Gunpowder God (57 page)

More of the Investigator Roxthar’s work
, Soton suspected. Even though there had been no threat of Investigation, word of Archpriest Roxthar’s questioning and murders had turned an easy conquest into a quagmire of village to village and house to house warfare.

In retaliation, he had allowed the Host to “sack the City as you will.” They had taken to his orders with great enthusiasm. Yesterday, the slave traders had come in their schooners from Thebra City for more rowers as well as for slaves to sell in Hos-Ktemnos for picking cotton or working in the mines. Some might even end up in Hos-Bletha in the sugar cane fields, once that kingdoms’ fractious wars came to an end.

Soton was comfortably ensconced in his temporary headquarters, the manor of a deceased Agrysi baron. Still, he was on edge because he was needed back in Tarr-Ceros.
Will the Order’s forts be able to halt the advance of Var-Wannax Ranjar Sargos, if he once again crosses the Great River with his barbarian hordes from the Sea of Grass?

A knock at the door broke into his thoughts.
Not more guild masters and city notables begging him to end the sack. If they had surrendered the Zcynos City, as he had demanded, the Host would already be gone
.

“Come in,” he called.

It was Horse Master Sarmoth. “Grand Master, I have a courier who just arrived with urgent news.”

What now? More demands from the Inner Circle, or has Roxthar returned?

“Bring him to me.”

“Yes, sir.”

He returned shortly with a short man, wearing buckskins and the coonskin cap of a trapper. The man removed his cap and bowed. “Your Excellency, I have news of a big army nearby.”

Soton shot straight up. “Army, you say. Is it the League of Dralm’s Army?” If Kalvan had reinforced the League with his entire army, he might be facing a foe that could keep him pinned down here for moons.

“No, sire. We spotted them on the Mare Road four days ago. The flags and banners were Harphaxi. We managed to capture one of their scouts and he volunteered that they were from Greater Beshta and that the army was commanded by Captain-General Phidestros.

Phidestros! What is he doing here in Hos-Agrys in the middle of a war? And why now?

“Did he tell you where they were headed?”

“Yes, sir. He said they were going to pass through Arbelon, following the Marnos River, up to Kelos to join up with Great King Eudocles.”

Phidestros was joining forces with his father!
From everything Styphon’s House’s intelligencers had uncovered, the two men hated each other. However, they might be poised to join forces for a larger goal
—
say, the defeat of the Host and the takeover of all of Hos-Agrys, which that would allow. The lure of land, power and riches had joined together even stranger bedfellows, and these two were bound by blood
.

“Did the scout give you any information concerning why Phidestros has entered Hos-Agrys?”

“Yes, it seems that he is determined to punish his father for the death of Sopharar, the true Great King. It was said that he will seat himself upon the Ivory Throne after his father is dispatched.”

With a veteran army the size of Prince Phidestros’ that will be no difficult matter. The Kingdom of Hos-Zygros would be hard-pressed to muster ten thousand soldiers. He must know I’m here: did he do this now to tug on my beard, knowing that the Host would be fully occupied in conquering Hos-Agrys? Or is it just a ruse to throw us off his real plans?

“Is there any more?”

“No, Your Excellency. The scout was a man of no importance and was just reporting baggage train gossip. Oh, that reminds me. The baggage train is many times larger than the army and includes families, guildsmen and craftsmen.”

“Sarmoth, give the man ten silvers, no—make it twenty. This is important news.”

The scout left licking his lips.

In his mind, he’s probably already spent it all at some grogshop or bordello.
When his aide returned, Soton asked, “What do you think the Bastard Prince is up to?”

Sarmoth furrowed his brows. “If he was planning anything hostile, Phidestros would have kept a better lookout for scouts. In this case, I believe the baggage train gossip is probably true, as far as it goes. I think he wants us to know that he has no designs on us or Hos-Agrys—for the nonce. The Prince should find his father’s army easy work, after the Battle of Ardros Field. Nor should he have a problem gaining the Ivory Throne; there is no prince in the kingdom with the arms or men to oppose him. In fact, many may welcome him as an antidote to his father, the regicide and fratricide. What he will do after he is enthroned, that is the question.”

Soton nodded. “A most cogent analysis, although based on limited intelligence. In this case, it matches my own. Sarmoth, you’ve learned well. When we return to Tarr-Ceros I will see you promoted to Commander.”

“Thank you, sir. I hope that I will be able to remain as your aide, even after my promotion. I still have much to learn.”

“For a time. Soon, though, it will be time for you to lead your own Lance. We have lost a lot of good men in the last several winters. But not until things have shaken out here and we’ve had a chance to catch our breath back in Tarr-Ceros.”

Phidestros’ move into Hos-Zygros disturbed him greatly. Styphon’s Voice had turned a valuable ally, through the kidnapping and ransom of his wife, into a possible enemy. Even during the best of times, Prince Phidestros was difficult to read and his loyalties uncertain. Ambitious, yes, a strong military leader, yes, loyal—to himself, that was for sure. Anything else was conjecture. But just how ambitious was he really?

Great King of Hos-Zygros!
That was unexpected, especially since Phidestros had his hand cupped around the Iron Throne of Hos-Harphax. Why didn’t he just declare himself Great King of Hos-Harphax, instead of seating his ally and captain, Geblon? True, Phidestros was not of Harphaxi blood, nor did he have any lineage to their royalty. But such things could be manufactured by one as ruthless and bloody-minded as the Bastard Prince.

Maybe it was all about his father, Eudocles, who had never acknowledged his by-blow. Could things have turned out differently, if he had?
This is just woolgathering
, he decided.

The question was, what was he going to do about it? Or could he do anything about it? Maybe that was the real question.

Soton had over fifty thousand soldiers under his command. Many veterans of the Fireseed Wars and stalwart troops, but he also had many green soldiers and Agrysi allies who could not be depended upon, either as soldiers or as allies in bad weather. If he were to attack Phidestros’ army, he might not win. But, even if he did win, he would have to spend the rest of the fighting season hunting down Phidestros’ men. He might even have to venture into Hos-Harphax to battle Phidestros’ allies, which included the Great King of Hos-Harphax, in the event that the Prince evaded capture. It could easily turn into a quagmire, in many ways much worse than the one he faced currently.

Here in Hos-Agrys his only opponent was the League of Dralm, a pack of squabbling princes who didn’t know their own best interest. If the Union Army had done their job, they were probably finished as an army. Still, he would have to march through each princedom of Hos-Agrys to install the Temple’s new rulers and leave enough soldiers to guarantee the peace. Which meant that by the time he was finished conquering the kingdom, his Host would have shrunken in half.

Then we will be vulnerable to Phidestros army…
.

He was going to have to leave Prince-Regent Grythos more than just a token force when he returned to the Sastragath. With Hos-Agrys stretched between Hos-Harphax and Hos-Zygros, the kingdom would prove a most tempting morsel for the Bastard Prince.

“Sarmoth, bring me some fresh vellum. I have a message to write for Styphon’s Voice. Anaxthenes needs to know of Prince Phidestros’ change of course. Maybe he can tell which way the winds are blowing.”

Great King Eudocles was riding his charger at the front of the van and was having an excellent day. So far, the war against Kelos was going very well; they hadn’t even had to besiege Tyrax Town, since the inhabitants had surrendered the town before the first shot was fired. With Prince Bosphros off in Eubros with the League of Dralm and most of the princedom’s soldiers, they’d only had a small garrison to man the walls. The stone walls were stout, as they were with most border towns, but they hadn’t been well maintained. Too many years of peace, he suspected. They wouldn’t have held his army in check for more than a few days.

He was disappointed that the town fathers had given up so quickly.
By Yirtta’s teats, there went my excuse for sacking the town and taking slaves.
Instead, he’d had to settle for a hundred thousand ounces of silver and a basket full of jewels and rare statuary.
I must be getting soft; I let them bribe me to leave without looting the place to the rafters!

The good news was that not all of the major towns would capitulate quite so easily. In fact, Eudocles expected some real opposition when they reached Kelos Town in two days time.

He couldn’t help but chuckle to himself, bringing a look of consternation from Duke Sestembar.

“Is everything all right, Your Highness?” Duke Sestembar asked.

“Yes, I’m finally doing what I’ve always wanted to do. And I am, at long last, seated on the Ivory Throne. Things could not be much better!”

The Duke made his usual oily smile.

“And I couldn’t have done it without my loyal henchman.”

This got the Duke’s complete attention.

“What’s the use of all this power and position, if you can’t reward your friends? Duke, how would you like to be the next Prince of Kelos?”

He had to contain a laugh at the size of the alligator smile that almost split Sestembar’s lower face in two.

“Thank you, Your Highness! All my life I’ve dreamed of this day.”

Eudocles wondered what the Duke’s future subjects would have to say about his dream, once they were under his rule. Sestembar was a hard and cruel man, when he had the whip hand. Otherwise, a perfect toady. He’d have to warn the Duke to check some of his baser proclivities if they were going to squeeze his new subjects for all they were worth.

Up ahead, coming out of the road dust, was a Styphon’s House messenger.
What’s he doing here?
he asked himself.
Does he have new orders from Grand Master Soton, or from Styphon’s Voice? Wasn’t his invasion of Kelos enough for them? No, there’s no such thing as too much for this Temple. Once I return to Zygros City, I’m going to have to come up with a way to extricate myself from their hands
.

As acting Captain-General—he didn’t trust anyone else to hold the position—Eudocles gave the order to halt.
If this is some wild turkey chase, I’ll gut stab this lackey myself
!

The rider wore the white cloak with Styphon’s device, a red sun-wheel, on an embossed leather emblem at the front of his horse. The rider drew up, asked a question of one of the outriders, then rode up to Eudocles.

He jumped off his mount, before the king, saying, “I’ve an important message from Soton, Grand Master of the Order of Zarthani Knights, for Great King Eudocles.”

“I am he,” Eudocles said, nodding his head.

“Yes, Your Majesty.”

“What is his message?”

The messenger opened one of his saddlebags and removed a large leather pouch, taking out a small scroll, which he then handed to him. Eudocles checked the wax seal and noted that it was unbroken and the insignia was that of the Grand Master’s.

“Grand Master Soton suggested I tell you that this should be read in private.”

“Harrumph,” he replied. Spring had clearly arrived and the roadside was shadowed by large trees and overgrown with brush. He heard the gurgle of a nearby brook. Turning to Duke Sestembar, Lord Marshal of the Army, he said, “Order the men to fill their water bags and flasks, break rations and then water their horses.”

“Yes, sir.”

Shortly, he was alone with the messenger and five of his own bodyguards who lurked just out of hearing range with swords drawn. He used his dagger to split the seal; the letter was terse without the usual courtly flourishes, as was the man himself.

To EUDOCLES, Great King of all Hos-Zygros:

I have just learned that a large army, led by the Prince of Greater Beshta, has entered these lands
.

Eudocles reared back.
The bastard Phidestros? It must be… what does he want now? Or is it just to rob me of my joy, now that my heart’s desire has been fulfilled?

This courier should reach you about three or four days ahead of Prince Phidestros’ army and subjects
.

Subjects! What does this mean?
Eudocles pondered.

It appears that he has brought some thirty to thirty-five thousand of his troops into Hos-Agrys with the intention of joining up with yourself. If this is some ploy to gain additional territory at the Temple’s expense, I firmly suggest you and your son consider the consequences of such an action. All current loans from Styphon’s Great Banking House to Your Majesty would be considered forfeit and due immediately in gold. Furthermore, you will have to face my displeasure as well as that of my soldiers
.

Eudocles shook his head.
Has the world gone mad? Why would I attack Styphon’s House, those to whom I owe my current elevation?

If you are innocent of this matter, then I suggest you prepare yourself and your army for battle. I send this warning out of duty since you have presented yourself as one of our allies
.

Yours in the True Faith

SOTON

Grand Master of the Order of Zarthani Knights

“To Regwarn with you, Soton!” he cried out loud. “And as far as you, Phidestros, you ugly, ornery over-grown bastard!” He walked in circles, grunting that there were too many throats that needed cutting and not enough of the right men to do the work.
I should have slit Phidestros’ throat at birth, before he grew up to bedevil me and turn his back on everything I’ve ever done for him!