The Invisible Hands - Part 1: Gambit by Andrew Ashling Page A

me.”
    “Nothing is impregnable, Master Dram,” the queen said, “provided you have enough money, men and time.”
    Ffindall Dram nodded.
    “Agreed. Still, it seems His Majesty is taking a calculated risk.
    There is a second line of defense works.”
    “Another string of forts? Why is this the first we hear about them?”
    “Oh no, not forts, My Lady. Rivers.”
    “Rivers?”
    “Yes, rivers and canals. We’re still looking into the details, but it seems your husband’s engineers have designed a waterway system, that originally was meant to irrigate a series of adjacent plains and valleys. As Your Majesty knows, the soil is rather arid in those parts.”
    “So?”
    “The rivers there dry up regularly. It was one of the king’s pet projects to ameliorate the irrigation system. It began years ago — oh, I 8
think he was still prince regent at the time — but the task proved
    rather daunting. Progress was slow and the cost prohibitive. Deflecting mountain streams, connecting rivulets, digging canals, straightening and deepening riverbeds, sluices… the lot, really. Funds were allocated when available and all these years the work continued, slowly. It was one of those eternal projects, that never drew any attention, never seemed to end and was never altogether abandoned, though at some periods work came almost to a standstill.”
    “Fine. I understand that there are now some fertile valleys in the south. How does that help him defending the border?”
    “As I said, My Lady, it is a quite intricate irrigation system. It can go wrong very easily. Or deliberately. They can flood a string of valleys running parallel to the border. Mind you, flooding is maybe an exaggeration. At places shallow lakes would form, at others it would make the soil soggy enough to make the going very hard for a fully equipped army.”
    “I see. Still, why weaken his armed forces?”
    Ffindall Dram shrugged.
    “The usual, maybe? Money.”
    Emelasuntha looked at Sobrathi.
    “If that is the case,” the baroness said, “it’s good news. It means he will be decommissioning them.”
    “Do we have any reason to suppose that is his intention?” the queen asked, following the lead of the baroness.
    “No,” Dram said. “We don’t know, either way. That’s why I’m here.
    That, and because there is something else complicating the situation.”
    Emelasuntha raised her eyebrows. Sobrathi sat upright.
    8
“The Bloody Baron may be dead, but I thought it wise to keep tabs
    on what was happening at the Damydas demesne, if only to know if his sons had managed to rescue their own sons.”
    “Oh yes, those poor children,” Sobrathi said. “And?”
    “No news of them, but there has been some unusual activity. There was an investigation going on about the late baron’s activities. A royal investigation. Recently they closed the castle down. A detachment of three hundred soldiers is occupying it now, and the place is teeming with Black Shields. I didn’t make much of it to begin with, but taken together with the news about the troops, I’m beginning to wonder whether the two are connected somehow.”
    “When did this happen?” Emelasuntha asked.
    “Two weeks before the decision was taken to send almost half the army home, My Lady,” Ffindall Dram said dryly. “You can see why I thought it prudent to come myself and bring enough messengers to send whatever orders to wherever you need them being sent.”
    “What are you going to do?” Sobrathi asked when they were alone again.
    “For the moment nothing much. We need more information. I can’t believe, for several reasons, Tenax will be moving against Anaxantis, but we have to make sure.”
    A servant knocked, and after having been given permission, entered the room. Without speaking he handed the queen a sealed parchment. Emelasuntha dismissed him with a nod, broke the seal and went over to the window to read it. Sobrathi almost exploded with impatience.
    “Strange, isn’t it?”