4.4 In Which the Dark Lord Hosts

4.4 In Which the Dark Lord Hosts

I sort of had to let them come inside after that. These were proud people, leaders among their tribe, whod come here to humble themselves and beg for aid; I couldnt exactly make them stand out there in the snow and do it. I mightve done that to somebody who needed to be put in their place but I had clearly made my point to these folks long since.

And since they were inside anyway, I provided them a generous helping of dinner and a seat at my table. Well, at least, Zui darted ahead of me to arrange that and I saw no reason to contradict her. If youre going to offer someone hospitality anyway, youd better offer them proper hospitality or youll just look like an uncivilized assclown. Besides, their awed bemusement at this sudden charity was frankly amusing.

Hey, Ive never claimed not to be an asshole.

So, what is it you need saving from? I asked once everyone was seated and had a plate in front of them. The three cat people fit easily in the table at which I and the rest of my leadership council sat. Ordinarily we tended to disperse among the rank and file, because I liked to maintain good relations between the officers and the troops, but this was a unique occasion. We were the subject of much speculative staring and blatant eavesdropping, but everyone had the sense not to interrupt at least.

Djast hesitated almost imperceptibly over a bite of stew; his daughter froze outright. Well, it stood to reason whatever desperate matter had brought them here was going to be a tricky discussion. Keszil just carried on slurping down her meal, apparently without a care in the world.

Life in the forest has become precarious since the Inferno, Djast said, carefully setting down his spoon. We were fortunate in that relatively little of our village was damaged, and injuries weremostly minor. No one was lost. However, the fire spread to our storage. A goodly portion of what we had set aside for the winter was destroyed.

Im not sure what he saw in my expression that prompted him to clarify, but he did so hastily.

We would not trouble you over this, Dark Lord, nor complain aboutthe circumstances which led tothe event. I explain this only for context: what matters is that mine is not the only tribe thus affected, and I gather, not the worst. The great peril facing us now is that the wolf tribe has come up from the south. It seems they mean to destroy us and take our home, our supplies, and our hunting ground.

I leaned back, glancing around at my assembled people. Have any of you seen or heard about aggressive wolf activity?

I had a gathering team come back just before you returned this afternoon, Lord Seiji, Kasser reported. They didnt encounter anything unusual.

None of my scouts have reported beastfolk snooping around, and they were looking specifically for that, Aster added. Though Ive set them to looking mostly north, where the cat village is. I dont know where the wolf village is exactly but their general territory is way south of here. Most of a days walk, at least at the speed you can walk through dense khora.

My scouts are watching them, Djast explained. From a distance; they will not speak or respond, and have attacked my people on sight.

Is that normal? I asked.

It is not. Our two tribes have fought in the past, during lean winters, and young hunters from both sometimes cause trouble by straying into the wrong territory. Im sure you know how young hunters are, Dark Lord. But mostly, they have their lands and we ours; we meet at intervals to trade, and avoid one another otherwise. This is a major change, and it is only part of what signals their intent. The wolf tribe have been moving north for the last three days that I know of, Dark Lord, and their progress is so very slow because it is the entire tribe. Not just hunters and warriors, but elderly and children, the sick and the lame, all of them carrying what belongings they can.

They would only do that if they were forced to abandon their village entirely, Jessak said, picking up when he paused. Her eyes were fixed on me, unblinking; I got the distinct impression she regarded me as a threat. Which was reasonable. They mean to push us out, take what is ours, and replace us.

That makes little sense, Velaven commented. The wolves live in the forests center. If they were interested in conquest, they could also turn south, toward the squirrel tribes land. The squirrels are reclusive and peaceful; your tribe would be a far more dangerous fight.

I have thought long on this, Djast answered her. I do not know what has happened to the squirrels, or on their land. But it is significant that the wolves would turn north, and I believe this indicates their desperation, and the fact that their chief warrior is barely holding onto control. I know Rath Kadora. He would not make such an error in planning if he were in full control, but he is canny enough to compromise with the designs of his shaman and the pressures of his people. We are an overall more dangerous foe than the squirrel tribe, but a lessfrightening one. Our way of fighting is one the wolves can understand and meet. They can put their warriors between us and the families.

Thats a point, the squirrels are scary, Aster agreed. Not so much dangerous as scary. They dont like fighting, but they do like setting traps, hiding up in khora and shooting darts out of the shadows. And they use poisons. Even the Kings Guild advises members to stay out of their territory, and thats with them being the least aggressive of the beast tribes. If you accidentally wander too close to their village you can die in pain without ever knowing why.

True, the squirrels know some of the same arts as our shadow scouts, Velaven murmured. I still would prefer to fight them, of the four beast tribes on Dount. They have the fewest fighters, the least inclination to fight, and stealth operatives cannot seize or hold territory.

And if you were on the move with all your most vulnerable citizens? Djast asked her. She frowned momentarily in thought, then nodded acknowledgment. He nodded back and continued, turning back to me. As I said, Dark Lord, I believe this to be an act of desperation. If the chieftain I know is still in control, it is barely so. Were we to fight In terms of warriors and hunters alone, our numbers are close to even and it sounds as if mine are better fed and rested, but if all the wolves fight, their numbers are likely to prevail. In any outcome, the losses for both sides will be catastrophic.

And so, I mused, you want to align yourself with me, so that if they attack you theyll be facing my own forces as well.

He dipped his head once in acknowledgment, continuing to meet my gaze proudly. I do not come to you as a beggar, Dark Lord. We are skilled hunters and craftsmen, and capable in a fight. Our allegiance will benefit you, otherwise I would not dare offer it. Nor am I proposing to lead your people into a bloody brawl. The wolves are not foolish enough to face the sorcerer who caused the Inferno, even if they dont know you to be the Dark Lord, especially not backed by your own army and your fortress. Once they know my people are yours, I believe they will turn back.

Mmm. I drummed my fingers once on the table. How many of them are there?

In the tribe, a little over two hundred. Maybe fifty who are capable fighters.

And what about your people?

Roughly the same.

So, I sighed, effectively, two villages worth of people who have less than one village worth of supplies between them, going into whats already promising to be a lean winter. That is a lot of mouths to feed.

All three of the cats straightened up, blinking at me in evident confusion.

He is not idly boasting, my lord, said Velaven. They are not dead weight. Dounts beast tribes live closer to the land than any of us; even the noncombatants possess many useful skills.

Their hunters and scouts are straight up better than ours, Aster agreed. Plus I bet they know their way around the western forest better than anybody else; theyre the only people who actually live there. That stands to become extremely relevant when people start sniffing around looking for us out here.

All right, relax, I said irritably, I dont need to be sold on it. Obviously were taking them in. I just need to figure how difficult its going to be. Sneppit, whats our supply situation like?

This is gonna put more of a strain on our food stores, she replied, but still not enough of one to cause an immediate crisis. Just moving us a week or two closer to the point where we start having real problems, whichll still be a few months out. Long as we spend that time working on the problem Well, if we can acquire more food supplies somewhere it should tide us over. Next years expected to be crazy productive, thanks to the Infernos effect on the khora. We just gotta last till spring.

Ooh, is it showtime? Nazralind trilled.

Naz, when its showtime, youll know.

There is such a place, said Jessak. A glade in the shadow of two khalthin khora, with a stream running along one edge. The place we use for trade meetings with the wolf or lizard tribes, when they are willing to hold such. It is south of this fortress, less than an hours walk at a brisk pace.

If it is confrontation you seek, it will matter who you bring, Dark Lord, Djast agreed. They will likely turn aside from a large force, especially one comprised of humans with crossbows. If it is a few individuals, however, I doubt they will bother; easier to bluster past that. So far as I know, the wolves have no way of knowing it is a Dark Lord they are dealing with, nor even that the Inferno was the work of a sorcerer.

Hmm. What do they know?

That a large and growing gang of organized, heavily-armed humans has gathered at North Watch, he replied. That my tribe confronted them and were repelled, and weakened by the encounter, on the night of the Inferno. That Shylverraels attention is distracted and the lizard tribe are staying firmly within their own borders. Based on the intelligence I believe the wolves have, it is the ideal time to move against the cats. They will be curious about you and yours, especially as they are planning to move into the territory around North Watch; I dont believe they have any idea just who and what you are. As a rule, beastfolk on Dount are reluctant to fight with humans, even obvious bandits. We never know when the Kingsguard will decide to take offense.

So Ill have to enlighten them, then, I murmured. All right, then wed better talk timing. With the sun set and the snow coming down, theyve probably camped for the night. Well move out and confront them in the morning; we should have plenty of time to reach this glade before they get there, right?

Easily, Jessak confirmed, nodding.

Then thats the morning agenda determined. Tonight I will visit your village, Djast.

He and Jessak both froze, and glanced at each other.

I assume, I continued patiently, that you have at least some sick and injured among you. All members of the Dark Crusade receive free healing. I will also need to get a look at your setup and meet your personnel. Ill want at least some stationed here at North Watch. You have enough housing for everyone?

It istight, but not too uncomfortable, he said warily. Some homes were damaged and the weather has not been conducive to large repairs. The village is mostly sound, however.

All right, good. I will also be stationing some of my people there, so theres going to be some back-and-forth. We have space here in the fortress for more people, and plenty down in Kzidnak. Minifrit, Aster, work out who is needed to oversee operations at the cat village, and can be trusted not to make trouble. These are also my people now and regardless of whats happened between us in the past, Im not going to have them mistreated under my banner.

That promises to be morecomplicated than integrating with the goblins, said Minifrit, but I believe we can find enough souls with the right disposition. Depending on how large a complement you mean to place there, we may need to cycle some people in from the outlying bandit camps.

Good. Be sure not to half-ass it, but I do need all this set up as quickly as possible. Ive got a shit ton of other things across this island to take care of, starting with my next big visit to Gwyllthean.

Give me two days, Sneppit promised, and Ill have that tram line running. If you can get the beast tribes settled in two days, at the end of it Ill have you in Gwyllthean between dawn and breakfast.

I thought two days was your optimistic forecast? With the other end being as much as a week?

That was when it was just one variable among all the balls were keepin in the air. With the very real prospect of having all this vague beast tribe nonsense settled in that time frame? I will go down there first thing tomorrow and make sure that tram line is priority one. Two days, or Ill let you shave my head.

The absolute fuck you will, Zui barked. I didnt style that hair so you could wager it on a bunch of engineers being properly motivated!

Then what we need to have ready and waiting by tomorrow night is housing for about two hundred of the wolf tribe, I said. Thatsmore than we can squeeze into North Watch, isnt it.

Physically, we could, said Aster, but not in arrangements that would be remotely comfortable for anyone. Well pretty much have to put most of them in Kzidnak. The question is who goes where, and how.

Velaven, I said, noting peripherally but not deigning to acknowledge Zuis approving nod, this is a politically charged idea. Your thoughts?

The erstwhile Queen of Shylverrael delicately wiped her lips with a napkin before answering.

The best method is to separate them. This must be done with care and a light touch, my lord. A more heavy-handed variation of the same is a means of annihilating a culture, which we must avoid doing by accident. If these people feel mistreated or oppressed, their resentment will preclude the integration you seek. The tribe itself should be housed in multiple locations, and those who will go into your direct service assigned into groups with other members of the Crusade rather than their own racial unitsbut, crucially, without breaking up any families or denying them the ability to see one another during their free time. The point is not to damage their existing society, but to interweave it with our own.

Well, we dont really need to be all surreptitious about it since thats pretty much what wed have to do anyway, said Sneppit. Theres plenty of space in Fallencourt to house the whole wolf tribe and whatever extra cats we need to. Its, uh, somewhat less inhabited than it was a week ago. What there is not is a single free location big enough to house all of em at once. Wed have to spread various families across different locations regardless of anything else. I think thisll actually help our extant social goals, in fact; putting beastfolk down there is a good start on getting us gobs used to having tallfolk around the city. Its just humans and elves weve got tension with. Most goblins have never interacted with the beast tribes, and those that did were trading, not fighting.

Then its a plan, I declared. Well, its the outline of a plan. Im going to have to rely upon you all and your individual expertise to hammer out the details, but thats exactly why youre all here. I have the utmost confidence in you. Now everybody finish your dinner. Its gonna be a long night and a longer tomorrow.

Its worth keeping in mind, said Aster, watching me closely, that were deciding things well in advance. What if the wolf tribe doesnt want to join up?

Well, Im not going to enslave them or anything, so if they really want to starve and freeze in the forest, I guess well have to respect that. If theyre desperate enough to risk all their lives fighting the cats for their village, though, something tells me they wont turn up their noses at a much better deal.

They are not unreasonable, said Djast, but you should keep in mind, Dark Lord, that they have their pride. We forest tribes all have our pride. Between the demands of the Shylver and the Fflyr, it is sometimes all we are allowed to retain.

Itll depend on how ourconversation goes, I said, picking up my spoon. I am able to bring people under my aegis and preserve their pride in the process. I am also entirely capable of taking it from them. In my experience, once I demonstrate both of those facts, the choice makes itself.

Keszil grunted, returning her focus to her stew. Djast just nodded slowly, his expression wary.

I could feel the weight of Jessaks eyes on me all through the rest of dinner. Obviously, I never showed it.