Heirs of Empire

“Yet whatever happened, it’s deprived us of over twenty thousand Guardsmen,” Vroxhan continued grimly.

“It has, Holiness,” Rokas agreed. “Worse, we’ve lost their equipment, as well. The heretics have gained their weapons, including their entire artillery train … and their position divides our strength.”

Vroxhan looked like a man drinking sour milk, but he nodded. There might even have been a glimmer of respect in his eyes for Rokas’ unflinching admission, and he pinched the bridge of his nose while he thought.

“In that case, Marshal,” he said finally, “we shall just have to call forth a greater host. There can be no compromise with the heretical—especially not when they now possess such strength of arms.” He turned cold eyes upon Frenaur. “How widely has this heresy spread?”

“Widely,” Frenaur confessed. “Before … whatever happened, there were only some few thousand, mostly peasant villagers from the Shalokars. Now word of the ‘miracle’ is spreading like wildfire. It’s even reached beyond the Thirgan Gap to Vral. God only knows how many people have flocked to Stomald’s standard by now, but the signs are bad. Messages indicate entire villages are streaming north to join ‘the Army of the Angels.’ ”

Vroxhan scowled at him for a moment, then shrugged.

“I know it’s not your fault.” He sighed, and the bishop relaxed. “You’re simply in range of my ill humor and fear.” His mouth tightened. “And I am afraid, Brothers. Malagor has always been prone to schism, and this comes too close upon the Trial. The vile powers of the valley have awakened to the defeat of the Greater Demons. Perhaps still more of the unclean star spawn wait to smite us—the Writ says there are many Demons—and they use these lesser evil spirits to divide us before they assail us yet again.”

He brooded down at his desk, then straightened his shoulders.

“Lord Marshal, you will summon the Great Host of Mother Church to Holy War.” Rokas bowed, and Frenaur bit his lip. The full Host had not been summoned since the Schismatic Wars themselves. “But we must prepare our men to withstand demonic deceit before we offer battle,” Vroxhan continued heavily, “and I fear much of Malagor will go over to the heretics before we are ready.”

He looked up at Frenaur’s unhappy face, and his angry eyes softened.

“The same would be true anywhere, Frenaur. The common folk are ill-equipped to judge such matters, and when their own priests lead them astray it’s hardly their fault that they believe. Yet be that as it may, those who embrace heresy must pay heresy’s price.” He returned his eyes to the marshal. “I do not yet wish to summon the secular lords to your ba

“I do, Holiness, but I must urge caution lest we delay overlong.”

“What do you mean, ‘overlong’?”

“Holiness, Malagor has always been difficult to invade, and its position divides our forces. Worse, my own reports indicate the heretics are as inflamed by what they see as foreign control as by whatever other seeds the demons may have sown.”

Rokas watched Vroxhan with care and was relieved when the high priest gave a slow nod. Before the Schismatic Wars, Malagor had been strong enough to give even Mother Church pause. Indeed, the traditional Malagoran restlessness under the Tenets’ restrictions had helped fuel the Great Schism, and the I

“Our forces west of Malagor are weak,” Rokas went on. “We have perhaps forty thousand Guardsmen in Doras, Kyhyra, Cherist, and Showmah, but less than five thousand in Sardua and Thirgan, and the heresy has spread more quickly to the west than to the east. Indeed, I fear the Guard’s strength may be hard pressed to prevent more of the common folk from joining the heresy in those regions. More, the semaphore chains across Malagor will soon fall into heretic hands, depriving us of direct communications. We will have to send messages by semaphore to Arwah and thence by ship to Darwan for relay through Alwa via the Qwelth Gap chain. Such a delay will make it all but impossible to coordinate closely between our forces east and west of Malagor.”

He paused until Vroxhan nodded once more, then went on in measured tones.

“The Guard’s total strength west of Malagor is, as I say, perhaps forty-five to fifty thousand. Here in the east, the Temple can summon five times that many Guardsmen if we strip our garrisons to the bone. For more than that, we would require a general levy, yet, as you, I prefer not to rely upon the secular lords’ troops—not, at least, until we’ve won at least one victory and so proved these ‘angels’ are, in fact, demons.”

He paused again, and again Vroxhan nodded, this time impatiently.

“The only practical routes for armies into or out of Malagor are the Thirgan Gap and the Keldark Valley. The gap is broader, but its approaches are dotted with powerful fortresses which the heretics may well secure before we can move. Given those facts and our weakness in the west, I would recommend massing the western Guard south of the Cherist Mountains around Vral. In that position, they can both seal the Thirgan Gap and maintain civil control.”

Rokas began to pace, tugging at his jaw as he marshaled words like companies of pikes.

“Our major strength lies in the east, and with the gap secured we may concentrate in Keldark, using the Guardsmen of Keldark to block the valley against heretical sorties until we’re ready. The valley is bad terrain and even narrower than the gap, but most of its fortresses were razed after the Schismatic Wars. There are perhaps three places the heretics might choose to stand: Yortown, Erastor, and Baricon. All are powerful defensive positions; the cost of taking any of them will be high.”

He made a wry face. “There won’t be much strategy involved until we actually break into Malagor, Holiness, not with such limited approach routes, but the same applies to the heretics. And, unlike us, they must equip and train their forces. If we strike quickly, we may well clear the entire valley before they can prepare.”

“I agree,” Vroxhan said after a moment’s thought. “And it will, indeed, be best to move from the east. If they can strike before we prepare, they’ll move east, directly for the Temple.”

“That was my own thought,” Rokas agreed.

“In the meantime,” Vroxhan returned to Frenaur, “I see no choice but to place Malagor under Interdict. Please see to the proclamation.”

“I will,” Frenaur agreed unhappily. What must be must be.

“Understand me, Brothers,” Vroxhan said very quietly. “There will be no compromise with heresy. Mother Church’s sword has been drawn; it will not be sheathed while a single heretic lives.”