The Amber Arrow – Snippet 29
Chapter Twenty-Six: The Heir
Ravenelle was amazed and incredibly sad at the same time. This was undoubtedly the royal crown of Vall l’Obac. Her mother’s crown. She didn’t know what this strange creature was that her mother had conjured up. But the fact that the crown was real was enough to make her frightened that something horrible had happened to Queen Valentine.
They were inside the mead hall by the giant fireplace of the Apfelwein now.
They sat in rockers. Ravenelle held the Couronne de Huit Tours on her lap.
It was warm. She was surrounded by her foster-family. Her best friends.
She felt terrified.
“I was so worried that I hadn’t heard from Mother for over a year,” Ravenelle said. “But it was so selfish. I didn’t think that it might be because she couldn’t send any message to me.”
“What did you think?” Saeunn asked.
Ravenelle looked down, abashed. “I had pretty much convinced myself that she didn’t want me anymore.”
“We’ve all met your mother,” said Wulf. “She’s a hard woman to like, you know. Always acting superior around us barbarians and all. But there was never any doubt how much she loves you, Ravenelle.”
Ravenelle felt a blood tear forming in her eye. She wiped it away. “I guess there isn’t. I get so confused because I can’t even remember home. I’ve never even met my real father.”
“If what that thing said before it disappeared is true,” Wulf said, “then the Romans are right behind it. Rainer should be back pretty soon with Jager’s scouts.”
As if in answer to a summons, Rainer appeared. He swung his cloak behind him. He warmed himself close to the fire coals for a bit, then sat down in the rocker they’d saved for him.
“So?” Wulf asked.
“So, there is a Roman legion out there. About a league south into Vall l’Obac on the Montserrat Road.
“You crossed the border?”
“Had to. We saw fires in the woods. Hundreds of them. Got trouble all right.”
Ravenelle held up the amber crown in her hands. It glowed warmly in the light from the fire. “This is my fault,” she said. “It’s because I’m here that they’re here. I can ride off with this thing and they will follow me. Probably. This is what they’re after.”
“I don’t think they are going to let any of us go now,” Wulf said. “We’ll have to fight to break out of here. And besides we won’t let you leave us, not now. Rainer would kill me, for one thing.
Rainer nodded. “Have to get ready soon, m’lord,” he said to Wulf. “I started talking with Jager about what to do. He’s coming up with a plan to present to you.”
Wulf nodded. “Listen, I want him to talk with the centaurs. Tell Ahorn to get over this silly feud with his cousin. Bring the town leaders in on the plans we make. They can help.” Wulf considered for a moment. “And they will have to evacuate. The whole town. There’s no choice now, if there are as many Romans as you think there are.”
“Oh, they’re out there, all right,” Rainer replied.
“Maybe while we fight them, we can get Saeunn out,” Wulf said, almost mumbling to himself. Ravenelle glanced at Rainer. The obsession had returned, if it had ever gone anywhere. There didn’t seem to be anything that could dampen Wulf’s determination to take Saeunn to Eounnbard and . . . what? He wasn’t even sure the Mist Elves had a cure for her condition.
After all, her condition was death.
“I won’t abandon my family and my friends,” Saeunn said softly. “You have to see that this is more important than getting me to Eounnbard, Wulf. These people are invading your land. You are sworn to defend it.”
Wulf shook his head. “No. I’m not going to choose between the land and you. The dragon isn’t making me do that. Why should anyone else?” He stopped rocking and stared into the fire. “What we are going to do is face the Romans. We’re going to fight to allow the town people to get to safety. Saeunn, Ravenelle, and the other women will head west. Then we will rendezvous and keep going south to Eounnbard. There’s no reason why we can’t. Everybody is trying to stop me from doing something that my heart tells me is the right thing to do.”
Ravenelle set the crown back on her lap and reached over to take Rainer’s hand gently in her own. “Wulf is crazy as a bat flapping around a tower with no windows,” she said, loud enough so Wulf could hear her.
“Yeah,” Rainer replied after a moment. “He is. But he’s also right.”
Ravenelle sighed. “Then I guess we have to get ready for the Romans. What am I going to do with this crown?”
“Get it out of here,” Rainer answered. “Then . . . anything you want. You don’t need a crown to be a queen.” He squeezed her hand and stood to go. “You never did, Princess.”
Chapter Twenty-Seven: The Flood
The Roman Imperials lined up at dawn in rough squares of a hundred. Romans attacked in staggered checkerboard rectangles as much as possible. They moved through the woods and the Tjark village outskirts, so there was no real “battlefield” to spread out on. But these were seasoned troops and it didn’t matter. They had fought the Nubian rebels of southern Aegypt. Many of them were veterans of campaigns deep into the Afrique jungles or the deserts of Araby. Their commanders knew how to position themselves for the best effect in all kinds of terrain.
It was part of the Roman marching training to learn how to flow around obstacles while not breaking ranks. On either wing of the troops rode the Roman cavalry. They were ready to swoop in and soften up a target before the infantry hit. They could also crash into the ends of an enemy’s lines and attack from the side while the troops fought head on. Most deadly of all was when the cavalry broke into the rear of an enemy and attacked the supplies and reserve forces, or the enemy itself from behind.
Wulf knew how the Romans fought. He had studied it for years under his old weapons master, Marshal Elgar Koterbaum. And as a scholar, he’d read about it many times in the sagas. A battle of Kaltemen against Romans was described in detail in several of them, especially two called Hlafling’s Folly and Rugga’s Saga. These were part of a group known as the Battle Sagas. Wulf had spent a year working through them with the best and toughest teacher of all, Albrec Tolas. Tolas also happened to be a master scholar at Raukenrose University.
I still can’t believe Tolas made me memorize sagas by playing mumblety-peg with a real, sharp knife poking between my fingers, Wulf thought. But it sure was effective.
In most of these stories it was a very bad idea to fight Romans head-to-head. They worked together like swarming ants and overwhelmed even very strong foes. No, the best way to take on the Romans was with raids, surprise attacks, and running battles.
This was where Kaltemen were at their finest anyway. It was how they had kept the Roman colonies from taking over the north for many centuries.