Jack Whyte - Camulod Chronicles 03 by The Eagles Brood

Author:The Eagles Brood
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2012-03-26T00:22:13+00:00

XXI

We arrived back at Camulod in the heavy darkness before dawn and immediately deployed our men within the fringes of the forest that framed the great military practice plain at the foot of the hill. Uther had sent out some of his Celts earlier to range ahead of us and try to determine what had happened during our absence, but to a major and alarming extent we could see for ourselves.

Camulod was burning with a lurid, awe-inspiring glare that up the entire top of the hill, and we could hear the noises of a continuing battle at the bottom of the hill, around the hastily improvised fortifications that Popilius had been building when Lot’s army arrived. On our right, to the north, fires still burned sullenly in the wreckage of the villa. Even from more than two miles away, the scene resembled a madman’s vision of Hades and bitter, acrid smoke blown on the breeze caught at the throat.

“Well?” Uther’s voice was rough and abrupt in my ear. “What’s our move?”

I shook my head, my mind in a turmoil from the evidence of destruction in front of us. I was fighting against tears of anger and frustration and had to swallow hard several times before I could trust my voice to answer him. “I don’t know, Uther, I don’t know. It’s too dark. If we attack now we will have only the firelight to guide us. There could be any number of men out there, hidden in the darkness.”

“Aye, there could be.” His voice was taut and rough with his own rage. “But the whoresons will never expect to find a thousand of us smashing at their ears. Let’s hit them now.” I was strongly tempted to agree with him, but then I remembered we had scouts out there in the darkness and became freshly aware of the silent army at our backs. They had been warned under pain of court martial to make no noise that might betray our presence. I realized that throwing our men into a night attack would be wasteful for several reasons. I jerked my head in a negative. “No, Uther. If we move against them now, we lose our initiative. They won't see our strength, and I want them to see us—a thousand fresh horsemen. Fresh to this fight, at least. Fresh to them. We have to wait for daylight and for our scouts to come back.”

“Come back? They may all be dead, Cay! That’s Camulod burning up there! Your father is up there, so is my grandmother.”

“Uther, I know that.” I wanted to scream at him, but managed to keep my voice low and urgent. “Do you think me blind and a fool? But the choice is simple: either attack now in anger, in darkness, as a blind rabble, and risk achieving nothing, or we wait for an hour and attack in daylight when our strength can be seen by Lot’s people and our own. Lot obviously thinks he has the battle in hand or he would not have his men fighting through the night.

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