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the
Kubratoi signal is, our dromons would be waiting to pounce on their one-trunk
boats.
We'd slaughter them."
"No doubt you are right," Bagdasares said. "I promise you. I shall do
everything I
can to learn what this signal may be. But I cannot do it now; the enemy's
wizards almost made me lose a good-sized piece of my soul in the escape."
"Go rest, then," Maniakes said. "You look like you need it." What Bagdasares
looked as if he needed was something more than rest. Maniakes said nothing of
that, in the hope rest would also restore what else was missing from the
Vaspurakaner mage. And, on leaving, Bagdasares did indeed yawn enormously, as
if his body not
, his spirit, had put in a hard day.
Maniakes waited till Bagdasares was well clear of the room in which he'd
worked before muttering a ripe oath. That might not have done him any good, if
Bagdasares was listening with senses beyond those mundane five. The Avtokrator
cursed again, more ripely yet.
"So close!" Maniakes said, slamming a fist down on a tabletop. Another
sentence,
two at the most, would have told him what he so desperately wanted so
desperately needed to learn. Now all be knew was that the Kubratoi would in
fact swallow their pride and get help from the men of Makuran, who were more
experienced when it came to sieges.
He wished how he wished! Etzilios had been too headstrong to share what he
hoped would be his triumph with his allies. But Etzilios was too practical for
that, worse luck. Trim his beard and take him out of his furs and he would
have made a pretty fair Videssian. On that depressing note, Maniakes also left
the chamber where
Bagdasares had worked his successful spell.
If only it had been a little more successful, the Avtokrator thought.
Thrax rose from his prostration, eyeing Maniakes warily. "How may I serve your
Majesty?" he asked. The ceremonial of the Grand Courtroom weighed on him, as
it was meant to do.
"I summoned you here to make certain you have the fleet at the highest pitch
of readiness over the next few days," Maniakes said from the throne, staring
down at the drungarios of the fleet with no expression whatever on his face.
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The only way he could have sounded more imposing would have been to use the
royal we, as
Sharbaraz did
probably even when he goes in unto his wives, Maniakes thought, which amused
him enough to make him have trouble holding his face still.
"The fleet is always at the highest pitch of readiness, your Majesty," Thrax
said.
"If the cockroaches come away from the wall, we'll step on 'em."
"I know you're ready to fight," Maniakes said. "That isn't quite what I
meant."
"Well, what did you mean, then?" the drungarios of the fleet asked. A couple
of courtiers muttered to one another at the imperfectly respectful way in
which he framed the question.
Maniakes felt like muttering, too, but held onto his patience by main force.
He knew how Thrax was. Knowing how Thrax was had made him convoke this
ceremony. If the drungarios knew ahead of time exactly what he was supposed to
do, he would do it, and do it well enough. If taken by surprise, he still
might do well
but he also might do anything at all, with no way to guess beforehand whether
for good or ill.
"I summoned you here to explain just that," the Avtokrator answered. "I expect
that the Kubratoi will try to send a good many monoxyla over to the west side
of the
Cattle Crossing to bring back enough Makuraners to man the siege towers
against us.
Are you with me so far?"
"Aye, your Majesty," Thrax said confidently. Under that shock of shining
silver hair, his bronzed, lined face was a mask of concentration.
"Good." Maniakes did his best to sound encouraging. Since he hadn't found
anyone better than Thrax, he had to work as best he could within the man's
limitations. He went on, "Before they sail, they'll signal, to let the
Makuraners know they're coming. If we can spot that signal, too, we'll be able
to get a running start on them, you might say. Wherever the main body of the
fleet is, whether tied up at the piers or on patrol a little way off from the
city, you have to be ready to get it out and covering the Cattle Crossing on
the instant. Now do you understand what I'm saying?"
"I think so," the drungarios said. "You're saying you don't only want us ready
to fight at a moment's notice, you want us ready to move at a moment's notice,
too."
"That's it! That's perfect!" Maniakes felt like leaping down from the throne
and planting a kiss on Thrax's cheek. Only the suspicion that that would
fluster the drungarios more than it pleased him kept the Avtokrator in his
seat. "Can you do it?"
"Oh, aye, I can, no doubt about that," Thrax said. "I'm still not sure I see
the need, but I can."
"Seeing the need is my job," Maniakes said.
"Oh, aye," Thrax repeated. Unlike a lot of officers, he had no secret ambition
to set his fundament on the throne Maniakes occupied. He might well have
lacked the imagination to picture himself enjoying the power that would accrue [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]