Chapter 32

Year 163 – Fall – Quintus Mensis – 1st day

Avem, town of House Valmai, land of the Vale

The defenses were nearly finished. All three northern gates had been sealed with large wooden beams. In front of the northern wall, six-foot-wide by five-foot-deep moats had been dug, and the river’s water was flowing in. A second wall with a moat, a tower, and two drawbridges had been built around the northern bridge and the shipyard. Of the two drawbridges, one was leading from the tower to the eastern side of the northern wall. Were the Kalator to pass through, the island of Avem was surrounded by walls, and a single drawbridge was leading from the northern fort to the northern bridge.

The soldiers and the militias were being assigned to guard duty. The refugees were being moved toward the center of town. The Eagle of Vale was with Marcus, the Avem’s commissary.

Ethen – “Yeah, the drapery as well.”

Marcus – “Our people will freeze if they don’t have any left.”

Ethen – “Leave them the minimum. We need more gambeson for the militia.”

Marcus – “And what about the sheep?”

Ethen – “We took their wool a month ago. I’m afraid they’ll die in the cold if we take it again.”

Marcus – “We will still have around a hundred men without armour.”

Ethen – “Well, I recall we have a few shields left, so we’ll split them. They’ll have either armour or shields, but not both.”

Marcus – “Shouldn’t we wait for some to be injured and then pass on their armour?”

Ethen – “The nerve of this war is the morale of both armies. We don’t want the Kalator to know we are one-third of their numbers. We need so many people on the wall that they’ll think they’ve lost before even trying. We need them to be afraid of attacking, and if we hold their first assault, we’ll break their will.”

Marcus – “Where will the soldiers sleep?”

Ethen – “Prepare many beds for every house close to the main wall of the town. We will assign three soldiers per bed and they will alternate. I want one of them in the bed and two of them on guard duty at all times.”

Marcus – “That’s going to fail.”

Ethen – “My soldiers are drilled enough to do it.”

Marcus – “Can you say the same for the militia? Or for the men of House Krain? I’m afraid we’ll have to get more beds ready.”

Ethen – “No! If they have free time, they’ll think. They’ll get afraid. Or worse, they’ll stop being cautious. I want them to always be ready for battle.”

Marcus – “What you want and what will happen are two different things, Ethen.”

Ethen – “That’s exactly why we need to find a solution for this to happen.”

Marcus – “I could assign other citizens who aren’t fighting to tell the guards to swap.”

Ethen – “Good idea. We need to have this ready in two hours.”

Elsewhere in the town, the soldiers and the militia were being armed at the storage area before walking to the wall.

Judec – “THE SOLDIERS WILL TAKE A FULL SET OF ARMOUR, A SHIELD ON THEIR BACK, A SIDE SWORD, A BOW, AND TEN ARROWS. THE MILITIA TAKES EITHER A SHIELD OR PADDED ARMOUR. THEY’LL ALSO TAKE A SIDE SWORD, A BOW, AND TEN ARROWS.”

Outside of the storage area, a militia was walking with a mail hauberk when the Frey’s general came to him.

General Thorkel – “Hey, you! What’s your name?”

The militia turned around slowly, realising his mistake.

The militia – “I’m Bryn, my general.”

General Thorkel – “You know, militia are not allowed to take mail hauberks.”

Bryn – “Sorry, my general! I’ll bring it back, my general.’’

General Thorkel – “Of course you will, but what punishment will you take?”

Fear was crawling on the man’s back when he answered.

Bryn – “I don’t know, my general.”

General Thorkel – “Bring back your armour as well. I don’t want a frightened shithead on the wall. Find Marcus and ask him to help carry the shit bucket for the soldiers.”

Bryn – “Yes . . . my general . . .”