Page 11

The room felt quiet, as everyone turned to see how Tallu would react. Sagam’s hand brushed over a blade, but Saxu remained steadfast, not even looking at Sagam’s movement.

I wondered how Tallu’s father would have reacted. Would he have killed Saxu for suggesting that the imperial army was not enough? Would he have brushed off any implication that he might be fallible?

Tallu considered the map, and slowly, the tension in the room began to relax. Sagam dropped his shoulders, hand moving to rest flat on the table. He did not have to kill Saxu. Tallu was not Millu, ready to demand the head of anyone who spoke words he did not wish to hear.

“I did not see that many men when I flew over his army,” I said. “When this all first started. I saw a thousand, maybe a few less or more. Two thousand men would have taken up the whole plain.”

“If General Kacha is able to bring two thousand soldiers south, he will need time and supplies to do so. Such a number does not easily move. That being said, we have forty men with us. Sixty counting all of us in the room and the Dogs that serve His Imperial Majesty. Let us say a hundred with the servants and anyone else that has not wielded a weapon before.” Saxu moved a small figurine to the ocean just off the coast of Tavornai. “The Pirate King and General Namati have said they will give us up to eight hundred men. That leaves us at under a thousand.

“The fires are being set here, along the direct border with the Imperium.” General Saxu pointed to an area of the map that stretched between the ocean and the border of the Ariphadeus. “General Kacha sends a few hundred men here to distract us. Perhaps he will even send a few ships to pretend at being scouts. He launched his attack on the Pirate King’s navy hoping to push Namati and his men further out to sea. But Kacha is too smart to do all of this if his attack wasn’t imminent. They will be in the west, he will be moving his men quickly, while we are distracted slapping at flies, he is preparing to attack.”

“If he’s moving his forces so quickly, he cannot be moving them with enough supplies,” Tallu said. “Men on foot move faster than horses or electro carriages pulling enough food to feed two thousand men. He will be expecting regular deliveries of food. Relying on regular deliveries of food. He may be planning to attack us from here,” Tallu leaned forward and tapped the area of the map that General Saxu had indicated, “but he will need to be receiving supplies from here, and using the horses and carriages to bring it to the battlefront.”

Tallu’s finger lingered on one of the rivers that traveled south through the Imperium. It ended close to Tavornai.

Saxu nodded. “I agree. He will be using the rivers to transport his supplies south. We had assumed he had a base here somewhere in Tavornai where his supplies and men were, but if instead he is using the rivers…”

Commander Rede frowned, and General Saxu paused, his eyes opening when he realized what Tallu would order.

“You want to cut off his supplies?” I asked, needing confirmation. Tallu and High General Saxu might understand the nuance of war strategy, but I only had the old stories my father would tell around the campfire, when he was too far in his cups to hold his tongue.

“We will send Namati and his men into the Imperium’s rivers. They will capture any supplies sent toward General Kacha and redistribute them,” Tallu said. “Moving that many soldiers, he can only have a few days of supply with him. He will be depending on a regular convoy. And those supplies will need to come from somewhere. His allies throughout the Imperium guarantee his ongoing war against me. We must cut them off at the knees.”

“At the stomach, you mean,” I said. “Men will only fight on an empty stomach for so long, especially in the heat of the Ariphadeus or in the danger of the Tavornai swamp.”

“That is a good plan, Your Imperial Majesty,” General Saxu said delicately, and I could hear the protest built into his words before he even uttered them. “However, we will still need to defeat those two thousand men. He may lose many more once they begin starving, but that will take days, maybe weeks, and even then, he has many that will remain loyal to him when his defeat becomes clear.”

“Kacha believes that his success is imminent. He does not know that Petale has failed yet. He may have given all of his advance troops the same idea: seed discontent and worry into Tallu’s army. He does not know from their false words alone you discerned his true method of attack,” I said. “We can win against him. There is swampland between us and him, and we can make it more dangerous for him. We can also bring the water to him so that he is not fighting Namati’s men, but his ships.”

“There are times when I listen to you, and I wonder if I am hearing your father,” General Saxu said. “King Rimáu did much the same against our forces. If the war had lasted into the winter, he very well might have killed the majority of us.”

“I am glad I honor him,” I said, hoping it was true, hoping that perhaps I had some of my father in me, and was not only a product of my mother’s calculating pragmatism.

“We do not have much time to plan this,” General Saxu said. He returned his gaze to the map, then looked over at Commander Rede. “Gather anyone who has any experience fighting in Tavornai or the Ariphadeus. Include the elves and send a message to the Pirate King and General Namati. We will meet to discuss strategies that we can present to His Imperial Majesty. By your leave.”

He addressed the last to Tallu, who nodded, his earring gleaming and light coming in from the window.

“We will need scouts, as well,” I said. “To determine how much of Petale’s words were true, and disentangle it from the lies he told. Also to let us know as soon as Kacha arrives.”

“Do you have someone you recommend?” Tallu asked.

“We have very few men, and I’m not sure we could spare them when they would be better off preparing for Kacha’s attack.” I frowned, pretending to think. “My countryman, Iradîo, would be up for such a task. We could send her with a few of the elves who know Tavornai well.”

“I’m sure she would be more than capable,” General Saxu said. “But do you believe that is wise?”

“You don’t trust her?” I raised one of my eyebrows, flicking my fingers open and closed in the signal of a question.

“I worry for her safety,” General Saxu said. “You said she came south as a guard for you, sent by your father. One who has only ever trained as a guard might not know how to scout effectively.”

“Yet we trust the Emperor’s Dogs to do so every day?” I pointed out.

“Within the Imperium, where they are trained to recognize threats.” General Saxu waited.

“I trust Iradîo with my life. I certainly trust her eyes and ears. She will be able to tell us how many men General Kacha arrives with.” Of course, by eyes and ears, I meant her birds and any other animal she could coax into becoming her informant. Iradîo was notoriously bad at speaking with anything that didn’t have wings, but she might be able to do it with enough motivation.

“I agree. Send her to the east, where we suspect General Kacha will make his move.” Tallu looked around the table. “High General Saxu, let me know when you and General Namati have agreed on an attack plan. Kennelmaster, work with Iradîo and the elves to prepare a scouting mission.” Tallu looked down at the map. “Petale said nothing of General Bemishu. Do we suspect that the two parted ways after they conquered the capital city?”

“I would not be surprised,” General Saxu said. “But we can question him again and see if he has more to say on the subject.”