Ashling Andrew - The Invisible Hands 1 - Gambit by Andrew Ashling

Author:Andrew Ashling [Gambit]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 10:

DEPARTURES

It was halfway through January and the weather had turned for the worse. Outside the ancient Town Hall of Dermolhea a snow storm was raging, and the overcast sky made it seem evening, though it was only mid afternoon. Anaxantis, Ehandar and Tomar were mounting the stairs to the Council Room. A servant led the way.

“I wonder if they’ll give you the troops we need without making too much trouble,” Tomar whispered. “Troops?” Anaxantis asked, arching his eyebrows.

“Yes, troops. Fighters. Soldiers. Put a lot of them together and you could call them an army. Isn’t that why you are here? To ask them for more troops?”

“Certainly not. The last thing I’m going to do is ask them for more soldiers.”

Before Tomar could say another word Uppam Fraleck, lord mayor of Dermolhea, appeared from the Council Room to welcome his guests. He led them straight to his private study where two men, who had arrived earlier, stood up to greet the prince and his companions.

“Please, gentlemen, remain seated,” Anaxantis said, and he smiled affably. Six chairs stood in a semicircle near the hearth. The flames of the open fire and the dozens of candles on the chandeliers cast their flickering lights on the attendants.

“I’m here, both to inform you of some troubling news that reached me and to ask your advice, if you’ve got any to offer,” Anaxantis said, after they had sat down and some polite nodding and courtesies had been exchanged.

He explained, without telling everything he knew, what he had learned and what he suspected.

“So, last year we were threatened by barbarians in the north, and this year we could face an invasion from the south,” Marak Theroghall senior said, distilling the essence of what the prince had told them.

“That’s more or less it,” Anaxantis confirmed. “If the high king manages to defeat Lorsanthia, he may well decide that the moment is ripe to direct his victorious troops against us. If he loses we could be confronting Lorsanthia. Either way we would be in trouble. But I suspect you knew most of this already.”

“We try to keep informed on what happens outside our own backyard, yes, Your Highness,” Marak Theroghall senior said. ”Do we know just how many men we will be facing?”

Anaxantis shook his head.

“No, I’m afraid we don’t. There are rumors that the high king is marching half his army to Ormidon and that he will disband them

there. It could be a ruse, and some have it that the troops, far from going to be dismissed, will be directed against us. I doubt this is the case, but we can’t be sure. We’re trying to find out. The Merchant Houses of the Forty have their own intelligence networks. Any additional information, any intelligence at all for that matter, would be more than welcome.”

He looked at Tomar.

“Sir Parmingh here, will give you the details how best to relay whatever you find out, in order that it may reach us as quickly as possible,” he added.

The Dermolheans looked at each other, not certain how to respond.

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