"I do not think I can give much advice in that regard, I'm afraid," Oliver responded carefully, feeling very much like he was in a fencing match. "I do not intend to do anything worthy of rumour, it simply happens."
"Oh, indeed?" The man said, his eyebrow twitching ever so slightly. "Then, perhaps, the key to a good bit of impulsive surprise is not to think about it?"
"But now you are already thinking about it, Willem, and you've got us trapped down a route of conversation better avoided," Lord Blackwell said.
Willem laughed aloud at that, "Quite true," he said. "Do forgive , gentlen. I am sure you're here on business."
"Now you've already t one of my officers. Colonel Willem. He commands a thousand n," Blackwell said. "Rember his face, as you ought to rember the other faces that you et. You never know when you might be fighting alongside each other."
"Sooner, rather than later, I do hope," Colonel Willem said, smiling lightly at the introduction. "It will be a pleasure to see just what Dominus' son can do on the field of battle. On a proper field of battle, that is."
There was a certain edge to the way he said that latter half of the sentence that did not go unnoticed by Oliver, nor Lombard. Lombard gave the man a stern look on Oliver's behalf, whilst Blackwell dismissed the exchange with a puff of his pipe, staring at Oliver intently.
"You look hungry, boy," Blackwell noted. "Are you that eager for the battlefield?"
"I am eager to see it in its entirety, General," Oliver said honestly. "I do not do well with waiting on the unknown."
"Few n do," Blackwell said. "You'll find your opportunity in the coming days, if you're willing to take it. The Verna plan to take these castles back. Given our nurical disadvantage, it would make sense to endure a siege here. However, we shall be doing no such thing. We do not have the ti for a siege.
We have much work to do, and too few n to do it. Every move has to be worth twice as much."
"You're sending an advance force?" Oliver asked.
"Indeed," Blackwell nodded. "We will secure ourselves a stepping stone imdiately. Fifty thousand n is an impressive number – if they can use every man to their fullest effectiveness. We have been granted the tools of Lord Blackthorn. He's a temperantal man, but his soldiers are as wily as they co. We will use them to drive a wedge through the centre of the Verna troops."
"I'm sure he doesn't care for such explanations, General," Willem said. "From the look in his eye, he seems far more eager to get out on the field."
"You know what it is that makes an attack work, Colonel," Blackwell replied. "It only requires a single spark. I do not care where that spark cos from. If a few sentences are all I need to give that spark its heat, then I will not begrudge it. I have spoken to you, boy, and I tell you my intentions. An advance force of five thousand will be sent.
The fighting will be bloody. Do you have a wish to be a part of it?"
"Of course," Oliver replied without a second of hesitation, well aware of just how intensely the rest of the room was studying him, as he gave his reply to that question.
All of a sudden, that tension dissipated, and a good few shoulders relaxed. Even Lord Blackwell gave the smallest of smiles.
"The fighting will be bloody," Blackwell said. "I say it again. I know youth has a way of running away from us. Do not be taken in too rigidly by its offered confidence. Think of your n. Are they ready for such a task?
This five thousand that I shall send – it will need to be without cracks."
"They are, my Lord," Oliver said. "Their intentions are as firm as my own. It will do them good to be blooded quickly. We have been told continually how different war is to the battles that we have fought, and we have felt for ourselves how it feels to be amongst such large numbers. It will set our nerves at ease to see that the sa tools that we have honed will be as effective here as elsewhere."
"Tell of these n of yours," Blackwell said. "There was a girl with red hair… Her na, I forget, but I have heard praise for her from both Tolsey and Lombard. A prodigy with a bow, I am told. I would see her in action, if I could."
Oliver paused. "I'm afraid she has not co with us, General. We have left her behind to defend Solgrim. She is no soldier, but her talent is as true as you've heard. I would have been troubled to bring her to the battlefield again when she has no taste for it."
"A good woman, from the sounds of it," Blackwell said slowly. "A sha that I shall not et her. How many n have you left behind in Solgrim? I have been impressed with the growth reports I have received on that village. You have done well with it."
"Three hundred, my Lord - and thank you," Oliver said.
Blackwell's steadiness disappeared for a mont, and his eyes narrowed. He glanced at Lombard, a question written on his face. "Oh? And then what n have you arrived with? I thought you promised three hundred?"
"Indeed, I have brought three hundred," Oliver said. "The three hundred in Solgrim are composed of so new numbers. I've left a hundred n behind to see them trained, and brought a hundred cavalry to replace them."
"…That's an awful lot of n to be under the command of soone so young," Willem noted carefully. He seed to be studying Lord Blackwell, expecting so sort of response. After all, it was the Lord who could either allow or deny the raising of such military forces. If he thought it to be a threat to him, he could have them all executed and still be well within the law.
Reviews
All reviews (0)