Benardo's Cabin Day-4 -- WRETCHED STATE

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Date Posted: 08:23:14 03/15/00 Wed
Author: Belamore
Subject: Benardo's Cabin Day-4

Benardo's Cabin Day-4

Below the hillock north of Benardo's cabin Captain Haron of the Tancan
scouts halted his party. "Dazeck take our three wounded back to General
Torz's camp. Take two others with you. There is no need for all of us
to wear down the horses going back just to return. Tell him the north
western villages lay open and Castle Drice is all but deserted with a
token garrison. Tell him to begin his march through the Cree passage.
There is nothing to stop him."

Dazeck took the reins of the horses of the three wounded and pointed at
two others to ride with him. As they rode off toward Cree, Haron's eyes
narrowed. "I lost 14 good men because of that old man. Samon, take 10
men and cover the road between the cabin and Canaday. Take care not to
be seen and watch the road for any traffic. The rest of you, we ride
quietly to within a 100 yards of the cabin then dismount and move in
from the woods. His long bow will be useless at close range against our
number. Let us go...quietly."
...

Arelle's horse raced into the courtyard of Canaday. "Parnell, where is
Belamore?"

Parnell held Arelle's foaming horse and pointed at the high parapet.

"Fetch him for me. Hurry." Arelle dismounted and walked Pax to the
trough to drink. She drank also from the palm of her hand and doused
water over her hair and face.

Pallaus, Talorone, Garth, Fayle and I panned the horizon and counted
thousands of fires. When the wind was right we could hear the
hammering, sometimes a high screaming. "We have but 16 catapults." I
limp-paced along the walls, glancing up at where Magan stay in solitude
and dismay. "How did the Tancan ever destroy the eastern provinces?
Every castle was built in strategic order to defend the next. All of
our heaviest equipment was in the east, 75% of my army. Justin was a
fool to trust and join in a conspiracy with Tankan. Selling out his own
people for what? World conquest? We have 20 miles of wall to defend
with 6,000 men and 16 catapults. We cannot spread the troops to cover
the entire wall. Damn! We need Tri-arcanoth to maintain any breach and
Jax to cover a second. Those two beasts can move from weak spot to weak
spot with speed and power to contain any break-through. If the Tancan
break through they can surround us and run unstopped throughout the west
while we are pinned here. We must not let them break-"

"Belamore..."

"Parnell, what is it?"

"Lady Dolomite." Parnell was winded from the flight up two hundred
stairs. "She summons you. She was most urgent, Sire."

"Yes, yes...in a moment. Talorone, place look outs along every quarter
mile of wall. Pallaus, your men, five miles from the Tampion wall.
Garth, you command a thousand men between here and Mt. Cree wall. The
rest will remain in the center. We will have to have a mobil defence.
We will have to move quickly from breach to breach and pray that
Tri-arcanoth agrees to join us. Pray that the griffin and Janora meet
their missions and join the wall defense...Fayle, come with me."

I began my slow and careful climb down the stairs with this useless
wooden leg.

"Forgive me Belamore," Fayle knelt before me.
He hoisted me up over his shoulder and carried me down the stairs. "By
the time you get up and down these stairs we will be dinning on Tancan
stew...flavored with Canaday soldiers."

He set me down. Sir Pennet approached with a firebrand in his hand.
"All is ready, your majesty. Why...why do you honor Justin with a
Knight's funeral fire. He should be fed to the dogs."

"Justin once did the same for me. He was still a Lord of Canaday.
Light the fire." I looked in through one of the inner east tunnel
gates. "Why are the bridges down?"

"Justin ordered them lowered to keep the Tancan out after the break
through the eastern gates." Cadriewen spoke.

"Raise them. When the Tancan break through the eastern gates and storm
in to breach the inner gates...then drop the bridges. We could trap
hundreds in the pits."

"Belamore, my father. Tancan scouts are ravaging the countryside. He
is in fighting them off but there are too many." Arelle grabbed my
leather arm.

"I'll go." Fayle shouted orders to twenty of Pallaus mounted men at
arms and he took the saddled horse away from one of them.

"There were 40 or 50 of them." Arelle counted the soldiers that Fayle
had chosen.

"Fear not, Lady Dolomite. One Canaday is worth ten Tancan. They are
outnumbered." Fayle charged in the lead of his men.

"I'm going back." Arelle ran for her horse.

"No you aren't," I shouted. She mounted Pax and galloped head down
through the gate. "And that's an order." I finished. "What the hell.
I am just the king, who listens to me." I searched the work parties and
soldiers for two big men. "You and you!"

"Yes your majesty." The two men approached and bowed.

"What are your names?"

"I am Motto the blacksmith." The huge sweating hairy man said.

"I am Carmon the thresher." The lanky man bowed.

"You now hold the office of Royal Tote." Make an arm and wrist lock
chair and tote my retched carcass back up to the towers.

...continued

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