Page 57 of Stardust Child

“It will be three hundred miles, to Meinhem and back,” he said, turning back to the map. He had a feeling that they had already discussed this among themselves. “Most of it under tree cover.”

“That’s why we can leave the palisade for the horses, my lord,” Ortaire said, at Huber’s nod. “Only the stranglers can climb trees, and if we string up a platform and set a watch, the worst we’ll have is a noisy night. We wouldn’t even need the caravan; we could leave that for Sir Huber.”

“We would take it as far as the river crossing,” Huber conceded. “It worked, but no one sleeps in it. The metal makes the devils…echo.”

“But you’re telling me you can do this.” This was far better—and worse—than Remin had expected. He had planned to delay at least a few more weeks before attempting any rescue of his other villages.

“If you wish it, my lord,” Huber replied. “We saw fewer devils on the way home than we did on the way to Ferrede. But collecting survivors is different than marching on our own,” he conceded. “I can get us there, Rem, but without knowing what we’ll find, I can’t promise when we’ll be back. We’ll need a lot of men and horses. As many as you can spare.”

“The harvest is in. We have horses.” Remin’s frown deepened. “But I’ll still need a good force to go into the mountains, to say nothing of Nandre—”

“I will go,” said another voice, and Remin looked across the table into the young face of Squire Rollon. Lean, a little haunted, with soft brown eyes filled with determination. “Please send me, my lord.”

Huber’s squire.

Fuck. Reminhatedthis.

He had to bite his tongue to keep from instantly refusing. His gaze met Huber’s, and he saw the anguish in his friend’s eyes, their shared losses reflected, magnified, still bleeding. It was the burden of a lord to send men to die, even young men like Rollon, who was very nearly Huber’s son. But Rollon was a squire who dreamed of becoming a knight, and he would not thank them for keeping him safe behind the walls.

Huber’s eyes closed. He said nothing.

“I had not intended to send any of you out again,” Remin said, giving the young man a chance to protest, if he was serious. “At least not until you get some meat back on your bones.”

“I went to Nandre with Huber last year,” Rollon said stubbornly. “I know the way, and I know the devils. I can do it.”

“Nandre is in the mountains,” Bram put in. “The devils will be hunting until the snow flies.”

“Yes, sir.” Rollon wasn’t budging. “If anyone survived, I’ll bring them back.”

Remin’s fingers drummed on the table. Rollon was young, yes, but no younger than Remin himself had been when he launched his war against Valleth. He had done a man’s work in Ferrede.

“Explain to me how you will do it,” Remin said, capitulating, and sat back to listen.

It was impressive how closely Rollon’s plan echoed his own thinking. A journey on foot, so they would not have to protect horses by night, with a small force that could easily take to the trees. The trees in the old forest were ancient and massive, with limbs wide enough that a man could stretch out to sleep and never worry about falling off in the night. It would mean a slower journey, but that also meant they would hope to be on the heels of the devils as they fled the deepening autumn; hopefully late enough to miss the worst of the horde.

It was the same ruthless calculation that Remin had applied to the villages back in spring. Whoever still lived in Nandre would have to endure for a couple extra weeks, but Rollon and his company would arrive just as it was safe to bring them back to Tresingale.

“I will give you a dozen men,” Remin said when he was done, and lifted a hand before the boy could thank him. “They must be volunteers. If you can’t get twelve men to volunteer, then you can go with Ortaire, and split off at Meinhem.”

“Thank you, my lord.” Rollon did not protest. This was the best offer he was going to get.

“Wait until tomorrow to make your offers,” Remin added. “You will be a knight then.”

The look on Rollon’s facealmostmade up for the fact that Remin was probably sending him to his death. Remin sat back as the other knights rose to congratulate the newest of their number, thumping him on the shoulders and offering loving taunts. Huber stood last, his face filled with pride and pain as he gripped Rollon’s arm and offered a few words.

The ceremonies of making him a knight would wait. At the moment, there was a more immediate problem before them.

“There is still the matter of tracking the devils,” Remin said at last, calling them back to the table. “As soon as the leaves fall, we’ll be after them, but they’ll be harder to track once we get into the mountains. Auber, how are the lookouts coming along?”

“Like squirrels,” Auber replied. Rasiphe would have appreciated this part of their plan. “I’ve had them climbing and fighting in the trees for a few hours every day. They ought to be able to climb just about anything,though watchtowers will be our best bet. If we make a habit of climbing trees, the stranglers are going to learn to do it, too. I don’t like the idea of them raining down on top of us.”

As a practice, they cleared out the trees in the vicinity of their camp to prevent exactly that, but that wouldn’t be possible in the old forest, where cutting down just one of those massive trees might take days.

“Train up a few alternates, too, just in case we lose any to illness or injury,” Remin noted.

“This is still casting a very small net over a very wide ocean, my lord,” said Juste, who did not approve the unscientific nature of this plan. “There are some smaller networks of caves, but nothing sufficient to house a population of devils. There could be other outlets of the Aven Bede…”

“Until we know where those are, the devils are our best guide,” said Edemir, who was sympathetic to this point of view but practical. “Though what about setting up multiple lookouts with signal smoke if they spot any devils? You’d cover more territory and could send riders to gather the information the next day. Have lookouts in pairs, one man to keep watch and the other to keep the stranglers off the tower.”

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