The Wolf At War by Terry Cloutier

Author:Terry Cloutier [Cloutier, Terry]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Ganderland Publishing
Published: 2021-03-14T22:00:00+00:00

17: Calban

I rode Angry back toward Gasterny, the big black picking his way slowly through the fields as I tried to come up with a way around Einhard’s demands. We were to surrender the garrison within the hour, and if we did that everyone inside it would be allowed to go home—everyone except King Tyden, that is. If we did not surrender, then the Piths would attack tomorrow morning with no quarter given. Einhard had promised me that he wouldn’t kill the king and only keep him as a hostage, but I had little faith that he was being truthful about that. The Sword had not been able to protect Clendon the Peacemaker during the battle of Victory Pass, and I was certain that failure still weighed heavily on him. Killing Tyden in revenge for that failure would undoubtedly take away some of the sting of defeat, not to mention leaving our kingdom leaderless and ripe for the plucking.

I had briefly considered telling Einhard about Pernissy and First Son Oriell and what I believed would happen should Tyden die. But I knew if I did that, my words would fall on deaf ears, so I said nothing. I think my friend would have just found the predicament amusing anyway. The first thing that I did after being acclaimed chieftain of the Amenti was make Saldor my Sword—I could think of no man better suited for the job. He wasn’t an Amenti, of course, but crossing over into other tribes because of marriage or opportunity was not that unusual for Piths, so he had readily accepted. I had hoped to use the Amenti to nullify Einhard’s threat of sacking the garrison, but Saldor had quickly dashed that hope. He’d talked it over with some of the older warriors of the tribe, and though they had agreed my right to lead them could not be disputed, they had refused to side with Ganders over Piths in any way, even for me. However, the one concession Saldor did get from them was that if an attack on Gasterny became necessary, then out of respect for my position, the Amenti would not participate. It wasn’t much of a victory, but it was better than nothing.

I could see the fortress's ramparts were lined with men as I drew closer, and could hear their faint cheers as they recognized me. They couldn’t have possibly known what had occurred in the Pith camp from such a distance, so my appearance must have been a huge relief. Men began hugging each other and waving banners, some even dancing a jig as they lifted their weapons in salute to me. I couldn’t help but smile wearily at the sight. Enjoy it while it lasts, I thought, the smile quickly fading.

The drawbridge slowly lowered to accept me back, creaking and clanking until it landed with a thump on the dirt ramp. I guided Angry across the bridge and through the barbican as men appeared on either side of me, tugging at my legs and boots as they sung my praises.

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