Guardians Of The Coral Throne

Chapter 18

Blade promptly found himself working twice as hard as a general as he had when he was an ordinary trooper in the Guardians. The only difference was that instead of carrying out orders he gave them. Like generals in every other Dimension, the generals of Karan spent more time in chairs wielding pens than they did in the saddle wielding swords and lances.

Blade liked to lead from in front when it came time for him to lead in battle. But there wasn't any battle in prospect. The job at hand was getting the whole mass of largely unarmed people in the camp safely through the Pass of Scador. Fortunately the Scadori were either too weak or too complacent to follow up their victory by driving the Karani infantry away from the pass. A heavy fall of snow could also have made things difficult, but there too luck was with the Karani.

«Perhaps the gods think they have punished us enough already,» said the Emperor to Blade. They were riding side by side at the head of the column as it wound its way up from the plateau, toward the pass.

«Perhaps,» said Blade. «Certainly seven thousand or more Guardians is a generous sacrifice to even the most bloodthirsty of gods!»

At the pass, Jores held a council of war with all the generals on hand, introducing Blade to them. Blade noticed a few of the more elegant generals glowering at him, but none dared openly defy the Emperor by being openly hostile. They simply voted down every point Blade raised, instead.

That was bad. Blade was convinced that the Pass of Scador and the frontier lands of Karan could and should be held by the infantry regiments alone. Or at least he was convinced this should be tried.

But the generals had never considered fighting a major war without the Guardians of the Coral Throne. As far as Blade could tell, none of them had the faintest idea of how to do so. All they could think of was pulling far back from the Pass of Scador.

«What will be said of us if the Scadori then swarm through the pass and ravage all the frontier lands for many days' travel into the Empire?» snapped Blade angrily.

Several of the generals shrugged this off. It was notorious that the nobility had few or no estates along the frontier, and distrusted the stubbornly independent free farmers there. One said, «Much will certainly be said of us if we continue the fight against the Scadori blindly, and lose thousands more soldiers. Much may be done to us, as well.»

Even Jores nodded at those words. The general had put his beringed finger squarely on something on the mind of everyone here in the tent. What would the mob in Karanopolis do? What was the best way of keeping them quiet?

Jores VII was a better man than he had been when he led the Guardians up through the Pass of Scador. But neither his new self-confidence nor Blade's urgings could make him willing to go against the advice of eight of his senior generals. The Imperial Order went down: the lands around the pass are to be abandoned. Aid will be given to those farmers who wish to flee. Those who stay will stay at their own peril.

Afterward, in private, Jores said he was not completely sure he had done the right thing. «But what could I do, when everyone except you told me that to try to hold the frontier lands would be to risk throwing a second army after the first one? And what would that bring to Karan, except disaster?» When he was alone with Blade, Jores had taken to dropping the Imperial «We.»

«True enough, if they are right. If they are not well, their own estates will be safe enough. The mob in Karanopolis will sty nothing, either.»

«You sound bitter, Blade.»

«I have seen the games played by the great nobles of Karan from below, Your Majesty. They do not look pretty from there.»

«No, I suppose they would not. Do you think this has led nobles such as these generals to give bad advice?»

«It certainly could, Your Majesty. I would urge that you consult with other advisers and counselors upon your return to Karanopolis.»

The Emperor frowned. «That seems wise. But who-oh, I know who to start with. It is obvious. The Second Master of War, Duke Pardes. He is the First Master in all but name, since the real First Master-Blade, why are you laughing?»

Blade fought down his laughter, nearly choking to death in the process. There was no way he could explain to the Emperor what was making him laugh. Now Pardes would not only learn about Lord General Blade, but have to deal with him.

Once more, Blade found himself wondering how even Pardes' iron self-control would stand up under the shock.

The order to abandon the frontier lands nearly caused a mutiny in some of the infantry regiments. A good many of their men were from the lands now to be abandoned. Nearly all of them thought the Guardians were overfed toy soldiers who'd finally gotten what they deserved. Practically no one saw any reason to abandon a good quarter of Karan simply because the Guardians had been stupid enough to get themselves cut to pieces in an ambush a child should have avoided.

Blade was tempted to say, «I told you so.» But he knew it was wiser to hold his peace. It wouldn't take much to get some of the generals muttering that the upstart Blade was sympathizing with mutineers. Even a rumor of that could be enough to put a gold strangling cord around his neck. Too many Emperors had been overthrown by army mutinies led by ambitious generals.

Blade's new rank did mean at least one less worry for him-Tera's safety. A few words whispered in Zogades' ear, and Tera was guarded night and day by a dozen picked soldiers, all of them old comrades of Zogades who hated and distrusted Iscaros. Any assassin or kidnapper would have had a job getting through to Tera, and an even harder job getting out alive.

Word of the disaster to the Guardians ran far ahead of the returning army. All the plans to shower the returning heroes with flowers and kisses shriveled up at once. When the army did return, a few thousand hardy souls braved a pouring rain to watch them march past. A few threw dead rats and rotten cabbages instead of flowers. As the soldiers returned to their barracks, their mood was as gloomy as the weather.

Princess Amadora promptly tried to improve at least the generals' mood by throwing one of her grand feasts, with Blade as guest of honor. She had a reputation as a hostess that went with her reputation as an ambitious politician. She seldom made up a guest list without an eye on what she might gain by it.

Blade was tempted to plead illness. But it would be a good opportunity to see one of his possible enemies in action on her home grounds. That would be useful. It would also probably annoy Count Iscaros considerably, which was a pleasant thought. Finally, Tera was as eager as a child to go and see all the mighty men and women of the Empire. So they went.

They both went dressed to the height of fashion, Blade in silvered armor and wreaths and Tera in white silk and dripping jewels. Most of this splendor was paid for by an unexpected gift, from none other than the eunuch Duke Pardes. It arrived three days after Blade's return, a chest containing three thousand pieces of gold and a short note delicately inked on silk:

Blade,

It seems proper now to give you some portion of the money you earned for me. Spend it to increase your own splendor. I make no prophecies as to what shall be the relations between us, for I am not a god. At this moment I am not your enemy, either.

Pardes

Blade could think of no reason not to do as Pardes suggested.

Pardes might have declared at least a temporary peace with Blade. But Count Iscaros was even more openly hostile than before. Princess Amadora paid so much attention to Blade that the count spent most of the evening glowering at him. He practically never looked at the princess.

He was about the only man at the feast who didn't. Amadora was aware of every bit of her attractiveness to men, and dressed accordingly. This evening she wore a simple gown of alternating strips of red and white silk that flowed down from her olive-tinted bare shoulders to the floor. It covered her completely, but the silk was thin enough not to leave very much to the imagination. She heightened that particular effect by judiciously rouging her breasts and pubic area. Massive gold bracelets and a tiara of rubies shimmering in her black hair completed the outfit.

The feast went on and on, until Blade lost count of the courses, the wines, and the entertainment. He managed to stay sober, however. He was also extremely careful to taste every wine and every dish before letting Tera take a single sip or bite. Count Iscaros was obviously still more unhappy about seeing his former slave-girl as the wife of a new rival and seated at the same table with him. The few times he took his eyes off Blade, it was to glare at Tera. If looks could have killed, Tera would have been dead several times over before the feast ended.

But eventually it did end. Princess Amadora made the rounds of her departing guests, giving each man a farewell kiss. When she came to Blade, she seemed to flow up against his body, warm wet lips caressing his slowly and carefully. It was an open and unmistakable gesture of desire.

But with Princess Amadora lust, like hospitality, was usually mixed with politics. Blade knew he had not just received an invitation from a beautiful woman. He had also received his first invitation to enter someone else's intrigues.