The Marquis by Michael O'Neill Read Free Book Online Page B

lot of cattle by all accounts, and all that separates us from Sarepeta is a mountain range that is over three thousand feet high in places.’
    Njil laughed. ‘So you have sent Derryth to find a way through. Very thoughtful of you.’
    ‘I know; he was getting bored sitting around.’
    ~oo0oo~
    When Derryth returned a few days later, he did so triumphantly, and excited that Njil had arrived with coffee and beer. Derryth was really thirsty. Sir Njil was ready to depart; he was going first to Rila with a load of timber, before returning to Atrak with marble and granite. Conn expected him back next spring. Timber was the one resource that Subari had more than enough of; it was covered in vast forests of pine, cypress and cedar, and a lot of manpower had been expended logging the trees and bringing it portside for loading. A second wharf and attached timber yard had been constructed especially for that purpose.
    Conn proposed a toast. ‘To Derryth! The great explorer. You will be able to tell that story to your grandchildren as well.’
    Derryth smiled sheepishly. ‘I can’t take all the credit. If I said I found the way through I’d be lying. Balios did.’
    Derryth rode his own Elfina, one of Balios’ offspring, but Balios had decided to go with them on the journey. Balios was never locked up; he roamed freely and whenever Conn needed him, he was there. It was quite surreal.  It seemed that he had determined that Conn didn’t need him and had followed Derryth, and had effectively taken over the expedition, much to Derryth’s chagrin. Balios was remarkably annoying for a horse because he really did have a mind of his own.

03: Year 875
    With the new arrivals from Meshech, Conn now had nearly two thousand troops under his command in Subari. Sadly, he only had three hundred horse, and most of those were essentially ponies. What he did have was a lot of bowmen and pikemen – and half the local fyrd, currently bowmen or lancers, had been trained as pikemen. From the equipment brought by Njil’s recent arrival and subsequent departure, they were now properly armed and equipped with new uniforms, armour, and weapons.
    Sir Njil had brought more animals but these were fifty mules; who along with the new gang ploughs, planters and harvesting equipment would be essential for this year’s crop.
    He had commented that Efilda didn’t look too well.
    She thanked him for his concern. ‘I’m fine – excellent in fact. Just morning sickness.’
    ‘Morning sickness? Are you…’
    ‘Pregnant? Yes, I have successfully determined that the Marquis’s rumoured fecundity is no rumour … but it is what I wanted so I cannot complain.’
    ‘There are probably less stressful ways to find out. Perhaps you will be lucky and just have one child?’
    ‘I’m not counting on it.’
    Following Sir Njil’s departure after the Spring Equinox, Conn led his team of “rustlers” west out of Subari toward the mountains. Efilda left him with the instruction that he was not to kill anyone. He promised – though he crossed his fingers when thinking of Ancuman. He did have Wystan with him; Brys was busying supervising the training of the fyrd and preparing them for the march north. They were going to have to walk over a hundred miles, and up several thousand feet in elevation, carrying heavy packs due to the lack of horses. Oxen carts would heave the really heavy “stuff”, albeit slowly. The arrival of mules had meant that the few oxen that they had could be spared from the farms.
    Brys planned for everyone to be in the pass within 20 days after leaving the harbour. Conn intended to be there soon after.
    Even on horseback, Conn’s progress was slow; Subari had been let go for over fifty years and there was not much left in terms of roads and clear pathways; with bush and forest reclaiming much of the land. With Derryth having already been to the mountains, it was much quicker than it could have been, and he knew deserted villages where they