As Chenzhou and Mingzhe debated returning to their forces, Eirian turned her attention to her four sub-commanders.
Wayland and Vitali seed fine. Tired in the case of Wayland, but Eirian was starting to get the sense that he was just exhausted by the world, similar to how Yuze frequently seed. Vitali had practically glowed during the battle and it had finally faded after a few days, but she still seed to have more energy than everyone else.
Tanning was barely concious, but that was understandable. His role in commanding support and logistics ant that most of his work happened before and after the battle itself and he hadn’t stopped moving since the battle ended. He had dark circles under his eyes and pale skin and was half slumped over on Vitali’s shoulder, but no one said anything.
Wen Chunhan…
Wen Chunhan was going to be an issue, Eirian was starting to realize. He was back to perfection, flowing robes, gleaming armor, perfect hair, and Eirian hadn’t heard anything about his exploits during the battle. Vitali and Wayland had been right with Eirian for most of the battle and she’d heard the soldiers talking about them as she moved around the camp.
Tanning’s soldiers didn’t hestitate to sing his praises and though Eirian had seen less of him during the battle than Wen Chunhan, there was no doubt he’d contributed.
Wen Chunhan had shown his face more than once, but he’d never looked like he’d done anything. It had taken Eirian two hours to wash the blood out of her hair and the robes she’d worn under her armor were beyond saving.
There was the chance that Wen Chunhan was just that good but frankly, if the Wen’s could produce warriors that good, they should be ruling Sorrow, not sitting as so minor noble clan at the edge of the kingdom.
He was adept at singing his own praises she’d noticed, since his first report after the battle had been all about his actions during the fighting. His n hadn’t…disagreed necessarily, but they’d only echoed anything he said. His forces had fared well in the battle.
Almost too well. But it seed crazy to assu he’d do sothing so obvious, that even if Eirian missed it, the other units serving around them wouldn’t and that could be far more dangerous than Eirian noticing if the soldiers took justice into their own hands.
She considered bringing it up to Chenzhou and Mingzhe but they were both so worried about their own forces that she didn’t want to delay their return.
As much as she wanted to keep them close. They had to get through the campaign and then they could talk about everything.
And they had to find Yuze before they didn’t anything else. It was wearing on Chenzhou to have him gone with no idea if he was okay and Chenzhou worrying was wearing on Eirian and Mingzhe, both of them terrified he was going to get distracted and make a dangerous mistake.
Eirian found herself having the odd realization that she didn’t want to loose him. Either of them. But that there was a very good chance that she could. That both of them had survived the last war was not shocking, but not guaranteed either. And their chances would only go down as ti went on.
She’d just gotten them, that she could loose both of them before even a year was infuriating, but they were both too dedicated, too responsible to worry about their own safety.
It was annoying. She’d never worried about Philip like this.
There’d been no sign of the tribes since they’d fled the battlefield and if Eirian hadn’t exhausted all her worry on Chenzhou, Mingzhe, and Yuze, she’d have worried about that. Since she had, she was mostly just antsy to fight again, since she’d finally recovered her strength. She’d ordered patrols to start, the way they’d planned too originally and send squads to check on the nearby villages and to ride the river and make sure the tribes hadn’t interefered with the supply of water.
Finn had written that they were setting a trap in the Vault and she was eager to hear the results. Everyone seed to have so to the conclusion that the Vault thefts were unrelated to Beng Shai, but they were still a serious concern.
And Eirian wasn’t completely convinced they were unrelated. She understood that the tribes had no interest in magical artifacts but there was a lot of gold in the trade and even the tribes understood that.
And Eric…
Eric hadn’t written in a while, so Eirian had sent him a letter just that morning.
At least Brendan was safe at the Calia under the watchful eyes of Marian, Min, and Captain Li.
The scouts returned quietly, but they had no news when they stopped by her tent to report. They hadn’t seen or heard anything about Yuze and while they’d found a couple possible trails, they all ended with no sign of Yuze.
They had picked up movents from the tribes. Several smaller central tribes had broken their camps in the wake of the battle and were moving, but the weren’t sure where yet. They all wanted to go back out, but Eirian ordered them to eat and rest first.
The tribes were reorganizing and it made Chenzhou’s return to his forces in the north a priority. They needed to know what Beng Shai was doing, since he was the one orchastrating everything.
Wen Chunhan brought news that the last of the wounded and dead had begun their journey back to the Calia. “That leaves us quite limited in numbers.” He sounded upset about it.
“It’s a necessity.” Eirian explained, studying him. “We can’t have them here in the camp. It’s too dangerous.”
“We have healers here.” He insisted, sowhat respectfully. “And the dead can be burned here. There’s no need to bring them back to the Calia.”
“Their families are not here.” Eirian’s voice sharpened. “That was the promise the Calia made to the Crimson Army when the estate was first ford and the army first stood up. And the wounded will heal faster and better closer to their families, instead of being miserable here and bringing down morale.”
Wen Chunhan huffed. “They are professional soldiers, having morale is their job.”
Eirian raised an eyebrow and wondered if he actually spent anyti with his troops. Eirian was certainly removed from the daily experience of most soldiers, but even she understood that you couldn’t order soone to feel confident or inspired.
It was the responsibility of leaders to inspire those in their soldiers, but Wen Chunhan didn’t seem to be much of a leader, so how had he ended up in command of the Wen forces?
And why had Lady Yang, who didn’t tolerate failure or weakness, allowed it?
~ tbc
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