The Fireseed Wars

"Before Kalvan departed from Hostigos Town, he loaded up every valuable, including most of the food and his treasury, and loaded it into his wagons. Several hundred to a thousand of these wagons-if you listen to all the grogshop talk in Hostigos Town-were filled to the gunwales with gold coins and ingots, silver of all description, jewels and all the portable tapestries and paintings in the capital."

"How much truth is behind these rumors?" Aristocles asked.

"Enough. We know that Kalvan sacked scores of our temples and melted the gold leaf off their roofs and looted all the valuables they contained. He also confiscated the estates of our allies in those lands he conquered. He killed Balthar the Black and claimed his hoard. He also did a lively trade with the Agrysi in contraband fireseed and Ermut's brandy, and sold a lot of older ordnance to Nestros, who calls himself Great King of Rathon. There were tens of thousands of large and small wagons, carts and carriages in Kalvan's baggage, but I'd estimate that maybe three hundred to five hundred carried his Treasury-some three to five million rakmars of gold. I wouldn't want to guess how much silver they took away."

"By Styphon's Whiskers! That's enough treasure to make even the Inner Circle Archpriests burn with envy. And you know how much gold there is in the Temple Treasury."

"True, but it's also lit a bonfire under the breeches of our Great King Lysandros. Now, he's under the impression that he can both be a great captain and win a treasure big enough to rebuild his Kingdom."

"It will not be easy to dissuade him from his folly," Aristocles said, drawing deeply on his pipe and then releasing a small cloud of tobacco smoke.

"I agree. I don't know what I can do to clear up this mess since Styphon's House has publicly acclaimed King Lysandros as Styphon's Champion to the rest of the Five Kingdoms. Phidestros, for all his vainglory and other faults, is the proven captain of choice, but I don't know if I can convince King Lysandros of this and make it stick. And, with Roxthar giving his blessing to Lysandros' cause, I don't have a lot of room to maneuver."

"Nothing has been the same since this Daemon Kalvan's arrival."

"Right again, old son. But this is a new kind of war, a war of the gods rather than a war between men: Dralm against Styphon. With the Wargod in the middle. And anything goes, including treachery, burning towns and the wholesale butchery of civilians. I never thought I would live to see such ignoble times."

"Maybe we should find an excuse to return to Tarr-Ceros and leave the fools here to sort it all out."

"No, it is our duty to win this war for the God of Gods, as you yourself well know. We will fight this war until Kalvan is vanquished or we are dead. Now, speaking of home, were you able to bring any reinforcements with you, and what is the situation in the Sastragath and Sea of Grass?"

Aristocles smiled. "Ever since Warlord Sargos left to 'punish' the Mexicotal, the Sea of Grass has been tranquil, which thus means the Sastragath has been more peaceful than any time in living memory. There hasn't been a single battle since last year. Just the usual border thievery, murder and mischief. Therefore, I was able to bring four Lances of Knights to accompany me."

"Won't that leave us vulnerable next spring?" With auxiliaries, Soton couldn't help computing: four Lances would add another three to four thousand troops to the Host.

"No. Since your great victory we have had thousands of new recruits to the Order, some from as far away as Hos-Zygros-even a few from the Middle Kingdoms." Aristocles shook his head. "I've never seen anything like it. Many of them are veterans of the border wars."

Soton smiled. "Nothing beats success for recruiting. That's the best news I've heard in a moon half. We can use more good troops; I expect we'll be losing some men shortly."

"Do you think that Lysandros will remove the Harphaxi Army if he doesn't get his way?" Aristocles asked.

"It wouldn't surprise me. However, if he takes over Phidestros' captaincy, I expect Phidestros will leave-taking with him all of his Beshtans."

Aristocles looked up. "Just the troops he has under his personal command, right? Two or three thousand Beshtans will hardly be noticed."

Soton took out his pipe and laughed. "I wish it were so. I don't know if you heard or not, but the Grand Host-thanks to Roxthar's Investigation- was put under the Ban of Galzar."

"What! That news hasn't reached Ktemnos City yet. That's terrible. What a blow to morale. How many troops did you lose?"

"The troops don't know of it, yet. It's a big secret, although some of the mercenaries suspect and probably everyone else and their cats. To combat wholesale desertion among the mercenaries, we were forced to have them swear allegiance to Phidestros and Greater Beshta-"

"By Yirtta's Dugs, why would you elevate that miserable son-of-a-she-wolf?"