The Fireseed Wars

II

Phidestros was examining Prince Soligon's deerskin map of Hos-Harphax in his new father-in-law's private chamber, looking for the best place to house his troops in Thaphigos. His marriage to Arminta had gone off without any snags a moon quarter ago and it was closely approaching the time he'd planned to leave Argros for Thaphigos. Because of the Princess' obvious joy at their union, he had received an unexpectedly warm welcome from the dour-faced Prince and the rest of his family. For the first time in his life, Phidestros had a "family." It felt good and-had he believed in any of the Twelve Gods-he would have considered himself truly blessed.

At the moment though, he was trying to ascertain the most strategic place to encamp his troopers. He'd only brought five thousand cavalry, including the Iron Band, with him, but those veterans of the Fireseed Wars were stronger than any Princely army in the Five Kingdoms. Man for man he'd match his veterans against any cavalry in the known world, including Soton's Knights and Kalvan's Heavy Horse.

Prince Zylannos, the current Prince of Thaphigos, was a crony of Great King Lysandros and a second cousin to the deceased head of one of the former ruling families. Without Lysandros' backing, Prince Zylannos would have lost his crown moons ago, as he was a loudmouthed braggart, and his support among the Thaphigosi nobility was minimal at best. He'd already survived two rebellions by blind luck. Lysandros supported him because he was one of the first nobles to plant his flag firmly in Lysandros' camp after Great King Kaiphranos' death.

After meeting Zylannos at the wedding, Phidestros decided he would do his best to stay as far away from the Prince and Thaphigos Town as he could.

He heard a knock at the door and Arminta's voice, "Can I come in?"

"Yes, my love."

Arminta came in carrying two goblets of winter wine. She gave one to Phidestros and then sat down. "Our wedding was a great success. The family is still talking about it!"

"We had Princes from every major Princedom in Hos-Harphax, including Lysandros' surrogate, Duke Kaphros, who attended with the Great Queen. I was surprised and pleased."

"My husband, you are considered a Great Captain now; they came to bathe in your glory. You are the greatest Harphaxi military leader in living memory. After all, you commanded the army that defeated the Usurper Kalvan! Many of the princes and their nobles were curious and anxious to meet you. Some out of fear, some out of curiosity. But, who would have thought Great Queen Lavena would attend? It was a signal honor."

"I wasn't surprised she was there."

"Why?" Arminta asked. "I've only met her once and not at the best of times."

"Because you were nice to her when you met her at Tarr-Beshta. She's been snubbed a lot by Harphaxi society, just as I would have been had I not the brains to marry you."

Arminta punched him in the arm hard enough that it hurt. "I'm not that important."

"Your modesty is one of the things I love about you, darling. The truth is that Queen Lavena is a young lady in a hostile court, who doesn't know anyone, let alone who's important and who's not. Her husband, who is anything but popular, is a thousand marches away-and may not return alive. She needs all the friends and support she can garner. This was a good place for her to make an appearance: Lavena knew that she'd receive a warm welcome from you, that all the important nobles and ladies in Hos-Harphax would be in attendance and that she could appear gracious by giving you that expensive necklace-and cement her ties to us."

"Indeed, my love! Once could purchase a barony for the price of the diamonds and emeralds in that lovely piece."

"Exactly. I'm certain that was Lavena's plan. Every princess, duchess and baroness in attendance was drooling over it! Now, they'll all be conspiring to win her grace and invite her to family weddings and Name Day celebrations in hopes of a similar gift."

Arminta's face was stricken. "Now, I feel like I've been used."

"Don't look at it that way darling. It's just politics as usual. It comes as natural to Lavena as stalking a mouse is to a cat. You're the unique one in the Harphaxi Court, my love. You actually enjoy helping people and doing things to make the world a better place. In doing so, you also bring out the best in other people."

"Well, that makes me feel better." She gave him a hug.

"Good, I didn't mean to hurt your feelings. I've grown accustomed to being a cynical bachelor. Looking out for someone else is new to me."

"Well, you're getting better at it, my husband."

He bowed.

"Have you found a place yet to quarter the army?"

"No. I want to stay far away from Thaphigos Town and that bore Zylannos. He was drunk before the wedding, during and after! If he'd put his hands upon your little brother once more, I would have had to pummel him into the next moon!"

"Zylannos is disgusting; I can't believe King Lysandros crowned him a Prince. I must admit, my father hadn't succumbed to your charms until you grabbed that pederast by the scruff of his neck and took him off to the stairway for a good talk. Now, my father believes the sun and moon revolve around you and is telling everyone what a wonderful and powerful son-in-law he has."

"When I saw your father grasping his dagger hilt, I decided it was time to act. I didn't want anything to mar our wedding, or put your father any higher on Lysandros' enemy list."

Arminta nodded. "You're right, bloodshed would have ruined the celebration. But will humiliating Zylannos in public cause you any difficulties in carrying out King Lysandros' orders?"

"Lysandros ordered me to remove the Agrysi threat; that happened the moment word arrived in Thaphigos that I was in the area with an army. At this moment, there are no more Agrysi soldiers in Thaphigos, or Hos-Harphax for that matter. He also ordered me to protect his interests in this area. The King, however, did not ask me to refrain from putting his errant Prince in his proper place."

"Will Prince Zylannos be able to rule once we've returned to Greater Beshta?" she asked.

"Now that the Agrysi forces have left, there's no one inside Thaphigos who offers any real military threat to his rule. After twenty winters of incessant warfare, most of the castles are in ruins and many of the peasants have starved or fled. The people of Thaphigos would accept Hadron himself as a ruler if it meant an end to warfare. Furthermore, these days I don't believe even Kalvan himself could raise three thousand able-bodied fighting men in the whole Princedom! And I don't want to camp anywhere near the border, either."

"Afraid we might get embroiled in the warfare in Hos-Agrys?"

"Yes. We've already learned from our agents that Soton and his army have set sail from Thebra City for Agrys City. If Soton gets into trouble besieging Agrys City and asks for my help, I'll have a hard time refusing him if I'm only a day or two's ride away. I have no desire to support Soton or Styphon's House. If Roxthar has his way, he'll turn Hos-Agrys into another Hos-Hostigos. And I refuse to be a part of that."

"We could stay here in Argros. My father has given us a border tarr as part of my dowry, Tarr-Dodra. It's an old castle and needs to be refurbished but with some work it would hold our army through summer. It's on a hill and it's only a two-day's ride to Thaphigos."

"A great idea! Is this it here?" he asked, pointing to the map.

"Yes, it's about a day's ride from Argros City. But far enough away from Agrys Town that Soton will find it time-consuming to send his couriers."

"There's no place in Hos-Harphax far enough away to discourage Soton should he get a wasp in his breeches! Let him beseech away, it will do him little good."

"It has other advantages," Arminta said with a smile. "It's close enough we can visit my family, but far enough away we can work on one of our own."

Phidestros smiled. Now that's a job I'm going to enjoy!