Lisutaris raises her hand and yells for silence. The shouting dies down.
“Bishop-General,” she says, ignoring the Legate. “Is the Cavalry ready to advance?”
“Yes, but - ”
“Then return to them and prepare to advance.” Lisutaris turns to General Hemistos. “The infantry?”
“All units ready, Commander.”
“Good. Make ready to advance, Lord Kalith, return to your Elvish units and prepare to move forward. Everyone return to your units. It’s time to move. Senior officers will convene for our normal meeting in the evening.”
The War Leader glares at them all, daring any of them to defy her. Hemistos nods briefly then hurries off, pleased to be away from the argument. Lord Kalith-ar-Yil hesitates for a few seconds, before he too departs. The Niojans are still reluctant. Bishop-General Ritari stares at Lisutaris, clearly dissatisfied, before finally turning to leave, taking the Legate with him. I watch them go.
“Legate Apiroi certainly thinks well of himself. I’d say Bishop-General Ritari should watch his back.”
“Captain Thraxas,” says Lisutaris. “Why are you carrying Ensign Sendroo?”
That’s a difficult question to answer.
“Has she been drinking?”
Again that’s not a question I’m keen to answer.
“Captain Thraxas, in my tent, now. Captain Hanama, you also. Captain Julius, send for Sorcerer Irith Victorious. I want him here immediately.”
Captain Julius hurries off. I place Ensign Sendroo on the ground then follow warily behind Lisutaris into the command tent. I have the vague feeling that she’s not very pleased with me.
Chapter Fifteen
For once I don’t mind that Hanama is around. It might not be the best time to be alone with our War Leader. She appears to be in a very poor temper. Understandable, after the confrontation with the Niojans, though there’s no reason take it out on me. It’s not my fault.
“Captain Thraxas,” roars Lisutaris. “I regard this as mainly your fault!”
“My fault?”
“Yes, your fault. How do you think Legate Apiroi learned of Deeziz? She obviously tipped him off somehow. Probably with an anonymous message. That woman is causing chaos in my camp and now she’s letting my enemies know about it!”
“I suppose that’s quite likely - ”
“And who’s responsibility was it to prevent that happening? Yours! If you’d spent as much time looking for Deeziz as you have swilling ale with the Simnian Quartermaster, perhaps you’d have found her by now.”
“Swilling ale? Has Anumaris been spying on me again? She really exaggerates - ”
“Exaggerates? One of your security squad is sprawled on the ground outside this tent, incapacitated after another of your endless binges! No wonder you can’t find Deeziz. She could walk by in her best Orcish sorcerer’s costume and you probably wouldn’t even notice. When I appointed you as my personal head of security I expected you to do some security! So far your futile efforts have come to nothing, and it’s not good enough!”
Lisutaris turns towards Hanama. She’s a tall woman, and towers over the diminutive assassin. “As for you, Captain Hanama, you’ve fared no better. Your intelligence unit has brought me no useful information regarding Deeziz, and your much-vaunted Elvish agent is a complete waste of time.” Lisutaris picks up a sheet of parchment from her desk and glares at it. “Field report fromMegleth. Have found no trace of Prince Amrag’s army. Suspect they may be hidden by superior sorcery.“
Lisutaris flings the report back on the desk. “What use it that? We can’t find Amrag’s army? I knew that already! When you persuaded me to employ that damned Elvish assassin you claimed she was the finest spy in the business.”
“She is extremely talented, Commander,” says Hanama, who, I’m pleased to note, is looking uncomfortable under criticism. She deserves it.
“Extremely talented? If she had any talent she’d have found the damned Orcish army! How hard can that be? It’s not like it’s easy to hide! It’s an army! With thousands of Orcs! But your best agent can’t find it?”
“Perhaps she’s right about the superior sorcery,” mutters Hanama.
“You told me Megleth the Elf could not be baffled by sorcery!”
“Usually she can’t be,” mutters Hanama, hopelessly. “Perhaps it’s the grand hiding spell...”
“The grand hiding spell!” cries Lisutaris. “Another useless piece of information. So far all you’ve learned is that the Orcs have been hoarding crystals and stealing books. Can Deeziz perform the spell or not? Can she hide their army?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then find out! Stop sending me useless reports and actually do something about it!”
Hanama looks at Lisutaris hopelessly, stuck for an answer. While I’m enjoying seeing the assassin criticised, I suspect that Lisutaris will be returning to me soon enough. It’s therefore a relief when Irith Victorious hurries into the tent. Not that much of a relief, admittedly. Irith Victorious detests me for robbing and betraying him at the Sorcerers Assemblage. My explanation that it was necessary for the glory of Turai didn’t do anything to make things better.
“There you are, Irith,” says Lisutaris. “Everything fine with you and your sorcerers' detection unit?”
“Yes, Commander.”
“I’m pleased to hear it. You remember that small task I gave you?”
It’s Irith’s turn to look uncomfortable. He’s a large man, almost as large as me. At the Assemblage there was no one jollier, and no one drank more either. He’s not looking that jolly at the moment.
“Well?”
“No progress, Commander,” admits Irith.
“Why would I expect anything else? I ask you and your supposedly high-powered Abelasian sorcerers to find Deeziz the Unseen and have you done it? Of course not. You’re just as useless as Thraxas and Hanama.”
“We’re trying our best,” protests Irith.
“Your best? Really? Is that what you call it? You have access to every piece of investigating sorcery known in the West, plus my own memories of Deeziz. That should be more than enough to detect her. So why haven’t you?”
“There’s something wrong,” says Irith, hopelessly.
“There’s something wrong?” Lisutaris positively erupts with rage. “That’s a fantastic insight, Irith! How long did it take you to come up with that? Of course there’s something wrong! You can’t find an enemy sorcerer who is right in our midst!”
“If she was using any normal hiding spells we’d have broken through by now. I think she must be using some sort of magic we haven’t encountered before.”
At this our War Leader almost explodes. She castigates the unfortunate Irith Victorious and his fellow Abelasians. “Don’t ever come in here again and tell me Deeziz is using magic you haven’t encountered before!” she cries. “That’s been obvious from the start, you hopeless excuse for a sorcerer! Your task is to discover it and counter it! Can you grasp that simple fact?”
“Yes Commander,” mumbles Irith.
Lisutaris sweeps an angry gaze around all of us. “As my heads of security, intelligence, and sorcerous enquiry, you’re all a complete washout. You, Thraxas, are about as much use as a one-legged gladiator. I can’t believe I ever put my faith in you. Irith Victorious - my grandmother had more sorcerous power than you, and she only used her spells for cooking. And you, Captain Hanama, would be well advised to stop sneaking round the camp pretending to gather intelligence and actually do something useful, like help find Deeziz. Or else you could actually locate the Orcish army. Unless you’d rather just let them waltz up without warning and slaughter us all while we sleep?”