Wall of Spears (36 page)

‘I suppose you are right,’ Huw said grumpily. ‘But I did want to see Rhiannon, have her stand beside me tomorrow.’

‘Better to have her standing beside you for every day afterwards.’

Huw nodded, then reached out to grab Sendatsu’s arm. ‘I would say we are about to be told that is no longer our choice,’ he said.

Sendatsu turned. An honour guard of Forlish soldiers, led by Edmund, was walking towards them, under a huge standard.

‘We shall see,’ he said.

The dragons had seen the honour guard approach as well and the dragon flag was brought across, so the dragon met the wolf as Huw and Sendatsu met Edmund. Sendatsu glanced up at the two big flags. The Forlish standard was on thick linen, which snapped and rustled in the soft wind. The wolf design was beautifully stitched and the cloth had been dyed carefully, the rich colours crisp and clean. By contrast the Velsh one had been crudely put together, the red dye of the dragon leaking out to turn the grey, rough linen a strange pink in places. But he knew it was not about the flag itself — it was about the symbol.

‘Captain Edmund, to what do we owe this visit?’ he asked.

‘My lord king welcomes you to this field. With the elven army a half-day’s march up the road and battle to be joined tomorrow, King Ward would like to spend this last night with his son. He also thinks you would like to spend this last night with Rhiannon.’

‘That is a kind offer,’ Sendatsu said immediately. ‘But they are guarantees of our alliance. Would it not be better to keep those in place?’

Edmund looked at him and for a moment Sendatsu thought he saw a flash of sympathy. But then Edmund turned to Huw.

‘Lord Huw, my king would take it as a grave insult if you did not show trust in our alliance. Our common enemy is in the field. We should be worrying about that.’

Sendatsu willed Huw to stall the man, give them time to think up another way — but then Huw bowed his head.

‘We shall gladly exchange our valued guests. Our alliance is indeed more than just the trust held in Prince Wilfrid and Rhiannon,’ he said.

Edmund smiled. ‘I shall wait for your honour guard to get dressed.’ The squad of men behind him was immaculate, their armour shining, their cloaks freshly washed.

‘They’re ready now.’ Huw shrugged.

Edmund glanced over and Sendatsu could see what he was thinking. Cadel, Bowen and Arval’s squad, which had been watching Wilfrid since the prince arrived, were wearing a mixture of clothes, tunics and trews of different colours, all of them at least slightly dirty. But Edmund said nothing.

‘Come then,’ he invited.

His men marched in step, each pace stamping down onto the ground at precisely the same moment. Cadel and the others walked in a group, not even in ranks, Wilfrid in the centre. Sendatsu took care to walk between the two groups, keeping them apart from each other.

‘Can these men really fight?’ Edmund asked Sendatsu softly.

Sendatsu hesitated, then decided bravado was better than modesty.

‘I trained them all myself. They took apart the men your king sent north and they held them again outside Dokuzen.’

‘They had a wall to fight behind, and elven archers to back them up there,’ Edmund said defensively.

Sendatsu looked at the officer and guessed he had been the one in charge of the attack on Dokuzen; interesting that he was still held in high honour by Ward. Sendatsu would have thought such a failure would have been the end of an officer’s career. ‘Well, you’ll be able to see them tomorrow,’ was all he said.

Ward was waiting for them on the open ground between the two camps, flanked by another squad of guards, as well as a group that included both Queen Mildrith and Rhiannon. All of the guards held torches, casting a fitful light over the open space.

Huw and the Velsh dragons slouched to a stop, while Edmund and his squad kept marching, before crashing to a halt in perfect unison beside King Ward, their flag waving proudly.

‘Lord King, I bring your son back to you, safe and sound, cared for as if he were one of us. I return him as a symbol of our trust, and our desire to fight together to stop the Elfarans from ruling these lands and turning us all into slaves,’ Huw said loudly, his bard-trained voice reaching every ear.

Sendatsu smiled to himself. The former bard knew what to say and how to play to an audience.

‘Likewise, here is Rhiannon.’ Ward gestured. ‘It is right that loved ones should spend perhaps this last night with each other. Our scouts tell us that the elven army is bigger than our combined force and all of them are archers.’

‘We shall prevail, although it will be difficult,’ Huw said.

Rhiannon began walking towards them, although of course none could have stopped her, even if they wanted to. At a nod from Huw, the dragons shuffled aside and Wilfrid pushed through them to hurry across to his father, who nodded to him, while his mother embraced him.

Huw reached out his hand and Rhiannon took it.

‘Welcome back. I don’t want to be parted from you again,’ he said softly.

‘Don’t get too excited to see me. I have been stopping every bird Sumiko has sent over. I am ready to sleep and nothing else,’ Rhiannon replied, standing next to him.

Sendatsu coughed a little, to let them know he could hear, and Huw chuckled. Meanwhile Ward had finished greeting his son.

‘Tomorrow morning we shall meet here again, and my heralds shall show you to your positions. We shall have plenty of time, for the elves will not reach us before the afternoon. I expect you want my men to shield yours, as they have no armour, nor shields of their own.’

‘That would be greatly appreciated, Lord King. But once we are close to the elves, you will see the quality of my men.’

‘Let’s hope it’s better than the quality of their clothing — and their food!’ Wilfrid said loudly.

Huw stiffened and Sendatsu held out a warning hand, only to see Rhiannon already doing the same. But neither of them could hold him back.

‘The Velsh will prove how good they are on the battlefield tomorrow,’ Huw said loudly.

Sendatsu groaned. He could hear the anger in Huw’s voice and he had no doubt Ward could too.

‘An excellent idea!’ the Forlish king said. ‘But perhaps we should have a quick demonstration first. Not to the death and first blood must stop it immediately.’

Sendatsu glanced at Huw and Rhiannon, who both looked back at him. This was not a path he would have gone down but now they were committed.

‘Certainly, Lord King,’ he said, ignoring the faces Huw and Rhiannon were pulling.

Ward gestured and a pair of huge soldiers stepped out, armed with sword and shield, both of them over six feet tall, looking even bigger with their iron helms and billowing cloaks.

‘Cadel, do you mind showing them how we fight?’ Sendatsu asked casually.

Huw stepped closer to him.

‘Are you mad?’ he hissed. ‘At least send out Bowen as well. Those guards look enormous!’

‘We need to show them what we can do. They will not respect us, nor fear us, unless we do something dramatic. Besides, those guards will be slow and too used to standing on duty rather than fighting,’ Sendatsu whispered back and then reached out to grab Cadel by the shoulder.

‘Use your speed,’ he said. ‘Just as we practised.’

Cadel grinned and stepped out, loosening his shoulders with a series of cuts. Dressed in tunic and trews, he looked very slim and young compared to the big Forlishmen, though his shoulders were wide and he was trained to perfection by moons of hard work. And while he was their height, he lacked the metal helm.

The Forlish chuckled when they saw him but Sendatsu smiled at that. He knew Cadel would stop their laughter.

‘Is this all you want to send out, Lord Huw?’ Ward called. ‘Are you sure you would not like a few more?’

‘One is all we need. The odds would be unfair otherwise,’ Huw said loudly.

The Forlish chuckles turned to rumbles at that, and the smile vanished from Ward’s face.

‘Very well. Begin!’ he shouted.

Instantly the two guards hefted their shields and lumbered at Cadel, cheered on by the watching Forlish.

Cadel skipped to his right, towards the men’s left, their shield side. The closest guard simply swung his shield in a wicked arc, trying to knock Cadel down. But Cadel, without the weight of armour, slipped sideways, the shield missing him by a few inches, then he pivoted on his left foot and his sword whistled around until the flat of the blade struck the back of the guard’s helm. Only the chinstrap kept the helm on the guard’s head, but he was sent stumbling forwards, losing sword and shield as he fell to his knees.

The Forlish cheers were stopped in an instant and replaced by Velsh ones, then the second guard charged forwards, striking alternately with shield and sword. Armoured from head to toe, he was sure-footed in defence and fast in attack.

But not fast enough. Cadel danced around, deflecting sword strokes and dodging the shield blows. He was breathing easily, although the Forlishman was puffing and sweating with his efforts. Cadel kept circling around and it became obvious to all those watching that it was only a matter of time before he finished it. The Forlish cheers had fallen silent — even Wilfrid was not yelling encouragement.

Then Cadel moved around to where the first guard was sitting dazed. As Cadel moved in front of him the guard lunged and grabbed Cadel around the legs.

While the Velsh howled in anger at an apparently dead man coming back to life and taking part in the contest, the Forlish cheered in appreciation. The second guard saw his chance and raced in, looking to crush Cadel with sword and shield.

But Cadel did not panic. He smashed the pommel of his sword onto the top of the guard’s helmet. The man let go as he keeled over backwards. With no room to dodge, Cadel went under the swipe of a sword in a forward roll, coming up to touch his sword to the back of the second guard’s neck.

The Forlish cheers died instantly, while the Velsh roared and chanted Cadel’s name.

Sendatsu looked carefully at Ward, waiting to see his response, as did the nervous guards. After a long moment, Ward laughed and walked forwards, clapping his hands together.

‘A brilliant move.’ He applauded. ‘One that you practise often?’

‘I had no idea it would work as I’ve never tried it before,’ Cadel said, then added hastily, ‘Lord King.’

Ward showed no sign that he had not been given his due respect early enough. Instead he patted Cadel on the shoulder. ‘You must be the best the Velsh has to offer,’ he said.

Huw walked across also. ‘Actually, Lord King, he is just an average warrior.’

Ward smiled broadly. ‘A lie, but one that I like to hear. We shall fight well tomorrow. And I especially liked the way you did not kill my man, even though it put you in more danger. That we will all remember.’

The fallen Forlishman was helped to his feet and staggered off, supported by two of his comrades.

‘Until tomorrow morning then.’ Ward waved.

‘Until then, Lord King.’ Huw waved back.

Cadel had his back patted and hand shaken by the rest of the Velsh.

‘That showed them!’ Huw laughed. ‘Although you had me worried for a moment there.’

‘Only a moment? I was worried for a few.’ Cadel grinned.

Sendatsu smiled along with the rest, although he also looked over at the departing Forlish. They had made a big impression on them but he was concerned they had other plans. He would have been far happier had Wilfrid still been with them.

‘That stinking Velshman cheated,’ Wilfrid grumbled.

‘He beat them both — and beat them well. Even when a dead man came alive and held him,’ Edmund contradicted him.

‘You told me that there are no rules in war!’

Edmund sighed. ‘And that is right. But that was not war, it was a game. And we broke the rules and still lost. What does that tell you?’

‘That we need to crush the Velsh tomorrow after we beat the elves?’ Wilfrid asked.

‘It tells me that the Velsh can find ways to win. And that maybe it would be better to have them on our side,’ Edmund said.

Nobody looked at Ward but neither did they speak, as they waited for his reply.

‘It tells me we should have them working for me,’ Ward said finally. ‘My life’s work has been to bring together all human knowledge, all the lands under one ruler, so that all can benefit. The Velsh need to be part of that. In recognition of their help tomorrow, we should give them the chance to hand over their knowledge in peace. I will even leave Huw to rule their lands, as long as they obey me.’

‘Sire, we have to defeat the elves first —’

‘I know that. Now, let that be an end to the matter. The Velsh can help us but they shall bow to me, as will the elves.’

‘Did the Velsh harm you at all, my son?’ Mildrith asked.

‘No, they wouldn’t dare. They were always watching me though, obviously afraid of me,’ Wilfrid boasted.

Ward stepped closer to his son. That little voice in the back of his head, which kept telling him to do more for his son, was shouting now.

‘I am glad to have you back, glad to know that we shall fight together tomorrow,’ he said.

‘As am I, Father.’

‘Good. You will command half the cavalry, on the right wing. Captain Wulf will take the left wing and, Edmund, you will lead the infantry in the centre — which is where I shall be as well. We are not going to try anything that risks too many Forlish lives. Our cavalry will sting and move away, the infantry will keep the elven archers at a safe distance until they run out of arrows, then we shall close from all directions.’

‘And the Velsh? What about them? It seems that we are doing all the fighting and dying.’

‘We will keep the elven arrows off them as long as they keep the elven magic off us. If they cannot hold back the elven arrows, then we leave them behind, to slow down the elven pursuit. But if they help protect us then we deliver them to the elven lines and see if they really have as many good swordsmen as they claim.’

He watched Mildrith fuss over Wilfrid until Edmund stepped closer and dropped his voice.

‘Sire, is it wise to give the right wing to your son? It requires fine judgement to repeatedly charge and then break off before committing. Can Wilfrid handle that? Would it not be better for me to take the cavalry and Wilfrid to watch the shield wall, with you, where you can step in if necessary —’