Chapter
I
Into
the War
It all begun at a rainy winter day in the Stone of Tear, at the
beginning of the New Year. Most of the High Lords and Lesser Lords had under
the last few years begun to try to return the old ways before the Dragon Reborn
took over Tear. Several harsh measures during the last 3 years had almost taken
away half of the commoners post-dragon rights, and the mood in the nation was
glum and angry.
The High Lords Weiramon, Tolmeran, Timolan,
Valdemon, Belman, Sanchez, Osiellin, Amalsin, Andiama, Selorna and Berama were
summond in High Lord Tolmerans quarters in the Stone of Tear. They were
planning the next move for restoring the old system when a servant came bashing
trough the door.
"I am very sorry High-Lord's, but this urgent
message came just in to High-Lord Timolan. It's from Godan sir, and it's marked
with the most urgent sign".
Timolan ripped the roll of
paper from the servant's hand and sent him away. After quickly reading trough
the letter he let it drop to the ground, and said terrified to the rest of the
lords "Godan has fallen". After his announcement everyone in the room was
startled and confused, and soon Weiramon said "Fallen to whom. Mayene are
totally incapable of launching such an attack, and any army entering Tear that
far beyond the border would have been spotted, and the High-Lords Cerandin,
Carlomin and Sunamon are all in the east of Tear right now. Carlomin even has a
small permanent army there! How?". After several agreeing nods from the rest of
the High-Lords Timolan said "It is they that have taken Godan. It seems they
have rebelled, and in a surprise move taken over Godan.". After this was said
all the High-Lords seemed startled mostly, but several seem terrified, and
seemed not to find the words until Weiramon spoke up and screamed "Why?", at
the same time as hitting his fist at the wooden table he was sitting by, almost
breaking it. Timolan said almost in panic "I don't know. I'm not a bloody Aes
Sedai, but I bet 10000 gold pieces on that they have something to do with
this."
A fierce discussion followed, with plans ranging
from invading Godan to declaring war on the Aes Sedai. High-Lord Selorna even
said that noone would expect them to invade Illian now. Angry glares from the
rest of the High-Lords made him decide to stand silent for the time being.
It was decided that they would send messengers to
the rebels, trying to find out what they wanted. It was also decided that the
reserves would be called in, to get ready for a long and bloody war.
The High-Lords Cerandin, Carlomin and Sunamon stood
around a big marble table at Carlomins palace in the city of Godan. A large map
covering Tear, Mayene and the south parts of Haddon Mirk and Moredo was in the
middle of the table. Cerandin spoke out "I doubt they will attack us before
they have at least tried to talk to us. They might be three times more than us,
but should this become an all-out war it will cost them allot, and they know
it. Besides, Valdemons and Sanchez main lands are all within striking distance
of our armies. They will be strongly against any attack at us before they are
sure we cannot be bargained with".
Sunamon replied "I suggest we try to bargain
with them. After all, we do not want to conquer Tear, we want to make sure that
the commoners get their fair share, not just the little scraps our fathers and
grandfathers gave them"
Carlomin
nodded to it, then said "All good and well, but I really doubt they will agree
to our demands with the relatively little threat we pose to them. I think me
and Cerandin should move in our armies to be ready to take over Sanchez and
Valdemons territories, while you Sunamon are to ready an army mostly of Cavalry
units to move into central Tear. With that we might be able to bargain better,
and if need be, attack." The two other High-Lords glanced at each other, and
after Cerandin nodded to Sunamon, and he back, the plan was agreed on by all
three leaders, they each left into their own rooms to discuss this with their
followers.
Little did they pay
heed to the servants who cleaned the room afterwards and were fully free to
notice the composition of troops set up on the map at the table.
A commoner named Retin Chialin was
walking home from a hard day of work at his small, but fertile fields. "All
that I do for the honourable lords here, I would imagine them repaying me in
some other way than giving me more work to do" he though out aloud. Ah well, he
though. Soon he would be home in the arms of his loving wife, and the ditches
he had dug today would be able to hold of the floods that came with the winter
storms. No more work for several days, unless the local lord managed to find
him yet another thing to do.
As he saw his house he noticed his
wife waiting outside. Strange, as she usually kept inside for warm at this time
of the year, he wondered. When he got closer he noticed a white piece of paper
in her hand, and wondered what it might contain.
"Good day wonderful wife." he said
in a casual tone "You hold bad news in
your hand assuming from the glum look you are giving me now. What's in the
letter?" he asked thinking that he would be called in for repairs at the local
mansion. "You are being called into the army", his wife said sadly, "A war has
begun", and then she started almost crying.
"What? Against whom? Are you
joking?", he asked startled. The last war had ended most of the nobles desire
to go to war again. And Illian was not especially aggressive now? Who could it
be he wondered? After his wife had gone into their little stone house and
dropped the letter to the ground he picked it up and started reading "Retin
Chialin. You have been called into the army, under lord Jersin's command.
Report yourself to lord Jersin's mansion immediately. Take any spare clothes
you wish to use with you"
After he had read the letter, he
still wondered what this was all about, and walked on in to talk to his wife.
"Isbella, what is happening here? What am I being sent into?".
"Light! Look after where you are
throwing those knives of yours!" shouted Ricao Tzuni at one of his comrades who
missed badly on where he meant to throw his knife. Several commoners were in a
corner of the Inn, throwing knives at the head of some poor soul who tried to
resist when the rebel forces took over the city. Looking at his hair, he might
even have been a rich merchant, although that was in the past for him now. Two
days ago Lord Cerandins army had taken over the city, assisted by almost half
of the population of the city. The lucky ones of the resisting nobles had died
fast. The really lucky didn't get their heads used as target practice.
Most of Ricao's friends had spent
the last two days playing dice, having fun with knives and using the local
brothel. There had been surprisingly little looting. The High-Lords on their
side had secured the palaces, and noone else was in the mood of looting their
own homes. Some of the villages and towns out in the country had not been so
lucky though.
After he finished his thoughts, a
solder in full armour stepped loudly into the inn then, hitting his fist in the
wall and exclaiming "Tomorrow morning the army will move out. Anyone wanting to
join may do so at the grand square today until sundown. There will be lots of
looting of the nobles palaces, and a chance to do some good for yourself and
other too." he exclaimed "And take that head down too" he said as an
afterthought.
Hmm, the army. At least it will be
more fun than getting killed when the "loyal" High-Lords enter the city and
kill half it's population. I I'll join up, Ricao decided. "Hey guys, anyone of
you be joining the army. Better there than here I suppose." After a while most
of his friends said they would join too. Although some of them decided to stay
home with their families, that day seventeen commoners walked out of the inn to
join the army. Most didn't think they would survive.
Around a large round table sat
High-Lord Carlomin, his two generals and four lesser lords at his sides. A
large map of Tear was on the middle of the table, heading towards Carlomin. "My
fellow High-Lords think we can bargain with them. I do not. They will never
bargain with someone they would call rebels. Our only hope lies in taking over
as much of the nation before they can react, and drawing in masses of
commoners. Lord Ermon, you will start a massive recruiting campaign in our
homelands, and you, Lord Hedryn, will try to recruit people from other areas,
like this city. Generals, move our armies into position to take Sanchez lands,
and when you think you can launch an successful attack, do so." All the persons
around the table nodded, and General Ferwyl said in a normal tone "As you
command milord, but may I ask what will the other High-Lords do when notice
that you are attacking?". After looking at him, he quickly though if it might
have been best not to say anything at all. High-Lord Carlomins face seemed all
red and angry, and his hand seemed moving towards his belt-knife. Then he
shouted "You do not question my orders ever. If you do, you won't live to
regret it. You will go and complete the orders I have given NOW, or I will make
it sure that it is your head that the commoners use for target practice next.
Move!". After a blink of an eye the generals and lords ran away from his
apartments, and a few minutes later the guards at the city gates wondered why a
man with generals markings on him ran trough the city wall like the Dark One
himself was after him.
High-Lord Weiramon was standing proud in a secluded corner in the Stone
of Tear, with his three generals around him. "Those fools who would call
themselves High-Lords think they can bargain their way out of this. They say
that we can end this war without bloodshed, but what happened at Godan then,
yes? Our best hope lies in attacking them fast and with resolve. Our forces lie
just five days from their border at High-Lord Sanchez lands, and my instinct
tells me that an attack there will allow us to win this war in a twenty days at
most after crossing their border. With me presenting our loyal High-Lords the
city of Godan and the heads of the deserters, I will become King of Tear, and
you my dear friends, will be equally gifted." He exclaimed as nothing
could ever go wrong. After all, his father had been one of the Dragon Reborn's
closest allies, and he would become an even greater man.
His generals bowed their heads respectfully and
departed slowly. As soon as they had passed into a place were noone would hear
them, one of them said "Is he mad? Whatever we can muster up against him
this fast, we will never be able to take on an army that has been prepared for
a long enough time to be able to take eastern Tear without any resistance, much
less we will be able to conquer Godan", general Suiano Zuvari said in an
almost common tone. General Mercands remarked swiftly "He might be mad,
but if we do not do as he says, we might well find ourselves at the end of a
rope.". The rest of the generals looked at each other with worrying
glances, fearing that they were already dead. Then Zuvari stated as a fact
"If we cannot win with what we have, then we must get more. We will
recruit everyone at Sanchez lands, and those that do not join, will be joined.
It is the only way". The generals all seemed startled and worried after
these words, but soon all three nodded.
"Well, High-Lord Tolmeran. Care to explain why you have summoned us
at this early hour? As a matter of fact, why do you think you can summon us at
all? We are all equals to you, and we will not accept this. If this is about
the rebels, they are already to be taken care of, so..." High-Lord
Weiramon spoke out as if he was the centre of the known-world. None of the
other took any notice of him.
"I have devised a plan to crush them, utterly
and totally." Tolmeran spoke out while scrolling up a map on a table.
"High-Lords Timolan and Osiellin will be ready to move in at High-Lord
Valdemons lands. He seems to have fled there to organize a defence. Foolish to
run, but it will most likely secure that front until we decide to move in
there. High-Lord Selorna will organize a fleet at Tear. You will all send ships
to him. As for the rest of you, we will prepare an supreme attack into
High-Lord Carlomins area from Sanchez lands. Now, does anyone here have
anything else to say?". After finishing he sat down on a chair, looking as
calm and controlled as ever. The rest were still studying the map on the big
stone table, or whispering among each other.
"Your plan is all good and well, but tell me
this. Why should we just send our ships to Selorna just like that, and although
are flanks are strong, what about the middle. You haven't said a word about the
middle" High-Lord Berama said in a protesting manner.
"You will send your ships to Selorna because
it is the only way, and you do not need to worry about the middle, leave that
to me. I know exactly how to win at the middle." he said plainly. Standing
up he walked casually to the map, picked up three small figures, one a
horseman, two pikemen and put them right between the two other armies that were
on the map. "I have quite confidential information that I can win at the
middle" he exclaimed while looking at Berama.
As light winter raindrops fell down on Ricao's new
armour and helmet, he wondered whether he would get cold in these. He was quite
angry over that his captain was the kind of man believing that every tree they
passed concealed an enemy. Everyone was forced to carry his armour and sword
all the time. At the first day someone had decided to remove his armour, at
which the captain responded by dragging him behind a cart for a full days
march. Noone had tried to remove his armour after that.
They had just struck camp, just like they had done
for the past two and a half weeks. He was forced to stand guard duty again, a
forward guard about 1 mile from the camp. "Hey Ricao. I have been
thinking", his fellow guard said "With the speed we have been
marching, we should be almost at the border to Sanchez Lands now.".
"Yeah, we better be. And with a little luck
that captain of ours will die in combat too" he smirked. "Then maybe
we will be able to get some rest. You know how hard it is to sleep in one of
these breastplates.". Ricao though about how he never believed he could
fall asleep from pure physical exhaustion. He had really tried to do that with
the local women he though while forming a small smile on his lips.
"You know what I heard from a guy that is a
servant of our captain. In about two days we will meet with the main army.
After that we'll begin to invade Sanchez immediately. I hear that he has rich
lands, but I don't think they will be so rich much longer now, yes?" the
guardsman said while trying to suppress a smile.
Retin Chalin stood bored in a line with the rest of the common infantry.
They had trained the last two weeks on standing and moving in closed formation.
He though they might actually be quite effective, although from what he had
heard from the War of the Dragon Reborn, he suspected the cavalry would charge
at first chance. Not that he had any problem with that ofcourse. That way he
wouldn't have to fight at all he though.
"All right you lazy commoners! You are now
officially trained as light spearmen. Tomorrow we will start moving towards the
border. I expect you to be ready at dawn!" shouted the young bannerman
that stood before them. After those words the soldiers moved backwards almost
in one motion, towards the kitchens. Seeming from what food they had got during
the training, the nobles seemed to think that infantrymen didn't need to eat
since they were going to die anyhow.
"Wow! It seems we have my favourite food again
today, hard bread, vegetables stolen from the closest farm, and my favourite:
water heated a full day in the glorious Tairen sun." exclaimed Caon Tunges
, the banner-groups trickster from behind. Retin though about the time that he
had seen Caon with some food stolen from the nobles. A small smile came to his
face when he though about how he had seen him repair the latrines the next day.
He was right though. They had received the same food, from the same tent, made
by the same dirty chef, every day for the last two weeks. Atleast during the
march here had had food from his home with him.
He took his food on a dirty wooden plate, and found
at somewhat clean spot to sit down on the ground on. It was as muddy here as in
any larger town, even if this camp could only have been here for three to four
weeks.
Right then he heard shout's from somewhere at the
edge of the camp. It seemed that everyone had heard it, and looking further
towards the direction that the sound came from, everyone seemed to be running
somewhere. Then he heard clearly what was shouted: Enemies!
"Enemies? Here? What is happening?"
Everyone in the camp seemed to have heard now, and they were almost all running
towards the armoury. Then he noticed that he was too. People streamed into the
pathway from between the tents. Retin noticed some poor soul that had been
trampled down in the mud. As he quickly looked backwards he noticed about five
horsemen cutting down several of his unarmed comrades.
As he reached the armoury, he noticed that he would
never get a spear in time. The entire building was surrounded by an
impenetrable barrier of soldiers, and all the racks outside it were already
empty. A quick glance back showed him that the horsemen were already halfway to
him.
Right then some punched him lightly in the back and
said "Hey Retin. Take this spear. I took two as I supposed that someone
like you might not get here in time to get one yourself" one of the
friends he had got during training said to him.
"May the light shine on you Cristof. You just
saved my life I suppose. But lets get outta here now before those horsemen get
here. I hardly think that only five of them could do this, but I do think that
they are all heading towards the armoury. Unarmed men are allot easier to kill
I suppose." he said relieved and hopeful. He and his friend started
running into a small gap between two tents.
"We should try to find some more soldiers and
organize effectively. Then we might actually have a chance" he said
hurrily while looking to one direction in case of enemies. He started turning
around and said "We ar..." Retin started to say, when he noticed the
most terrifying sight in his entire life. His friend had lost his head, and the
bloody corpse that once belonged to him was falling down to the mud. As he
looked up he saw a huge man in iron plates with a longsword, on top of a black
horse in iron plating. His surprise and terror lasted only a few seconds
though, and he started to trust forward his spear towards the man, hoping to
atleast push him of the horse. Almost immediately the horseman chopped of the
end of Ricaos spear, and the rest of it flew out of his hands from the blow. He
was certain he would die now, when he noticed someone coming out of a tent at
his right side. The horseman noticed the man too, but too late as he had
already throwed himself on the horseman, knocking him of his horse.
Relief and joy swelled trough Retin for an instant,
but then he noticed his friend Cristof in the mud, with a full spear still in
his hands. He created an evil smile, and picked it, walking slowly towards the
horseman and the soldier fighting in the mud. The horseman's armour greatly
hindered his movement, and the soldier had almost managed to make him stop
fighting when Ricao throbbed the spear into the horseman's head, splatting
blood on him and the soldier.
"That was for Cristof you swine." he said
almost calmly. The soldier looked up from the horseman, onto Cristof's body,
and then nodded respectfully up to Ricao.
"My name is Kunao Mercandes, and you would
be?" he said in a casually tone, after which he wiped of the blood from
his face with his shirtsleeve.
"I am Retin Chialin. I will go kill more
now" he said angrily.
"I have nothing else to do either, so I will
go with you. That horseman has a very fine sword, don't you think" he said
while smiling and picking up the sword.
The fight was almost over at most places
they got too. Almost half of the soldiers in the camp had died, and the rest
were split up as reinforcements for other bannergroups, but the war had begun
now, and it would not end until everyone at one side had died or
surrendered.