All the Dust that Falls

Chapter 249: Spread the Word

Arthur and Beatrice both looked at me expectantly as I spun up my processes. I needed to better understand our goals and how everything would work out on this campaign.

Our main goal here was to figure out why we'd been attacked. What the king was up to, why he'd sent an army after us, and whether there was anything else shady going on. Regardless of the answer, though, we couldn't just let this slide. That meant we'd probably end up deposing the king. At least, that's what I understood from the talks we'd had so far.

So. The next question was, could we really justify smashing through the gates before we even figured out what the situation was? Maybe we'd be attacking people who didn't really agree with us getting attacked. Not to mention that war, as I had seen, was incredibly messy. In that case, a siege might be better, but it might be even more harmful to the people living in the city.

I wasn't sure how to balance these outcomes and desires without more information. I just didn't know enough about warfare. But luckily, I was with someone who did.

I asked Arthur a long list of questions. Unfortunately, he didn't seem to be able to process them all as I flashed the list quickly above me. So, instead, I started scrolling through them one at a time. "What are the odds that storming the castle directly will work?"

Arthur rubbed his chin. "Well, that depends on a lot of things. First, probably being how much warning we give them and how many soldiers and demons are defending."

"What if we can get the people on our side?" I asked.

"Well, if we have people in the city who can help us get the gates open or even keep the defenders occupied a bit so we can hit the castle directly... we have an extremely good chance of that working. I'd say nine out of ten times, we'll be able to take the castle. Still, if the people work against us, or they manage to keep us out of the city before we can hit and get a foothold inside, it's pretty unlikely to work. It would probably turn into a siege after all." Arthur answered. He spoke slowly as he worked out his thoughts.

That sentence brought me up short. "So if we fail to storm the castle, we just enter a siege scenario?"

Arthur rubbed his chin. "Well, sort of. But it's not the same, per se. We would certainly be in a siege, but we wouldn't have the... goodwill is probably the wrong word. But," he said, looking toward the top of his tent and continuing to stroke his chin. "It would weaken our bargaining position a little bit, and we could potentially lose a lot of troops in a failed attack."

Beeping with affirmation, I started to get a better picture of what was going on as I asked my next question. "How long do you think a siege would take?"

Arthur frowned and looked pensive. "It depends on the will of the king and how well he has his own people under control. The foodstuff in the city would start to run low pretty soon. It's just after winter, and how long they can hold on depends on whether we can get there before the harvest arrives. If we can cut off their harvest from them, they likely would have very little food left after a hard winter. But it could still get awful if the king refuses to surrender, even after people begin to starve.

"If the food gets in before us, well, they could go for probably about 3 or 4 months. But of course, they wouldn't have enough food for next winter in that case, so that would be pretty dangerous, too. If the king cares about his people, then it'll go no more than a month. If he doesn't, they could probably outlast us."

For the first time, Beatrice spoke up. "Seeing the strategies used in the attack, I doubt the king cares about how the people fare."

Arthur nodded. "The king I knew would... But, well, the actions we've seen suggest that this is a very different man than the one I knew. We should work off of the assumption that the King doesn't care about his people, based on his more recent actions."

I took all the data I had gathered and crunched the numbers, sparse as they were. "I think we have our best chance of storming the castle if we can get 10 percent of people and the lay of the land figured out with at least 3-day notice. I think that taking the castle won't be an issue, but if it is, we might have to siege the castle. At least we wouldn't be sieging the city."

Arthur nodded at my explanation. "I think you're correct."

I nearly let out a beep of frustration. If Arthur already thought that this was the right approach, then why did he make me decide? He was obviously more practiced at this. It was literally just weighing the pros and cons of different strategies I didn't have experience with deploying? Well, if they needed guidance, I was happy to give it to them.

Besides, I didn't exactly like the idea of a siege. While less messy than all-out war, it seemed like a good recipe to let problems build up. Like it would end up with a decaying city and population, just on a slower timescale.Better for a clean surgical cut. Remove the leadership and take control.

Beatrice was talking again. She said something that I didn't quite pick up since I was focusing on modeling other possibilities for the coming assault.

"It's a good point, Miss Bee," Arthur said. "I do think that Susan has done a great job of giving us ideas about troop placement, but her information is quite out of date. We do need to send more scouts ahead, and perhaps if we infiltrate the city now, we'll be able to avoid any unpleasantries when it comes to sieging it."

Beatrice nodded and stood up.

"I think that's something I'm best suited for," she said, addressing Arthur and me. Was she thinking about going to the city? The hostile city, all alone, to try to take it over by herself? That seemed like a horrible idea. It was far too risky, even if she managed to lay low until we got there. It was dangerous. I was coming with her!

When I made my announcement with a firm beep, Beatrice and Arthur exchanged looks. "Are you sure that's a good idea, Lord Void? The people here need you. If we both leave..."

I considered it. Did Arthur have a point? Was I really so important to have around here?

"Tony will do a good job," I said. "You and Tony and everyone will have no problem keeping things in order here while we're gone."

Arthur nodded reluctantly. "Yeah. Tony is competent. I suppose he can lead the faith aspect of things while I take care of the army. We'll just have to let them know that you are out ahead, paving the way for us."

A bit of silence hung as we all processed the words. I assumed that's what was happening, at least. I knew well that humans tended to process things more slowly than I did.

"Okay. Can we talk about your objectives?" Arthur said after thinking for a second.

"Sure," Beatrice said. "I think we need to start preaching the word of Void in the streets, making sure that everyone is on board with him ruling. Then we'll have no problem getting the people to stand aside."

Arthur looked at her skeptically. "What if not everyone buys it? You know, it takes time to convert people. Especially to a new religion."

Beatrice nodded. "Yeah. Your army took several days to convert entirely. But I think we have some time if we get to the city quickly enough."

Arthur blinked. "Pardon?"

"They all converted. To varying degrees, of course, but I sense strands of faith coming from all of them," Beatrice explained.

Arthur shook his head in what appeared to be disbelief and bemusement. "Well, maybe you can do it then. But an army taking shelter with your followers is one thing. A city is a whole other one.

"Well," Beatrice said. "I guess a second goal should be positioning ourselves to open the gates for you all. That way, you can get into the city and hit the castle directly. I think that should be okay. All right?"

"All right," Arthur said. That seems reasonable, but I'm going to insist you take some guards with you."

"I think a squad of soldiers would be awfully suspicious, don't you, Lord Void?" Beatrice said, looking to me for support. I thought about it. I projected a few of my selections for the mission, and none of them were wearing their soldier garb.

Beatrice rubbed her cheek. "That's true. I suppose Matt and some of his friends wouldn't pass as soldiers very well. Actually, I can't imagine a less soldier-looking soldier than him. What if we bring Susan as well?"

"No. I think Susan needs to stay here." Arthur interrupted. "She's too integral in running our information networks. While she would be undoubtedly invaluable to you, I think we really need her help."

Beatrice nodded. "Okay. Let's see, who else is available…?" I started sifting through my database of profiles for everyone in the castle and the army. After a moment, I flashed up a question. "Are we okay with bringing noncombatants?"

Beatrice and Arthur exchanged strange looks. "As long as they're willing to take the risk… I suppose. Though you'll be there to protect them, so I expect they'll be even safer than we are here."

"We could always bring Talia and Tanu and a couple of the other Nighty Knights," I suggested.

Arthur looked doubtful. "I'd rather keep them out of the fighting. Besides, I don't think we have time to go back for them."

"No fighting. They would be noncombatants," I argued. "Besides, it's better than having them ride the rest of the way while hiding in storage wagons."

For a moment, Beatrice went completely still. Then, her face went a rather impressive shade of white as she ran out of the tent toward the storage wagons. I followed, confused. When we got there, she tossed open the flaps, exposing three kids and two of their mothers sitting huddled among bags of grain inside. She glared at them.

Her previously white face then did a complete turnaround and darkened to beet red. Truly, it was a sight to behold. Also, it's probably very unhealthy. The children appeared completely unabashed, but Talia and Ms. Chadwick shared extremely guilty looks.

"I'm sorry, Miss Bee," she said. "I should have talked to you. Shouldn't I have?"

Bee nodded slowly. "Yes. Yes, you very well should have. I expected this kind of thing from the kids, but you...?"

"Are the rest of the Nighty Knights in the other wagons, too? "She spat, glaring at the group. I identified Irene, Bradley, Ms. Chadwick, Talia, and Tanu. Well, and the fluffy tail that poked out from underneath the bench where Cliff was hiding. Honestly, I wasn't sure how she fit down there.

"They're back at the castle. But we ain't Nighty Knights anymore!" Tanu stated with his chin held high. "The rest of 'em are gonna protect the castle, but the three of us can really help out. So we left the order to follow."

Beatrice shook her head in disbelief and turned her glare to the adults in the room. "Why? Why would you let this happen?"

"Well," Ms. Chadwick said, "A lot of the soldiers brought along their families for the march. And, well..." The two women looked at each other and blushed. "We didn't feel right staying behind. You understand."

The statement confused me. What was wrong with the soldiers being left alone? Oh well. I mentally mimicked the motion of raising one's shoulders to one's ears and dropping them. Tony was so, so fond of that gesture, and I quite liked it as well, even if I couldn't actually perform it. I'm sure whatever they were talking about wasn't too important.

In any case, the definitely-not-Nighty Knights would be safe here with us. Plus, having a few children, along with soldiers and women, in our infiltration group would make us much less conspicuous. We'd blend in just fine.

I could see it now. We could get a house or something to stay in together. I could keep it clean, and Beatrice could find out information to pass along to the army. The kids would help blend in well. I was sure they'd have fun seeing a new city after all.

Beatrice ran a hand down her face. Despite all the positives to this arrangement, she seemed quite perturbed. "All right. Come on, follow me. We are going to talk to Arthur. Apparently, Void knew you were here the whole time. And now it has a task for all of you."

She helped the group down out of the wagon, one at a time, and we headed off back towards the command tent.

"You all know how to ride, right?" Beatrice asked the group trailing behind her. The not-Nighty Knights and their moms all nodded.

"Yes! Felix made sure it was part of our training," Irene said with a happy smile as she skipped along. "I love ponies!"

Beatrice let out a long-suffering sigh. I wasn't aware that her lungs had such air capacity. Truly, she just kept impressing me.