StarDrifter hugged his son as they met for breakfast in Maximilian’s command tent. “I thought I might see you last night.”
“I was exhausted, StarDrifter, and Maxel kept me talking until late in the night. Blame him. How’s Salome?”
“Still sleeping,” StarDrifter said, starting to fill his plate with the food servants had set out on a side table.
“There can’t be long to go,” Axis said, once more sitting down at the central table where he was already halfway through his own breakfast.
“A few weeks, we think,” StarDrifter said, sitting next to Axis.
Axis looked at Maximilian at the head of the table. “And will it be an Elcho Falling birth, Maxel?”
Maximilian waggled a hand. Who knows? “If we continue at this pace we should be at Elcho Falling within two weeks. Whether or not I unwrap Serpent’s Nest to reveal Elcho Falling immediately rather depends on what I find when I get there.”
“Armat?” Axis said.
“Armat has broken camp,” BroadWing said. He had arrived in camp very early that morning, together with most of the Strike Force, leaving only a few scouts to track both Armat and the Emerald Guard bringing Inardle, Zeboath, and Garth to rejoin Maximilian.
Axis nodded his thanks.
Egalion, captain of the Emerald Guard, was also present, together with Ishbel. Egalion had introduced himself to Axis when first the StarMan had entered, and the two men had spent several minutes in conversation, liking each other immediately, before anyone else had arrived in the tent. Ishbel had arrived only just before StarDrifter, had given Axis a hug of greeting and a kiss on his cheek, lectured him on getting into trouble, and had then sat down with a smile on her face and Maximilian’s eyes watching her carefully.
Ezekiel, the single remaining Isembaardian general, was not present. Although Maxel trusted him, Ezekiel tended not to be included in the meetings of Maximilian’s closest advisors.
“Armat is marching slowly northeast,” BroadWing continued. “Not at a pace to catch us, nor on a line to intercept us.”
Axis forked some more eggs into his mouth and then, having swallowed, looked between his father and Maximilian. “I need to thank you,” he said. “The Strike Force saved my life.”
“Maximilian asked me to send it,” StarDrifter said. “Naturally, I had to consider the request carefully and at some length before I gave my consent.”
Everyone laughed.
“I also need to thank and compliment BroadWing,” Axis said. “An incompetent haggle of flighted bowmen—”
Everyone present knew he was referring to the Lealfast.
“—would only have exacerbated the danger to myself and my companions,” Axis continued. “BroadWing, you commanded the Strike Force brilliantly, and if they responded in like manner, then it was because of the training you have given them over the past few weeks. You are an exceptional Strike Leader, my friend.”
“That title should truly belong to you,” BroadWing said.
Axis grinned. “Why is everyone trying to force ancient titles back onto my shoulders?” he said.
“Because you have shoulders broad enough to bear them,” Maximilian said. “Axis, my friends, this is as good a time as any to talk some strategy. We have a massive army moving up behind us, determined to lay siege to Elcho Falling. We have between us some twenty thousand men: Icarii, Escatorian, and the Isembaardians who chose to stay with us. Axis, I talked with StarDrifter, Egalion, and BroadWing earlier today, and they concur with my decision to give you complete command of all the disparate elements of what forces I have at my disposal. I am not the brilliant war leader, you are. Take command.”
Axis looked between StarDrifter, BroadWing, and Egalion. “You agree with this? StarDrifter, you are prepared to hand the Strike Force into my complete command, answerable only to me, and not to you?”
“It’s yours, Axis,” StarDrifter said.
A slow smile spread over Axis’ face. Command of the Strike Force again!
“And you, Egalion,” Axis said. “You are bound to Maximilian by strong obligations and bonds. You can accept my command?”
“If it means Maximilian’s safety, yes,” Egalion said. “If it means serving under the greatest legend this world has ever known, then yes again.” He extended his hand over the table. “I am yours to command, Axis.”
Axis shook his hand, his smile broadening even further, then leaned back to look about the table.
“Why do I suddenly feel so optimistic?” he said.
“Well, I don’t feel optimistic,” said Ishbel. “This is no reflection on you, Axis, but on the odds we face. It isn’t just that Armat controls so many soldiers, hundreds of thousands to our pitiful twenty thousand, but that he also has Ravenna and Lister with him. Lister, particularly, is a powerful, powerful man. A god. And without Isaiah to counteract him…”
“I suppose we could hope that Armat puts a sword through Lister as he put a blade through Vorstus,” Axis said. “But seriously, Ishbel, while I don’t discount him, I am not terrified of him, either. He hasn’t exercised the best judgment to this point, and actually is in a fair amount of danger in Armat’s camp. I may have jested about Armat killing him, but it is a possibility. Lister will need to watch his step while he rides with Armat. And as for all those hundreds of thousands of men…”
“When we attacked the men who pursued Axis,” BroadWing said, “Axis commanded us not to kill any of them, but merely their horses. He also commanded us to whisper to them that this was a message from the StarMan.”
Maximilian caught Axis’ eyes and smiled.
“I was merely following your own strategy, Maxel,” Axis said.
“Axis wants it known that those men survived by his grace,” Maximilian said. “They’ll not forget it. Likewise, I allowed Insharah to desert so readily and with good wishes. Neither he nor his men will forget that, either.”
“I told Maxel this last night,” Axis said, “but should share it with the rest of you now. I spoke briefly with Insharah while I was in Armat’s camp. I think the man already harbors doubts. Maybe his men do, too.”
“I hope that there will be enough doubts within Armat’s force,” Maximilian said, “that he cannot be sure of it. From what I know of Armat, he is not the most charismatic of generals. He leads through fear, not through skill. It is a weakness.”
“The other generals?” Egalion said.
“Further south, I believe,” Axis said. “They command the other half of the Isembaardian force between them. Considering their general tendency toward internal treachery and fighting, we could also hope that they distract Armat at some point.”
“Can we ensure that happens?” Maximilian said.
“I’ll look into it,” Axis said. “Ishbel, may I have permission to talk to Madarin later today? He may have some useful ideas…and contacts.”
“Of course,” she said.
“And not to forget everyone’s favorite assassins, Serge and Doyle,” StarDrifter murmured. “They can both pass for Isembaardians if needed, and to think of the chaos they could cause…”
Axis grinned. “A suggestion taken, StarDrifter. But for now, and until we arrive at Elcho Falling and I can judge for myself what its defenses are like, I am going to concentrate on the Strike Force. BroadWing, you have…how many now?”
“Five hundred, StarMan.”
Axis tapped his fingers on the table, thinking. “And how many more Icarii to join with you, StarDrifter?”
“Possibly another two thousand,” StarDrifter said. “Icarii are still flying in from as far distant as Coroleas.”
“So perhaps a few score more of former Strike Force members,” Axis said. His fingers continued to tap slowly as he thought.
“Perhaps you can add the Lealfast eventually, Axis,” Ishbel said.
“Perhaps,” Axis said, without any conviction. “They are currently useless but they have talent and good skills with the bow and arrow. They lack any experience at all, which lack of experience they combine with a self-certainty in their own superiority. It is, I have to say it, the early Strike Force all over again.”
“We were never quite that bad,” BroadWing snapped.
“That’s because you hid in the Icescarp Alps and didn’t fight anyone,” Axis retorted. “At least the Lealfast left their snowy safety and came looking for a fight.”
“I had no idea you were their champion,” Ishbel said.
“I watched as thousands of them were slaughtered in cold blood,” said Axis. “I owe them something, and that something is a second chance, if they want it. I admit I have been their vicious detractor as well, but now…now, well, perhaps I see them in a different light.”
Axis noticed that Maximilian was regarding him with a twinkle in his eye at that last, but he chose to ignore it. Stars alone knew what gossip BroadWing had been feeding him.
“We can’t afford to ignore any potential military aid,” Axis said. “And we should also remember that Georgdi will be meeting us at Elcho Falling with the forces he has mustered. From what I know of Georgdi, from my own experience and from what Malat told me, a single man of his is worth ten Isembaardians. I don’t want anyone in this tent to discount what we have. I’ve faced worse odds than this before and won.”
“A good point, Axis,” Maximilian said. “Is there anything else to discuss? It is growing late, and we need to get on the road.”
“Just one thing, Maxel,” Axis said. “I want to send some Icarii south. We need to know what is happening.”
“Not into Isembaard,” Maximilian said, frozen in the act of rising.
“Not into Isembaard,” said Axis, “but as far south as they dare.”
Maximilian nodded. “Let’s get moving,” he said, and left the tent.