Casus Belli Ch. 06: Darkness Falls

That resulted in some embarrassed chuckling, while the girls took in each other's heated faces. "Well, that was a first for all of us too," Denora said with a grin. Cassandra felt mighty embarrassed, and her senior maiden smiled at her, while both Syldan and Leavy hugged her. Denora's expression softened as she locked eyes with her. "You're safe with us," she continued, "what happens in the bathroom stays in the bathroom..."

Leavy kissed her cheek, while holding her tightly, "Relax, I never before felt so close to you, it felt great."

Syldan snuggled up on the opposite side, "That goes for me too," she whispered into her ear.

Vala had opened her eyes again, and she and Denora sent her their loving smiles. Cassandra felt herself relax, "Oooh," she moaned softly, as she drank in all the affection.

The two joined up with the three of them, and they had a group hug at the center of the tub. "Whatever happens, we are here for you," Denora whispered, "we're going to get you through all of this."

***

By the time they got back from the bathroom, and her maidens had finished grooming her, it was dinner time. They had honey roasted duck with snappy beans and baked potatoes that evening, and afterwards they had a couple of bottles of Lorasian red while socializing on the couches. It didn't take Cassandra long to realize her maidens were avoiding anything relating to the ongoing war, and her betrothed, and she was grateful. That night she slept better than expected. The next day passed without anything exciting happening, and so did the next, except for a courier from Brando arriving around noon.

The courier reported that the Nigawan army had started its move south towards Roha, and he also brought a small note from Brando. It wasn't sealed, so she opened it immediately after the courier had left. "You look lovely when you're asleep. Love, Brando." He wanted to reassure me he didn't blame me for falling asleep, she thought, how typical, and how lovely.

The next day, during the council meeting, Burgon Goban presented a report, together with General Marecomb. Internal affairs had been collecting information from all kinds of assets in the east and southeast they still had contact with, and then they had, together with Marecomb's staff, reconstructed the movements of the orcish eastern army. After their victory at Bagman's Crossing the orcs had moved east to Ovega, and from there south to Ranos, where their army had split up, with about a quarter of it moving south in the direction of Coltan, and the remainder heading east towards Zagado.

A week later that split off army group had reemerged from the south again, and headed west towards Zagado too, after which news originating from Coltan had confirmed the orcish army group passing the town on their way south to Soudra and back again. From Soudra there hadn't been any further news however, indicating the city had either been taken or was simply being cut off, the latter being the more probable considering the time constraint. The timing with which the orc army groups had then arrived at Torlaga indicated a second army group had split off towards Bornum at the road-fork in Valken Wood, and roughly from that point in time there hadn't been any further communications coming from Bornum either, indicating that Bornum had either been taken or was being cut off too.

"This largely confirms our assumptions regarding the reasons behind the orcish move south," Marecomb said.

Burgon Goban nodded his agreement. "We don't have much information on the movements of the orcish western army," he added, "but I think we can safely assume they had the same objectives; cutting off all routes into and out of Nigawa."

Marecomb nodded in turn, "With the bridges across the Rana and the Amunda at Bulness confirmed destroyed, this places the orcish western army somewhere west of Roha, and separated from their eastern army by the Amunda, as expected."

Cassandra nodded too, but her gut feeling told her something was badly wrong. She couldn't fault the logic employed by Marecomb and his staff, but there had to be a snag somewhere. And it wasn't just that it all seemed too good to be true, it was more than that. "The orcs moved themselves into a very dangerous position," she said, and Marecomb nodded his agreement, "and I have difficulty believing their leader would allow such a situation to develop. He's too smart for that."

Marecomb shrugged, "Yes, we realized that too. But if he wanted to quickly block all the roads out of Nigawa, he had no other choice but to take the risk. And there's also a good chance he wasn't aware that Roha's defenses are as good as impenetrable from the west. I think their western army set up camp just outside visual range from Roha, and that it will try to take Roha in concert with the eastern army."

It made sense, like it had all made sense, and Cassandra nodded again, but still her gut feeling didn't agree. You're just worrying about it because of Brando, she thought, it's going to be okay, you just have to have faith. She raised herself, and once she got back from the meeting her maidens got so busy cheering her up that it was almost embarrassing.

Just before lunch the following day another courier from Brando arrived, informing them that the Nigawan army had set up camp at the Witches Cauldron the evening before yesterday. Cassandra sent the courier on to Marecomb and then her nerves started to get the better of her, because she now knew that the Nigawan army had advanced as planned, and was now probably in the opening stages of the attack on the orc army.

She felt a shiver run up her spine at the thought of the brutal battle that was now no doubt being fought over a hundred leagues to the south. Men were dying, and were still going to die, for the future of Nigawa, and a man very special to her might well be one of them. Her hands trembled, and her eyes moistened, and then Denora appeared next to her and put an arm around her shoulders. "Let's sit down for a moment," her senior maiden said softly. Denora led her to a couch, and sat down next to her. "You're destroying yourself," Denora said next, hugging her, "and it will bring nothing. What's going to happen is going to happen."

Polly sat herself down at her other side, and hugged her too. "We'll be strong together," her junior maiden said softly, "we all love him, you know." Cassandra let out this shuddering breath, and then she slowly nodded. The girls were right, and she wasn't facing this alone, which helped her regain her composure.

Disturbing Times

Cassandra had a restless night, and she was already up when Denora came in to wake her. They had breakfast, and then the girls prepared a bath for her, and she got another pampering service. Her maidens were clearly trying to distract her, and she loved them for it, but they only partly succeeded. The daily council meeting went by in a flash, and then it was lunch time. They had sandwiches, Polly's chicken and mayon recipe. She took a bite, and moaned softly, before locking eyes with Polly. "You made these yourself, didn't you?"

Her junior maiden beamed, and then she nodded. Leavy was sitting next to Polly, "Stolen chicken always tastes better than regular chicken," she remarked with a grin. Polly turned toward her and raised her hand threateningly. "Okay, okay," Leavy smiled, "I meant 'requisitioned' of course." Polly turned herself back, and then she nudged Leavy in the side with her elbow, and they all had a laugh.

Shortly after lunch, as she was sitting on the couch with Leavy and Syldan, Denora came in with a well-dressed young man in tow. He had a familiar face, but Cassandra couldn't place him. "A messenger from Sir Durro Larkun," her senior maiden announced. Sir Durro led the department of agriculture, and he had been at the meeting that morning as usual.

The young man bowed, "Your highness." He raised himself, and she nodded at him. He blushed a little, "Sir Larkun requests a meeting, your highness, it is urgent."

Cassandra nodded, "Would half an hour from now be quickly enough?" she asked.

The young man blushed even fiercer, and was looking uncertain, "Everyone is at your conference rooms already, your highness."

Cassandra frowned, this was highly unusual, "Who's everyone?" she asked.

"Sir Larkun, General Marecomb, and their staffs, your highness," the young man answered.

Her frown deepened, and for a moment she felt fear, but why would Marecomb get agriculture involved if there had been some disastrous developments at Roha? This had to be about something else. "Please, lead the way," she said to the young man, who looked startled. "Don't worry, I don't bite," she added with a smile.

The young man proved he could blush even more fiercely, and she addressed the maidens sitting next to her as she got up. "Could you please step in for Denora at the reception desk Leavy? And could you please accompany Denora and me to the conference room Syldan?" She followed the young man out of the living room, Leavy split off at the reception room, and the other two maidens followed her to the conference rooms. As they entered its ante-room Denora and Syldan eyed the chairs they would normally sit down on, to wait for her return, but that wasn't going to be. "With me," Cassandra instructed, and the girls followed her inside as the young man held the door for them.

She noticed Marecomb was in the company of the Colonels Morvan and Valco, and of Major Corduga. Across the table from the military men was Sir Durro, and three unfamiliar men. Two of them were dressed in suits, and clearly belonged to his staff, but the third one was younger, about thirty or so, and dressed in woodsman garb. The young man hastily joined his older colleagues, which was when she noticed the bloody heap of dark scales and leathery membranes on the table between them. She had been moving towards the head of the table, but now she froze. "What by the gods is that?" she asked nobody in particular.

***

"We don't know," Sir Durro answered. She started moving again, and once she was standing at the head of the table Sir Durro gestured at the man in woodmen's garb, "This is Carso Wren, your highness, he caught this beast and brought it to our attention." He locked eyes with the man, "Please repeat what you told us before."

Carso Wren bowed slightly, "Your highness. I'm a licensed falconer, and I make a living hunting birds and small mammals in Beldaine Forest. I use three falcons, who hunt as a team. Three days ago, in the south west of the forest, I had just released them at a flock of ducks when this here beast came soaring in high above the forest. I couldn't identify it, but my Falcons moved to intercept, and after a short chase they caught up with it. The beast fought back, but after one of my falcons managed to shred its left wing it came tumbling out of the sky. Normally I would have sold it to a collector I know in Evergreen, a man who preserves animals, but then I noticed this..."

His fingers plucked at a dark leathery strip on the dead animals torso, and as Cassandra's eyes focused on it she realized it wasn't part of its body, that it was part of some kind of leather harness instead. The man's fingers traced the harness over the dark blue-gray scales, to a small dark metal cylinder that was connected to it. Cassandra swallowed as understanding dawned. "This was inside it," Marecomb said, holding up a rolled up piece of parchment half a foot wide. He unrolled it; it was about a foot long and covered in lines of an unfamiliar script. "These are orc glyphs," Marecomb said, "and that's all we know about it."

Cassandra swallowed, "The south west of Beldaine forest... That would be on the route from Windagon, where the orcs are still holding the northern part of the city, and the general vicinity of Roha, wouldn't it?" Marecomb nodded. "So this is how they coordinated their attack at Bagman's Crossing, this is what doomed the reserve army, they have a way to communicate..." Marecomb nodded again, and she felt faint. "How does this affect the current situation at Roha?" she asked, her voice trembling.

Marecomb shrugged, "They could have used this to coordinate an attack on Iriskan, as we discussed, but they didn't, they moved on Roha instead. The only thing we have been able to come up with is that they were using it to coordinate their attack on Roha, because they are unaware of Roha's impenetrable western defenses."

Cassandra shook her head, "What if those warbeasts of theirs make those defenses penetrable somehow?"

Marecomb shrugged again, "We have analyzed how they utilized those beasts at Bragstone and Windagon, and came to the conclusion those tactics wouldn't work at Roha, or at least not against its western defenses. It would work on the eastern side, but those defenses are layered, and should be able to hold out much longer than Bashuk's eastern army will be able to hold out against our combined army."

Cassandra still wasn't convinced, "Let's assume a worst case scenario for a moment, let's assume their western army does manage to penetrate Roha's western defenses somehow, what happens then."

Marecomb frowned, "By the time they would be able to join with their eastern army again our combined army would have already weakened them considerably. We would probably still retain the upper hand, and should we not be able to, for some strange reason, we would still be able to disengage and fall back, first on Nadrac, and then on Iriskan."

Cassandra's eyes drifted to Valco and Morvan, and both colonels nodded their agreement. When she looked back at Marecomb the general's expression had saddened. She blushed, "I'm sorry General."

Marecomb produced a faint smile, "It's okay, I understand."

She smiled apologetically, "We better send a courier to Brando, to inform him about this new development. The battle will probably be over before the courier gets there, but you never know." Marecomb nodded his agreement, and then he instructed Major Corduga to take care of it.

***

Cassandra returned to her private chambers, her mind in turmoil, churning on the question of what they were missing. Once back in the living room she discussed it with her maidens, using them as a sounding board, without result. "Maybe you aren't finding anything because there isn't anything to find," Syldan suggested. She realized her maiden was probably right, that she was just seeing ghosts because of the unpleasant surprises the orcs had provided earlier on. She put it aside, they had tea, and just before dusk a courier from Brando arrived. He reported the Nigawan army's arrival just north of Roha, and that it was being readied to attack the orcs at dawn the next morning.

Once the courier had left again, after handing her another sealed letter from Brando, she confessed her frustration about the two day delay between Brando sending a message and her receiving it to her maidens. "The battle isn't starting tomorrow morning," she said, "They have been fighting for two days already, and our fate has probably already been decided. It makes me feel powerless." Her maidens were supportive as ever, and they had dinner together as usual not much later. Afterwards they did their utmost best to distract her, but not to much avail. At some point, later in the evening, Leavy pointed at the sealed letter she had placed on the low table in front of her. "Does that mean you're going to bed early?" she asked with a soft smile.

Cassandra shrugged, "It normally would, but I'm not in the mood for it." She swallowed, "I'm actually a little afraid of it, because it might turn out to be his last letter to me."

Leavy's head dropped, "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Don't worry, I know you're just trying to help," Cassandra reacted. She looked at the letter, "I don't think it's a naughty letter anyway," she said, "it's going to be a 'cheer Cassandra up' letter." Denora nodded her agreement, smiling softly. Time crept by slowly while her maidens tried to keep her mind occupied, and away from dark thoughts. About half an hour before regular bed-time she decided to call it a day. "I'm turning in," she announced, "time at least passes quickly when you're sleeping." She shrugged, "That is of course if can manage to get to sleep." She got up from the couch, and as she did, so did Denora, Vala, and Leavy, her usual 'get milady tucked in' team.

Cassandra entered the bedchamber and as she turned around in front of the bed she noticed only Vala and Leavy had followed her inside. The two maidens helped her undress, and then get into her nightgown, as usual. She sat down, looked at the sealed envelope on top the bed beside her, and felt awkward. Last time she got such a letter from Brando she had as good as looked her senior maiden out of the bedchamber, so now she wondered if that was the reason behind Denora's absence. But it wasn't a naughty letter, she was sure of that, and so had Denora been it seemed, so why... The bedchamber door to the living room opened, and she watched Denora enter, but she wasn't alone.

Her senior maiden smiled, Cassandra frowned as she noticed Moiga and Polly were wearing nightgowns, and then she blushed. "You don't have to... I'm alright!" she stammered.

Both girls sat down on the bed to her left and right. "We know you're alright," Moiga said.

"We're only here to make sure you stay alright," Polly added.

***

Cassandra had a flashback, about a night at Bragstone castle, now almost two months ago. She moaned softly at the memory, and both Moiga and Polly leaned against her. "It's important you sleep well," Denora said, "and I'm afraid you won't if we leave you all alone tonight."

Giving in was easy. She smiled up at her senior maiden, and then she nodded her consent. The 'get milady tucked in' team beamed, and then the three girls belonging to it wished her goodnight and left. Once they had closed the door behind them she got up, and Moiga and Polly followed. They pulled back the large comforter a little, and then she got into bed first, after which Moiga got in on her right, and Polly on her left. She was laying on her back, and both girls snuggled up to her. She was holding the letter, staring at it. "We could turn around, so you can read it in private," Moiga said.

Cassandra locked eyes with the beautiful brunette, "It's okay Moiga, I have no secrets from the two of you," she answered. Both girls beamed, and then they snuggled even closer as she broke the seal on the letter.

She pulled the letter out, folded it open and started to read. "What a scribble," Polly giggled.

She smiled at the petite blonde, "Most men have handwriting like this, the only 'man' I know that doesn't is Sir Jordan, but I don't think he would be much fun in bed for us women..."

Moiga chuckled, "He's a great dancer though... I really like him, in a nonsexual way."

Polly nodded, and Cassandra could only agree with her maidens. "Now hush you two," she said, as she started reading again.

"Hi honey," the letter started, "I know that by the time you get this letter we will have been in combat with the orcs for the better part of two days already, and that you'll be worried sick. When we arrived north of Roha an hour ago the scouts we sent ahead were already waiting for us, and they confirmed the situation at Roha was exactly as we expected. Going by their estimates we're going to have an almost three to one advantage, and with a little luck we'll manage to pin the orcs in front of the city walls, which will put them in a crossfire, adding even more to that advantage."

"As a result morale is high, and so is confidence. Tomorrow we'll encircle and weaken them, and the day after tomorrow we're going to destroy them. By that time their western army, which is currently trying to defeat Roha's western defenses as expected, (the scouts have detected smoke above the western side of the city too), will no doubt have worn down its teeth on those defenses. So once the orc eastern army has been defeated we'll pass through Roha and destroy their western army too, or chase it all the way back to Baelok Pass. I hope the latter won't be necessary, as I really need to be back at Bromodin before the solstice, for obvious reasons."