The Conqueror (24 page)

They weren’t even to be given a
governor. This was sort of unprecedented.

Sinope was a long reach for any one of
them, considering their limited resources. Since none of the three
conquering states had the power, the ability or the desire to
govern the place, to avoid dissension and confusion, the people of
Sinopus were to be set free again. The three powers would settle
for favored-nation status, reduced fees for port privileges, and
other commercial and diplomatic concessions, concessions that both
recognized and re-granted Sinope and her citizens their hard-won
sovereignty.

Reduced fees for port privileges, the
thought made Lowren smile. His people traded to Sinope, but that
was what war was ultimately about, nine times out of
ten.

Let the Khan or some other idiot make
it about religion, he thought.

It was being presented as a friendly
rescue, an intervention, upon the pressing solicitations of certain
public-spirited but forever to be un-named ‘citizens of
Sinopus.’

They were asking help to restore
order…

It was a finely-calculated thing and
Lowren had to give full credit to his senior partners in this
well-brokered political and military deal.

It was a lesson in statecraft and one
well worth observing.

Each allied nation had its flag,
prominently displayed, slightly behind and flanking the flag of
Sinopus, and each had their color guard, and each had a contingent
of troops. Small detachments were lined up behind the trio, with
others lined up against the back wall to observe, to intimidate,
and to keep order if necessary. They had found a few soldiers and
men of Sinopus. Once released from gaol, they had been rapidly
adopted and re-equipped. It was this small crew, presumably more
loyal to Sinopus than to their benefactors, who lined the back wall
of the hall, ready to step forth and symbolically take their
rightful places again. Their uniforms were a bit of a hodge-podge,
but there they stood.

Lowren had to give it this much, it was
a kind of political theatre. A half an hour and they would be done
here.

“
All right. We seem to be
ready now.”

The secretaries, done shuffling papers,
backed off and made themselves scarce by the side wall, where they
could be ready to scoot forwards and shuffle them some
more.

Theo nodded firmly.

“
I’m getting
hungry.”

Lowren chuckled but Barreth just looked
patient—and possibly ready to go home.

Lowren leaned forwards and looked to
Barreth on the far right of the table.

The gentleman spoke.

“
Yes, let’s get this
dog-and-pony-show over with.”

Some of the most honored,
or perhaps merely the
rich
of the city of Sinopus occupied the front rows.
The one on the end got up on a nod from a man in what was to him an
unfamiliar uniform, that of one of the Windermere sea-captains. He
went to the fifteen-foot tall doors. Two troops of the Heloi,
standing there with naked swords held vertically at all times in
their right hands, whirled in perfect form and opened them up for
him.

His voice, muffled slightly by being
directed outwards, came to the ears of the now-hushed assembly.
There were vague echoes from the outer hallway.

A line of Hordesmen entered the room in
single file, looking stunned.

The voices all around them rose in
anger, and fascination, and the room was abuzz. They were all
shouting at once. People said some very nasty things as the
representatives of the Horde followed the noble of Sinope up to the
head table. Lowren felt little hate for them. The people coming up
the aisle did their best to studiously ignore it. They stood before
the table and then nodded. One man bowed.

The noble of Sinopus took his elbow in
an oddly friendly manner.

He indicated a chair. He stepped back,
went around the escort, and then quietly took his seat again on the
end of the front row.

The one man, forehead already glazed
with sweat, took a seat and the others, looking slightly abashed by
all the attention, stood behind him, sidling out left and right in
a row. The funny thing was, the room wasn’t all that warm, thought
Lowren.

The troops of the Horde, completely
unarmed as agreed, glared over the heads of the negotiating party
and tried not to say anything stupid.

It was over.

They had agreed they would not stand,
but otherwise the ceremony would be as brief and as painless as
possible. They had accomplished all of their objectives. Nothing
more than this was necessary.

“
I am Lowren, King of the
Lemni. In the centre is Theodelinda, a cousin and representative of
Queen Eleanora of Windemere, and on her right is Barreth, Naval
Master-General of the Heloi. She has and he has, and I have, full
authority to treat with you or any authorized representative of the
Horde. What say you?”

“
My name is Captain Arkoz.
I have full authority to solicit terms.”

“
Terms.” Barreth nodded.
“Very well.”

He gave a side-long glance at Theo and
Lowren.

“
We will never surrender.
We will fight to the last man and crossbow bolt...to the last
arrow.” Barreth surprised everyone with that one, face lighting up
at the reaction.

The crowd roared as Arkoz’ face flushed
and his men’s heads sort of sank into their shoulders, faces red
and yet still defiant. One or two of them looked around and glared
at their former subjects, however short a time it had
been.

“
With all due respect...”
Theo held up a hand. “We appreciate this gesture, as it’s always
better to avoid unnecessary bloodshed.”

She kept her hand up and they all just
sat quietly for a moment. She really was masterful, thought Lowren.
Barreth was still smiling, with a few thoughts of his own no
doubt.

Theo’s eyes were locked on Arkoz.
Finally, after a time, the place quieted.

“
We would like to hear your
terms.” Arkoz had some dignity left, and it was apparent he was
here under some protest—but his commander couldn’t face the moment
or something.

It was said he was ill, and perhaps
that was true. He might have been wounded, but so far they weren’t
saying too much about their situation up there.

“
We appreciate the fact
that we will not have to subject the citadel—and the city, to the
prolonged dangers and sacrifice, all the rigors of a siege. For
that reason, we are prepared to be rather generous.” Her voice was
firm and confident, carrying well in the large room.

The man Arkoz swallowed.

This was hard to take coming from
anyone, let alone a woman. The contingent from Windermere was
considerable, not to mention the tonnage in terms of ships, and
then there was the gold of course. Barreth was grinning like a
cat.

“
I should still like to
hear your terms, ah...Madame.”

She bit her lip and kept her temper.
Let him have his moment, she decided. He can tell his grandchildren
about it—the only real satisfaction he was ever likely to get. The
Khan was notoriously hard on losers and fools or even just the
incompetent. If asked, she would have given an honest answer: they
didn’t really stand a chance, not with a perfectly-timed surprise
attack, a good plan, and plenty of help on the inside. The men of
the Horde had acquitted themselves well enough under such
circumstances. She doubted the Great One would be so charitable to
men who were worthy of some respect.

Theo looked into the eyes of a young
Hordesman standing directly behind Arkoz.

She had no doubt he would have slit her
throat in that moment, the anger and the pain were so
intense.

She nodded.

“
You will be well treated.
You may keep your personal swords. You may keep your personal arms
and effects, but the battle flags and any unit colors are ours. You
will open the doors to the citadel and remain in it while our men
secure the premises. You will offer no resistance. You will pile
all bows, arrows, crossbows and bolts, in the central courtyard.
That includes all spears, pikes, mauls, bills and maces. All
arbalests, mangonels, ballistae shall be rendered inoperable. You
will put out all fires and render them safe. You will undertake not
to cause further damage or destruction to the structure or its
contents. Do you have a question?”

Arkoz was nodding, as none of this was
entirely unexpected.

“
There’s more.”

“
Yes, Arkoz. You will
undertake not to loot, or pillage, or attempt to remove anything
other than the private property of your soldiers. They may take
their pay with them, and no more, for surely that all came with
you. The military chest, what remains of it, is ours.”

A considerable column of smoke had been
seen coming from the central courtyard of the keep. Whatever it
was, it had been burning since the evening before.

“
You have destroyed much of
your equipment.”

“
Yes.”

“
And your
documents.”

He said nothing, just watched
her.

“
You have
prisoners?”

“
Ah—yes.”

“
How many?”

“
We have a hundred and
fourteen civilians, maybe a few more. Four or five of your men.
Most of them are hostages and prisoners, one or two camp followers.
For the most part they will probably wish to stay here. There are
one or two others. What will be their fate?”

“
If they stay here, they
will be dealt with, according to the law, by their
fellow-citizens.”

Deserters, spies, or just folks caught
in the middle. It was no skin off their noses. It was best not to
even inquire, sometimes.

Lowren spoke up now, and the Heloi
general looked like he had something to say as well.

“
They can go with you—if
you would be so kind as to take them.”

A wry smile escaped Theodelinda and
even Arkoz seemed impressed. He seemed to relax, settling in the
chair and shoulders slumping.

“
Yes—I am sure that would
be best.” He looked into Barreth’s eyes. “Yes?”

“
You will be taken, in
small groups, to the nearest convenient point of land belonging to
the Great One—and I have no doubt that he is indeed great.” Not to
outdone, and with his own government to pacify when he returned,
Barreth was going to put in his two pence worth. “You will be given
an adequate number of pack animals, enough food, and sufficient
medical supplies for your wounded. And you can walk from
there.”

He went on for their benefit and that
of the written record.

It was all open country. They could
follow the sea-coast, and the primitive fish-eaters who inhabited
the area would be well advised to avoid disciplined troops armed
with the famous short swords of the Horde. They still had
twenty-five hundred men.

The thoughts went visibly through the
captain’s mind. All that was asked was their parole—and the
surrender of the citadel.

“
Very well.”

There was a long silence as some of the
young men behind Arkoz wept, and Lowren took the time to examine
them carefully.

These were not mindless thralls under
the spell of some mad magician. While any man’s birth might be an
accident of history or geography, the Khan had something—and it was
enough to hold and bind men like this to him for whatever reason.
Something like thirty-six hundred men had taken a city of fifteen
or twenty thousand, that’s how Lowren saw it. Sinopus was the Pearl
of the North for a reason, and that reason was its wealth. That
wealth had paid for a couple of thousand professional soldiers and
plenty of fortifications.

Lowren nodded thoughtfully.

“
On our behalf, please give
our compliments to your master. There are no further impediments to
peace here, and I assure you that you will be well-treated. The
Lemni are not known for treachery. I give you my word, not just as
a king, but as a man, that you are safe enough once you have given
your word—and your hand.”

Arkoz had water in his eyes as well,
and yet none had any doubt that this was a brave man, perhaps a man
who understood the notion of honor as well as anyone.

Captain Arkoz nodded.

“
Your word will be
sufficient.”

He turned and looked at the men behind
him, but none would meet his eye.

He turned back to the table.

“
Very well then. How do we
proceed?”

There were endless details, but the
thing was essentially done and victory had been achieved. The hall
itself was deadly quiet, so quiet that all had dropped away,
leaving just the few of them. Lowren listened along, as they went
back and forth, but after a while his mind wandered back to his
homeland, and the recurring thoughts of Eleanora. He kept one ear
on Theodelinda, with her mind like a bear-trap, and as much as
anything, Admiral Barreth, who had a wealth of experience going
back at least three decades of naval warfare (and their peace
settlements and truces, which was all this really was) on behalf of
the Heloi.