Flanking action. Now that would work-no, no it wouldn't. Any attempt to get behind the Sulasians would cause them to break off and immediately throw everything they had at the army trying to cut them off from Suld. The Sulasians wouldn't allow-
– -Of course! They wouldn't allow themselves to be cut off from Suld! That was how they were going to do it! Fake an attempt to box them, make them commit to a westward attack, then hit them from behind and from the south! It was so obvious! That meant that they either had help in Shace or they had agreements to move troops through Shacean territory.
He had to talk to Keritanima. If he'd seen it, she must have seen it. From what he'd heard from Jenna, Keritanima wasn't counting on the Sulasian army, and that made Tarrin a bit suspicious that she had written them off. She was making her plans with what she had, and he had the sneaking feeling that that meant that she wasn't going to try to help the Sulasians. Not when the men she would have to send to do that would be men not available to her when it came time to defend Suld.
He needed to talk to her.
Tarrin looked around. The nearest strand was about fifty spans out in an overgrown barley field. He trudged over to it, then briefly paused to sweep the dew off the grass with Sorcery-he hated getting wet-and then sat down and settled into a comfortable position, legs crossed, paws resting on knees, tail wrapped around his legs, and then closed his eyes and pushed himself into the Weave.
It was something that had very nearly lost it wonderment. Tarrin flowed through the Weave quickly, easily, knowing the shortest path to the Heart by past experience, and once there, wasted no time seeking out Keritanima's star. Once he was close to it, he used that sense of her to discern her physical location; he knew she would be very close. The Heart's location in the physical world translated very closely to the Conduit of the Heart, and Keritanima was literally right on top of it. He wouldn't have to look long.
And he didn't. He immediately locked on to her physical location in reference to the Weave, and then cast himself through the Conduit, into a major strand, and then wove together an image of himself, set it into her location, and then pushed his consciousness into it.
He opened his spectral eyes and found himself in the Keeper's office. Tarrin found himself looking down at Keritanima and the Keeper, sitting on opposing sides of her desk, with the largest Vendari Tarrin had ever seen standing behind the Queen. Duncan, the aged secretary of the Keeper, stood to her left at the desk, and all four of them were staring at him. Three in shock, one in annoyance.
"Szath, stand at the door and don't let anyone in!" Keritanima said immediately, giving Tarrin a hot look. "Tarrin, have you lost your mind! You just missed revealing this little trick to the entire Council by about half a moment!" she said in a quiet, hissing voice as her massive Vendari bodyguard moved quickly and quietly to do her bidding, setting himself before the door and leaning against it. It would take an Ogre to move something that big and get in the room.
"Sorry, I should have made sure it was safe first," Tarrin said contritely, looking at the Keeper. She was a little thinner now, with some gray hair and sunken eyes that showed the stress of the Tower's position in her, but he had very little remorse. Looking at her reminded him that it had been the Council that had set Jesmind loose on him, had turned him Were. He understood the need for it, but he would never forgive them for it.
"Goddess, Tarrin! What happened to you?" the Keeper asked in shock, looking at him. "And how are you doing that?"
"I am what you made me, Keeper," Tarrin said in a hissing voice, his eyes narrowing. "And as to what I'm doing, let me just say that I know more about Sorcery now than you ever would have hoped in your wildest dreams."
So rubbing it in was a bit excessive, but sometimes Tarrin was a very petty person.
Turning immediately back to Keritanima, absently forming a Ward around the office to block any attempt to eavesdrop on them, he got right to the point. "How entrenched is the Sulasian army?"
"The Dals will kill themselves trying to dig them out of Ultern," Keritanima replied immediately. "They don't have the manpower to dislodge them now, because Ranger units have been wreaking havoc on the Dal supply lines."
"That means that the boxing action will come from Shace."
"I know. I've already identified the Marquis that's signed on with the Dals. I'm taking steps."
"Unless you commit reinforcements, they won't be enough," Tarrin told her.
"I know that, but I'm not sending a single man out of Suld," Keritanima said sharply. "Suld is more important than the Dals, the Sulsians, or even Ultern and Jerinhold. I'm doing what I can to give the Sulasians the best chance they have."
"I'll deal with it. Just tell me what you're going to do, so we don't step on each other's feet."
"I've sent agents into Shace to interfere with the Dal troops marching through Shace. I should be able to slow them down long enough to send the order to the Sulasian army for them to withdraw and come back to Suld before they can get surrounded. I can't call them back until the last minute, or the ki'zadun will know we know what they're doing. The Sulasians are as much a decoy and misdirection as they are potential reinforcements." She looked sharply at Tarrin. "What do you intend to do?" she asked.
"Kill the Dals," Tarrin said bluntly.
"And what masterful plan have you constructed to do that, eh, brother?" she asked waspishly. "Your plans are more spontaneous than a mayfly's wandering."
"Nothing extravagant, sister. I'm a simple man. I'll just ask the Selani clan about to come out of the Frontier to attack the Dal army from behind."
Keritanima stared at him for a long moment, then she laughed delightedly. "I didn't think of that!" she admitted. "Are the Dals going to be more or less in the Selani's path?"
Tarrin nodded. "Sarraya's guiding them, and she said she'd take the shortest route. That will bring them out in a virtual straight line with Ultern. The Selani would attack them no matter what, but I think I can convince them to hold off until a certain day, if it fits in with what you're doing here."
Keritanima laughed again, then leaned back in her chair. "That's pretty clever, but they'll know they're coming," Keritanima told her.
"Not entirely. I can give them alot more to think about than a Selani clan, sister. I'm about four days from the major artery of the Dal supply lines."
"Torrian?"
Tarrin nodded.
"You're in Aldreth?" she asked quickly.
Tarrin nodded again. "I just got here yesterday. There are enough people here to take Torrian back from the Dals, and if the garrison there is as weak as the one here was, I think a troupe of housewives with frying pans could manage to take it fairly well. I could probably destroy it myself."
"I think you have a good idea," Keritanima said, tapping her chin with a finger. "Cause enough chaos with the Dals, and the ki'zadun may start reconsidering attacking. I'd much rather avoid that war if I could."
"Forget it. They've worked for years for this, Kerri. They'll come, no matter how bad it looks."
"That's true enough, I suppose," Keritanima sighed.
The Keeper, who had been sitting in rather nervous silence staring at Tarrin, cleared her throat. "I think it's a very good idea," she agreed. "If we can free the Sulasian army and be sure of it, it will add that much more defense to Suld."