With Mara still unaccounted for, Thaliere summons Cuinn and Aerona to Seamist to plan the defense strategy. Unwilling to ignore Bayside's call for aid, Cuinn dispatches the Forgotten Sons' mercenary units to their defense, then leaves for Seamist. They arrive, much to Caron Duene's fear and anger. Thaliere orders Cuinn to reroute the mercenary units to Seamist, give control of both units and the unit of Wilder archers over to her, and march to retake Stormpoint; Aerona is to take orders from Thaliere's Haelynite priest. Cuinn speaks privately later with Caern of Redstone, who is also present at the meeting. He is exhausted and at wit's end; he reveals Caron is a well-intended but ineffectual ruler, and he has taken over the task of remaining in Seamist to coordinate with the Imperial troops arriving from the east. Cuinn reaffirms Wilder's Gorge's support and solidarity with him, and takes her leave. She and Aerona argue over what to do; Aerona does not want to abandon Bayside to certain destruction, but Cuinn is leery of the consequences of disobeying Thaliere. They decide to scout the situation in Bayside and make their decision there.
Mara awakes alone in the ruins of the Imperial villa in the far east of Wilder's Gorge, and makes her way to Goshawk Pass; she procures a horse and rides for Fulcairn Keep, only to learn that Cuinn and Aerona have left for Seamist. She goes to intercept them; Cuinn, in an uncharacteristically emotional display, embraces her.
Cuinn scouts the situation in Bayside and discovers that the walls have been damaged by Boeruine's trebuchets and the defenders are sorely outnumbered; Bayside looks certain to fall. Cuinn is torn, ill at ease with the thought of abandoning other Taeghans in order to follow Imperial commands. They begin the process of rerouting the archers and the two mercenary units to rendezvous in Seamist, but Aerona halts the convoy and tells Cuinn a parable of Cuiraecen, in which blindly following orders rather than doing right caused Cuiraecen great sorrow. Cuinn, already torn, changes her mind and orders the army to march to defend Bayside. Mara enchants one of her arrows with light in the Fulcairn colours of orange and silver, and Cuinn arcs the arrow over the walls to signal that help has arrived.
Mara summons a unit of magical firehawks, and the mercenary infantry attack with them. The firehawks engage Boeruine's elite knight units, and the mercenaries engage Boeruine's infantry. Aerona summons Cuiraecen's lightning, and Cuinn attempts to snipe enemy commanders while protecting Mara. The firehawks damage the knights, but they are trained and blooded elite units and do not frighten easily; they cut the hawks down and advance on the infantry. Cuinn conjures the brambles of Wilder's Gorge from the very earth, Mara conjures an earth elemental, and Aerona strikes with deafening thunder; the knights are badly damaged. The Fulcairn mercenary light cavalry destroy the enemy archers, and the remnants of the enemy infantry and knights withdraw.
The Fulcairns hurriedly make for the keep of Bayside. Aerona heals the wounded where she can and orders that the enemy wounded be held for ransom. Cuinn is greeted by Lord Tychon, one of Nentril's vassals, and is taken to meet another, Lady Oswin, who sadly informs her that both Branna Nentril and her son and heir have died of wounds taken in the siege. Cuinn bluntly states that they disobeyed Thaliere's command in order to come to their aid, and that no one else was coming; they both express gratitude, though Cuinn notices that there is some disharmony between the two, perhaps due to House Oswin's Avanese roots and House Tychon's Taeghan origins. Interrogating the captive nobles reveals little, as does Aerona magically questioning the fallen enemy commander. Tychon requests that the Wilder archers remain to help harass the enemy supply lines, Cuinn has no choice but to decline, as she has already flouted Thaliere, and the mercenary company has left, its numbers too weakened to be effective. Cuinn reminds Tychon that Wilder's Gorge remains their steadfast neighbours in their time of need; Tychon extends the deepest gratitude from the people of Bayside, and the Fulcairns leave for Seamist, siege engines in tow.
They meet Legate Thaliere's forces on the road. They are summoned to Thaliere's tent, where she (rightly) reprimands Cuinn for her insubordination, and points out House Fulcairn's history of indomitable behaviour-- from Cathal's execution of the Stormpoint delegates after loudly castigating the nobles for their failures, to Mara's acceptance of the post of Magister then disappearing, to Cuinn's ignoring of Thaliere's command, saving Bayside, then calmly presenting herself to accept the consequence. Cuinn and Aerona speak in their defense, citing their faith in Cuiraecen (who commands following the good of one's heart rather than the law) and their unruly and independent Wilder nature. Thaliere rejects their explanations and mulls over having them imprisoned or executed. Aerona asks that they instead be educated in Imperial custom, and Cuinn states that at least their valor and skill in battle cannot be denied, even if their judgment is questioned. Thaliere states that they will be given one last chance, with Mara taking orders from Thaliere's wizard Umathos, and Aerona from her Haelynite priest.
A messenger arrives bearing a package for Mara. Cuinn senses a trap and urges her not to open it. She attempts to detect magic on it and it triggers a warding glyph, exploding in a lethal ball of flame.
No comments:
Post a Comment