath in her native tongue and shook her head. She needed to stop thinking such things. This was lust, no love, even if he had named her his and made her swear herself to him last night. It was only part of the game they’d played in bed.
Picking her dress up off the floor of the tent she pulled it on, settling it around her before locking the belt in place. She stuck her head out the flap of the tent and asked one of the guards to have breakfast sent in. She didn’t feel the need or want to sneak off this morning to pretend that she’d slept in her own tent.
Someone brought a tray of bread, cheese and fresh hot cooked sausages and the smell filled the tent as she took it from the guard and set it on the table. She popped a bit of cheese in her mouth and dropped herself back onto the furs next to the mound of them that was his sleeping form and pulled them back enough that she could lean down and press her lips against his ear and whisper “good morning.”
~~
The general brought a hand to his face, wiping the crusted sleep that had gathered there. He turned his head to the side, looking out the tent flaps to where the sun was peaking over the treetops of the valley. He'd overslept. Cauldwyn sat up, the furs falling away from his chest.
"It's late" he said, he usually rose before the sun, he was often a man of rigid routine, bred into him through a life of servitude as a soldier. Since leaving the king's court and his subsequent banishment Cauldwyn hadn't had time to think of this predicament other than what lay ahead of them and the recovery of the lost Attavarian forces. Eventually he would have to turn back, they didn't have the man power to take on the combined might of a unified Orakahn invasion - They were usually too busy fighting amongst themselves to pose a serious threat. Attavar had grown lax in their defense of their border near Trol'Trajar and they'd been taken by surprise. It was the only way the Orakahn could have achieved such a decisive victory; But even that was not something that overly concerned Cauldwyn, he could define it at first, but somewhere in his dreams he had realized something: The force that had attacked them, the banners were all different, this wasn't an assault made by one clan, it was an assault squad up of many clans, something that was virtually unheard of. Not since the great Orakahn uprising that took place some three centuries earlier. "I just realized something" he said to her in his gravelly voice, his eyes washing over the food on the tray. They flicked back to Andraia. "The clans are united. Which can mean one thing; They have found a king. This is much worse than we expected. With such an army they are a threat that could possibly break through the borders of Elendrael, if they came by sea..." he didn't need to finish the sentence. She knew as well as he did the key to conquering Elendrael was to invade by sea. Their shorelines were almost entirely vast expanses of beach perfect for staging an army. To make matters worse, the nations was a peninsular one, there were hundreds of miles of land for them to land on and it was impossible to predict where they would land.
Cualdwyn was thoughtful for a moment, then added "At least they are indifferent shipwrights, if they had a proper navy...." If they had a proper navy Cauldwyn knew what he would do, strip every garrison and militia across the nation and set a massive boarder patrol, it was the only way to give them enough time to assemble a force that could match the unifuied Orakahn horde.
"That ambush... It was well coordinated. We would have lost half our force if the Pathfinders hadn't killed those archers... Meaning, whoever has unified the clans is someone whom knows strategy and the lay of the land... "Which negated their one advantage, knowledge of the Attavarian land.
~~
“The sun is just getting up over the horizon and you were tired. We had a long march yesterday and a long night last night. A few minutes extra isn’t going to hurt anything.” She said with a knowing smile on her lips as he turned his head to look up at her and she took a kiss from his lips this time before standing. If she was tired herself it didn’t show.
She walked back over to the table and sat down, crossing her legs as she reclined and watched him as he sat up in bed. She looked more the courtly lady in her garb than a knight but she was a woman of many faces. Something that was innate to all women it seemed.
Her brow furrowed as he related this news. He’d realized it at least. Perhaps she could use this to their advantage. She pretended to think hard on the matter though, pretended that she knew nothing of plans that had been made behind the backs of an entire country and that his words were the first she was hearing or knowing about it.
“You said before that they are not a see faring race. Would being united make them more likely to take to boats?” She knew just as well as he did that Elendrael was blessed with many beaches which made it hard to defend when an army didn’t know where the strike was going to happen.
She picked up a piece off the board where their game had been forgotten last night. “Then we should go back. We should make sure that our boarders that guard the passes are sure and ready to defend against this. If I were you then I would make use of your pathfinders and send them into Attavar, or at least a few. Send them to scout and find out what these monsters are doing. If they are taking to sea then a small group will have better luck getting that information and getting it back to us than a huge army that will draw attention. A hand full of men can steal a boat and come back across sea since the passes will be impassible soon and bring the information to us. Lord Crowley’s ports would be open to your men. When we have this information the king will have to listen and if he doesn’t then we will make him understand the grievousness of the situation. If he doesn’t he will lose the support of the very people he’s been sworn to protect. We will have half a year at best to prepare, less if they’re as organized as you say.”
~~
"Impossible. We've been exiled, we can't exactly stroll in back through the pass, past a fort and expect to come out of there alive without losing three quarters of the men." The more he thought on it, the more he was sure that an attack would come by sea, not the pass, the pass was nearly impregnable, it could only be done with a ten to one advantage in numbers and even the numerous Orakahn couldn't muster such a force. Cauldwyn shook his head. "The attack won't come through the pass. They could never muster a force big enough to penetrate Iron Pass Keep. You're right, I did say they are not a sea faring race, but Attavar is. They have harbors all down the eastern coast and any one of those port cities is ripe with grand master shipwrights. They'll use them to build themselves a navy." He said, his tone sure, suggesting that he believe his hypothesis to be correct.
"No." he stated, "That war will have to be fought by the king, we cannot go back, forward is our only option. The best course of action will be to find the remnants of the Attavarian army and take one of the port cities, commandeer as many ships as we can and go the way the enemy went." A silence fell between as Cauldwyn's mind submerged deep into thought, his fingers absently scratching at his close cropped beard. "With luck the two armies will have depleted one another to a point where we can easily sweep both aside." But then what? What would he do once he had successfully smashed any resistance? Cauldwyn had reservations about trusting Thedric and now that he was certain an Orakahn force would embark via the sea he knew Thedric would be forced to throw his lot in with the king and forget their agreement. Not that he had entirely trusted him in the first place. Their alliance was one of convenience and circumstance. But this new development put them on opposite sides of the fence and Cauldwyn had little doubt that in such a situation Lord Crowly would simply deny ever having struck such a bargain and condemn Cauldwyn when he returned. There were so many factors, so many ways that the story could play out, even the tactical minded general could not account for them all. he wouldn't voice any of those misgivings to his loyal servant, the woman whom shared his bed and for whom his affection was growing despite all self reminders that even sleeping with her was a bad idea, to attach any sort of personal feeling was a folly that could cost him and his men their lives.
"I hate the idea of our soldiers dying at the hands of the Orakahn, but what choice do we have? Our options are to return by land and likely be cut down attempting to siege Iron Pass Keep or push into enemy territory and take an Attavarian harbor city. If I were a gambling man, I'd rely on reputation and loyalty to win past the garrison at the Keep, but the odds of that happening successfully are... Slim."
~~
“Exiled or not you have a reputation and all the men in the armies respect you. If you come bearing these grim tidings then surly they would open the gates.” She looked away from him, staring at the board again and set the piece back where it had been. Breakfast had all been forgotten even with the smell of it filling the tent.
She sat quietly, staring at anything but him as he finally quieted too and they both seemed lost in thought. She knew beyond doubt though that her thoughts were much different than his and had a different note completely. She felt herself torn between continuing on the plan that Crowley had and another that was lingering in the back of her head. Damn this man for getting under her skin like this.
“The losses seem terrible no matter which way we go.” She said in a hushed tone after a while. She wouldn’t look at him still, focusing on the table in front of her. She wet her lips and he could tell that she was about to say something else.
“There is another option.” She let that hang in the air a moment before pushing to her feet and moving to the table where the map of the regions was laid out. She doubted that he would like this option but she had to suggested it. If it stayed between them it would harm no one, if he chose not to take it then it would harm no one.
She was hesitant as she continued, tapping the map. “We’ll be coming out of the pass here, if we continue north we will hit the first port city and we could take ships and go back to Elendrael. Or we could either stay on land or take the ships and follow the coasts to Cree. With the 7th Legion we could carve out a place for ourselves and these men. The Cree people respect power. I might even be able to find supporters to put me back on the throne. Elendrael and Attarvar aren’t our only options, Cauldwyn.”
~~
His eyes narrowed as she spoke, it wasn't that it was a bad idea, but it didn't sit well with Cauldwyn at all.
"I'm not here to displace a people with my army. I'm not here to seize control of a people and depose their leaders, usurpers or not. I understand you want what is rightfully yours, but my duty is to Elendrael and only Elendrael. whatever Crowley promised you in return for your services is not to be abridged by getting me to do your dirty work" He nearly spat the last words, his anger stemming more from the fact that he felt she was attempting to use for her own ends. "I'm no butcher, I won't lead a foreign occupying force engaging a people I know nothing about."
Cauldwyn stood , the rising anger evident on his face, he seemed to seethe in the knowledge that he had almost been successfully manipulated. With an angry cry he flipped his desk over, then grasped Andraia by the wrist and flung her towards the door.
"You think me a fool? A tool for you to use at whim? I'll not squander the lives of my men to put you back on your throne!" No, he could not, could not ask them to do that. They had come with him under the impression that they would later return to carve a new path for Elendrael that supported the people rather than the vain needs of a man, a self styled god, lording over his people. "Be gone from my sight." he said with a tone that suggested finality.
~~
“We don’t have to displace anyone. Cree is large and there are places that aren’t settled. Farmlands even. The Cree people aren’t the savages that the Elendrael’s think they are, I promise you that. I’m living proof of that for those that care to see.” Did she really sound as desperate out loud as she did in her own head. She prayed she didn’t. She wanted him to listen to her. “I am speaking to you as Andraia and only as Andraia. Lord Crowley has nothing to do with this.”
“Then don’t lead them to war there. Lead them to a place that isn’t about to be throw into civil war. Your own king has thrown you out of your country. Make a new home for yourself and your men.” She tried to pled with him, even as he stood and stormed toward the table. His anger was palpable in the air as he flipped the desk, shoving it aside and reached for her. In that moment she though that he saw her as a woman and not a knight and that was his folly. He grabbed her wrist to fling her but she twisted her arm and stood her ground, grabbing his wrist and tried twisting it back to get his attention.
“No, a fool I would have tricked into doing what I wish. I come to you bluntly in hopes that you might stop to think about the options that lay before you and not be so single minded that you blunder ahead into what could be death for so many of your men!” She yelled back at him, uncaring of who might hear this screaming match. “Don’t let anger cloud your mind, think about what I’ve said. I would be just as happy settling down as some farmers wife as I would to sit back on my families throne. I’ve known war and death for all of my life, just like you have even if my life hasn’t been as long. And I will not be gone. I am not one of your soldiers or your whore to be ordered around, General or not. I am a Lady and a Knight.”
~~
"My mind is clear" he said acidly, as she stood her ground, his eyes narrowed, nobody really ever questioned his decisions and there was good reason for that. "You think I do not know the risks? The possible cost of this? You think that would know better than I? Which of has has been a soldier for two centuries, which one of us has faced battle time and time again, plotted the course of wars on such a scale you could never understand." His hand was still tight around her wrist, she may have been able to stand his ground, but Cauldwyn was still powerful man and it took all his resistance not to put her in place like he might a man. In many ways, Cauldwyn was honourable to a fault.
"I have listened to your counsel every time you have given it. I give everything you say serious consideration but when my mind is made, it is made and there. is. no. questioning. it. That is the nature of the army, you should know this by now and if you can't abide by that then see yourself back to the arms of Lord Crowley and let us be done with these childish games" his tone suggested in no uncertain terms that he would not accept insubordination from anyone. Cauldwyn released her wrist, his fingers a red outline there.
"You are under my command and you'll do as your told." He dismissed her with a wave of his hand and turned back to the upturned table,
~~
She kept her eyes on his, their hands wrapped around each other’s wrists in a standoff as they argued. “I think that I see things differently than you. That’s why those in places of leadership have people to counsel then. When have I ever tried to make you do something? When I have I ever tried to lead you wrong since I joined you Cauldwyn. I offer you a different view on the situation. I look at things through different eyes. I didn’t suggest this to slight your honor. And it was just a suggestion, an idea, not an order and you throw it back in my face as though it was.”
She jerked her wrist out of his hand when she felt his grip lax and released his wrist at the same time. She stared at him as he turned his back on her and waved his hand in dismissal. She wanted to hit him, she wanted to smack him till his cheeks burned red. For just one instant she wanted to forsake her vows and tell him everything.
But she didn’t.
Picking up her furs she pulled them on over her shoulders. “Enjoy your breakfast, General.” She said the title in an official way, lacking the playful tone in which she usually called him by it when they were alone. Turning she swept out of the tent and walked down the line to her own, ignoring the eyes that followed her and whispered. She could only imagine what they would be saying now.
Her squire was waiting for her as he usually was in the morning but the moment he saw her face he shrank back. He knew her temper and this anger had something else to it. “Your armor is cleaned and ready for you My lady. Would you like me to bring you some breakfast?”
“Yes.” She snapped at the young man, stalking into her tent and throwing her furs down onto a chair. “And send one of my men to find me a new damned horse!” The young man started to say something else but instead turned and ducked out of her tent in a hurry to leave her to her rage.
By the time the army was ready to move out she was armored and mounted, her face set into a hard line and her blond hair braided tight against her head. She road with her four men that were rarely far from her side but today the lot of them stayed to themselves. She usually road along the lines talking to the men or alongside Cauldwyn to talk strategies but today she stayed silent and brooding but she did stay at least.
The march was long and cold but they made it out of the mountains finally, unassaulted save for scouts that were killed when they were found by the pathfinders that roamed out from the main column. She’d had things that she’d planned on doing throughout the ride but she’d lost the want to do them and instead helped as her tent was set up and then retreated into it. Braziers were lit and she removed her armor, hanging it on its stand and cleaned off the grit and sweat from the march. Even in the winter she still felt it clinging to her body.
She was still so angry. Just as much now as she had been before because at night she generally went to Cauldwyn’s tent. Tonight she stayed n her own though, calling for her own supper and a flagon of ale. Let him sleep in his own cold bed tonight.
~~
The camp was set and night had settled across it. They were in Attavar proper now, they should be finding traces of the Attavar forces within the next few days. It was on this Cauldwyn dwelled, the coming months, possibly years, would be the hardest of his life. Which was a considerable thing to claim, given what his life had been. Death and war. Blood and shit. he'd taken too many lives to count, most of them were just faceless mannequins with army and swords in his memory. Still, there was one face, one angry voice that seemed to push its way into his thoughts no matter where he tried to direct them. he let out a frustrated sigh, walking the "streets" of the tent city that made up their camp, he came upon a small group huddled around a fire, a couple of his older veterans regaling the greenhorns with humorous things that had happened in the course of the many wars the 7th Legion had been in.
"General!" One called to him and Cauldwyn came over, sitting on a space on a log, holding his hands to the fire. "We were just talking about the time we rushed up that hill in Tel'Ammahn only to find a bleedin' troll there, as I recall, yeah screamed like a frightened old woman" Those gathered around the fire chuckled at that, as it was hard to picture the general screaming in such a way.
"As I recall, Tharrow, it was you who screamed like an old woman and Gareth who shit his pants."
That brought a round of raucous laughter from all of them.
"Don't let these two idiot fill your minds with nonsense" Cauldwyn said, speaking to the younger soldiers. "These two jackaninnies would have died pissing their pants a century ago if I let them alone for two minutes." He chuckled along with them, a rare humanizing moment for their general, at least for those whom hadn't been under his command long.
"Chef just got his wagon in, hot food within the hour, he promises. Get yourselves some and an extra ration of ale to keep the cold out of your bones" The soldiers grinned and saluted him, Tharrow pausing a moment asking
And where's our illustrious general off to now? Wouldn't be a certain blond woman's tent, would it" Tharrow said laughing, the others joining him.
"Mind your mouth infront of the recruits, Captain, we don't need more hopeless cases like yourself in this outfit. I'm trying to teach them discipline" They all laughed again and Cauldwyn beat a hasty retreat, traveling down the lanes until he found her tent, one of her comrades in arms keeping watch by the flaps. Cauldwyn approached and went to enter, but the guard put a restraining hand on his shoulder.
Cauldwyn looked at the hand, then back at the soldier, giving him an incredulous look, as though he'd have to be mentally challenged to deny him entry anywhere in his camp.
"lest you want to lose that hand, I suggest you remove it from my shoulder." The Guard tentatively took his hand away and Cauldwyn thrust the tent flaps aside, stepping into the tent, his eyes regarded Andraia as she sat amongst her furs, topless from the bath she had just taken, but her back had been to him and all he saw were the familiar scars that littered it. She was quick to pull her furs around her.
"Andraia.." he began, using her name, rather than her rank.
~~
The guard that stood at the door of her tent was one of her people. He was tall and broad shouldered with sandy blond hair. He was one of her four that went nearly everywhere with her on the march and it wasn’t hard to speculate that they’d come out of Cree with her all those years ago. Where ever they had come from though they where loyal to her like no others. Even at the generals warning he was still hesitant to let him pass but he did with a hard look for a moment before taking his post back up.
Andraia looked over her shoulder for a moment, thinking it was her squire or one of her four coming in to talk to her but instead found him. Her eyes were sharp on him before she looked forward and pulled the shoulder of her robe back up and then her furs over that. The braziers hadn’t completely warmed the tent yet to her likings.
He said her name and just hearing his voice smooth over her skin made her shiver, made her body remember all the things that he so often did to it even if she didn’t want to remember things like that right now. She pushed to her feet and tied her robe closed before turning to face him.
“What can I assist you with, General?” She wasn’t short with him but it was obvious that a sweet whisper of her name wasn’t going to take the sting of their fight away. He wanted to throw her out of his tent as he would have any other soldier then she would treat him as a general and a soldier. He’d drawn that line, not her.
~~
"My words were... Rash, said out of anger." He began with a sort of half apology. But he had to let her no that much of what he said still held true. But he also knew much of what he'd said, had been said out of passion, out of fear that she'd simply use him to meet her own ends, now, he realized, that it hadn't been the case. "Know that I value your counsel, nothing I decide is ever decided lightly, without the consultation of my officers. Of which I consider you apart of." That much was true, but then there was the unpleasant part.
"But... You must understand, my position... I cannot allow myself to second guess a decision, once I have made up my mind then there is no questioning me, my orders, my intent, they should be fulfilled to the letter. You are a knight, a good one, and you should know that even.. Even a lover in the legion, especially a knight, must maintain discipline and restraint. Neither of which you are particularly good at" he offered a sort of crooked smile "Though I have come to appreciate such qualities in you."
he didn't make a move towards her, standing as a statue just inside the threshold of her tent flaps.
"I understand your anger, much of what I said was baseless, I.." he paused, finding it hard to continue, to find the words, a life of soldiering hadn't made him given to displays of affection or explaining his thoughts and feelings, though he had been married, his wife's people were of a different make. Their entire society was based on discipline, on honour and restraint, to keep ones "face". His wife, even when she disagreed, stood by his decisions once they were made, never second guessing him, as was the place of a dutiful wife. But she hadn't been a knight, she'd been a warrior in her own right, but not like Andraia, the two didn't compare. The wound of losing his wife still stung and he had happened across Andraia a mere three weeks after her death, as much as he hated to admit it, it had left him confused, lost. His men put him on a pedestal, as though he were more than just a person with a title. But he was still a man, a man with a heart and mind that often battled one another.
~~
If he only knew how much she was using him and manipulating him into doing what needed to be done to put the right people to where they needed to be. For all the things she’d ever said to him in counsel the thing that had caused this fight had been the truest of them. She was a woman and so often her sex was ruled by passion and in that she was no different, as much as she loathed it. She was torn between passions now, the passion of her vows toward a man she saw to help ascend to rule and the passion for the man that stood in front of her now.
She started to open her mouth to argue with him again but she stopped and instead picked up her mug and took a long draw of the thick amber colored drink. He’d made the decision to go forward but to change that once they got to the harbor and go right instead of left was something else all together. But he was to driven by his honor to walk away, even if it might lead him to his death.
“It is those very qualities that make me a good night. I am more disciplined than you know, Cauldwyn. While I may not be as restrained as you might prefer someone in your army to be so be that. I am a gift from Lord Crowley to assist you on your endeavors here in Aatavarr. I am here because of him, not because I signed into the military. I stayed today because I wished it though.”
She set her mug down and walked around the table to stand before him. Her eyes moved over his face, trying to read what was going on behind his eyes before she have a heavy sigh. “Thank you, for your words and your apology. I also, in the future will try to chose my words more carefully.”
~~
He merely nodded at her acceptance, not having the words to express himself. He stood a moment there, perhaps slightly unsure. Finally, he spoke.
"Very well. It pleases me that you are staying." Was all he said as he backed out of the tent. Feeling a conflict within he had not felt since he was a boy, he cursed himself a fool for it, then reminded himself as the soldiers eyes turned to him, that even in the shadows of darkness, he must always stand in the light. The night was cold, perhaps only slightly colder than Andraia's shoulder, but she had every right to be angry. He shook his head and sighed aloud, retracing his steps back to the command tent.
Inside some of his officers were gathered around the table, looking over the maps. They nodded to their general as he entered. Cauldwyn regarded the group huddled around the table, the command tent cold, the fires in the braziers burning low.
"get some food and drink, there's little more we can plan until we find traces of Attavar's forces. We'll meet in the morning and decide which way to go first." The group saluted and left the general alone in the tent. With aanother sigh he eased himself behind the desk, looking at the map that was marked in his writing with revisions and additions to the land and strategic places they could use if they were confronted by the Orakahn again.
~~
“Sleep well, Cauldwyn.” She said quietly to him as he started to back away from her to leave the tent and she even gave him a soft smile. She wanted to kiss him, she wanted to drag him back into her tent and have him all to herself for another night where the world existed inside the walls of a tent and no further. But she didn’t. Perhaps a night apart would do them good. They spent more nights together than they did apart and as angry as they’d been, their tempers would still no doubt be close to the surface and she didn’t want another fight.
So she let him go without falling prey to her desires.
She settled onto her mound of furs and pillows to wait for her dinner and drank her ale slowly. She was here because Crowley wanted someone to keep track of him and to push him on the path that would serve him best. She’d thought it would be easy, that he’d be just another arrogant man that would want a taste of pretty flesh. He’d been easy enough to seduce, even after the death of his wife that was only weeks past. She hadn’t expected this though, she hadn’t expected that he would break through her walls as she started to break through his. She hadn’t expected to start to feel things for him. It had been decades since she’d loved someone and he was long dead now, gods protect his soul.
The flap of the tent opened again but it was the sandy haired guard that stepped in with a tray of food for her. “Are you alright?” He asked, setting it down on the table next to her before sitting in the chair across from her.
“I am. It took a lot for him to come here to speak to me and it means that I’m still in his good graces which is where I need to be.” She put on a smile for him.
“You know that’s not the answer to the question I asked, mother.” He said, tearing off a chunk of the loaf of bread that had been brought with her dinner.
“No, but it’s the answer you’re going to get Malic.” She gave him another smile and he glowered for a moment before matching her smile.
“You spend too much time with politicians.” He shook his head but left it at that so they could enjoy their supper.
Cauldwyn slept still as she slipped out from under the furs. The morning air had a bit of a bite to it, the coals in the braisers having died down through the night. She could almost see her breath on the air and it brought goosebumps to her skin. The water left in a pitcher by the basin was ice cold when she poured it into the large bowl and splashed some on her face and cleaned herself up. It brought her mind instantly awake as the cloth she’d soaked in it passed over her skin.
With awareness came the memories of their night in bed and it made her shiver for another reason. Sometimes at night when she was in his arms she forgot that she was here to seduce him with her mind and cunt and not with her heart. The more time she spent with him the harder that seemed to be. He was a good man and the kind of man she could see herself falling in love with. Love made women weak though, she’d been told that time and time again as a child by her mother before she’d died. She’d always told her that a strong woman loved only herself and her children. Sometimes she wondered if her mother had ever loved her father in some small way before she and her would be brother had left this world. Could love real make a woman weak? Wouldn’t love in this case make Cauldwyn all the more loyal to her lords cause?
She muttered softly under her breath in her native tongue and shook her head. She needed to stop thinking such things. This was lust, no love, even if he had named her his and made her swear herself to him last night. It was only part of the game they’d played in bed.
Picking her dress up off the floor of the tent she pulled it on, settling it around her before locking the belt in place. She stuck her head out the flap of the tent and asked one of the guards to have breakfast sent in. She didn’t feel the need or want to sneak off this morning to pretend that she’d slept in her own tent.
Someone brought a tray of bread, cheese and fresh hot cooked sausages and the smell filled the tent as she took it from the guard and set it on the table. She popped a bit of cheese in her mouth and dropped herself back onto the furs next to the mound of them that was his sleeping form and pulled them back enough that she could lean down and press her lips against his ear and whisper “good morning.”
~~
The general brought a hand to his face, wiping the crusted sleep that had gathered there. He turned his head to the side, looking out the tent flaps to where the sun was peaking over the treetops of the valley. He'd overslept. Cauldwyn sat up, the furs falling away from his chest.
"It's late" he said, he usually rose before the sun, he was often a man of rigid routine, bred into him through a life of servitude as a soldier. Since leaving the king's court and his subsequent banishment Cauldwyn hadn't had time to think of this predicament other than what lay ahead of them and the recovery of the lost Attavarian forces. Eventually he would have to turn back, they didn't have the man power to take on the combined might of a unified Orakahn invasion - They were usually too busy fighting amongst themselves to pose a serious threat. Attavar had grown lax in their defense of their border near Trol'Trajar and they'd been taken by surprise. It was the only way the Orakahn could have achieved such a decisive victory; But even that was not something that overly concerned Cauldwyn, he could define it at first, but somewhere in his dreams he had realized something: The force that had attacked them, the banners were all different, this wasn't an assault made by one clan, it was an assault squad up of many clans, something that was virtually unheard of. Not since the great Orakahn uprising that took place some three centuries earlier. "I just realized something" he said to her in his gravelly voice, his eyes washing over the food on the tray. They flicked back to Andraia. "The clans are united. Which can mean one thing; They have found a king. This is much worse than we expected. With such an army they are a threat that could possibly break through the borders of Elendrael, if they came by sea..." he didn't need to finish the sentence. She knew as well as he did the key to conquering Elendrael was to invade by sea. Their shorelines were almost entirely vast expanses of beach perfect for staging an army. To make matters worse, the nations was a peninsular one, there were hundreds of miles of land for them to land on and it was impossible to predict where they would land.
Cualdwyn was thoughtful for a moment, then added "At least they are indifferent shipwrights, if they had a proper navy...." If they had a proper navy Cauldwyn knew what he would do, strip every garrison and militia across the nation and set a massive boarder patrol, it was the only way to give them enough time to assemble a force that could match the unifuied Orakahn horde.
"That ambush... It was well coordinated. We would have lost half our force if the Pathfinders hadn't killed those archers... Meaning, whoever has unified the clans is someone whom knows strategy and the lay of the land... "Which negated their one advantage, knowledge of the Attavarian land.
~~
“The sun is just getting up over the horizon and you were tired. We had a long march yesterday and a long night last night. A few minutes extra isn’t going to hurt anything.” She said with a knowing smile on her lips as he turned his head to look up at her and she took a kiss from his lips this time before standing. If she was tired herself it didn’t show.
She walked back over to the table and sat down, crossing her legs as she reclined and watched him as he sat up in bed. She looked more the courtly lady in her garb than a knight but she was a woman of many faces. Something that was innate to all women it seemed.
Her brow furrowed as he related this news. He’d realized it at least. Perhaps she could use this to their advantage. She pretended to think hard on the matter though, pretended that she knew nothing of plans that had been made behind the backs of an entire country and that his words were the first she was hearing or knowing about it.
“You said before that they are not a see faring race. Would being united make them more likely to take to boats?” She knew just as well as he did that Elendrael was blessed with many beaches which made it hard to defend when an army didn’t know where the strike was going to happen.
She picked up a piece off the board where their game had been forgotten last night. “Then we should go back. We should make sure that our boarders that guard the passes are sure and ready to defend against this. If I were you then I would make use of your pathfinders and send them into Attavar, or at least a few. Send them to scout and find out what these monsters are doing. If they are taking to sea then a small group will have better luck getting that information and getting it back to us than a huge army that will draw attention. A hand full of men can steal a boat and come back across sea since the passes will be impassible soon and bring the information to us. Lord Crowley’s ports would be open to your men. When we have this information the king will have to listen and if he doesn’t then we will make him understand the grievousness of the situation. If he doesn’t he will lose the support of the very people he’s been sworn to protect. We will have half a year at best to prepare, less if they’re as organized as you say.”
~~
"Impossible. We've been exiled, we can't exactly stroll in back through the pass, past a fort and expect to come out of there alive without losing three quarters of the men." The more he thought on it, the more he was sure that an attack would come by sea, not the pass, the pass was nearly impregnable, it could only be done with a ten to one advantage in numbers and even the numerous Orakahn couldn't muster such a force. Cauldwyn shook his head. "The attack won't come through the pass. They could never muster a force big enough to penetrate Iron Pass Keep. You're right, I did say they are not a sea faring race, but Attavar is. They have harbors all down the eastern coast and any one of those port cities is ripe with grand master shipwrights. They'll use them to build themselves a navy." He said, his tone sure, suggesting that he believe his hypothesis to be correct.
"No." he stated, "That war will have to be fought by the king, we cannot go back, forward is our only option. The best course of action will be to find the remnants of the Attavarian army and take one of the port cities, commandeer as many ships as we can and go the way the enemy went." A silence fell between as Cauldwyn's mind submerged deep into thought, his fingers absently scratching at his close cropped beard. "With luck the two armies will have depleted one another to a point where we can easily sweep both aside." But then what? What would he do once he had successfully smashed any resistance? Cauldwyn had reservations about trusting Thedric and now that he was certain an Orakahn force would embark via the sea he knew Thedric would be forced to throw his lot in with the king and forget their agreement. Not that he had entirely trusted him in the first place. Their alliance was one of convenience and circumstance. But this new development put them on opposite sides of the fence and Cauldwyn had little doubt that in such a situation Lord Crowly would simply deny ever having struck such a bargain and condemn Cauldwyn when he returned. There were so many factors, so many ways that the story could play out, even the tactical minded general could not account for them all. he wouldn't voice any of those misgivings to his loyal servant, the woman whom shared his bed and for whom his affection was growing despite all self reminders that even sleeping with her was a bad idea, to attach any sort of personal feeling was a folly that could cost him and his men their lives.
"I hate the idea of our soldiers dying at the hands of the Orakahn, but what choice do we have? Our options are to return by land and likely be cut down attempting to siege Iron Pass Keep or push into enemy territory and take an Attavarian harbor city. If I were a gambling man, I'd rely on reputation and loyalty to win past the garrison at the Keep, but the odds of that happening successfully are... Slim."
~~
“Exiled or not you have a reputation and all the men in the armies respect you. If you come bearing these grim tidings then surly they would open the gates.” She looked away from him, staring at the board again and set the piece back where it had been. Breakfast had all been forgotten even with the smell of it filling the tent.
She sat quietly, staring at anything but him as he finally quieted too and they both seemed lost in thought. She knew beyond doubt though that her thoughts were much different than his and had a different note completely. She felt herself torn between continuing on the plan that Crowley had and another that was lingering in the back of her head. Damn this man for getting under her skin like this.
“The losses seem terrible no matter which way we go.” She said in a hushed tone after a while. She wouldn’t look at him still, focusing on the table in front of her. She wet her lips and he could tell that she was about to say something else.
“There is another option.” She let that hang in the air a moment before pushing to her feet and moving to the table where the map of the regions was laid out. She doubted that he would like this option but she had to suggested it. If it stayed between them it would harm no one, if he chose not to take it then it would harm no one.
She was hesitant as she continued, tapping the map. “We’ll be coming out of the pass here, if we continue north we will hit the first port city and we could take ships and go back to Elendrael. Or we could either stay on land or take the ships and follow the coasts to Cree. With the 7th Legion we could carve out a place for ourselves and these men. The Cree people respect power. I might even be able to find supporters to put me back on the throne. Elendrael and Attarvar aren’t our only options, Cauldwyn.”
~~
His eyes narrowed as she spoke, it wasn't that it was a bad idea, but it didn't sit well with Cauldwyn at all.
"I'm not here to displace a people with my army. I'm not here to seize control of a people and depose their leaders, usurpers or not. I understand you want what is rightfully yours, but my duty is to Elendrael and only Elendrael. whatever Crowley promised you in return for your services is not to be abridged by getting me to do your dirty work" He nearly spat the last words, his anger stemming more from the fact that he felt she was attempting to use for her own ends. "I'm no butcher, I won't lead a foreign occupying force engaging a people I know nothing about."
Cauldwyn stood , the rising anger evident on his face, he seemed to seethe in the knowledge that he had almost been successfully manipulated. With an angry cry he flipped his desk over, then grasped Andraia by the wrist and flung her towards the door.
"You think me a fool? A tool for you to use at whim? I'll not squander the lives of my men to put you back on your throne!" No, he could not, could not ask them to do that. They had come with him under the impression that they would later return to carve a new path for Elendrael that supported the people rather than the vain needs of a man, a self styled god, lording over his people. "Be gone from my sight." he said with a tone that suggested finality.
~~
“We don’t have to displace anyone. Cree is large and there are places that aren’t settled. Farmlands even. The Cree people aren’t the savages that the Elendrael’s think they are, I promise you that. I’m living proof of that for those that care to see.” Did she really sound as desperate out loud as she did in her own head. She prayed she didn’t. She wanted him to listen to her. “I am speaking to you as Andraia and only as Andraia. Lord Crowley has nothing to do with this.”
“Then don’t lead them to war there. Lead them to a place that isn’t about to be throw into civil war. Your own king has thrown you out of your country. Make a new home for yourself and your men.” She tried to pled with him, even as he stood and stormed toward the table. His anger was palpable in the air as he flipped the desk, shoving it aside and reached for her. In that moment she though that he saw her as a woman and not a knight and that was his folly. He grabbed her wrist to fling her but she twisted her arm and stood her ground, grabbing his wrist and tried twisting it back to get his attention.
“No, a fool I would have tricked into doing what I wish. I come to you bluntly in hopes that you might stop to think about the options that lay before you and not be so single minded that you blunder ahead into what could be death for so many of your men!” She yelled back at him, uncaring of who might hear this screaming match. “Don’t let anger cloud your mind, think about what I’ve said. I would be just as happy settling down as some farmers wife as I would to sit back on my families throne. I’ve known war and death for all of my life, just like you have even if my life hasn’t been as long. And I will not be gone. I am not one of your soldiers or your whore to be ordered around, General or not. I am a Lady and a Knight.”
~~
"My mind is clear" he said acidly, as she stood her ground, his eyes narrowed, nobody really ever questioned his decisions and there was good reason for that. "You think I do not know the risks? The possible cost of this? You think that would know better than I? Which of has has been a soldier for two centuries, which one of us has faced battle time and time again, plotted the course of wars on such a scale you could never understand." His hand was still tight around her wrist, she may have been able to stand his ground, but Cauldwyn was still powerful man and it took all his resistance not to put her in place like he might a man. In many ways, Cauldwyn was honourable to a fault.
"I have listened to your counsel every time you have given it. I give everything you say serious consideration but when my mind is made, it is made and there. is. no. questioning. it. That is the nature of the army, you should know this by now and if you can't abide by that then see yourself back to the arms of Lord Crowley and let us be done with these childish games" his tone suggested in no uncertain terms that he would not accept insubordination from anyone. Cauldwyn released her wrist, his fingers a red outline there.
"You are under my command and you'll do as your told." He dismissed her with a wave of his hand and turned back to the upturned table,
~~
She kept her eyes on his, their hands wrapped around each other’s wrists in a standoff as they argued. “I think that I see things differently than you. That’s why those in places of leadership have people to counsel then. When have I ever tried to make you do something? When I have I ever tried to lead you wrong since I joined you Cauldwyn. I offer you a different view on the situation. I look at things through different eyes. I didn’t suggest this to slight your honor. And it was just a suggestion, an idea, not an order and you throw it back in my face as though it was.”
She jerked her wrist out of his hand when she felt his grip lax and released his wrist at the same time. She stared at him as he turned his back on her and waved his hand in dismissal. She wanted to hit him, she wanted to smack him till his cheeks burned red. For just one instant she wanted to forsake her vows and tell him everything.
But she didn’t.
Picking up her furs she pulled them on over her shoulders. “Enjoy your breakfast, General.” She said the title in an official way, lacking the playful tone in which she usually called him by it when they were alone. Turning she swept out of the tent and walked down the line to her own, ignoring the eyes that followed her and whispered. She could only imagine what they would be saying now.
Her squire was waiting for her as he usually was in the morning but the moment he saw her face he shrank back. He knew her temper and this anger had something else to it. “Your armor is cleaned and ready for you My lady. Would you like me to bring you some breakfast?”
“Yes.” She snapped at the young man, stalking into her tent and throwing her furs down onto a chair. “And send one of my men to find me a new damned horse!” The young man started to say something else but instead turned and ducked out of her tent in a hurry to leave her to her rage.
By the time the army was ready to move out she was armored and mounted, her face set into a hard line and her blond hair braided tight against her head. She road with her four men that were rarely far from her side but today the lot of them stayed to themselves. She usually road along the lines talking to the men or alongside Cauldwyn to talk strategies but today she stayed silent and brooding but she did stay at least.
The march was long and cold but they made it out of the mountains finally, unassaulted save for scouts that were killed when they were found by the pathfinders that roamed out from the main column. She’d had things that she’d planned on doing throughout the ride but she’d lost the want to do them and instead helped as her tent was set up and then retreated into it. Braziers were lit and she removed her armor, hanging it on its stand and cleaned off the grit and sweat from the march. Even in the winter she still felt it clinging to her body.
She was still so angry. Just as much now as she had been before because at night she generally went to Cauldwyn’s tent. Tonight she stayed n her own though, calling for her own supper and a flagon of ale. Let him sleep in his own cold bed tonight.
~~
The camp was set and night had settled across it. They were in Attavar proper now, they should be finding traces of the Attavar forces within the next few days. It was on this Cauldwyn dwelled, the coming months, possibly years, would be the hardest of his life. Which was a considerable thing to claim, given what his life had been. Death and war. Blood and shit. he'd taken too many lives to count, most of them were just faceless mannequins with army and swords in his memory. Still, there was one face, one angry voice that seemed to push its way into his thoughts no matter where he tried to direct them. he let out a frustrated sigh, walking the "streets" of the tent city that made up their camp, he came upon a small group huddled around a fire, a couple of his older veterans regaling the greenhorns with humorous things that had happened in the course of the many wars the 7th Legion had been in.
"General!" One called to him and Cauldwyn came over, sitting on a space on a log, holding his hands to the fire. "We were just talking about the time we rushed up that hill in Tel'Ammahn only to find a bleedin' troll there, as I recall, yeah screamed like a frightened old woman" Those gathered around the fire chuckled at that, as it was hard to picture the general screaming in such a way.
"As I recall, Tharrow, it was you who screamed like an old woman and Gareth who shit his pants."
That brought a round of raucous laughter from all of them.
"Don't let these two idiot fill your minds with nonsense" Cauldwyn said, speaking to the younger soldiers. "These two jackaninnies would have died pissing their pants a century ago if I let them alone for two minutes." He chuckled along with them, a rare humanizing moment for their general, at least for those whom hadn't been under his command long.
"Chef just got his wagon in, hot food within the hour, he promises. Get yourselves some and an extra ration of ale to keep the cold out of your bones" The soldiers grinned and saluted him, Tharrow pausing a moment asking
And where's our illustrious general off to now? Wouldn't be a certain blond woman's tent, would it" Tharrow said laughing, the others joining him.
"Mind your mouth infront of the recruits, Captain, we don't need more hopeless cases like yourself in this outfit. I'm trying to teach them discipline" They all laughed again and Cauldwyn beat a hasty retreat, traveling down the lanes until he found her tent, one of her comrades in arms keeping watch by the flaps. Cauldwyn approached and went to enter, but the guard put a restraining hand on his shoulder.
Cauldwyn looked at the hand, then back at the soldier, giving him an incredulous look, as though he'd have to be mentally challenged to deny him entry anywhere in his camp.
"lest you want to lose that hand, I suggest you remove it from my shoulder." The Guard tentatively took his hand away and Cauldwyn thrust the tent flaps aside, stepping into the tent, his eyes regarded Andraia as she sat amongst her furs, topless from the bath she had just taken, but her back had been to him and all he saw were the familiar scars that littered it. She was quick to pull her furs around her.
"Andraia.." he began, using her name, rather than her rank.
~~
The guard that stood at the door of her tent was one of her people. He was tall and broad shouldered with sandy blond hair. He was one of her four that went nearly everywhere with her on the march and it wasn’t hard to speculate that they’d come out of Cree with her all those years ago. Where ever they had come from though they where loyal to her like no others. Even at the generals warning he was still hesitant to let him pass but he did with a hard look for a moment before taking his post back up.
Andraia looked over her shoulder for a moment, thinking it was her squire or one of her four coming in to talk to her but instead found him. Her eyes were sharp on him before she looked forward and pulled the shoulder of her robe back up and then her furs over that. The braziers hadn’t completely warmed the tent yet to her likings.
He said her name and just hearing his voice smooth over her skin made her shiver, made her body remember all the things that he so often did to it even if she didn’t want to remember things like that right now. She pushed to her feet and tied her robe closed before turning to face him.
“What can I assist you with, General?” She wasn’t short with him but it was obvious that a sweet whisper of her name wasn’t going to take the sting of their fight away. He wanted to throw her out of his tent as he would have any other soldier then she would treat him as a general and a soldier. He’d drawn that line, not her.
~~
"My words were... Rash, said out of anger." He began with a sort of half apology. But he had to let her no that much of what he said still held true. But he also knew much of what he'd said, had been said out of passion, out of fear that she'd simply use him to meet her own ends, now, he realized, that it hadn't been the case. "Know that I value your counsel, nothing I decide is ever decided lightly, without the consultation of my officers. Of which I consider you apart of." That much was true, but then there was the unpleasant part.
"But... You must understand, my position... I cannot allow myself to second guess a decision, once I have made up my mind then there is no questioning me, my orders, my intent, they should be fulfilled to the letter. You are a knight, a good one, and you should know that even.. Even a lover in the legion, especially a knight, must maintain discipline and restraint. Neither of which you are particularly good at" he offered a sort of crooked smile "Though I have come to appreciate such qualities in you."
he didn't make a move towards her, standing as a statue just inside the threshold of her tent flaps.
"I understand your anger, much of what I said was baseless, I.." he paused, finding it hard to continue, to find the words, a life of soldiering hadn't made him given to displays of affection or explaining his thoughts and feelings, though he had been married, his wife's people were of a different make. Their entire society was based on discipline, on honour and restraint, to keep ones "face". His wife, even when she disagreed, stood by his decisions once they were made, never second guessing him, as was the place of a dutiful wife. But she hadn't been a knight, she'd been a warrior in her own right, but not like Andraia, the two didn't compare. The wound of losing his wife still stung and he had happened across Andraia a mere three weeks after her death, as much as he hated to admit it, it had left him confused, lost. His men put him on a pedestal, as though he were more than just a person with a title. But he was still a man, a man with a heart and mind that often battled one another.
~~
If he only knew how much she was using him and manipulating him into doing what needed to be done to put the right people to where they needed to be. For all the things she’d ever said to him in counsel the thing that had caused this fight had been the truest of them. She was a woman and so often her sex was ruled by passion and in that she was no different, as much as she loathed it. She was torn between passions now, the passion of her vows toward a man she saw to help ascend to rule and the passion for the man that stood in front of her now.
She started to open her mouth to argue with him again but she stopped and instead picked up her mug and took a long draw of the thick amber colored drink. He’d made the decision to go forward but to change that once they got to the harbor and go right instead of left was something else all together. But he was to driven by his honor to walk away, even if it might lead him to his death.
“It is those very qualities that make me a good night. I am more disciplined than you know, Cauldwyn. While I may not be as restrained as you might prefer someone in your army to be so be that. I am a gift from Lord Crowley to assist you on your endeavors here in Aatavarr. I am here because of him, not because I signed into the military. I stayed today because I wished it though.”
She set her mug down and walked around the table to stand before him. Her eyes moved over his face, trying to read what was going on behind his eyes before she have a heavy sigh. “Thank you, for your words and your apology. I also, in the future will try to chose my words more carefully.”
~~
He merely nodded at her acceptance, not having the words to express himself. He stood a moment there, perhaps slightly unsure. Finally, he spoke.
"Very well. It pleases me that you are staying." Was all he said as he backed out of the tent. Feeling a conflict within he had not felt since he was a boy, he cursed himself a fool for it, then reminded himself as the soldiers eyes turned to him, that even in the shadows of darkness, he must always stand in the light. The night was cold, perhaps only slightly colder than Andraia's shoulder, but she had every right to be angry. He shook his head and sighed aloud, retracing his steps back to the command tent.
Inside some of his officers were gathered around the table, looking over the maps. They nodded to their general as he entered. Cauldwyn regarded the group huddled around the table, the command tent cold, the fires in the braziers burning low.
"get some food and drink, there's little more we can plan until we find traces of Attavar's forces. We'll meet in the morning and decide which way to go first." The group saluted and left the general alone in the tent. With aanother sigh he eased himself behind the desk, looking at the map that was marked in his writing with revisions and additions to the land and strategic places they could use if they were confronted by the Orakahn again.
~~
“Sleep well, Cauldwyn.” She said quietly to him as he started to back away from her to leave the tent and she even gave him a soft smile. She wanted to kiss him, she wanted to drag him back into her tent and have him all to herself for another night where the world existed inside the walls of a tent and no further. But she didn’t. Perhaps a night apart would do them good. They spent more nights together than they did apart and as angry as they’d been, their tempers would still no doubt be close to the surface and she didn’t want another fight.
So she let him go without falling prey to her desires.
She settled onto her mound of furs and pillows to wait for her dinner and drank her ale slowly. She was here because Crowley wanted someone to keep track of him and to push him on the path that would serve him best. She’d thought it would be easy, that he’d be just another arrogant man that would want a taste of pretty flesh. He’d been easy enough to seduce, even after the death of his wife that was only weeks past. She hadn’t expected this though, she hadn’t expected that he would break through her walls as she started to break through his. She hadn’t expected to start to feel things for him. It had been decades since she’d loved someone and he was long dead now, gods protect his soul.
The flap of the tent opened again but it was the sandy haired guard that stepped in with a tray of food for her. “Are you alright?” He asked, setting it down on the table next to her before sitting in the chair across from her.
“I am. It took a lot for him to come here to speak to me and it means that I’m still in his good graces which is where I need to be.” She put on a smile for him.
“You know that’s not the answer to the question I asked, mother.” He said, tearing off a chunk of the loaf of bread that had been brought with her dinner.
“No, but it’s the answer you’re going to get Malic.” She gave him another smile and he glowered for a moment before matching her smile.
“You spend too much time with politicians.” He shook his head but left it at that so they could enjoy their supper.