Tris looked out over the encampment. Thousands of tents, lean-tos and campfires filled the flat plain. Come nightfall, the ghosts and vayash moru soldiers would also join them. He sat warily on horseback, in full armor beneath the flag of Margolan as Soterius and General Palinn rode out to make the first contact with Curane.
"Lord Curane!" Soterius shouted. Palinn rode beside, him, and behind them were several hundred men at arms, just a fraction of the full encamped force. "In the name of Martris Drayke, king of Margolan, open your gates. Surrender now, and you'll receive a fair trial."
For a few moments, there was silence. Then a hail of flaming arrows streamed from the crenelations. Rowdy cheers and cries rose from Curane's soldiers. Soterius, Palinn, and their escort fell back, unsurprised by the attack.
"Well, the die is cast," Palinn said.
"I don't think anyone is surprised. And now we wait. Are your men ready? Everything we know about Curane says he'll strike hard before we can get the siege engines in place. He's had time to prepare. He won't wait for us to make the first move," Tris said. Palinn nodded. "Senne agrees. As usual, Tarq
and Rallan think otherwise. We three have overruled them-again."
Tris muttered a curse. "Neither of them were father's favorites, but we have so few professional military men, I don't have much of a choice. Tarq grew up near here. He knows the lay of the land. And Rallan-well, I'd rather have both of them here where I can keep an eye on them."
"Agreed."
Soterius spoke to two of the soldiers, and they ran off toward the encampment. "We should have the catapults, trebuchets and battering rams ready soon. We'll begin felling trees this afternoon to make more," Soterius said. He looked out over the plain. "We'll build them out there, where Curane's folks can watch and worry, but far enough back that there's nothing they can do about it."
An unpleasant smile crossed Palinn's features. "A siege is as much a mental war as a show of power. Building the machines will give our men something to take their minds off the boredom. We'll drill the soldiers every day, make a real show of it. We've positioned the encampment so that it will be difficult for Curane's men to get a good count of our number. And we've pitched double the number of tents-one man per tent instead of two-so that we look even more formidable." Palinn chuckled mirthlessly. "That's not counting the ghosts and the vayash moru. Curane may have the will for a long siege, but we'll see how quickly the will of his people breaks."