Page 139 of The Infernal Battalion

“Later. Right now, the important thing is that I’ve come to help.”

“I’ll take any help I can get,” Marcus said. “How many troops have you brought?”

“We’re a little light on troops at the moment, I’m afraid,” Dorsay said.

“But he’s got something better,” Cyte said, her eyes shining.

“Well. Yes.” Dorsay cleared his throat. “The First Squadron of His Majesty’s Royal Navy is anchored about ten miles downriver. Six frigates, a flotilla of heavy transports, and a few support craft. We’d originally planned to ascend the Pale, which our charts say should be clear all the way to Alves, but when we heard you were on the Rhyf, we thought we’d get as close as we could. The river’s not deep enough to come farther.” He shrugged. “We have six men-of-war as well, but we had to leave them at Enzport. Not really designed for river work, I’m afraid.”

It took Marcus’ mind a few moments to catch up to this. He drained the rest of the coffee.

“How many men will fit in your transports?” he said.

“Twenty thousand, with a fair bit of baggage,” Dorsay said mildly. “More if we heave everything over the side.”

That’s the whole damned army. “And what were you planning on doing once you found us?”

“Extracting you from your current predicament,” Dorsay said. “We’ll sail north, around the Jaw, and make for Nordart. From there we can supply easily from Borel by sea. When I left, your queen was working out the terms of the alliance with Georg, but when they’ve finished dickering, I imagine we’ll bring over some of our troops to even up the numbers. From there we can liberate Alves, cut Janus off from the north, and find a way to corner him.”

“Nordart,” Marcus said. That was a thousand miles in the wrong direction. He shook his head. “No. We have to get back to Vordan City before Janus does.”

Cyte, at Marcus’ side, nodded emphatically. The duke scratched his hawk-​like nose.

“I’m not sure that would be wise,” he said, speaking carefully. “As I said, I haven’t brought any fresh manpower. Even if we make it to Vordan City before Janus, do you think you can hold it? My impression was that you were rather roughly handled at Alves.”

Marcus winced. “That might be an understatement. We’re down to two divisions, more or less.”

“And Janus has, according to our intelligence, received a fresh infusion of men from Murnsk, including a large contingent of cavalry. So the odds against us would be something like three to one.”

“Not that bad, surely,” Cyte said. “They won’t have been idle in Vordan City. I’m sure there’ll be fresh troops waiting for us. And we can call out a citizens’ militia. That’s what carried the day in the revolution.”

Marcus, who’d been at that battle, remembered it a little differently, but he didn’t want to undermine Cyte’s argument. Instead he added, “There were troops on the way to Vordan City from the south and east that didn’t arrive in time to join the army, too.”

“Still not enough to match Janus’ numbers, though,” Dorsay said.

“No,” Marcus admitted. “But we’ll have the advantage of the defensive.”

“If we arrive in time.”

Marcus exchanged a look with Cyte. I can’t exactly tell him we need to be there to help Winter stop some mystical Beast that can take over people’s minds. Marcus gritted his teeth in frustration. There has to be something. Having the help they needed materialize so miraculously only to take them the wrong way was intolerable. Dorsay, clever, cautious Duke Dorsay. Of course he wants to wait, plan, reinforce.

“I think,” Marcus said, “if we don’t get to Vordan City before Janus does, it’s not going to matter how many men we have.”

“If the city falls, it can be retaken,” Dorsay said with a dismissive wave.

“With respect, Your Grace, you’re not Vordanai. When was the last time Borel was invaded?”

“Mmm. Seven hundred years ago? Seven hundred fifty? I’ve forgotten my histories.”

“Vordan City isn’t just another city,” Cyte said, joining in eagerly. “It represents the legitimate government of Vordan to our people, and that’s exactly what Janus is claiming to be. If he takes it and starts issuing orders from Ohnlei Palace, most of the country is going to go along with him.”

“I’m not sure I could even vouch for my own men, in that case,” Marcus said. “Raesinia would be just another exile, and with only the Borelgai backing her it would be easy for Janus to turn sentiment against us. Foreign puppets are never popular.”

“You see how well it worked for Orlanko,” Cyte added.

Dorsay looked from one of them to the other, clearly distressed. At last he said, “You really believe this? That this is the only way?”

“I do,” Marcus said. Somewhat to his surprise, he meant it. “Right now our greatest enemy is the idea that Janus is invincible. If we let him take the capital, by the time we get around to fighting him, nobody is going to believe he can be beaten.”