Sylphs stared shyly at them, and some needed to be chivvied back to their work. Some younger sylphs ran excitedly alongside the carts, until pulled aside by their elders, in case someone fell under a wheel.
Kelanus felt unprotected without a sylph scout in talking distance. After almost half a decade in Marcus's army, he'd had plenty of time to get used to the idea of sylphs working within armed forces. Despite that, he felt surprise at the feeling. He had grown so dependent on the sylphs' reports, that he no longer trusted human scouts, no matter how efficient. Nothing escaped the sylphs' notice.
The five Markan sylphs ranged well ahead and Kelanus trusted one could report back quickly. Three days had passed since he had last seen Shyamon and he wondered if the boy still sulked over the withheld choca.
He glanced down at Tula, walking at his stirrup. She had come out of herself a little more now, but he still felt forced to drag words out of her, especially opinions. Careful and gentle questioning led to the revelation that her previous owner had died in a training accident, rather than through enemy action, so Mirrin had been honest there.
Whenever they stopped, she always dashed around everywhere, though she did not strike Kelanus as particularly excitable. But he could not doubt her efficiency and eagerness to please. By infertile standards, she displayed a high level of independence without stepping beyond accepted boundaries.
Perhaps that had something to do with the way Eldovans treated their sylphs.
Kelanus sighed. Born in the far north, everybody had to work hard for everything. Summers were notoriously short and winters seemed to last forever. In such a tough country, even infertile sylphs enjoyed a higher status than in the richer and softer lands further south.
But some places...
Kelanus shook his head. How Eldovans traditionally dealt with their sylphs was entirely their business, but he felt strictness could only achieve so much. And conditions were even worse in the Imperial Republic!
"Water, donenya?"
Kelanus nodded and leaned down to accept the waterskin. "Thank you, Tula." He had no reason to be anything but polite to the sylph. He drank and passed the skin back. "Remember to drink yourself," he said. "You need more water than I."
Tula's already startled-looking eyes widened further and she looked at the skin in her hands. "From this?"
"You fear catching a disease from me?" Kelanus smiled. All sylphs were sensitive and Eldovan sylphs always looked for implied criticism. He wanted no tears or sulks from innocent and gentle banter.
"It is not proper," protested Tula.
Kelanus sighed. He had this discussion several times a day.
"You must drink," he told her. "So drink."
Perhaps discussion was the wrong word, because Tula would not drink from the same skin until after he had given a direct order.
Tula drank.
Kelanus smiled encouragement. Sylphs at home, with the independence southerners associated with the wild tribes, would never balk at sharing a water skin with humans. And humans never thought anything of it either. Well, most humans.
"Everything all right, Sir?"
Yeoman Hanmer had joined Kelanus, riding to his immediate left.
"Fine thank you." Kelanus turned to Tula. "Make sure my wife has everything she needs."
"Se bata." Hearing the dismissal, Tula dropped back to speak with Tahena.
"I can't get comfortable with all these Eldovans about," muttered Hanmer. "There's only three of us."
"Four, with Tahena," pointed out Kelanus.
"It's if it comes to fighting that worries me," grumbled Hanmer. "What if they turn on us? Nothing we can do then!"
"Then stop worrying," said Kelanus. "Mirrin has acted honorably enough so far."
Hanmer gave a skeptical grunt. "Mirrin isn't here."
Both men stared at a row of farm buildings, all with strangely peaked roofs, a style neither had seen before. And unique in these lands, too. Perhaps the people living there had originated from one of the depopulated Prefectures and brought their style of architecture with them.
Tula hurried back to Kelanus.
"I heard something," she said, hopping from foot to foot with barely suppressed eagerness. "Over there." She gestured vaguely ahead of them.
"A whistle?"
Tula nodded. Though she had no idea what the whistles meant, that did not mean she couldn't hear them.
"Good." Kelanus smiled. "We can expect Shyamon in a few minutes then." For some reason, the thought reassured him.
***
Perhaps Shyamon was sulking, for Ean-y-Felis appeared with the message. Or perhaps Ean wanted to see his owner, having been away for a few days. The scout came directly to Kelanus first, however.
"Donenya, there are soldiers on the road, headed this way," said the male sylph. The black slashes of paint across his face and chest gave him a wild appearance that some found intimidating. Such as Tula, who kept herself on the far side of Kelanus's horse.
"What size?" asked Kelanus, as Kadyah and Felis joined them.
"Six men," replied Ean. "With another thousand beyond, out of range. But these six will be dangerous."
"Why do you think that?" Kelanus kept his voice quiet. One of the best things about the sylph scouts was their ability to see more than was just in front of their eyes.
"These seem especially vigilant," replied Ean. "Like they are looking for someone."
Kadyah grimaced. "For us, I expect."
"A welcoming committee," smiled Kelanus. "Interesting."
"Do you intend to meet them?" asked Kadyah.
"I intend to pass them," replied Kelanus. "As a merchant caravan. Do they search many?"
Kadyah shrugged. "We never used to further south," he replied. "Ledtren is the nearest biggish town and you might have come from Gowler, which is beyond The Barren. You might be trading furs, which explains only two carts."
Kelanus nodded. "Then that is what we are." He turned back to the scout.
Ean spoke in a low voice with Felis and the messenger nodded his head.
"You only need ask, Ean," said Felis. "Only that."
Kelanus decided not to ask what that exchange was about as Ean rejoined him, wearing a thoughtful expression.
"We'll be merchants," he told the scout. "Anything else I need to know?"
Ean looked to be debating with himself. "It might be nothing," he said, eventually.
"Out with it."
"Belaika thinks something strange is going on, but he is not sure what," replied the scout.
Kelanus paused. "Belaika is the most experienced scout here. Has he got any suggestions?"
Ean shook his head.
"Keep me informed. We want no nasty surprises."
"Se bata."
"And are you going to inform the groups following behind?"
Ean's face fell, no doubt dismayed at the amount of running ahead of him. "I will do that, donenya." Ean gave his owner a quick bow, then left, invisible to ordinary vision almost immediately.
Tula visibly relaxed.
"Right," said Kelanus. "Let's get looking like a scraggly merchant trading furs."
***
Luckily, they had enough furs to cover the arms in the cart, while Tahena made the other cart look like a home in a surprisingly short time, no doubt aided in some way by The Gift. Tula and Wenna lent an air of domestic authenticity, but Kelanus wished they had some very short people here to pass off as children. Caravans usually moved as family groups.
Scout Vaul stayed well away, but the rest of the soldiers stripped off leather armor and were issued with bows, giving the appearance of caravan guards.
"Why not swords?" asked Kelanus.
"Caravans crossing The Barren usually carry bows," countered Kadyah. "It's not raiders they fear, but running out of food. Bows are better at bringing down rabbits and deer than swords."
The men got their bows.
Kelanus and Kadyah secured their horses behind the lead cart. Kelanus took th
e part of the trader, while Tahena would watch and listen. The sense of something wrong reported by Belaika worried Kelanus, who knew scouts were rarely so vague. It might be nothing more than a feeling.
The Eldovans split themselves between the two carts, trying to look like merchant guards rather than soldiers.
"What about those following us?" asked Tahena.
"With any luck, Ean will reach them quite soon; what they do is entirely up to them," replied Kelanus. "Shame we've not got any camp followers with us. More women and sylphs will help make us look more convincing."
"We'll be all right." Tahena smiled.
Before long, the six soldiers came into sight along the road.
"Probably a squadman in command," said Kadyah, from his place atop the cart. "At most a Sergeant. Let's hope they don't know any of us."
"If they do, you'd better be ready with those bows," replied Kelanus, grimly.
Kadyah said nothing to that.
The small troop had a grizzled Sergeant in command. The man had a barrel chest and hands that looked like they could pound fence posts into the ground without a hammer.
"Good morrow, travelers," he said, after halting them. His light voice carried easily.
Kelanus nodded his head and gave a friendly smile.
"Carrying much?" asked the Sergeant, a casual inquiry while his men surrounded the two carts. He eyed Kadyah's bow.
"Furs," grunted Kelanus, not even attempting an Eldovan accent.
"All the way from the north?" The Sergeant raised an eyebrow.
"From Gowler," replied Kelanus, hoping the Sergeant had no familiarity with the city.
"You, I meant."
"From Frodger originally," replied Kelanus. Did Eldovans know a man from Frodger commanded the Markan Army? "A long time ago." At least this last was true.
"There is trouble ahead, Sergeant?" asked Kadyah, suddenly.
Kelanus tried not to wince. What was the man playing at?
"Nothing to worry you," replied the Sergeant. "We're looking for men returning to Eldova who got lost last year."
"Nice to welcome them home," remarked Kadyah.
The Sergeant barked a laugh. "Something like that," he said. "We've certainly got orders to escort them to our commander." His attention switched to Kelanus. "Off with you."
Kelanus inclined his head and cracked his whip, stirring the carts into movement again. He said nothing until the small patrol had fallen far behind.
"What in Ranva's name are you playing at?" he snapped to Kadyah.
"Trying to learn what's planned for us," replied Kadyah, peaceably.
"What if the man had guessed? You sounded like a soldier."
"Because I am a soldier," retorted the younger man. "Lots of merchant guards are former soldiers."
"The way you were talking, he might have sussed out you're too young to be a former soldier." Kelanus shook his head.
"We learned that we must keep up our pretense."
Kelanus blinked.
"That man has a commander," continued Kadyah. "And he mentioned nothing about the larger force ahead. They're looking for us and you'd better hope nobody back there panics, else we might suddenly be down a good number."
"We might have to regroup," muttered Kelanus. "Find another way through."
"We can swing north and try through Vaynan," suggested Kadyah. "Longer that way though."
Kelanus nodded. "You might end up taking most of the men that way," he said. "But I expect there are patrols and large groups of soldiers there, too." He sniffed. "When Ean returns, we'll recall the sylphs."
***
General Mirrin and Quartermaster Jurabim lay side by side in the undergrowth as the patrol rode past. Mirrin's dark eyes looked thoughtful.
"Hingast knows we will try to get home," he said.
"Of course, Sir," replied Jurabim, who suspected he was too old and fat to lie on the ground.
"There aren't enough soldiers here to kill us," continued Mirrin. "Even unarmed, we can overpower six men."
"But they are looking for us," said Jurabim. "They might have work for us."
"We can't trust Hingast," replied Mirrin, speaking treason for the first time. "Janost says he fled the field, which means we are a threat."
"Can we trust Janost?" asked Jurabim.
Mirrin restrained a bitter laugh. "We can only trust ourselves," he replied.
"There was no contact with Hingast's mob," pointed out Jurabim. "Not after."
"We helped pass enough of them through last year and the year before," pointed out Mirrin. "Enough to taint us by association." He remembered all the reinforcements Hingast had called from Eldova after the siege. They had passed through his hands, while Mirrin kept all the men from the outer Prefectures.
"I thought one of the abominations might have come along the road to warn us," said Jurabim, thinking a change of subject might be called for.
"I doubt if they could reach us in time," muttered Mirrin. "They were all sent ahead. Whatever Kelanus has got planned, he needs us. There are only three Markans."
"Eight if you include those sylphs." Jurabim shook his head. "Abominations."
"Donenulya," interrupted Ean, from immediately behind. "I ran quickly, but some of you were not easy to find."
Both men looked over their shoulders, neither having heard the scout arrive.
"Scouts do not fight," Ean told the quartermaster, "and we are not abominations." The sylph left Jurabim in no doubt of hurt feelings.
"That," retorted Jurabim, "is a matter of opinion."
"What's happening up there, Ean?" pressed Mirrin, who believed information was more important than trading insults.
"Soldiers patrolling the road," replied Ean. "There are perhaps a thousand men encamped ahead, but we do not know why."
Mirrin could guess. "How about the rest of us?" he asked. "Have any been captured?"
"Most hid, but others pretended to be merchants, or lone travelers," replied Ean. "Do not know if any got caught."
Mirrin nodded. "We're the last ones on the road," he told the sylph. "Return to Kelanus and tell him I recommend we regroup."
Ean nodded, but gave no verbal reply before he slipped away.
Jurabim shook his head. "I'll not get used to them, Sir. Never."
Mirrin ignored Jurabim. A thousand armed men ahead. He had two thousand. But would Eldovan fight Eldovan? He tapped his upper and lower teeth together, mind whirling.
As he thought, a plan formed in his mind.
***
Kelanus, already thinking along similar lines, accepted Mirrin's suggestion that they regroup and, slowly at first, the many small contingents again coalesced into one army. Kelanus had hidden within a forest, and most groups had the sense to approach from all directions, and not just from the road.
Two sylphs – Ean and Shyamon – guided the groups in and stayed close at hand, just in case any messages needed to be whistled to the other three scouts, still in the field.
Apart from that one lone patrol, they had seen no other soldiers, which gave Kelanus cause for alarm. Just the one small patrol? That made no sense at all. Especially with a large army group somewhere ahead.
Finally they were together again, Mirrin among the last of the groups in.
"Has anybody gone missing?" demanded the Eldovan. "Did they fight anybody?"
"Everybody accounted for," said Captain Jediyah. "They didn't even seem to realize we're the men they're hunting for."
Apart from the senior officers, who stayed together and laid plans, most of the men made themselves as comfortable as possible between the trees and bedded down for the night. Only Kelanus and Mirrin talked after even the officers bedded down and Tula had been dismissed for the night.
"I suspect that the Sergeant commanding that patrol knew he had no chance of arresting us all," pointed out Mirrin. "But the man is no fool. He'll know and will have reported back. We must find another way to Eldova."
Kelanus grunted. "We can't fi
ght our way through; the attrition will be too high."
"If you can even get one Eldovan to fight another," pointed out Mirrin, reasonably.
Kelanus nodded at that. "Even if I thought they would, I can't afford the losses. We need these men."
Mirrin took a breath. "It would help me trust you if I knew why," he said. "Other than taking Hingast – the imposter, if you prefer – exactly what are your plans?"
"To put Hingast's infant son on the throne where he belongs," replied Kelanus. "After all, the real Hingast is dead and I believe you have hereditary Prefects here."
"And to make him Marka's puppet?" Mirrin's voice was quiet.
Kelanus gave a rude hand gesture. "That to Marka," he replied. "They cannot possibly reach here and rule effectively, not for many years yet. I'm here to finish a job that should have been finished two years ago." He smiled. "The man who calls himself Hingast, known to me as Ranallic Eydren, is mine. I... will... see... him... dead."
"An infant as Prefect?" Mirrin shrugged. "That could lead to complications."
Kelanus nodded. "Which is why I want you to be regent," he replied. "A man we can deal with. A man unlikely to send his armies marching across the continent to chase an impossible dream."
"The imperial throne," said Mirrin.
"It's taken," agreed Kelanus. "The man to sit on it is Marcus Vintner, not a Rexiter."
Mirrin sniffed. "I do not think Hingast ever intended taking the throne in Marka," he said. "My impression is that he wanted to destroy it and the city, and build an empire of his own."
"Well, a word of advice for you," said Kelanus. "If you feel like expanding, go west and south; stay well away from the east."
"You don't seem too bothered at the thought of another powerful empire rising, a potential rival for the future." Mirrin kept his voice peaceable.
"I couldn't care less," retorted Mirrin. "It isn't my problem. Unless, of course, you decide to come east again."
***
Not everybody bedded down even after Kelanus and Mirrin finally finished their planning. The two sylph scouts sat at the very edge of the encampment for a while, using their blankets as insulation. They were still waiting for any orders or messages for Kelanus.
Scout Vaul found them in place, though they were aware of him long before he reached them.
"Which one of you's Shyamon?" demanded Vaul.
"Me," said Shyamon.
"I've been waiting to see you for days," said the human scout.
Shyamon grinned. "Course you have," he replied.