The Radiant War

Chapter 14b

     “This is the second visit we’ve had from your armed forces,” said Vellor as he led them along the street to the administration complex. “The first was back in February, when your army attacked the place and took fifteen thousand men prisoner.”

     “No hard feelings I hope,” said the Princess uncomfortably. Of course, Tibre! Third of the four great garrison cities that had contained the bulk of Carrow’s armies before the war. That was why the name had seemed so familiar to her. Tamwell would have recognised the name immediately, of course, and Brailsford probably had as well. They hadn’t mentioned it to her because they’d just assumed she'd known it as well.

     “On the contrary,” said the Major. “It was brilliantly planned and executed. As a military man I am in awe of the man behind it. Your field Marshall Amberley, I presume? I look forward to meeting him after the war. Your army is superb! If it were larger, you would be a power that would make even Kelvon nervous.”

     “You are too kind.” Ardria looked back at the wall, remembering her father telling her that their forces had ignored the gates, deeming them to be too predictable as a point of entry, and had decided to blow holes directly through the walls themselves. Looking back at how thick and strong they were, she tried to imagine the size of explosive charge that would have been necessary, and what it would have done to anyone who'd happened to have been on the other side at the time. Had they known where the hospital was? Yes, of course they had. Carrow and Helberion had been spying on each other for decades. The demolition team would have known the exact position and use of every smallest building in the city, and now that she looked, she could see that the section of wall behind the storerooms was visibly newer than the rest, as if it had been recently repaired.

     “I was one of those who was a guest of your country for a while,” continued Vellor. “Colonel Hemdall was not, though, which I think is a pity. Almost everything we know of your people comes from propaganda spread by the Ministry of Truth. They say that you are cruel, merciless killers who take delight in torturing anyone you take alive. As a result, there was much terror when it was apparent that your people had succeeded in taking the city. Many kept on fighting long after they should have surrendered, and died as a result. In your POW camps, though, I learned the truth about you. That you're just people, not so different from us.”

     “We've learned a lot about you as well, in the short time we’ve been in your country," said the Princess. "Captain Leese in particular. He is a man of uncommon intelligence and good sense. If he had been adopted on our side of the border, we would have been proud to have him in the armies of Helberion. I do hope he won't find himself in trouble for the position we put him in.”

     “He'll be called to Charnox to answer for his actions, but I don’t think he has much to worry about. If I'd been in his place, I think I would have done exactly the same thing.”

     There was a pair of guards at the entrance to the building who simply saluted as the Major led his three guests through. Inside, they were left in a reception room, with a guard who watched them with wide eyed awe and terror, while the Major went off alone to inform the Colonel. “So far, so good,” said the Princess. She tried to look at her reflection in the window so she could smooth down her hair. “Were you here in February, Captain?”

     “Yes,” replied Tamwell, “although it's hard to separate my memories of this place from my memories of the other three cities. I was tired by the time we got here, and we knew we still had another city to go. I had more on my mind than sightseeing.”

     “Yes, of course. It must have been terrible....” She remembered the Carrowman who'd been left to look after them and decided to change the subject in case he'd also been here. “I wonder how things are going back home,” she said instead.