They went north, towards the mines, following a tip that Roy had gotten from an evacuating villager. It seemed that people from around the isles were taken there and forced into hard labor. It wasn't exactly the sort of thing they were sent to investigate, but Roy couldn't turn a blind eye to those allegations, so north they went.
There was a minor Etrurian lord holding the pass to the mine, one Lord Nord by name. Nord, being only a minor noble, was outranked by Roy and Lilina both. And, of course, Roy had explicit instructions from Etruria to be able to pass through the western isles. He sent a single outrider with a message, and the group moved at a leisurely pace.
There had been no attacks since their welcoming party three days before. As they had moved north they entered first into the reach of the foothills and then farther up, taking them out of the worst of the fog. Up here, it tended to burn off by midmorning, and the army was treated to stunning views. The isles were truly lovely and vibrant places, covered in blossoming plant life from shore to shore, and their beauty was only marred by the undercurrent of tension that ran through everything that people did.
Bandits, Etruria had said. Pirates, they hadn't. But this settled in fear could only be accounted for by a permanent and powerful group of individuals. The first group they'd fought had been organized, but not powerful enough to instill this kind of wariness.
Roy made sure there were outriders during every session of movement, and sentries during every stop. Despite the threat, the army was in a good mood. People were vigilant, but they also talked and chatted with their neighbors. Weapons were placed with the idea of easy access, but no one went around with their hand on their hilt, save the outriders.
Lilina was enjoying herself. Here, her primary responsibility was to be in charge of her own small force, and to fight when needed to. Her secondary responsibility was advising Roy. He hadn't considered leaving her out, even though it would have been within his rights to do so. It suited Lilina fine. No one could deny Ostia's involvement in this squabble now, even if they might want to.
Only three people in Ostia's contingent rode. Lilina, befitting her status as their commander, rode on a fine dapple-gray hunter – a more reliable beast than the showy black palfrey she usually preferred. Sue continued to remain among the Ostians as well, and therefore so did Shin, the fellow tribesman she had recognized during that first chaotic battle.
But the bulk of Ostia's forces had been and continued to be foot soldiers, so Lilina's place was towards the rear of the train, away from the other officers and cavalry.
From there, she could not see what originally caused the disturbance in the lines. She didn't need to see to hear the low, mournful sound of the hunting horns Roy had chosen to signal danger.
Hold, the pattern of the blasts said. Hold and defend.
That always had been Ostia's strong suit.
The Lycian Alliance Army worked well together, considering how little time they'd had to practice. The various groups fell into their ranks with little prompting, and through the orderly lines, Lilina could see their enemy approaching from the fort higher up. Foot soldiers, it appeared, but even foot soldiers could be dangerous if they had the advantage of the high ground.
"They've a ballista," Sue said quietly, and tipped her head in the direction.
Having it pointed out, Lilina could see it too, and could watch the bolts that fell upon the army. "Not many mages," Lilina said. "At least, not mages like me." From the sounds now drifting back, the first wave of the attack had met the Lycian front lines. Her horse merely flicked an ear, alert, but not uneasy.
The Sacaen horses were even more unflappable, though both Sue and Shin had their bows out, arrows held, ready to draw when the time came.
Bors walked up beside them. "We can defend the pass adequately, my lady," he said. "When the rest charge, we can hold this line."
Lilina nodded. "If I can see my enemy, I don't need to be so close. I'll remain here."
A look of relief crossed Bors' face, but he was too well-mannered to say anything in particular about her demonstrated propensity for flinging herself into the fray.
At least, Lilina thought, she came by that honestly. Both of her parents had been brash and reckless. Both of her parents had died before seeing the age of forty. So had her uncle Uther, from Hector's accounts. Uncle Orun hadn't been much older. Neither had her grandparents. Lilina shook the morbid thoughts from her head and settled her spell book more firmly on her lap.
"And what of you?" she asked Sue and Shin. "Will you remain with Ostia's troops, or join the fray on the frontlines?"
"I'll remain," Sue said. "Archers too work well from a distance, and even our horses would have some difficulty with the hills."
Shin also looked relieved, though he was better at hiding it than Bors. "If Sue remains here, so will I," he said. His accent was stronger than Sue's, when he chose to speak in Elibean. He rarely did. He knew Lilina understood him, so it was Sacaen he spoke.
"I'll be glad to have you," Lilina said in Elibean. She used to speak Sacaen as well, a gift from her mother, but after Lady Lyndis had died, Lilina had stopped speaking it almost entirely. Listening to Sue and Shin, it had been coming back, but not so much that she was willing to speak it to them and reveal her ignorance.
Shin bowed his head briefly in acknowledgement and turned to face the fight ahead.
The call came, as they expected, and the army in front of them surged forward, save for the archers and Lugh. Lilina urged her horse up, abreast of those who remained, and picked a target.
She paused only a moment when she realized the man was wearing proper livery. No bandit he, but without doubt an enemy. These men were quick on their feet and knew the terrain. They ducked and weaved across the hills, dodging blows and fouling the lines. Metal weapons they had, but lightning was pinpoint magic, and these men moved too quickly for it to be effective.
Lilina switched back to her fire spells, which could deal damage over a wider area.
Sue rode up next to her. "These are the lord's men, aren't they?"
Lilina let go of the spell she was holding and glanced over. Sue loosed arrows from her bow with a steady hand, showing no reluctance at all about coming up against what should have been honest men, rather than the bandits they were sent to find.
"It certainly appears that way," said Lilina. She flung another spell, targeting a sword user who had been pursuing Marcus. "In my experience, it isn't bandits who force honest citizens to work themselves to death in mines. Orders like that come from a higher power." She wondered if Roy had the same thought. He must have. Why else would he choose to come up this way?
If she looked for him she could find him, his silver armor glinting in the sunlight. General's armor, decorated with fine gold-leaf filigree already damaged and flaking after only a battle and a half. Despite the fancy army, he fought as hard as anyone else on the field, leading his men from the front even as her father had done.
She watched the flow of the battle from down below, seeing the tide ebb and flow. But although the lord's forces knew the terrain better, they were far outnumbered by the Lycian Alliance army and slowly, slowly, the battle turned against them.
It was not long before the first man turned and ran. He was not chased. That prompted a flood of men abandoning the battlefield, taking to the hills. Some men fought to the bitter end, but the army did not stop for them. They pressed on towards the castle.
No longer being needed to hold the line, Lilina left the command of the men to Bors and rode forward to where Roy was.
"Should we pursue them?" she asked. "They could come back to ambush us later."
Roy frowned. "I would rather not kill men in cold blood," he said. "At the moment, the mines are more important."
"General Roy!" It was Merlinus, again, making his way up from the middle of the ranks. "This is no mere bandit problem," he said. "Etruria must be told of this development."
"Things are certainly more complicated that they seemed," Roy agreed. "I will draft a letter to General Cecilia myself."
"It is possible that Etruria already knows, one way or the other," Lilina said. "If the…court…has lost control of their nobles, it wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility for them to send us to clean up the mess. That way whichever side wins, it's no loss of life they consider important."
"I'll write to General Cecilia," Roy said again.
A commotion from the crowd interrupted the meeting before it could truly begin.
One of the soldiers said, "General Roy-"
He didn't have time to finish before a short brunette in the getup of a travelling performer pushed her way through the crowd and emerged in front of them.
"You're that general, right?" she asked. "The bandit chaser?"
Merlinus gave a disapproving little cough. "This is General Roy of the Lycian Alliance army. He is here on Etrurian orders to clean up the bandit problem."
That was good enough for her. She suddenly flung herself at Roy, and grabbed ahold of his arm.
"Please, Roy, you have to come help my friends!"
"Wait a minute-" Roy began.
Merlinus pushed himself between them, "Hold on now, miss, you cannot just grab the general."
Roy flushed. "It's okay, Merlinus." He turned back to the dancer, who had gone from clinging to him to wringing her hands. "You said your friends were in danger?" he asked, in a tone of voice much kinder than the one Merlius had been using.
"Yes, they need help!"
"Slow down a minute," Lilina said. "How about you start at the beginning."
The girl huffed, as if the idea was a big waste of time.
"You certainly didn't believe that General Roy would follow some unknown entity out into the wilds on something at could be no more than a wild goose chase, did you?" Merlinus asked, crossing his arms.
The girl huffed again. "My name is Lalum and I'm a member of the rebels hereabouts."
Roy nodded. "So your friends protect the islanders from the bandits?"
"Yes!" she said, but then she shook her head. "I mean, no."
"No?" Roy repeated, raising his eyebrows.
"I mean," Lalum said, waving her hands for emphasis, "we protect the villagers, yes, but it's not the bandits we have to worry about. It's Etruria that's the enemy here!" She leaned forward, catching and holding Roy's eyes with her own. "Etruria is the one sending the bandits! Etruria is the one squeezing the islands so hard they're like to get blood from stone."
Lilina did not feel much satisfaction hearing that her theory was confirmed. "There's the matter of the mines as well," she said.
Lalum turned her attention abruptly to Lilina. There was an incredible force of personality in those bright blue eyes, enough that Lilina took a half-step back. But Lalum wasn't trying to intimidate. "Exactly!" she said. "The mines! They force people to go to the mines and they work them and work them and work them to death. We've been fighting Etrurian occupation all along and our next stop was the mines on Mt. Ebrakhm but…"
"But?" Roy prompted.
She turned back to him. "But we were betrayed! They probably tortured to get the information but now I have to get to the mines before they can act on it and I need your help to get there!"
"General," said Merlinus, disapproval written all over his face.
Roy glanced at Lilina. "I think more than enough people have been hurt because of our political squabbles," he said. "I want to help them."
"Oh thank you! Thank you!" Lalum said. She flung herself on Roy again, and this time she didn't stop with grabbing his arm, but wrapped him in a tight hug.
Roy blushed again, nearly as red as his hair this time. "Now wait a minute Miss Lalum-"
She detached herself this time, and pulled a sword, scabbard and all, from her belt. "Here, you can use this when you go."
Roy drew the sword, which was not as fine as Durandal, but unquestionably a weapon of superior make and upkeep. "What is this?"
Lalum shrugged. "It belongs to Echidna, our group's leader but as you're riding to their rescue I'm sure she won't mind if you use it. It's supposed to be useful against dragons but since there aren't dragons anymore I think it's useful against wyvern riders too." She paused and tipped her head to one side in thought. "Well I'm not really sure but in any case, it's bound to come in handy sometime, right?"
Roy smiled and slid the sword back into the scabbard. "Thank you, Lalum. I'll make sure it goes to someone worthy of the blade. Ah, Lilina, can you please keep our new friend occupied?"
Lalum opened her mouth as if to protest, but Roy cut her off.
"I need to make rounds of my force and check for injured men, then we will need to form ranks again. I promise we'll be on the move within the hour." He moved off quickly, before the dancer had time for any more outrageous shows of gratitude.
Instead she turned back to Lilina.
Lilina gestured for Lalum to follow her, and headed back for the Ostian division. "Well Miss Lalum," she said, "What can you tell me about the rebels, and the defense around the mine?"
"Oh that," Lalum said, waving a hand. "I can tell you everything you need to know."