Ack. So there were midterms. And lots of homework. And sunshine (they combine so well). Now I'm replacing the stove, cabinets, counter, and floor in my kitchen. BUT, I finally have time for Tired, so without further delay….


Chapter Three

The meeting continued; instead of wasting everyone's time while pretending to accomplish anything, today's debate centered around their new objective, bringing the fight to Scanra. A few (impatient fools, in Kel's opinion) loudly repeated that it would only take one more decisive battle to intimidate Maggur and cement a favorable peace treaty. To her relief, these were a minority of the men present.

The rest poured over the few maps of Scanra that they had, trying to pinpoint ideal battlefields. Although taking Hamrkeng would be pivotal, capturing it would be difficult. A red flag marked its position along Scanra's coast, the mouth of the Aud River forming Hamrkeng's harbor.

"How are the defenses of Frasrlund holding, sir?" Kel asked.

"Same old, same old," replied Captain Lawson, "Though I haven't heard any recent reports. Why do you ask?"

"If Frasrlund could spare any of the navy, a two-pronged attack on Hamrkeng would make things a lot easier; the navy could attack by sea, possibly dropping off a couple of Rider groups along the way, and we could flush out the city from behind," she elaborated.

"Too bad Frasrlund probably can't spare the ships, though," murmured Sergeant Bertran.

"Why do the ships have to come from Frasrlund?" asked Seaver. "It doesn't make much sense to remove them from the city that needs them most. But what if they came from a different station?"

"True, but we also don't want to lighten security down south only for Carthak or the Copper Islands to come sweeping in," Lawson pointed out.

"What if we only took a ship or two from an area? That region's patrol would be thinner, but not abandoned," added Seaver.

"You know, that could work. I don't think we'll need more than a handful of ships to attack Hamrkeng from the sea," mused Faleron. "But then again, where have Scanra's ships been?"

"Probably sailing down south for raiding season, or, waiting in the Northern Emerald Ocean to prevent us from sailing up to Hamrkeng in the first place," suggested Quinden. As much as Kel hated to admit it, the knight had a point.

"Okay, so we would probably need several ships, if only to watch each other's backs on the sail north," said one of the other sergeants, whose name Kel couldn't remember. "What are the odds that Carthak would be willing to keep an eye out for southern raids? I know that the Emperor doesn't want to enter directly unless Scanran ships start raiding his waters as well, but…"

"Relations with Carthak are much better than they once were, but they are still relatively young. And while the Emperor is busy with a lot of internal problems, I don't think that we should announce that we're planning on loosening security," said Faleron.

"Good point. Alright, let's table the discussion on where we might get naval support from, we can come back to it later. How are we going to get to Hamrkeng?"

"We'd have to do it in stages; Hamrkeng's at least a thousand miles from here, if we go directly," answered Kel.

"What do you mean 'directly'?" asked Bertran.

"I think that Maggur would be more likely to surrender, and surrender under terms that are beneficial to Tortall, if we take several cities, or other strategic points, not just Hamrkeng," she replied. Before anyone could cut her off, Kel continued. "What if we strike first at Ironridge, here," she pointed on the map. "It's just across the Vassa and one of their army camps. If we don't take it out, you can bet that they're going to harry us all the way home. Plus, Ironridge probably has some sort of supply cache that we could use."

"True, but Ironridge is completely surrounded by hills. There won't be much open ground for a charge," Seaver observed.

"You're right; there's no way around that. But it would hinder their movement. If we have the advantage of surprise, it could work out in our favor," she said.

"There's probably going to be a lot of traps," Quinden added dubiously. "Then again, they probably think that their safe on their side of the river. We'll probably catch them with their pants around their ankles."

"All the same, vigilance is always necessary," said another sergeant. From the sharpness in his voice, Kel surmised that they had been working together lately, to both parties' dismay.

"Anyways, from Ironridge, we could move north to Oflon," she continued.

"That's on the completely opposite side of the country from Hamrkeng! Why in Mithros' name would you want to take Oflon?" asked Faleron.

"Because," Kel explained, "Oflon has easy access to the Drell River, which in turn means that we would have an easier time getting supplies and reinforcements to us quickly. Also, we would send the message that Tortall is committed to taking all of Scanra. We've never sent that message before."

"Yes, but are we willing to invade, and hold, all of Scanra?" It was one of the other sergeants this time.

"Do we have much of a choice? I know that we would have to run this by General Vanget and it's going to be an exhaustive campaign, but how else are we going to show Maggur that we're a serious threat?" Several men nodded in agreement with Kel's words.

"Alright," said Lawson, "So assuming that General Vanget, and the King, are on board, what would you do after taking Oflon?"

"After Oflon, which we should keep secured with at least a rudimentary force, we could move north to Narvee." Kel pointed to it on the map, lying on the Vassa at the base of the mountains.

"You're awfully fond of rivers, aren't you, lass?" commented Bertran.

"I value their tactical advantages," shrugged Kel. "Anyways, Narvee is likely a commercial center in Scanra. At the very least, it's probably a mining town, which would also suggest forges. So if we take Narvee, we could replace any gear we damage and take out one of the sources of weaponry for Maggur's troops."

"I'm sure he'll just love that," Seaver said dryly. Kel smiled.

"Narvee will probably have decent defenses, if that's the case," added Faleron. "But if we can keep continuous supply shipments from Oflon, we can outlast them."

"If we lose Oflon though, we would get pinched between any forces they might send against us," observed Quinden.

"Okay, so we don't lose Oflon. Or, if we can't keep men stationed there, we raze it before we leave,"suggested one of the other sergeants. The men around the table let out small cheers. Kel didn't join in, but she refrained from telling them off for it; she didn't like the idea of setting a town on fire, but this wasn't New Hope and she needed to convince them to listen to her strategy.

"Once Narvee falls, the rest is relatively easy; we just float down the river, until we get here, to the junction of the Vassa and the Smirskir," Kel tapped the map. "Then we'll have to start moving upstream; I don't know how strong the current will be, so I'm not sure if it would be easier to paddle or to march. There's a good road that runs along the river though, so we can take full advantage of that."

"Did you use that road on your way to Rathhausak?" asked Lawson.

"We used a game trail that ran parallel to it."

"In that case, while it may have been a good road, we should expect traps and ambushes along it, especially if Maggur learns of your participation," he continued.

"Good point," said Faleron. "But for all we know, the entire country is booby trapped. And Maggur will have to respond sooner or later, but isn't that the point of the whole campaign?"

"Noted. Alright, so traveling along the Smirskir, river or road, I presume that you intend that we capture Torstad?" Lawson asked. Kel nodded.

"If we can take Torstad, we'll gain another outpost from which we can recuperate. By then, it will be obvious that we're cutting a swathe across Scanra until we get to Hamrkeng, so it should make Maggur sweat a little. And if we do it in stages, it will be much easier to keep our supply lines clear."

"I think that Torstad could be another Scanran army camp," said Seaver, peering at the map.

"It's possible," added Bertran. "From Torstad, it would be easy to send men and supplies down the river…. Looks like they could take it all the way to the sea, if they wanted."

"All the way to Frasrlund, too. So if we took Torstad, we could probably lessen the pressure on our forces there," commented Faleron.

"Or," said Seaver excitedly, "it would lessen their land forces, but draw extra ships… possibly away from Hamrkeng!"

"I doubt that they would purposely lessen the defenses around Hamrkeng," said Quinden.

"They definitely won't weaken Hamrkeng's defenses if we move north along the Smirskir and get to Grimreid," Kel added with a smile. She was glad that most of the council appreciated her plan.

"Grimreid? Where's that?" asked Lawson.

"Right here," Kel pointed it out on the map. "It's right where the Aud River splits; the Smirskir on the east, flowing down to Torstad and into the Vassa, and the Aud, flowing to the west, all the way to Hamrkeng and the coast." Lawson whistled.

"That's a rather roundabout way of getting to Hamrkeng," said one of the sergeants. "It adds… it's gonna be at least 1,400 miles of campaigning."

"But at least 500, maybe even 600, of those miles will be floating down river in boats," said Bertran.

"The benefit of taking cities and towns along the way is so that we don't have to do the entire thing in one go," Kel explained. "This way, we can rest, recuperate, take care of any wounded, and resupply. Also, it'll draw Maggur's attention, which means, Mithros bless, Fort Mastiff may be able to slip an army directly across the Vassa Plain and meet us at Hamrkeng. But's that's a 400-mile march for them, so it'll take some careful coordination. But that way, we would have the manpower to set up a ring around the city, so that Maggur can't escape, should he attempt to run."

"This is a solid plan, but it's going to take months. We may not be back before the winter snows come," Lawson said slowly.

"It's quite possible. But we don't have to keep plowing onwards during the winter if it proves too harsh. Holding on to the cities that we've gained by that point should be relatively simple, especially if we keep our supply lines open behind us so that we can get food and reinforcements along the way," Kel explained, yet again.

The meeting continued for another candle mark as the assembly picked over smaller details, hashing out a cohesive plan until, finally, they adjourned. Kel was glad that they, for the most part, approved of her plan and that they were finally doing (or at least talking about doing) something productive, but she was also glad when Captain Lawson dismissed them for the day.

While the majority of the group went off to the mess hall for lunch, Kel wandered back to her tent. She had half a mind to grab Neal's letter and bring it to Tobe, but she knew that Tobe was probably in the middle of something. Not wanting to make life harder for the boy (the other stablehands still mocked him for his employment to Kel), she left it instead on the small cot inside his tent. Despite Tobe's natural tendency towards messiness, she noted with pleasure that his tent was remarkably neat for an adolescent boy. She must have been rubbing off on him after all. Kel sighed; for all that she enjoyed working with Seaver and her talks with Faleron, she missed Tobe's company. She hoped that she would see more of her servant once they were on the march again.

Kel returned to her own tent. Her stomach gurgled, but she ignored it, sitting down at her desk instead, pulling a sheet of parchment towards her along with a quill and bottle of ink. She carefully addressed the letter to her parents, before pausing, thinking of what to write. It wasn't that she had no desire to communicate with beloved parents, but that she did not know how much she should censor her involvement in the war, nor how to fill a page talking about her tedious day-to-day affairs. Her stomach gurgled again, louder this time. Deciding that a full stomach would help her draft an appropriate letter, Kel put her writing implements aside and left her tent once more.

Upon leaving her tent, Kel opted to take the longer route to the mess. A small part of her hoped that she might catch a glimpse of Tobe, or, at the very least, see something that would interest her parents. Kel knew that her parents wanted to know what she was up to, but she also knew that, after three sons who were also knights, news of the war front was less than exciting.

In her last letter, Ilane asked if Kel was seeing anyone. At the time, Kel brushed it off; it was a reply to her own letter about Neal's wedding and Raoul's wedding and Ilane was bound to be curious. Kel was inclined to ignore the question, but she suspected that her mother would continue to bring it up. On the other hand, if she made any mention of her nonexistent love life, she had no doubt that it would become the theme of her correspondence, which was the last thing on earth that she wanted.

Absorbed in thought, Kel almost crashed into someone. Suppressing a blush, she began to apologize.

"No, no, it was my fault. I'm sorry, Kel, I just wasn't looking where I was going," said Faleron sheepishly.

"Neither was I. So I guess it's both of our faults."

"I can live with that. So where are you off to? We missed you at lunch."

"I'm actually on my way to grab some food now. I was trying to write a letter to my parents, but I wasn't making any progress."

"You take a break from drafting a letter, but you'll stay up all night working on battle strategies? You're quite the character, Keladry of Mindelan," Faleron said with a smile. Kel couldn't help but smile back.

"Strategy is much more logical and less scary than writing to one's parents." At Faleron's puzzled look, Kel continued, "Bar one brother, I am the last of my siblings to get married and I think my mother is catching on.

"Ah," Faleron said quickly. For a moment, Kel thought that she had said too much, but she couldn't think of anything to say that would ease the awkwardness. Thankfully, Faleron broke the silence a few moments later. "By the way, you came up with a really impressive plan for invading Scanra. That's why you've been working so hard lately, isn't it?" Kel shrugged.

"I needed to do something. Anyways, I just hope that General Vanget agrees."

"Too bad it'll be at least a fortnight until we find out if we're moving out or sitting here," Faleron added.

"At least Vanget has a mage powerful enough to communicate directly with the king. Imagine waiting here for another month!"

"Aw come on," said Faleron as he slung an arm around her shoulders. "There are a few perks; I finally get the chance to catch up with the legendary Pr-Keladry!"

"Nice save," said Kel. She wasn't really sure how to respond to the arm that rested across her shoulders. On one hand, while he was an old friend, but on the other, she couldn't remember a time when any of her friends, barring Neal and Cleon, touched her so casually. She decided to relax and accept the warmth; she could puzzle it out later.

"It's a popular name amongst the bards," he said unapologetically.

"The army gets a lot of bards now, does it? I have yet to see any."

"Ah, but that's because you stay hidden away with your weapons or your paperwork or your extra guard duty or whatever other chore you find needs doing," Faleron said, his tone joking, as they walked around the edge of the practice area.

"I like being busy, that's all." Kel said. A second later she heard a small choking sound.

"I like you," Faleron blurted out. The arm around her shoulders tensed, but stayed put.

"What?" Kel stopped walking.

"I don't know what's going on," replied Faleron. He dropped his arm from around her shoulders and took a step back to face her.

"What did you just say?" If Faleron's face did not qualify as scarlet before, there was no doubt that his cheeks were a bright crimson now.

"I-," he took a deep breath and seemed to resolve himself, looking up to meet Kel's gaze. "Kel, I have feelings for you. I've had these feelings for a long time, but I always pushed them to the side. But they all came rushing back when you came back into my life. I didn't tell you because I didn't want to compromise our jobs here and because I was afraid that you might try to avoid me.

"I was going to tell you, but I thought that I should wait until the war was over. However, I was compelled to tell you now. So," his voice wavered, "now you know." He looked up at her hopefully.

Kel was flummoxed. But a new relationship, just as they were about to invade Scanra seemed like a bad idea, something that she knew better than to pursue. She meant to tell him that she wasn't interested, but when she opened her mouth, she couldn't breathe; she was choking. She tried to force a refusal out.

Instead, she heard herself say, "I don't know how I feel about that." All of a sudden, she could breathe again, but the words kept coming. "I can't say that I've never thought about it, but —"

Kel couldn't outright tell him no. Whatever was compelling them to talk was also compelling them to be strictly honest. Kel didn't like the feeling. She had never thought of herself as a liar before, but she didn't like announcing every secret that she had.

"Do you know why we're being compelled to tell the truth?" she asked instead. Faleron shook his head no.

"I have no idea. Before we investigate, which, I think we would both really like to do, do you mind if I ask you a question?" When Kel opened her mouth to reply, he quickly added, "Then we can figure this out later. We really should figure out what's going on, I just need to know."

Kel looked at him for a moment. She was afraid of what he might ask. But this was her friend Faleron and she knew, regardless of whatever feelings there might be between them, that he was not the type of person to take advantage of this awkward honesty-compulsion to hurt her. And the sooner he asked, the sooner they could figure out what was going on. Slowly, she nodded. Faleron looked, if anything, more nervous.

"Kel, if I… how would you feel if I kissed you?" She was about to reply, yet again, that she didn't know, but then she thought back to the arm he had casually draped around her shoulder. Part of her cursed herself for her answer.

"It… it could be nice, I guess." She tried to look anywhere but at Faleron. "I think I found the reason why we have to speak the whole truth," she said, pointing to a large tree ten yards away, just outside of camp.

"What? Oh. Mithros," breathed Faleron as he too noticed the large griffin.


Sorry again for the delay in chapters. Now that I'm on top of my homework (and almost finished with the term), I think it'll be easier to stay on top of things and get the next chapter out promptly.

-Rudduck