Age of War

Chapter 31

“This particular game has been going on for…” He looked up at the ceiling, calculating. “Three years? Four?”

“Really?”

“Indeed. It’s a pretext for our keeping in touch, I suppose. She is a dear friend. A minor noble in Tethys. We were playmates as children.”

“I see.” Saffrey’s preferences were well known, but so was his cunning. Everything he was telling her could be a lie. “Forgive me, lord, but is now the best time for a board game? We may be on the eve of the greatest battle of our age…”

“It hones my mind, commander. When one masters queens, one has mastered all military matters.”

“Again, meaning no disrespect, but there is more to warfare than wooden pieces on a board of squares.”

“And more to it than laying siege to a city.” His finger was poised on the knight. He had his eyes firmly on the board, as if he were playing his opponent there and then, with them waiting on him to make this tense move. It might be months until his friend received word of whatever he eventually chose to do, and yet to Saffrey it made no difference. She had heard that his mind was like a razor blade: that he could concentrate so fully on a single task that no skill eluded him. He was said to be a master swordsman, a talented artist, a superb lover. Or maybe it was all lies.

“My lord,” she said, “if I am to command your army, I would know your mind. How do you wish to proceed?”

“With what, commander?”

“With…with taking Atlas…” What game was he playing here, besides the one in front of him?

“I am hoping,” he said, still concentrating on the board, “that it will not be necessary to take it at all.”

“My lord?”

He finally looked up. His eyes were very dark and his gaze intent. She understood then where the rumours came from. “As you know, Atlas cannot be defended.”

“True enough. The slums stretch a mile beyond the walls, which are in a state of complete disrepair.”

“Precisely – all its defences look towards the sea. From land, it is completely vulnerable.”

“So you’re hoping they surrender?”

“I’m hoping for negotiation. I’d like to not have to demolish my own capital if it can be avoided.” His hand moved to one of the ministers and hovered there. “But there is one problem.”

“Cyclopes,” she guessed.

“Very good, commander.” He tapped a finger against the one Cyclops piece of his that remained on the board. “They are Atlas’s greatest weapon. No force in the world can stand against them.”

“You see now why I asked what you have planned.”

“Cyclopes are limited. Not everyone knows this. After they unleash the terrible, arcane force that makes them so deadly, they cannot be used again for weeks or even months.”

Hadrin couldn’t hide her surprise. “I wasn’t aware of that.”

“It’s a closely guarded secret. If Vion is foolish enough to deploy the Cyclopes, they can only destroy so many of our soldiers. And that is why we have the levies. I will send them into the city first.”

Hadrin grimaced at his brutal calculation. “That is…”

“An unpleasant thought? I agree. But I don’t believe it will come to that. The Cyclopes are a terror weapon. Neither side wishes to see them used. The effect on the defenders’ morale would make the advantage meagre indeed. No, Cyclopes need not worry us. The difficulty is in fighting in the streets.”