He got no further. Alyss interrupted him.
'Stop feeling, Horace, and start thinking! Let's face it, when it comes to straight-out battle, you have an advantage over us. Right or wrong, you men are physically stronger than we are. That's a fact of nature, and physical strength plays a big role in close combat. I could work on my skills with the sabre till I was blue in the face. But even if I were as fast and as skilled as you, Horace, you would still be stronger than me. That's the way of things. And I know Evanlyn might knock one or two, or even a dozen, of the enemy over with her sling. But once they came to close quarters, she'd be in trouble.'
'This is our chance to do something constructive in this war!' Evanlyn said, taking up the theme. 'Our chance to contribute! And if we do it, we don't weaken your forces. That's the beauty of Alyss's kayak. If we travelled overland we'd need some of the Kikori to come with us as guides and bodyguard. But on the lake, who can touch us?'
There was a long silence while Horace and Will digested all of this. In their hearts, they knew that Halt and the girls were right. The plan was logical and well thought out – even down to the detail that Evanlyn had just pointed out. Travelling across the lake, they wouldn't need the services of any of the Kikori. It was just that…
'I'll worry about you,' Will said, looking into Alyss's eyes. She smiled at him and took his hand in hers.
'Well, of course you will. I'd hope you would. Just as I'll worry about you, trapped here with hundreds of Arisaka's men baying for your blood. Just as I worried about you when you were in Hibernia. Or in Arrida. Or on any of your other missions. Of course I worry about you. But I never tried to stop you going, did I?'
'No,' Will agreed reluctantly. 'But…'
Alyss held up one finger in warning. 'Don't dare say "this is different",' she said and he closed his mouth hurriedly. Selethen gave vent to a deep chuckle and they all turned to look at him.
'A good tactician always knows when to retreat from an untenable position, Will,' he said. The young Ranger grinned reluctantly.
Evanlyn turned to Horace. 'What about you, Horace? Will you worry about me?' she said, a smile lurking behind her lips.
Horace went red in the face and shuffled his feet. He didn't meet her gaze.
'Ah…well…yes. Of course. And Alyss too, of course. Both of you. I'll worry about both of you.'
Evanlyn turned to the others and shrugged. 'I guess that's all a girl can expect from a strong, silent type like him.'
'I'm glad that's settled,' Halt said. 'Now, down to details. When do you plan to leave?'
'We thought tomorrow,' Evanlyn said and Alyss nodded assent.
'Tomorrow!' Will and Horace chorused in surprise. All eyes turned to them.
'I mean, isn't that rushing it a little? Why go so soon?' Will added uncertainly.
Alyss shrugged. 'Why wait? The weather will only get worse. And the sooner we go, the sooner we'll be back.'
'That's true, I suppose. But…tomorrow?' So far, they'd been discussing the concept of the girls' leaving. But now there was a reality and an immediacy to the whole thing.
Halt dropped a hand on his shoulder. 'Best get used to it, Will. If you're involved with a Courier.' He paused and then included Evanlyn. 'Or a madcap princess…' He favoured her with a faint smile so she wouldn't take offence. 'This is not going to be the last time you see them off on some hare-brained scheme.'
For a moment, he studied the two girls. He had to admit to a certain proprietorial feeling about them. Alyss was his wife's protegee and he'd watched her grow into a resourceful and courageous young woman. Will's account of her strength of purpose and her coolness under pressure during the siege of Castle Macindaw had confirmed his favourable opinion of her. As for Evanlyn, he'd watched her in action, battling the Temujai riders in Skandia and the Tualaghi bandits in the desert. There was no question of her courage or her ability. They would make a good team, he thought. And if they could overcome the residual jealousy that still existed between them, they would be formidable. Perhaps this trip would help them do that.
'I'll compose a letter for you to take to Lord Nimatsu,' Shigeru said to Evanlyn. 'And tonight, I'll ask my servants to prepare a suitable farewell meal for you both.'
'Sounds good,' Evanlyn said cheerfully. 'What will we be having?'
Shigeru smiled at her. 'The same hard rations we have every night,' he said. 'But tonight, the table setting will be exquisite.'
Halt looked around the group, satisfied that the matter had been settled and that Horace and Will realised the need for the girls to contribute to the campaign, and the value in their doing so. But there was something else that had been on his mind for some time now. He caught Selethen's gaze. The Arridi saw the challenge in the Ranger's eye and smiled, knowing what was coming.
'Tomorrow it is then,' Halt said. 'But before Alyss and Evanlyn leave, I think we'd all like to see what Selethen and Will have been up to these past weeks.'
'It's a little early to be showing you this,' Will said, as he led the curious party uphill towards a secluded corner of the valley. 'So far, we only have equipment for ten men. The others have to take it in turn to train and practise.'
'Practise what?' Evanlyn asked but Halt signalled her to wait.
They stopped at a point where a grove of trees screened a smaller gully. Will and Selethen ushered them forward and they came to a flat section of land, forty metres by twenty.
Horace pointed to a line of fascines – bundles of light branches tied together, each about the size of a man – standing at the far end of the gully.
'What are they?'
Will grinned at him. 'They're the enemy.' He looked at Selethen. 'Do you want to take over?'
The Arridi warrior shrugged deferentially. 'It was your idea. I'm just an assistant.'
Will nodded, gathered his thoughts for a second, then proceeded.
'I got the inklings of this idea when we first arrived here and I saw the Kikori at work. Their group discipline was excellent.'
Shigeru nodded. 'It has to be. Timber cutting is a dangerous business.'
'Exactly,' Will said. 'Then Horace, I think, said that the Senshi, with their years of training, excelled at individual combat. How one on one, they were generally superior to our Araluan warriors.' He glanced a question at Horace, who also nodded.
Halt settled back, leaning comfortably against a rock, smiling at his former pupil. He thought he could see where this was heading, but he wasn't sure how Will planned to achieve it.
'Now all of this rang a bell in my memory. I'd heard this sort of thing before. It drove me mad for a few days, then I remembered where it had been.' He paused and Halt's smile widened as the others unconsciously leaned forward, waiting for him to continue. His young pupil couldn't resist the opportunity for a little drama.
'I recalled General Sapristi saying much the same things.'
'General who?' Horace asked, totally puzzled.
'He was a general in Toscana who arranged a demonstration of their fighting methods for us,' Will explained. 'The Toscan legions have developed a system of fighting as a team. It's simple, so there's no need for them to learn or practise complex swordplay. They just have to jab and stab and shove. The secret is, they all work together.' He paused. His throat was a little dry with all this talking and he gestured for Selethen to take up the story.
'As the general told us, individually his legionnaires would be no match for expert warriors. Their strength lies in their teamwork, and their equipment.' Selethen paused, then turned and called out an order.
'Kikori! Show yourselves!'
He and Will had sent a messenger ahead to let the trainees know they were coming. Now, on his command, a file of ten Kikori trotted out from behind a pile of boulders halfway up the valley.
But they were equipped as no Kikori had ever been equipped before. Shigeru stared at them, fascinated.
Each man carried a long rectangular shield. It was slightly curved and made of wood, reinforced at the top and sides with strips of iron. In the centre, a plate-sized iron boss protruded. The men also wore hard leather breastplates and leather helmets. These too were trimmed with iron strips, for extra protection. As they ran, moving at a steady jog, they held long wooden javelins sloped over their shoulders.
Horace moved forward to look more closely. 'They're pretty primitive,' he said. The javelins were roughly trimmed wooden stocks, about a metre and a half long, each with an iron rod bound to it, protruding some fifty centimetres past the wooden stock. The iron rod ended in a barbed point.
'They don't need to be anything more than that,' Will told him. 'Selethen, will you conduct the drill, please?' He turned to the others. 'Let's move down a little, to the side. You'll be able to see better.'