“Lord Ridak requested the mediation,” frowned Katzu. “To then act against it is a foul deed. Suddenly, Lord Marak, the peace I have noticed in your area of the frontier becomes quite understandable. You control all of the clans there.”
“To a degree,” shrugged Lord Marak. “I have retained each clan’s identity. I believe this is important to Khadora. Each of my clans has prospered under my edicts. None of them have slaves, and yet they are all more profitable than before.”
“You may have a hard time selling that issue to the Lords’ Council,” sighed Katzu, “but you have made a believer out of me. Tell me that you are not planning to go alone to capture Lord Patel.”
“I would if I thought I would succeed,” frowned Lord Marak, “but that is not possible. Lord Patel has hundreds of his best-trained troops at this estate. I am not so foolish that I imagine I could beat such troops.”
“Then why are you here?” inquired Katzu.
“I expect his troops to leave,” grinned Lord Marak. “You are aware that Lord Marshal Orik based the ambushers at his Deep Bend estate?”
“Yes,” nodded Katzu.
“Torak troops have seized that estate,” announced Lord Marak. “Lord Patel will learn of this around midday today.”
“You have declared war on a member of the Lords’ Council,” sighed the mediator. “He will crush you with everything he has.”
“That is exactly the reaction that I expect,” grinned Lord Marak. “His best troops will ride out of here before dusk. Tonight Lord Patel will be captured by the Torak clan.”
“You are mad,” scowled Katzu. “The Nordon clan has large armies at many of his estates. Even if he sends the troops from this estate, he will bring troops here from his other estates to protect him. Your plan cannot succeed. Meanwhile your people in Deep Bend are being set out as a sacrifice. They will be destroyed for sure.”
“You may be right,” responded Lord Marak, “but I hope not. Every lord surrounds himself with his best troops. Lord Patel is no different. If he seeks to eradicate the Torak clan, he will use these troops. The question appears to be the timing of events. I have arranged for him to receive word of the attack at Deep Bend at midday for a reason.”
“What do you think he will do, Lord Marak?” asked the mediator. “Tell me what you see Lord Patel doing when he gets word of your attack at Deep Bend.”
“The first thing he will do,” Lord Marak replied, “is order Lord Marshal Orik to ready his men. He will also try to determine my whereabouts. He will not waste troops just to retake Deep Bend without continuing onward to eradicate the Torak clan. He will find out that I am no longer in the capital.”
“This is why you left in the middle of the night?” asked Katzu.
“Exactly,” nodded Lord Marak. “Lord Patel was most curious as to my date of departure from Khadoratung. I suspect that he planned to assassinate me on my journey home. So I wanted to get out of the city without alerting his spies, but I also want him to know that I left the city on the day that I did. He will inquire to determine if I am still in the Imperial Palace and learn that I left a while ago.”
“You want him to think that you are in Deep Bend?” questioned the mediator.
“Yes,” nodded Lord Marak. “I had an Imperial guard sent to watch me everyday. He will have noted the day I turned up absent, although he would have no reason to alert anyone other than Marshal Chack. Lord Patel’s spies would have missed me leaving, but inquiries will reveal when I left.”
“Clever,” nodded Katzu. “What will he do next?”
“He will see the need for protection here,” admitted Lord Marak. “He will order troops from another estate to report here to replace the men he will be sending to Deep Bend.”
“Without a doubt,” agreed Katzu, “and that is where your plan fails.”
“I don’t think so,” grinned Lord Marak. “I suspect that Lord Marshal Orik will see the opportunity to get a good half-day’s march in before dusk. He will order his troops to depart as soon as they are ready. The replacement troops from his nearest estate are over a half-day’s ride. I suspect that they will not ride through the night to get here, so they will not arrive until tomorrow morning.”
“Giving you the window of opportunity that you need,” nodded Katzu. “What if you are wrong? What if the replacement troops ride through the night?”
“Then we shall attack them instead,” frowned Lord Marak. “I would prefer not to do that, but I would have to.”
“Attack them?” Katzu shook his head. “There are likely to be six to eight cortes of replacement troops coming here. You have two cortes. You can’t be serious about attacking them? How will you even know if they are coming?”
“Oh, I will know if they are coming,” smiled Lord Marak as he thought about StarWind’s assignment. The Sakovan would not only provide advanced notice of Nordon troop movements, she was quite capable of delaying them by destroying bridges or blocking roads. “As for the odds in battle, my men are trained to fight at night. Do you think those replacement troops are?”
“Probably not,” Katzu conceded, “but the odds are still long. Alright assuming that you can get to Lord Patel, that still leaves you sacrificing your two cortes at Deep Bend. You say that your people are precious to you. Are you so quick to have them destroyed?”
“I hope to have the attacking troops recalled by Lord Patel,” answered Lord Marak, “but I am prepared for a battle at Deep Bend if it is necessary.”
“Prepared for a battle?” retorted the mediator. “How do you prepare two cortes to face the bulk of Lord Patel’s army? He will have at least a dozen cortes attacking.”
“And I will have ten cortes defending,” smiled Lord Marak. “The odds are not so slanted.”
“Ten cortes?” echoed Katzu. “Where will you get ten cortes from?”
“How quickly you forget,” grinned Lord Marak. “The Assembly of Lords is over, and everyone is on their way home. The Situ, Ragatha, Sorgan, and Litari clans are traveling with two cortes each. They will be near Deep Bend at the very time that Lord Patel’s troops arrive.”
Katzu’s jaw dropped as Lord Marak’s words sunk in. “You have planned this well, Lord Marak,” he said. “The Nordon will not even suspect that the other clans owe their allegiance to you. Just the confusion alone during the battle will cost Lord Patel a great number of men. They will not understand what they are up against.”
“The problem is,” Lord Marak sighed, “I do not wish to kill a great number of Nordon. I would prefer to end this with as little bloodshed as possible.”
“Agreed,” nodded Katzu. “Do you plan to offer Lord Patel the same deal that was extended to your other clans?”
“I do,” declared Lord Marak. “That is why it is essential to have you here. Lord Patel will not be easily intimidated. If he thinks he can use the Lords’ Council to invalidate his vows to me, there will be unnecessary deaths.”
“Meaning you will have to kill Lord Patel?” questioned the mediator.
“I would have little choice,” Lord Marak frowned as he nodded. “I would have to destroy the Nordon clan. If he knows that you are a witness to his transgressions, though, I believe that he will accept his fate.”
“I hope you are right, Lord Marak,” Katzu responded. “The Nordon are a founding clan of Khadora. I also see a problem with you controlling two seats on the Lords’ Council. Do you think that is fair?”
“Is it any different than the alliances that exist today?” countered the Torak lord. “While those alliances may not be bound by Vows of Service, they are just as strong. This will be no different.”
“You make a good case,” Katzu stated after a moment of hesitation. “There are many different levels of alliance with the Imperial Palace, and Lords’ Council members come and go. You may control two seats after this event, but that is not guaranteed to last.”
“I will not use Lord Patel to do anything that is not in the best interests of Khadora,” Lord Marak promised. “You will not get that vow from any other members of the Lords’ Council.”