swordpoint diplomacy 10

CHAPTER 10

"I already told my brother," Rose disagreed. She put a hand up to stop the messenger from leaving. "We shouldn't send another messenger until we have more information to convey."

Duke Harrod's brows raised but he nodded agreement. "Do we dig in, or do we try to break the walls before we are beset?" He raised his hands in supplication. "Those are our options as I see it."

Celestin huffed unhappily. "They're both unfavorable." He rapped his fingers on their planning table. "Fortresses almost never fall to direct attack. Without time, we don't have our best weapon."

'Hunger,' Rose identified.

"It's unlikely that we will succeed."

"Would we be much worse off if we tried and failed?" the Terem girl asked. "We already know to prepare for a superior force. Perhaps however unlikely, escaping our unfavorable position to get into the city is our best wager."

Lord Drepan gave her a pitying look. "It's easy to say that we're lost either way, but we are fortified here. Turning our line towards the wall, past our ditches- it is sheer folly."

"They're not going to move a whole army around between us and the front of the ditch," she shot back. "They would still have to come through our rear ditches."

"Or else become a very narrow force indeed," Duke Harrod mused. "They could slip past if they go to the west, but the path is narrow. Surely cavalry could not take it."

Rose made eye contact with Celestin. He raised his chin as if to say 'go on then.'

Despite the indirect order from a former teacher, she kept her mouth shut. She didn’t have a solid idea yet.

'I don't like either option,' Rose thought. 'Is there really nothing else? Could I work my plan into this somehow?'

She let the conversation go on without her, lost in her thoughts. She halfway noticed they were arguing, pointing between two different maps. Lord Drepan held up one of the tokens representing a full unit and was gesturing emphatically. Lord Rashe scowled fiercely but was silent.

Surely Etienne would plug the river immediately so that he could move his position. Then-

She froze. "Won't the river flood them?" Rose pushed her way to the front and ran her finger down the best map they had. "We estimated the water would be redirected here. If that gets done before the army arrives, they'll find themselves considerably slowed."

There was a moment of quiet. Duke Harrod broke it with a laugh. "They won't like that welcome," he chuckled. "But we can't know if the Prince will think it's imperative to act on that plan or crucial to our plans that he does not. Are we agreed that this is the best course?" At the show of nods, Duke Harrod beckoned the same messenger forward. "Please tell Prince Etienne that he is to redirect the river as soon as possible," he ordered. He glanced at Rose, belatedly remembering that this wasn't his command.

She gave him a terse nod. He smiled back and sent the messenger off.

'Not as good as Kian,' Rose assessed loyally. 'He left more than 40 minutes ago… he'll get there, report, and put my scarf in before the other arrives.'

…If he was going to arrive at all.

"What are the chances that the enemy is not trying to intercept communication between our camps?" Rose curled a hand into a fist and pressed it into her leg unobtrusively. "They were watched, and the locals clearly use the forest better than we do."

Celestin grimaced. "There is not much we can do," he said reluctantly. "We must hope that our messages make it through."

Something heavy settled in the pit of her stomach. "I will know if the first messenger arrived."

Lord Drepan’s face scrunched up into polite confusion. "Pardon?"

Maybe she shouldn't have said anything - no, if there was a time to put her cards on the table it was now. Rose kept her voice level. "My messenger was to put something distinctive in the river at 10 pm so that I could judge the speed of the water."

"...to see how long it would take for water to stop flowing into the city after the Prince redirects the river," Duke Harrod reasoned.

She nodded. "That's correct." She made herself lift her head that much higher and said, "I have been considering an alternative plan. When the water stops the grates will be exposed. Especially if the city's defense is distracted, they will be slow to notice and react. If we are ready to cut the grate and enter, we could take the city by entering and taking hostages."

The look that Celestin gave her was sharp. "And I suppose that we are to be the distraction at the gates whilst you go inside?" he asked coolly. "With whom shall you enter? How many soldiers should that errand require?"

'How would I know? I've never accomplished anything in my life.'

"What do you recommend?" Rose asked instead of answering. She raised an eyebrow and looked at him impassively. "I imagine fewer is better if we wish to go unnoticed as we approach the gates."

"You'll cover your head if you wish to be unnoticed." Celestin looked at the tent ceiling, massively unimpressed. "They'll see the light glinting off of you in the dark and watch you walk all the way up."

"I have a scarf," Rose said tersely. She could go back to her tent next and tie one over her distinctive hair. "Thank you for your insight."

'It feels like being in training again.'

"It's not a bad plan at all," Lord Drepan interjected. He cast Rose a curious glance. "As long as the Princess feels up to it. Perhaps 5 skilled soldiers should be selected to accompany her as a striking force?"

Celestin sighed deeply and looked at Rose for a long moment. "As you say. Duke Harrod, you know your soldiers well. Can you select five?"

"Of course," the Duke answered. His usual solicitous smile was wearing a bit thin. “If we aim to break the wall, we must move quickly. We shall pray for the floods to wipe away the enemies at our rear, but I think that we should mobilize the army now. Are we in agreement?” At the reluctant chorus of agreement, he nodded decisively. “Very well then.”

“I’ll need those soldiers soon,” Rose decided. She resisted the urge to rub at her temple. She felt a bit foggy. “It’s… It’s nearly 9, isn’t it.” She stretched. “And I was to ask Etienne for an engineer to cut the grate- is there anyone here who would know how to do that?”

“There’s undoubtedly some metalworkers,” the Terem girl answered quickly. “I can track some down and have one go to you. Where will you be waiting?” Her gaze was oddly intense.

“By the river,” Rose shared, feeling a little reluctant about it. It wasn’t in her nature to be overly forthcoming. “Where it bends sharply to the East before doubling back. It’s close enough to access the city but there’s a place with a poor line of sight from the wall.”

Celestin nodded. “A good spot,” he affirmed. He cleared his throat. “If I might make a recommendation- the Princess will prepare herself, and then meet a squad outside of the training paddock to go together. I will prepare the royal garrison in her place, the rest of you will rouse your own soldiers.” He nodded to the gathered nobility. “We can use the same plan of attack as discussed in our last meetings. As for our rear- Lord Rashe, can you form a line facing the direction the enemy is likely to come from?”

Lord Rashe looked at them all sharply. “Yes, of course. All of my soldiers?”

“I think that would be for the best,” Duke Harrod said.

There was a bit of tension. It took Rose a moment to identify the source- most commendations were given for accomplishments such as being the first to breach a wall or kill an enemy. Lord Rashe would have no chance for glory. If all went well, no one would even reach through the floodplain to attack them from behind.

She liked him a little more for the fact that he accepted the unglamorous role without argument.

They adjourned and went off to their separate tasks. Duke Harrod left at nearly a run, undoubtedly to find the finest (nearest?) of his soldiers to go wait with her. Celestin would be rousing the people responsible for siege ladders. She hated that idea- didn’t like that they would be feeding their people onto the ramparts one by one to get cut down.

Rose rushed back to her tent. She slapped her cheeks when she was alone, trying to stay awake. She’d been drifting off far too much during that meeting. She strapped on every weapon that she had, reconsidered and took some off, and then put half of those back on again. She dug out a dark blue scarf and tied it around her head and secured it firmly with pins.

For a moment, she stood in the center of the tent, feeling lost.

‘That’s all?’ she wondered. ‘There’s nothing else to do?’

It didn’t feel like enough. It had to be enough. She left. Harrod’s people were already waiting for her- 5 soldiers, all men. That was a bad ratio even for the army. She greeted them, gave instructions, and didn’t let on that she was trying to remember if she had ever actually seen a woman in Harrod’s forces. Her assigned squad kept up with her well enough, even though two of them were burdened with huge, ridiculous war hammers.

They made it to the river without incident. All around them the army was waking, moving with quiet purpose and a buzzing sense of expectation. More than once someone saw them loitering and tried to order them to a post, but Rose was distinctive enough even with her hair covered to make any officers back down.

The wait felt long indeed. 10 must have come and gone while she was packing and moving. She marked the stars but couldn’t quite seem to do the requisite math to figure out the time. Well, that plan was ruined anyway.

‘When I see the scarf, I’ll know that Kian made it. If he did, the next messenger probably did as well, and I can expect the water to stop very soon after.’

She held her head up, trying not to let on that her head was filled with syrup. It was hard to keep her eyes open and her attention on the water. Surely it would be any minute now. Trepan’s promised engineer had yet to materialize. Would the timing work out? Her guts churned.

Whistling-

Rose ducked, but the arrow connected regardless. It hit home with a slick thud, into the shoulder joint of the soldier to her left. The man's face was frozen in shock. Rose spun, suddenly awake again. She tracked the arrow's direction back to the way it had come from. Someone shouted in her little squad but it was all noise to her, a cacophony of panic and anger. A small group was cresting the top of the hill. Some were running but one figure stood still, drawing their bow again.

Pain.

Pain erupted in her leg.

‘The archer didn’t fire yet. I don’t understand.’

Uncomprehending, Rose listed to the side and fell completely. She hit the dirt hard and rolled to her side to see that the soldiers behind her were fighting furiously.

As in, they were fighting each other.