Dynasty: The Glorious Strategist (Dynasty Saga Book 3) (15 page)

“So then what is it exactly you are planning and what do you need my help with?” Niimu asked seeming to now fully understand Lymee’s position. “And know that I expect full disclosure. I will not help you if I think you are holding something back. I refuse to be led into a trap of some sort or be left hanging.”

“I understand,” Lymee said holding out a hand assuredly. “No secrets, I swear. In fact this plan is so simple you might just laughed.” Lymee certainly had when she first came up with it. So much so that the Keo and the others thought she had gone mad. An actual Trojan Horse. Even thinking about it now made her want to giggle.

Lymee clasped her hands in her lap as she readied herself to explain. “I want to build a giant wooden statue of a fox,” Lymee said.

This was obviously the last thing Niimu thought Lymee was going to say and did not even try to hide her frown. Lymee raised her finger signaling for her to wait until Lymee was finished.

“Inside the fox we will hide thirty or so of our best soldiers. More if possible. Then when the other Dynasty Lords do finally leave we will leave this statue on the doorstep of the gates. I will leave a message of some kind telling them that I concede and am bowing out and whatnot.” Lymee waved her hand in front of her face dismissing the finer details. “But as a final insult to them here is this statue of basically me or The Heavens or whatever. We will have built it taller than the walls and will tell them that my greatness would never have fit inside the gates anyway. And blah, blah, blah.” Lymee waved her hands dismissively in front of her face. “This should goad them enough to, at least partially destroy their gates in order to get the statue inside.”

“And then what?” Niimu asked. Her face was blank and expressionless but Lymee could tell that she was listening very intently.

“Well,” Lymee took a deep breath. “While we are building the statue we will simultaneously be digging large pits in the ground. If we can I would like to dig them six feet deep or so but given the frozen ground we might have to settle for four. We will then hide our soldiers inside these pits and cover them with tarps or something that are covered in dirt. They should blend in enough that they won’t be spotted so long as nobody looks too closely.” Lymee hoped so anyway. “Then in the dead of night, after the enemy has all passed out from their celebratory drinking, our men will exit the statue and open and secure the gates. Once this is done they will signal us and we will charge through the open gates and take both walls in one single motion.”

“That would not be a quick charge,” Niimu pointed out. “For our men to be far enough away not to be spotted then to charge through the first
and
second gates, that is nearly three miles at a hard run. Even if they were not encumbered by armor there is no doing that quickly.”

“That is why I plan on using cavalry,” Lymee stated. “I have been told that a well-trained warhorse will kneel down and even lay on its side for long periods of time. So we should be able to hide them with the rest of the men.”

Niimu did not say anything as Lymee talked her gaze locked solely on Lymee.

“But one of the major things I need you to do in the meantime, while we build this statue and dig our pits,” Lymee leaned forward on the table, “is you have to hold the lords together long enough for us to finish working on both the statue and the ditches. We brought the equipment but we lack the manpower and the time. So you have to provide us with both. That is another reason I had to come to you. You are the only lord that I can think of that has any chance of keeping things together long enough for us to finish.”

Lymee took a deep breath leaning back, signaling that she had finished talking. The tent was silent for a long time as Niimu pondered what Lymee had just said. There were not even any crickets out this early in winter.

Finally Niimu spoke up. “This plan is definitely ingenious, and if it were to work it will be remembered as the greatest victory of all time,” she stated.

“Of that I have no doubt,” Lymee nodded mostly mumbling under her breath.

Niimu clasped her hands together and rested her elbows on the table as she thought it over. Her eyes seemed to be staring off at some far away place as she thought all of this over. “To have come up with such a plan alone tells me that I was right about you,” she said finally relaxing her posture a bit.

Lymee frowned and was about to ask what she had meant by that but Niimu continued to talk preventing Lymee from asking.

“You really think we could hide forty thousand of my men?” Niimu asked.

“We won’t be,” Lymee shook her head. “I would say we will only be hiding about ten thousand or so. I doubt we will need any more than that anyway. The rest need to depart so that the Empress is convinced that you really did leave. If they just suddenly vanished one night she would grow suspicions and suspect a trap.”

“And what of your men?” Niimu asked. “The Empress will no doubt be watching your army and would want to make sure they have truly left as well.”

“We will make it look like we loaded our men in the backs of the supply carriages,” Lymee said. “So the Empress will see hundreds of carriages with two men in the back of each to make it look like each is full of soldiers.” Lymee had actually not thought of that and had made it up on the spot but it should work all the same.

Niimu leaned back her hands falling into her lap, her gaze never leaving Lymee. “I will not lie. I have my doubts,” she stated. “There are so many things that can go wrong with this plan. What if the Empress decides to destroy the statue either before or after they take it inside the walls?”

“My plan is to word our challenge in such a way that it will be considered sacrilegious to do so,” Lymee said. “It doesn’t have to work forever. Just for a single night.”

“And how will the soldiers signal us when they take the gates?”

“I have a thing for that,” Lymee said gesturing with her finger. “We have devised a thing called a flare. It works a lot like regular fireworks only it burns brightly and for a lot longer but does not explode. It should work in just about any weather conditions.” Or so Lymee had been told. She had not actually been present to see if that was so but Hase, Su’s head blacksmith and sudo inventor assured her that it worked fine.

“And how will you get them to open the second gate if they only take the statue past the first gate?” Niimu asked.

Lymee paused before answering. “We believe that it will already be opened,” she said trying to sound certain. “It stands to reason that they would keep it open so that their army can freely move between the two walls and not waste time opening it and closing it.”

“But really you do not know,” Niimu said.

“But really I can’t promise you that it will be,” Lymee corrected feeling it was an important distinction. “But let me ask you this,” Lymee leaned forward to emphasize her words. “If you can’t think of a better plan are you really willing to just pack up everything and go home? To let all of this be for nothing? The Empress wants your head after all. You will no doubt be one of her first targets once everyone leaves.”

Niimu pursed her lips together. It would seem that she in fact did not want that to happen.

“If you have a better idea I am all ears,” Lymee said absently leaning back once more. “Even I will admit that this is risky and many historians question whether the trick that I am suggesting was ever actually used in the first place much less if it really worked.”

Niimu cocked her head to the side at Lymee’s words. “You mean this has been done before?”

Lymee smiled. She thought that might help sway her a bit. “In my land it has,” Lymee nodded in confirmation. “You see I am a foreigner to this kingdom. But there is a story in my land about a similar situation that we are in now. That is where I came up with this plan in the first place.”

“And what land is it that you are originally from?” Niimu asked her voice full of suspicion.

“Let’s just say it is outside the Seven Kingdoms and leave it at that,” Lymee smiled taking a sip from her tea to try and hide her face.

“Well,” Niimu said tapping her finger on the table. “You have given me a lot to think about at least.” She then looked at Lymee with a cold calculating look. “I will admit that if I had assurances of some kind I would be far more willing to accept the risks this plan offers.”

Lymee crossed her arms her eyes narrowing. “What kind of assurances?”

“I do not know,” she admitted. “A sign from The Heavens would be nice. Or at the very least a sign that The Heavens support us or you anyway.”

Lymee nearly glared at the woman as she thought she understood what she was really getting at. “For instance if this plan was actually thought up by a heavenly being maybe? Like let’s say a fox or something,” Lymee suggested.

“If I could get such assurances then I would have no problem committing to this with everything I have,” Niimu stated with a firm even tone.

“And if you did not receive any such assurances?” Lymee asked coldly.

Niimu took a deep breath before she answered. “Then I fear that I would be forced to error on the side of caution. While it would be difficult to defend my lands from the Empress once I leave it will not be impossible. However if I were to lose my forces here first, then I doubt I would be able to last long against the Empress’ wrath.”

Lymee stared at her for a long time trying to determine the sincerity of her words. She might be just trying to get Lymee to admit that she either was or was not actually a heavenly being of some kind.

“Well then,” Lymee placed a hand on her knee as she used it to support herself as she stood up. “Then let us pray that The Heavens send you some kind of sign that will put your doubts to rest.”

“That would certainly be a wonderful thing,” Niimu said as she too got to her feet to see Lymee off. “Of course even if The Heavens did in fact reveal their will to me, I doubt anyone would believe me if I were to tell them. They would think that I was losing my mind in my old age. As such I would have to keep such a revelation to myself.”

Lymee looked again at the woman standing before her. The hidden meaning in her words had not escaped Lymee’s notice. She was telling her that if Lymee did somehow reveal herself as a heavenly being she would keep it to herself. But there was nothing truly stopping her from telling others if she chose to. Or outright denying it ever happened.

“I will not trouble you any longer, Lord Niimu,” Lymee said getting moving to leave. “You should get some rest. I am sure you will need your strength for the days to come.”

“You as well, Lord Sun,” Niimu bowed her head ever so slightly but she did not drop her gaze. “I hope to give you my answer in the morning.”

“I will look forward to it,” Lymee nodded before turning and leaving the tent. She had not gotten very far before Sai and Keo fell in line beside her, matching Lymee’s stride as she headed back for her own tent.

“How did it go, my lord?” Sai asked almost immediately.

“Both better and worse than I’d hoped,” Lymee said not really paying attention to anything as she walked.

“So then will she help us?” Keo asked her voice tense.

“Maybe,” Lymee said. “She will give me her answer in the morning. As to what that answer will be…” her voice trailed off as she looked around for a moment as if looking for something in particular but she had no clue what it was she was looking for. “I guess that is up to The Heavens.”

“You do not believe in The Heavens,” Keo pointed out.

“Hence my worry,” Lymee said.

Lymee swallowed as she continued to walk. She needed Niimu’s support. There was no other option.

She ran through the list of possible allies again, trying to think of any that she might go to. But every single one she thought of she immediately discarded for one reason or another. The things she had said about the other lords to Lord Niimu had all been completely true. Going to them at best would mean she would owe them one in the future and Lymee was not keen on the idea of being indebted to anyone. At worse they would demand that Lymee in some way show her support for their claim to the throne. Maybe even go as far as making Su their vassal and absorbing them into their own Dynasty.

And Lymee could never let that happen. She owed Alia that much at least. Alia had spent nearly her entire life making sure that Su remained free and independent. She could not let her efforts go to waste.

No. It all came down to Lord Niimu and Gon Dynasty. She needed Niimu to agree. But Niimu would only do so if she was convinced that Lymee actually was in some way sent by The Heavens. She could try to explain who she really was and where she came from but she doubted that Niimu would actually believe her. If anything she might think that Lymee was making her story up to either hide the lie of making people believe that she was a heavenly being or that it was a cover for her actually being a heavenly being. Either way Niimu would probably take it more as an insult and that Lymee was in fact not being open and honest with her like she had promised to be.

Lymee could just deny it all outright. Say that she was just born in a different land and that was the end of it that. Everything else was just one big misunderstanding. And while Niimu would probably buy that explanation it would probably only confirm that she should in fact not help in Lymee’s plan and instead retreat behind her own borders.