I don't know if anyone is reading this but I think I'll continue it anyway. And in that spirit I give you Chapter Three!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Wheel of Time or any of its characters and the like.
Coil was stunned.
He had returned to his rooms shortly before noon after talking with Rankad, a man he had thought to be senile. That had been over an hour ago and Coil was still sitting in his chair by the fire with a small smile on his face.
Rankad had been polishing his sword by the fire when Coil had arrived midmorning. The old man had never used the sword being convinced that it was the sword the Dark One had used to make his counterstroke that started the Time of Madness and no one in the court had bothered to tell him that that was impossible. When Coil entered the room Cohar had looked up and set his gaze fixedly on him. His eyes were clear and he had lost the air of a man who was lost in his mind.
"Culain," Rankad was one of the only people besides his mother to use his first name, "do not let Demono convince the King to go against your plan. We both know what is coming and we both know that there is only one way to end it."
The encountered had given Coil a new out look on the situation; even without Laithar's support or the King's, Coil now knew that others would be behind him.
Coil stood and started toward the door. As it was after the midday meal the soldiers of the city would be making their reports to the captains now and Coil and Laithar would occasionally drop in on them. Of late, Coil had been going more frequently waiting for the guards to start telling of the refugees whispering Hawkwing's name as they sought protection in a country they knew he was coming for. That, of course, was a mark of the times; a person had to flee from a captured state to one under attack to keep any sense of freedom.
Opening the doors of his rooms brought his face to face with a wizened old manservant. Coil stepped in shock seeing that the man's wrinkled hand was outstretched to where the knob would have been.
"Have you got something for me, grandfather?" Coil asked kindly, smiling at the man who would have been considerably shorter than himself even if he hadn't been stooped with years.
The man gruffly handed him the small folded paper in his hand. Coil opened his mouth to ask what it was but the old man hobbled away more quickly than Coil could have imagined he could have. Frowning slightly Coil broke the red wax seal on the paper.
Your cause is supported. We will live in a peace built on the courage of our people not the weakness of some hearts.
Coil allowed himself a small smile. While the support of a nameless and shapeless note writer and a man many thought insane were not the strongest grounds for attack Coil knew it was better than nothing.
Walking unhurriedly through the halls of the castle Coil cast thoughts about in his head. He didn't take time to notice or enjoy the bright tapestries hanging over the cold stone walls he past. They depicted scenes of coronations and hunts, none in this part of the castle showed battles. All of those hanging were in the underbelly of the castle, ignored by those without the stomach to look at them. Aldesharan battle tapestries were known for their brutal realism. The disembowelment of the last king was not something you had hanging in your dining halls but it was not something you ignored. They had always had their cruel beauty and always served as a strong reminder for kings, soldiers, and generals alike as to what the country had overcome before.
Turning left at the hanging depicting the presentation of the infant Ispety, the most recent queen of Aldeshar having died three score years ago, Coil spotted a man he was more than happy to see.
"Coval! Coval, brother! Stop, man, and wait for me!" Coil yelled down the corridor. The slow turn and mischief ridden smile given to him by the other man was enough proof for a magistrate that Culain Coval Hebar had heard him on the first call.
"Why, Coil, I hadn't heard you calling! I'm sorry you must have looked the fool calling down the corridor apparently at no one." Coval smiled again. The brothers, twins in fact, clapped each others shoulders in the traditional fashion for brothers and comrades, Coil's right hand on Coval's left shoulder and Coval's left on Coil's right shoulder.
The two men were not identical as some twins were. Coval was of the same height but his hair was several shades darker and his eyes were a light brown. Coil's blue eyes gave his brother an appraising look. He was garbed as a Marshal-Captain of the King's Guard should be. He was wearing a long, high necked, blue coat with the silver swords, two, parallel one pointing up the other down, of Aldeshar stitched on the breast.
"Perhaps you attempt at a jest would have been better if there had been other people in the hall? And besides, aren't you late?" Coil said turning to continue down the hall.
"Late? Late for what?" Coval asked with real confusion on his face. Coil stared at his brother for a moment with incredulity. Sometimes it was very simple to see why his brother had not achieved to the same level as him. Not that Coval regretted it, he was a very high ranking officer and, after all, would rather spend his time with a pretty girl and hand of cards.
"The Reports must have started at least half an hour ago. That's where I am going but I intended to show after that start." Coil said. Coval started and swore rather more loudly that necessary. That was, of course, before the look of calm apathy set on his face again.
"Well, if Grovare asks why I am later I shall tell him I was hailed by the General Hebar and had to give him company." That smile that said Coval always kept half the joke to himself crept up again. That smile always ensured that Coval was better liked among the girls when they were youths.
"Men stationed on the Plains of Jami have reported Hawkwing camps as close as the boarder with Farashelle, on the west side of the river. Less than twentieth of his army by their guesses, only about twenty thousand, but enough to clearly show his intentions."
"Do they look poised to march, Grovare?" Laithar asked from the left of the podium that Marshal-General Blaan Grovare stood on to address the officers of the Army of Aldeshar. They were sitting on benches according to their rank, with the members of the King's Guard on the left side of the room and the rest of the army of the right. The rooms was larger but seemed larger still by the lack of decoration. They only objects besides the benches were the table on the podium and the large map of Aldeshar and all the surrounding countries on the Continent on the wall behind the table.
"Not that we can tell, General Demono. It's my opinion that the army will not move onto our land until they have greater numbers and Hawkwing with them." Grovare twist to the name displayed exactly what he thought of the man destined to rule all the lands on the map directly behind him.
Coil sat in the back, behind the King's Guard and considered this news. Even if that army crossed the Farshendrelle today it would take them nigh on a fortnight to reach the City. But with only twenty thousand men Hawkwing would not signal the attack. He was a proud man, not a stupid.
It gave Coil plenty of time to completely convince these men and more to die for the ultimate cause. Their people and land.