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Saddle your horse and string your bow;
Horsemen forth! To the plains we go!
A cup for the journey, a cup at its end,
A cup to remember a fallen friend,
A cup to the King and Avantir’s Lord,
And a cheer for the bearer of the Sword.
—Cavalry song, attributed to Helana of the Hills
Rorick soon had the Icarians practicing mounted archery so assiduously that some complained. He was unmoved. The Hygerians would not rest long while the heir to Asbaln’s throne was at large,and the host which had been occupied at Avantir was now freed.
Then too, there was the matter of the Honour of the Hills. Three brave fellows were sent out to live in the Marshland and prey on the Hygerians, spreading a rumour that the King had moved from the Hills because it was too well—known that he was there, and it was expected that the Hygerians would now move into the Highlands, now that the Lowlands were conquered.
It served the purpose, keeping the Hygerians from concentrating their forces immediately. A week from the time of their first expedition, Rorick took ten of the most adept of the Hillmen and went down to gather horses on the plain.
Again, they went by night, and again they camped in concealment by day, and they stayed out for two nights. On the third night, with a herd of seventy-nine under their less than expert control, they set out back to the Hills. Suddenly, their scout was riding back to them to warn them that a party of Hygerians was approaching. It was a patrol comprising ten mounted men, riding directly on the trail toward them.
It would be impossible to move off the trail with the whole herd, so they would have to fight. Leaving two men to guard the horses as yell as possible, Rorick took the rest down the trail in two columns. Suddenly, just as the Hygerians were becoming aware that the approaching party was not of their people, Rorick led one column out to the right, Conel led his column to the left, and they galloped down, loosing arrows at little more than sword range.
Six Hygerians fell. The others, not realizing how heavy their losses had been, took their long fourteen—foot lances and turned to ride after the Horsemen, who had rallied a little down the trail. Loosing more arrows, they swerved right and left away from the then rode to pursue the last of the Hygerians as they fled.
In the pursuit, one slightly wounded Hygerian who had his horse killed, took a javelin from the case at his saddle and threw it, with more haste than aim. It gashed Rorick’s left arm, but not seriously enough for him to pay attention to until the last of the enemy was dead.
They rounded up seven of the Hygerian horses, and by some great fortune, the guards had only lost two of the seventy-nine in their care, so that they were understandably jubilant when they entered the village with the paleness of dawn. People crowded around to hear how their exploits had gone, and to admire the war-gear taken from the Hygerians, and to take the horses to be corralled.
Helana, daughter of Orn, was among the crowd. Rorick had noticed her occasionally, had even met her briefly one day, but his continual dashing from one group of men to another, demonstrating, explaining, and convincing, had left him with little more than her name. She approached him, noting the comer of the cloak wrapped around his forearm.
“Will you allow me to see to that?”
“It is nothing, lady, only a scratch.”
“Indeed. And I have seen wound—poisoning arise from scratches of that sort before. I think we can ill afford to lose you. Cone.”
After a moment’s hesitation, Rorick followed her into one of the nearby huts where she busied herself with herbs, warm water, and cloths. “You are Helana, daughter of Chief Orn, are you not?”
“I am. We met once, but you had to leave suddenly to make clear to someone how a small force of infantry could defeat twice their number. I am surprised that you remember me.”
“You are one to be remembered. You speak as though this war were your own.”
“If it is not yet, it will be. I think that only a few fools believe that the Hygerians will be satisfied with Asbaln and leave us to our Hills. I, for one, distrust Razak, and fear him. In the long-gone years, Great Icar led our people into these Hills out of war and slaughter on the plains below. Since then, we have held these Hills; Ilach the Rash, son of Conel the Wild, sought to take us for a part of his kingdom, and discovered that we had more arrows than he had warriors. Besides that, barbarians from the Wild Lands seeking to reach Asbaln often faced us. So we are not unused to war here, and when Razak comes, he will find us ready.
“But would you not yourself advise us to fight while we may count on some aid from Asbaln? Therefore, the war is ours as much as yours, though there are nearsighted fools who would see it otherwise.” She smiled suddenly. “You will pardon my vehemence, but I have heard my father say this same thing to many people. Now, tell me of your journey to the plains.”
“What of it? We rode mostly at night, and hid during the day, and we fought only the once, when there was no choice.”
Despite the disclaimer, they found things to talk of for some time.
Word of the skirmish got round, and soon there were numbers of young men coming round to offer their bows to the service of the King and the Guardian. On the next day, hunters brought in a party of young men from the lowlands, thirty of them, come to offer their swords to the Prince.
For some time, establishing his system of training kept Rorick occupied. He knew well what he wanted, and the Prince understood rapidly enough, as did some of his officers, but many did not, and it was necessary to be continually going from party to party, explaining and re-explaining the methods he wished them to use, the reasons for doing so, and in the last extremity, simply bullying them.
Within two weeks, they had found a group of men who not only comprehended the new methods, but the reasons behind them. From these, they recruited some commanders, putting them in charge of training, to make clear the reasons for the new methods, or if necessary, to instill their methods by command.
Still, they continued to send parties down to the plain for horses, avoiding aggressive action when possible. However, the Hygerians set up a post outside the town of Virden. They built a log stockade and established a small garrison. It seemed clear enough that they were making a beginning at sending an expedition into the Hills.