Soldiers Live

50

The Taglian Territories: The Palace

The Taglian field army slowly assembled astride the Rock Road in lightly settled country midway between Dejagore and the fortified crossings over the River Main at Ghoja. Another, less powerful force, consisting of troops from the southern provinces, assembled outside Dejagore. And a third gathered outside Taglios itself. There seemed no reason to suspect that the force at Dejagore should have any trouble denying that city to a force such as that the Black Company was bringing up. Mogaba expected his enemies to swing west once they descended from the highlands, possibly marching as far as the Naghir River, which they could follow north, then swing eastward again and try to get over the Main at one of the lesser downriver crossings. He intended to let them march and march and wear themselves down. He intended to let them do whatever they wanted till he slammed the door shut behind them. Once he had them north of the Main he could build a ring around them and slowly squeeze.

The Great General was feeling quite positive. Taglios was restive but not rebellious. Even the most remote garrison commanders were bringing their soldiers to the assembly points with their units at near strength even though some harvesting would commence in the far south before the end of the month.

Harvest season inevitably precipitated higher desertion rates.

Best of all, the Protector was staying away. Her tinkering and interference always made his task more difficult. And, of course, it was always his fault when a bastardized plan fell apart.

The Great General gathered his senior staff and inner circle, which included a dozen generals as well as Ghopal and Aridatha Singh. He told them, "The plan appears to be coming together perfectly. With a couple of nudges and timed withdrawals I think we can lead them to the ford at Vehdna-Bota. I still wish we had better communications with the Protector. But she can't find enough crows anymore. Some plague is wiping them out. I seldom hear from her more than once a day. And then, often as not, she'll waste time on weather news or a flu epidemic in Prehbehlbed." Nor were there any shadows about, nor any of the Protector's lesser spies. Mogaba did not mention that. Taglians were dedicated conspirators. Let them continue to think that there might be eyes in the corners, watching.

Only his own conspiracy need go forward.

The Great General had more to preoccupy him than how to isolate and destroy his enemy. He suspected there was a definite question about the identity of Taglios' most dangerous foe.

Something about this incarnation of the Black Company had Soulcatcher so concerned that she insisted on focusing all her attention there. Something about this incarnation of the Black Company had touched almost everyone of substance within the Taglian empire, though news of their return had barely had time to spread and there were no eyewitness reports available at all. All customary enmity and internal friction seemed to be dwindling at a time when, normally, factionalism should be exploding as old antagonists tried to use the situation to their advantage.

And Mogaba had found that he was thinking less and less about the practicalities of eliminating the Protector, more and more obsessively about destroying the Black Company. Not just defeating them but obliterating them. To the last man, woman, child, horse, mule, flea and louse.

After decades of unhappy fortune Mogaba was naturally wary of everything—including his own emotional state.

He had begun keeping a personal journal the day he had made the decision to betray Soulcatcher, to track his thoughts and emotions during the subsequent, stressful days. It was a journal he opened only in brilliant sunlight. It was a journal he would destroy before actually taking action against the Protector because there were names in it he did not want betrayed if he failed—and was lucky enough to die before she captured him.

Lately he had noticed an evolution in his thinking about the Company. An accelerating evolution. A frightening evolution.

He had become suspicious of his own reason.

Following a general meeting to consider policy for the empire the Great General met with the men responsible for the capital city.

"Kina is active again," Mogaba murmured. Ghopal and Aridatha listened politely. He was referencing events from before their time, that they knew only by repute. "She's doing that thing where she gradually shapes everyone's prejudices."

They offered him blank looks.

"Not history buffs, eh?" Mogaba explained. "The strangest part was, nobody ever wondered why they were terrified. They just didn't remember that three years earlier they'd never heard of the Black Company."

Ghopal said, "What you're saying is, the Strangler Goddess has a particular fear of the Black Company. She wants the whole world to climb all over them and destroy them. Even if blood has to be spilled."

"Isn't this an interesting quandary," Aridatha said. "If we can overcome the Black Company, we'll still have to deal with the Protector. If we knock her down, too, then we'll still have to handle the Stranglers and Kina, in order to prevent the Year of the Skulls. Wave after wave. No end to it."

"No end to it," Mogaba agreed. "And I'm getting to be quite an old man." He had begun to nurture an outrageous notion almost as soon as he had determined that he was being manipulated. "There are a couple of old records I want to check. I want you both back here same time tomorrow."

The Great General did not lack courage. The next evening he led Ghopal and Aridatha into the brightly lit room. He presented a more convincing case for his belief that Kina had awakened, drawing heavily upon excerpts from copies of Black Company Annals residing in the national library.

Aridatha Singh said, "I believe you. I just wonder what happened to wake her up again."

"Ghopal?"

"I'm not sure I understand. But I don't think I have to. Aridatha does. I trust his wisdom."

"Then I'll talk to Aridatha. But you listen." Mogaba chuckled.

Aridatha listened to his idea, the reasoning behind it, frowning all the while. Ghopal seemed aghast. But he kept his mouth shut. Aridatha went off alone with his thoughts. After a while he nodded reluctantly and said. "I have a brother in Dejagore. I'll find a reason to go visit. I know some people who might listen to what you have to say if it's me doing the talking."

"What?"

Aridatha said, "You recall a few years ago when the Company underground here started kidnapping people? Willow Swan, the Purohita, and so on? I was one of the people they snatched."

Ghopal wanted to know why, and Mogaba wondered how he had gotten away.

"I got away because they let me go. They only picked me up because they wanted to show me off to somebody they were holding already." Aridatha took a long, deep breath and revealed his great secret. "My father. Narayan Singh. They were showing him their power."

"Narayan Singh? The Narayan Singh? The Strangler?" Ghopal asked.

"That Narayan Singh. I didn't know. Not till then. Our mother told us our father was dead. She believed it, I think. The Shadowmasters conscripted him into their labor battalions during their first invasion, before the Black Company ever arrived from the north. I was the youngest of four children. I'm pretty sure the older ones knew the truth. My brother Sugriva moved to Dejagore and changed his name. My sister Khaditya changed hers, too. Her husband would die of mortification if he knew."

"You've never mentioned this before."

"I think you can understand why."

"Oh. I do. That's a cruel burden to bear." Mogaba already found himself responding to the Deceiver connection. With exactly the sort of paranoid fear everyone did to any Deceiver connection. It was inevitable. Aloud, he said, "I wonder how those people ever trust each other?"

Aridatha replied, "I suspect you'd have to be inside and a part of it all to understand. I think the biggest part of it, though, would be their faith in their Goddess."

The Great General looked at Ghopal Singh. "If the Greys have objections I need to hear them now."

Ghopal shook his head. "Only one Grey is going to know about this. For now. The others wouldn't understand."

"Aridatha. You have someone you trust to take charge while you're gone?" The City Battalions did not know they were part of a conspiracy to free Taglios from its protector. It was necessary to keep firm control there.

"Yes. But no one in the know. If you have unusual requests you'll have to justify them based on what's going on in the city." The soldiers understood that their role was to keep the peace if the population became too restive for the Greys alone.

Mogaba asked, "Are there enough provocations to make any excuses sound good?"

Ghopal showed a large array of teeth. Shadar were proud of their well-kept teeth. "That's almost amusing. Since the news reached the street that the Black Company really is back, there's actually been less related graffiti. As though real Company sympathizers don't want to risk identification and the non-Company vandals responsible for most of it suddenly don't want to be identified with any terror that's for real."

"Terror?"

"You were right, what you said last night. There's a growing fear of the Company out there. Like you said, it was in olden times. I don't understand but it's helping keep the peace just when I expected a lot more trouble."

"If you need provocations and the villains don't provide them, feel free to create your own. Aridatha, you know what needs doing. Do it. As quickly as possible. Before events move so fast they rob us of more chances." Though it could happen almost momentarily, Mogaba had abandoned any real hope of catching the Protector unaware as she returned to the city.

At the moment it seemed she did not plan to return until the Black Company invasion was settled.