Earlier in the day he had seen the Keshians moving at the ridge line, the first sign the Keshian commander was getting ready for a conventional attack.
At last he said, An attack through the tunnel from the keep to take out those siege engines risks too much. I think wed lose too many men and might gain nothing tangible from it. Moreover, wed have to block the tunnel to prevent the Keshians from using it and Id like it available to us against future need.
At last he said, An attack through the tunnel from the keep to take out those siege engines risks too much. I think wed lose too many men and might gain nothing tangible from it. Moreover, wed have to block the tunnel to prevent the Keshians from using it and Id like it available to us against future need.
Brendan couldnt find any reason to disagree so he merely nodded.
Glancing around, Martin realized they were alone in the kitchen. Where is everybody?
Giving us a little privacy.
Martin grunted. He waved his hand in the general direction of the front gate to the city. The Keshians still mount a superior force, despite that fiasco with the demons. Even with their magician neutralized by Miranda and Nakor, they have the strength to beat down the door eventually and walk right in. Were beginning to run low on supplies and in another week, well be at less than half-rations. His voice lowered. And then the real panic begins. If were still here defending. And to defend the city we have an untried boy with delusions of military genius.
Brendan laughed.
What? barked Martin, looking annoyed.
Im sorry, said Brendan, really, I am, but for a moment you were again the angry brother who couldnt quite beat Hal at a game. You used to pout like a little girl.
Martins eyes widened. I did not!
You did so, said Brendan. And you were doing it again. Look, be kind to yourself a moment, and stop wading in pity. If the Kings Marshall was here, with only what you have to defend with, nothing more, do you think he would have managed any better? What would he do? Gather everyone in the city square and with a rousing speech, get them all fired up so theyd charge out the gate and thrash the Keshians to the last, man and boy?
Martin started to chuckle. All right, a little pity if you must.
Youre doing as well as any man, I reckon.
Miranda and Nakor came into the kitchen. Between them was a very obviously beaten Keshian magician. Both of his eyes were swollen, the left completely shut, and he couldnt manage to put his weight on his left foot without wincing. We have wrung everything from him we could, Miranda said to Martin.
Nakor said, Its not his fault, really. It seems someone put some ideas in his head.
Magic? inquired Martin.
Miranda nodded, while Nakor said, Its a very subtle trick. I think its been there in his head a very long time, years perhaps, so that he thinks everything he did was his own idea, but really, someone else made him do it.
Brendan said, Im not sure I understand. Youre saying hes some sort of dupe?
Hard to say, replied Nakor. He may have been thinking bad things before this trick, or he might have been thinking good things, and the trick turned him bad. He grinned apologetically.
Either way hes a traitor, said Miranda.
To whom? said Martin. Hes Keshian. How is he a traitor?
Miranda realized that one fault with having dual memories was that she sometimes forgot the context of things, certain nuances. Martin was ignorant of the Conclave so he would have no notion of Akeshs disloyalty to Pug. Improvising, she went on, I was speaking of the Assembly of Magicians at Stardock. They are pledged to neutrality, no matter where they are born.
Before another word was spoken, a loud crashing from the direction of the front gate was followed by alarm bells and horns. Damn, said Martin. The attack is starting.
He stood, grabbed his sword belt from where it hung on the back of a chair, and watched in shock as Miranda reached out and seized Akesh by the throat and with a squeeze effortlessly crushed his windpipe. The magician fell to the stone floor, gasping for breath that would not come and in a moment his face turned blue and he died, eyes open.
Why? demanded Martin.
Because, said Miranda, he was a traitor. And who can you spare to guard him? He may have been beaten within an inch of his life, but you have no one besides Nakor and me who could deal with his magic once he recovered.
Nakor nodded. I knew him; he was not what I would call powerful, but he had tricks that would hurt you if he used them behind your lines.
What would you have us do, stand over him so that if you somehow survive this war we can take him back to Stardock so he can be tried and executed there? asked Miranda.
Her eyes fixed on Martin and suddenly he knew fear. There was something behind those eyes that was powerful and unnatural and he wished no part of it. Fine, he said sharply. He could not be distracted by this now. He turned to Brendan and said, Find someone on the staff to dispose of this body. I fear were going to have many more to add to the pile before this fight is over.
Brendan nodded, turned and headed to the rear of the kitchen just as the alarmed-looking staff began to return. He pointed to the corpse of the traitor and said, See to that, then get ready to care for the wounded!
Then the two brothers raced toward the coming battle.
Martin ordered the men off the wall and stationed two lookouts on rooftops behind it. The Keshian trebuchets were merciless. At this distance they looked almost like childs toys, but there was nothing remotely amusing about them. Large towers with an asymmetrical swinging arm and a basket full of heavy rocks at the short end, and a sling at the long end, they could hurl a boulder it took four men to lift as a child would throw a pebble.
There were four of them on the crest of the road, and they flung their heavy missiles in order, the farthest to the left first: one, two, three, four; then over again, the first being reloaded by the time the fourth had released a massive stone. To those in the city it felt like an endless barrage. Those stones that struck the wall bounced away, showering the ground before the city with masonry dust, dirt, and shattered builders blocks. Those that hit the gate caused the metal hinges to protest with a shriek while the wood groaned as ancient grain was parted and splintered.
A few stones topped the wall to bounce into buildings or careen down boulevards and an unwary defender was lucky to be spared a shattered leg or crushed skull as the boulder bounded by. A few were not so lucky and were carried to the mayors house or the inn across the street, where those detailed to receive the wounded waited to care for them.
Brendan and Martin stood exposed and wary in the main street, ready to duck around the corner should they have to avoid a boulder. Martin had ordered Bethany and Lily to care for the wounded and protect them should the Keshians get that far into the city. Bethany had appeared ready to be defiant, but at the last had merely nodded and left to do as asked. Martin couldnt be sure that would last. He also knew it futile to order her out of the city. She was her fathers daughter and she would fight until the last. She also would be disinclined to let the Keshians take her alive; she knew what happened to attractive young women taken in war; if she and Lily survived the rape of the city, they would be bound for a slavers pen in Durbin. It would be a miracle if anyone informed the commander that she was the daughter of nobility and worth a ransom, and Bethany would certainly not say a word while others around her faced such a fate.
A stone smashed into the gate and the entire front of the wall trembled. A few more of those and theyll come charging in, said Brendan.
Martin shouted up to the closest lookout, high on the rooftop above, Do you see horse?
Just now, my lord, he replied. Theyre riding slowly around the siege engines and taking up position. They do not appear to be in any hurry.
They can wait, said Brendan. He glanced at the sun and said, Why wait until noon to begin the assault? Why not attack at dawn?
Darkness means confusion and terror, and that benefits the Keshians. Had he begun at dawn, the gates would be down now and wed have had time to organize defensives throughout the city. Now if we try that, its in the dark.
How long can we hold?
Martin said, I dont know. Every man and boy is willing; this is their home theyre defending and the Keshians lost many men with that demon attack. If we can wear them down between here and the city square He was silent for a minute, then said, Get a company. Go find anything, furniture, shelving, storage crates, whatever is at hand and build a barrier in the square. He knelt and drew a semi-circle in the earth. Here is that weavers shop, the one with the green door? Start here and stretch it across to here, the butchers. I want it twelve feet high with whatever you can stand on behind it, so that its a breastwork.
The millers! Brendan exclaimed suddenly. There are hundreds of bags of grain spoiled for sitting there and no way to get it out of the city! Thatll make a sturdy breastwork, Martin!
Martin smiled. Good. Build steps behind so a man can fire a bow over it. When I give the order here, I want the archers to fall back and be ready there to shoot crossing the square. Do you understand?
Yes, said Brendan.
As he was about to leave, Martin seized him by the arm. That odd little ballista from LaMut, where is it?
We moved it a couple of times. Ill find Sergeant Ruther, hell know. Why?
Take a wagon and put it in the middle and if you see any heavy horse ride into that square, use it on them. Theyll be bunched up and unable to spread out, so that might prove a nasty surprise. Go, and spread the word.
Brendan nodded once then dashed off.
Boulders thundered into the walls and the air became thicker with stone and mortar dust. Hours dragged on and the sun crawled across the sky.
Martin waited patiently until with an ear-shattering twist of wood, the gate on the right pulled loose from its upper hinges. Martin shouted, Return to the walls!