The Fireseed Wars

Kalvan shook his head, as though to clear it. "I know it. It's possible that I've been using alcohol as an escape. Maybe it is time to seriously cut down on my drinking."

"Praise Dralm! I know you carry the troubles of our kingdom on your shoulders, my husband, but there are better ways to lighten that burden."

"You're right," he sighed. "I've made too many mistakes-"

"My husband, do not blame yourself for all our difficulties. Put the blame where it belongs-on Styphon's House. If you drank to excess, it was because the Allfather placed more weight on your back than any mere mortal should bear…"

"Still, I made it easier for our enemies by drinking to avoid my troubles. Now, we have no home, nowhere to turn. I can no longer afford any weaknesses."

Rylla laughed softly. "Not even Allfather Dralm is that perfect! You are a mortal, as I should well know. But a good man, a strong man. You will do your best and so will I. If the gods will it, we shall prevail."

She took her husband in her arms and stroked his back.

II

Grand Master Soton was pacing back and forth before his impromptu desk, chuffing on his pipe, when he heard the clanging of armor and the slap of leather that signaled the arrival of someone important outside his headquarters. Moments later, Sergeant Sarmoth opened the tent flap. "Grand Master, sir. Knight Commander Aristocles asks your permission to enter?"

"Permission granted, Sergeant."

"Yes, sir."

Knight Commander Aristocles, second-in-command of the Zarthani Knights and acting commander during his absence from Tarr-Ceros, entered the tent. Soton had summoned Aristocles from Tarr-Ceros after Knight Commander Orocles took a gunshot wound in the calf during the siege of Tarr-Hostigos. Orocles' leg had been amputated below the knee, when sepsis set in. Half-a-moon ago he'd recovered enough to be taken by litter to Ktemnos City where the Five Kingdom's best healers would treat his wound. Aristocles, besides being his best Knight Commander, was also Soton's closest friend; he almost felt guilty because he was so pleased to see him. They clasped arms below the shoulder.

Aristocles was the first to speak. "It's good to see you looking so well, Grand Master. Everyone I have met speaks well of Styphon's Fist, the man who conquered the False Kingdom of Hos-Hostigos and destroyed the viper's nest in Tarr-Hostigos!"

Soton couldn't help but grin. Styphon's Fist? So that's what they're calling me now, hmm. When he was a young man, behind his back at the Order Academy, they had called him something entirely different-Styphon's Pip-Squeak, because he was the smallest cadet in his class-but never to his face. Not twice, anyway. "It is good to see you again, old friend."

"Tell me all about this great victory. I'm sorry I missed it. Start at the beginning."

Soton went on to tell his friend how they had tricked Kalvan by spoofing his signal towers with false signals provided by the traitor Sthentros, a former Hostigi nobleman and now the new Prince of Hostigos. How they had out-maneuvered the Hostigi, forcing Kalvan to either fight at Ardros Field or face having all of Hostigos Investigated by Archpriest Roxthar, while Kalvan sat and puffed his pipe in Tarr-Hostigos. And how, after the Grand Host's success at the Battle of Ardros, they had chased Kalvan's army out of the capital and laid siege to his last citadel, Tarr-Hostigos.

He went on to describe the siege and numerous attacks on the castle, ending with the Hostigi-created explosion that had leveled the old castle to its foundations. "Too many good men died over an old man's folly, but one has to admire Prince Ptosphes' courage and mettle."

"A good campaign and well ended, but why are you and the Grand Host still waiting outside Hostigos Town? I thought by now the Host would have reached the Sea of Aesklos and pushed the Usurper Kalvan into it."

Soton threw up his hands. "Politics! Now that we are a success everyone wants to rake off the coins on our offering plate. Roxthar wants the Host to dig out every Hostigi left in the entire False Kingdom, which includes every man, woman, child and stray cur. Not that there are many left; all the Hostigi who can still walk, limp or crawl have left Hos-Hostigos in mortal fear of the Investigation. And, for good reason; Hostigos Town is littered with Roxthar's bloody leavings." He spat on the floor.

"A pox on this madman and his minions!" cried Knight Commander Aristocles.

"Sadly, the Inner Circle views him as a necessary evil, until the Usurper is vanquished-at least."

"Is that why he's attempting to keep the Grand Host hostage?" Aristocles asked. "Does Roxthar plan to keep Kalvan safe so he can use the Inner Circle's fear of the Usurper to stoke the Investigation's fire?"