III - Fractions of Broken Sunlight

'Memories appear in fractions of broken sunlight, reflecting in pools of bright water'

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‘What news?’ King Duerra asked, his eyes flitting from one son to another, but each had their head down, hoping to avoid being the first to answer. Duerra was a formidable looking figure, heavyset with a deep battle scar across his face. The scar coursed diagonally from the top left of his forehead, over the bridge of his nose and right cheek bone to his jaw. Through its course it had partially dislodged and disfigured his left eye, half closing the eyelid, giving him broken vision and making him difficult to look at. His eyes were dark, but knowing and bright somehow and there was nothing much that he missed. He was wise through experience and had reached the age of sixty, but was not in general good health. With this ever present in his mind he knew he didn't have long left and so had to act fast with the ongoing preparations.

As they sat around the large circular table of the council there was a silence as each son prepared to speak. ‘I should start with you Alfos, you are the oldest, but it’s of no matter. Caratacos, what progress have you made?’ All eyes went to him, including those of the servants and guards in waiting. They all expected a comical, vague running commentary of sketchy, half-baked plans that added up to nothing much. They looked on cringing and waiting to laugh.

 

‘A pathway has been cleared for you and whatever court you decide to take with you from here to Hibernia, and it will be no desperate escape either, you will be able to retire with strength and dignity. To all around it will seem like a well thought out strategic retreat,’ Caratacos said. He paused looking around the room and saw that the starts of derisory smiles had frozen mid-way through. He spoke fast and enthusiastically with an air of gullibility, his voice high pitched for a man.

‘Go on.’ his father said, impressed with what he had heard so far, he hid his look of surprise by holding his golden goblet to his face as he slowly sipped his wine.

‘In detail the house of Yulla will be a staging post in the north west of our kingdom, from there a safe road has been established through Siluria to the far western coast. The road has been checked and there are no tolls or barriers and at its far end, at the port of St David I have made ready several ships for your safe passage abroad.’

‘What then?’ Alfos cut in sharply, his long lank black hair half hiding his thin face.

‘I am in talks with the Lords of Cork and Kerry to make good a house for you and for us all, if it comes to that.’

‘Talks! How? Sounds like half a plan to me,’ Alfios said with malice, smiling through his sallow complexion with a crazed look. He scanned the room, looking around expecting to see similar reactions to his own approval, a few began reluctant laughs.

‘Alfos,’ The King said, he had a deep frown and was red with anger.

‘And what if they decide to invade Hibernia? What then?’ Alfos went on, undeterred, by his father, trying to push Caratacos into a corner. And then again all eyes were on Caratacos, but this time he looked blank.

‘Then we go to the land of the Ice, which I have made no provision for as of yet,’ his voice was slow and measured, unlike before.

‘You have done well in the time given, although this course of events is not what I am hoping for,’ Duerra said. ‘Anything more?’

 

‘Our spies abroad say we do not have much time, Italia is already preparing. Their troops are getting ready to march and when they are here we won't have much time. They only march at one speed, but a consistent one and they will bring cavalry to scout on ahead or take out easy targets. That is why it would be risky to evacuate on foot or in a wagon. So I have arranged for you to have riding lessons.’ Caratacos said and at that everyone burst into laughter at the thought of the old king who could not walk well riding on a horse, but he continued.

 

‘It is possible to make the boat in St David in two days ride, on foot it will take over a week, where you stand much more chance of capture.’ he emphasised the word capture putting the flat of his hand on the thick wooden table, as though squashing an insect. The room quietened to a silence. ‘They will bring horses, not a huge number, but enough to chase an escaping royal party." Everyone looked at him. ‘That is all’

‘You've done a lot of work, but I don't think I'll be getting on a horse at my age. A chariot maybe. Thank-You,’ Duerra said slowly, mulling over what he had heard. He looked over at Wiznia, the leader of the Druids, who was shaking his head. Next Alfos spoke about his army and its training. At present he said they had a standing army of around four thousand men and were looking to increase that to twelve thousand from their own population, but knew even with that amount they would be hopelessly outnumbered and outclassed. He was hoping that by the time of a formal battle to be in charge of an army of twenty four thousand men, including mercenaries and survivors from other defeated kingdoms. He told everyone they would be facing an army of between thirty and forty legions (thirty to forty thousand) and in battle they would be no match. He went on to say that they would be avoiding a set battle for as long as possible and would be engaged in hit and run type activities.

‘Listen, son they're not your troops, they are the kingdoms and will be under my control in council with our strategists" Duerra said firmly like a father scolding a child, waving his hand at the group of three silent men at the bottom end of the table. They looked small and sheepish

‘Yes, but I have plans and have been training them in a certain way,’

‘Well, we need to know about that then,’

"Yes of course father" he said, defeatedly.

‘There is a price to pay for guerrilla warfare: Reprisals.’ he looked around the room at every face. No reaction he found appeared to disagree.

‘We can only hold them off for so long, we need to make the most of every opportunity to slow them down, if we are defeated and you are safely retired to Hibernia, we will re-group the army in the safety of Devonia. I have no further news, other than the work on the defences continues.’ Nodding as though holding his breath, Duerra circled his free hand in mid-air. ‘We are digging a series of long ditches around the outer defences and some within, some of which can be ignited to create a wall of fire. Also a series of traps have been created along their predicted approach path, some our inside our kingdom, some are in no mans land. Again also we have set up a signalling system so we can communicate with the Cantiaci, the Iceni and the Silurians,’

‘Hmmm, your progress is better than I expected, we will work on it. What type of men have you got?’ Duerra asked.

 

‘Swordsmen and spearmen and a few archers nothing more. There are some chariots, but none in any great number; other than in surprise attacks they haven't proven to be effective in battle against Italia anyway. There are some willing to fight who have no weapons at all, such is their hatred for the new invaders.’ Then after it had remained silent for a few seconds all eyes went to Bezon who hadn't been listening and seemed detached from his surroundings.

‘Come on Bezon, what have you got?’ Duerra asked jovially, prompting his second son.

‘I haven’t been abroad yet, so haven’t any further information other than we already know. The messages I have been hearing indicate we may have three to six months, maybe more as it takes them a long time to assemble their troops,’ Bezon said, but as he looked around the room at his brothers, his father and Wiznia, he saw faces of disbelief. ‘In case you are wondering about my certainty their fleet isn’t ready and to compound that they are very superstitious about travelling over water. In fact they believe they have no protection from their gods, so in the high summer they will be looking for the perfect days weather to sail,’ with this he saw some nods of approval. ‘I leave in two days’ time in the Sea Serpent, taking the cover of the Phoenician trading route,’

 

Reviews

[shadrach hah]

Now, we sit around the council chamber, and I feel as if I am there, in the heart of the discussions. Your characters are set up well and they come alive. I am already looking forward to the next part of this wonderful write. Let fate spin her rope.

[Confuser]

B: Now it's really getting good...I do love reading historical battle strategies, so I'm loving the suspence..you are so talented! The descriptions are so vivid, your imagination is boundless: 'Memories appear in fractions of broken sunlight, reflected in pools of bright water' - what a way to begin a Chapter. Poetic, magical, and the description of King Duerra is finely detailed. Now, it's getting suspenseful. Great work and I thank you so very much. Dale

[ANTO]

""And what if they decide to invade Hibernia? What then?" Alfos went on, undeterred, trying to push Caratacos into a corner. Then again all eyes were on Caratacos, but this time he looked blank." - masterful story-telling B, - the intrigue is palpable. Thanks for the RR, my friend.

[MomzillaNC]

If the armies of Italia are Romans, they always believed they had the protection of Neptune.

[The Black Warrior]

'Memories appear in the fractions of broken sunlight reflected in pools of bright water'

With just this part you had my attention LOL :D

You did a great job in creating an image inside my head while reading this chapter. I like it a lot.

You had my attention from the beginning to the end.

Well done :D

[Michael Keyes]

I'll state what I think needs looking at first.

.I think some of the vocabulary in certain parts could be expanded or edited. For instance,
"The scar went..." Perhaps a more striking adjective? "Coursed?" "Channeled?"
Also, "His dark eyes were knowing and bright..." I think this is contradictory.

.I recommend going over the chapter for commas and full stops. There are plenty of sentences broken up with commas that I think would be better off as two sentences separated by a full stop. For example,
"They were all expecting a slightly comical description of disaster as was the norm with him, they looked on waiting to laugh."
Perhaps, "...as was the norm with him. They looked on waiting to laugh."

.Several times you write, "Caratacos said", or, "Bezon said", after speeches from them. I think this is unnecessary when they have been set up to speak in the paragraph before hand. For example,
"Come on Bezzy what have you got?" Duerra asked jovially prompting his second son.
It's clear that Bezon is speaking in the next paragraph so there is no need to mention him at the end of his speech.

.I think some sentences need editing in order to clear them up. For example,
"...on foot it will take over a week, where you stand much more chance if capture"
Perhaps, "...on foot it will take over a week, where you are more likely to be captured."
Also,
"Reprisals" Duerra said looking around the room at every face and no reaction he found appeared to disagree.
Perhaps, "Reprisals", said Duerra, looking around the room at every face. No reactions disagreed with him."

.Why is Alfos speech about the army summarised? Caratacos is shown speaking in detail about his escape plans. I think Alfos speaking in detail about the army and their training for guerrilla warfare would make interesting reading.

Despite all that, there is a great story here. There's certainly a detailed plot, carried by interesting characters.

[wordman]

this is very creative I liked it

[Coyote Poetry]

I like the story. You create interesting place and people. I like the use of myth and fear to create good storyline. Thank you for sharing the excellent chapter.
Coyote