Chapter 13
The winter passed quickly enough into spring with war preparations continuing unabated through the winter. Duke Unther rode at the of head of five-thousand light cavalry, joined later by three thousand from the reluctant Duke Thoric at Whitepine Castle, and two thousand from Faycastle compliments of Countess Janarina who rode at the head with the duke. The plains riders were finally convinced into helping with what the duke thought to be upward of ten thousand riders on their small but fleet horses. His daughter Iiyania chose to stay at Castle Qenildor to help with preparing bandages and medicines for the wounded and the sick but he knew differently but with assurances from Llyandrus that there would be no improprieties he agreed to let her stay. Riding at the head of this contingent, the duke wondered whether this would be enough to harry the orcs forcing them to return to their normal hunting areas. He knew that he had to slow them from reaching Castle Qenildor at all costs. The costs bothered him the most, to talk about war and soldiers' dying is one thing, when it came time to give the orders that could mean the death of thousands was a different story.
Ethan spent the winter falling deeply in love with Celedryl but with that aside he was a consummate professional above all else at his work and with Orin and Sakura's help they have increased the number of agents and unearthed two more high level spies in the dukes court. Mitch and Danielle took turns teaching the new personal guard for the duke and his family Shotokan Karate the art of empty hand fighting and Toyama-Ryu Batto Jutsu the art of swordsmanship. Surprisingly to the chagrin of some, the duke asked Danielle to be the captain of his personal guard replacing Captain Orlan who died defending the duke and his family. It did not surprise Mitch in the least when after Danielle showed she could defeat all comers in empty hand fighting and swordsmanship a new respect for her and her skills emerged. Since their martial demonstration and later training classes, it has become all the rage to have an elf made katana and to learn how to use one. Doric came to all the training classes and was an extremely fast understudy and Danielle was very pleased to see him daily.
Preparations for war at the castle have been proceeding very well so the duke had the manor house converted to a hospital for the wounded and the sick. He was very pleased when he found out that Magna and Thoryn were there to help with Lady Liyania Duke Unther’s daughter who chose to stay through the winter to lend aid. If necessary, the manor will be the last line of defense if it came to that. A wide tunnel leads from the keep all the way to the manor house originally built by the dwarfs when they built the castle as an escape route from the castle during a time of war. In later years, one of the duke’s ancestors decided to build the manor on top of the exit, the decision to do so becoming quite fortuitous considering the circumstances they now faced. To prepare the manor for war the duke had the walls extended up another ten feet and put battlements around the walls so soldiers could adequately defend them. All along the inner baily, he had hastily built mangonels placed so that their buckets filled with heavy rocks could shoot over the walls to pummel the advancing enemy.
As a final act of goodwill, Duke Gawain sent all his knights and knights’ captains with four thousand heavy cavalry under Captain Caldwell north to what has now formerly known as Celedryl’s valley. The woman, children, and elderly that could travel he sent west to Faycastle and Sheepwatch Village near Dragons Bane Lake and anyone that could hold a weapon would stay to help defend the castle walls. The towns of Brookmoor and Qenildor are deserted and at the first sign of war, the duke will order the town and docks of Qenildor fired so the enemy will find no comfort there or use of the building material for siege weapons. As an added precaution, the village of Highmeadow south of the castle was evacuated east to Fort Blackshadow because the village is directly in the path of any orc movements to the north. Duke Gawain liked the ideas that Leadyl and Mitch had to defend against the enemy’s airships so he has implemented them around the castle. As for the cattle and horses, he reluctantly sent them all south to the farmland east of Highmeadow Village where they will be safe from slaughter.
Leadyl is safe behind the now completed palisade around Celedryl’s now expanded village to three times its original size filled with humans, dwarfs, and the welcomed company of twenty-four knights and four thousand heavy cavalry sent by the duke. Strategically placed along the walls, wooden watchtowers filled with archers are positioned so they can rain arrows down on the advancing orcs. She was not sure where she fit in on all of this deciding that if she finds herself outside the walls she would rather be on a horse than on foot so she is more maneuverable and if not up on one of the towers casting spells and using her bow.