The Habit of the Emperor by J J Moriarty

Author:J J Moriarty
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 2019-04-10T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

It took them a day’s hard marching to reach the spot at the edge of the Khemmis. All eighteen thousand troops. They waded through knee high water, ground that was waterlogged, and the swarms of mosquitos that lived above the flooded land.

At the edge of the Khemmis the land was even worse. The thousands and thousands of fist sized stones Hyzou had commission were made into piles the height of a man. They stood in lines, in a semi-circle facing north. There was enough space between each pile for two or three Servants to stand. Hyzou and his men made camp on the southern side of the pile. The flooded ground meant that they couldn’t put up their simple tents, but it didn’t matter. Hyzou was just planning to have them sleep there for one night.

In front of them the ground was even worse. It was flooded nearly to waist height. Throughout the spring, Hyzou had all the clay in Piquea ground down and mixed into the soil at the edge of the Khemmis. None of the flood water could drain off properly.

Hyzou found himself a raised piece of ground and settled in for the night. The night was warm, summer was coming. Though it left him soaked, he happily slipped off into his dreams after the day of marching.

He awoke when a Servant shook his shoulder.

“Your Majesty, the sun’s risen. The Lamyblans are near”, he said.

It didn’t take long for Hyzou to shake the sleep off.

“Thank you”, Hyzou said.

“Do you want some jerky?” The Servant said.

Hyzou nodded and took a strip.

“Who are you?” Hyzou asked. “You look familiar.”

“Gyar, sir. We spoke through the ekstasis”, Gyar said.

“I remember now. Drascian, aren’t you?” Hyzou asked.

Gyar nodded.

“How do you feel before today?” Gyar said.

“It’ll be a victory”, Hyzou said.

“They outnumber us, sir”, Gyar said.

“We did it once before”, Hyzou said.

“Win against those numbers? Yes, in wide open spaces, against a disorganised force”, Gyar said.

“How do you know how many men are in the enemy’s army?” Hyzou said.

“I woke before the sunrise, to watch the Lamyblans arriving”, Gyar said.

“How far away are they?” Hyzou said.

“Five miles”, Gyar said.

“Wake Vak there”, Hyzou said.

Gyar shook Vak awake.

“Huh? What’s happening?” Vak said.

“Vak, gather the captains, and tell everyone to assume their positions”, Hyzou said.

Vak stumbled to his feet.

“Yes, Your Majesty”, Vak said.

“You’re too smart for your own good”, Hyzou said, once Vak had left.

“What do you mean?” Gyar said.

“The men need to believe we’re going to win”, Hyzou said.

“I do believe it”, Gyar said.

“You do? But what about all those things you mentioned?” Hyzou said.

“You’re leading us”, Gyar said.

Hyzou laughed.

“We’ll see”, Hyzou said.

The captains began to gather, the leaders of the companies, the Servants and the phalanxes. Hyzou stood and looked them over. He walked to the nearest pile of stones and climbed atop of it. He could see them all, nearly nine hundred of them.

Hyzou cupped some of the water then anointed himself with it.

“Which of you fears sowing this soil with your blood?” Hyzou asked.

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