Mythica, book 2, Chapter 4.

Chapter 4.

“I admit that I didn’t think you had it in you Sabine, but I’m glad to say that I was mistaken,” Hamilcar said as his men opened the gate.

“Is there somewhere we can house my new unit?” Sabine asked.

“Aye, one of my boys is getting instructions for your new force as we speak. It looks like the last attack didn’t go as planned so there should be some space freed up in one of the tents,” Hamilcar said.

It took some time, but they were eventually able to round up a half dozen tents that were barely big enough to fit the remaining fifteen mercenaries that Sabine now had under her command. Hamilcar was a big help, and Sabine suspected that he and his men were still tasked with keeping an eye on the group, which was fine with Sabine as long as her men were taken care of.

Before long, Councilor Emmet sent his clerk to find Sabine. The clerk had Orren in tow, which Sabine was glad to see. She worried that he would be kept separate from her and Skrix, and they still needed to finalize their plans. Orren had done well in ingratiating himself with Emmet, and that relationship would hopefully help them to get a ship as soon as the battle for the city was over.

“I see you’ve found your little band of miscreants. Did they give you any trouble?” The clerk, Collins, asked. Despite being impressed by Orren and his family, she caught the thinly veiled dismissiveness in his tone.

“They’re ready to go, unfortunately, you’re down to fifteen of them now,” Sabine advised.

“Oh, did some refuse to join up?” Collins asked.

“In a manner of speaking, yes, they chose to fight me, and I was forced to kill them,” Sabine bluntly said, shocking Collins a bit.

“That is unfortunate, but within the purview of your responsibilities. I’ll have rations brought out for troops. Equipment will be arranged when you receive your first mission. Councilor Emmet has requested your presence in the command tent to go over your duties,” Collins advised.

“What about my troops, I’m pretty sure you don’t want them skulking about the camp while I’m gone,” Sabine asked. She didn’t know them very well yet, and there was a rather good chance that they would try to escape or cause some other kind of trouble.

“For now, Hamilcar’s squad will keep an eye on them. He’ll take them to get fed and then to the baths, because the gods know they need it,” Collins replied before he stalked off back to where the ornate tents were positioned. When Collins left, Orren stayed behind.

“Sabine, is everything okay?” Orren asked.

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” Sabine replied.

“I think Councilor Emmet is a bit convinced that by aiding me, my family will reward him handsomely. Of course, I did nothing to refute those beliefs. Things aren’t going well on his efforts to take back the town, so maybe you can do something to swing the fight in our favor,” Orren said.

“That’s my goal, I’ll know more after I meet with Emmet to go over what he expects my new little army to do,” Sabine said.

“What does Sabine-boss what Skrix to do?” Skrix asked.

“For now, stay with Orren and keep an eye on him. Given Emmet’s earlier reaction to you, I think keeping a low profile for you is best,” Sabine said.

“I stay-protect Orren-mage,” Skrix said with confidence.

“You do that Skrix, I’m going to go see what the council has in store for us,” Sabine said.

Nobody stopped her until she entered the area where the luxurious tents were. Once there, a guard stopped and confirmed who she was before letting her through. It was the only real security inside the camp. A determined and aggressive opponent could make the council pay for their lax security. Even a small raid could do some serious damage before a defense could be organized. Sabine’s estimation of the council’s ability to wage war was dropping by the minute.

Maybe seeking out the other faction would have been a better option, but from what Hamilcar had said, the council still greatly outnumbered the usurper’s defenders. Breaking into the city would have been problematic, and there was no guarantee that Orren’s family connections would have assisted them in any way like they had done with Councilor Emmet.

At the entrance to the tent, several guards armed in heavy plate took her weapons. Sabine warned them about Reckoning, but they must have already heard the tale from her encounter with Sergeant Nichols and carefully wrapped the weapon in a thick cloth. These armored guards must have been part of the small cadre of Council Knights that Hamilcar had told her about.

The interior of the tent was covered in fine rugs and a large rectangular table that seated thirty people took up much of the space in the center. About half the seats were filled and Councilor Emmet took his place at the head of the table. Seeing her enter, Emmet’s clerk, Collins was here and made his way over to greet Sabine.

“This is your place Sabine, please refrain from speaking during the session until you are spoken to,” Collins advised, leading her toward a seat near the far end of the table.

Seated around her were several others dressed in various types of armor, and noticing the different symbols painted on their gear, it was obvious these were the mercenary group leaders. She caught more than a few jealous glances cast toward the Shell Hound Plate that she wore. Toward the head of the table were others dressed in the livery of the council guard, likely the leaders of different units. The seats closest to the table were taken by the other council members and important city dignitaries.

“Welcome all, we have a lot to cover, so let’s get started. As you know, the blockade was broken a few nights ago and several ships were unloaded. While we have no idea of exact numbers, a small band of troops did disembark and are supporting the defenders. They have also brought in additional supplies, making a protracted siege not viable. Sir Branks will go over my plans to retake the city,” Emmet said, gesturing toward knight who stood near Emmet’s chair.

“Bring the map,” the knight, Branks, ordered. A large map of the city was hung on a stand that the knight placed next to him. Sabine and the other mercenary leaders couldn’t make out much, and she could only hope they gave her time to review the map before the meeting was concluded.

“Noble leaders, faithful officers of the guard, and our sellsword allies...” Branks said, pausing for effect. “One day from now, we retake our fair city. The enemy have been stretched thin with our constant assaults and during the last attack, some of our scouts made in into and out of the city unnoticed,” Branks told them.

The guard officers and other council members praised the knight for his confidence. From the grumbling at her side of the table, Sabine could tell that the other mercenary leaders found the claim about the scouts rather suspect. From what Sabine had heard, the attacks had made little headway. If that was the case, there was little chance that some scouts could break through the fighting and have time to conduct recon on the city without being caught. Giving him a gesture to get on with it, Emmet cut Sir Branks’ pause to absorb his praise short.

“Our scouts discovered a section of the wall over in the warehouse district that is lightly guarded whenever we assault the breaches. It’s on the far side of the city where the wall is low enough for us to use scaling ladders. Tomorrow night, several companies of our guard, reinforced by the majority of our mercenary allies, will assault the breaches in the wall, as we have in the past,” the knight started to say before being interrupted.

“We’ve had about enough of rushing that damned breach. If you want a distraction, have your guard handle the assault at the breach. Our forces are better used to scale the ladders near the warehouse district,” the mercenary seated at the far end of the table demanded.

“Galivon, your efforts have been noted and I assure you that a bonus will be paid to our brave allies when the city is secured,” Councilor Emmet assured him.

“Give us a bonus in writing and rescind the casualty waiver for any of these idiots that were fool enough to sign one. Do that and we’ll lead your assault on the breach,” the mercenary Galivon demanded.

“As this is the assault that will resecure the city, I think those accommodations can be arranged. In fact, I’ll have you lead and organize the assault,” Emmet offered. The other mercenary leaders nodded their agreement to Galivon, their de facto spokesman.

“You’ll give me command over the mercenary units, but I’ll also need authority over the guard units you have supporting the assault,” Galivon demanded.

“As you wish, there will be only a small support force, two or three companies, and I can’t see any reason to not place them in your charge. Keep up the assault for at least an hour, that’s all I ask. Also, you’ll need to mind the gate further north of the breach. We’ll have operatives inside the walls by then and they will try to open the gate so you can enter the city unopposed,” Emmet told them.

“Very well, though I doubt the gate will magically open for us unopposed, my boys will keep the fighting up at the breaches for an hour. If your guardsmen haven’t climbed their ladders and taken the city by then, we’ll pull back to the camp,” Galivon confirmed.

“That is the plan, are there any other questions?” Emmet asked, taking control of the meeting back from the knight.

A few questions were asked by the various mercenary leaders over their position in the assault, but Galivon said he would discuss it with them personally and they didn’t need to bother the council with the minutia of their assault plans. Sabine got up from her chair with the other mercenary leaders when they began to leave, but Emmet stopped her.

“Sabine, please stay a moment, I have a special assignment for your new band of cutthroats,” Emmet said.

“What is it? I’m not fond of suicide missions and assaulting the breach as a distraction seems like a good way to get me and forces killed,” Sabine said, less than impressed with the councilor’s plan of assault. Too much was riding on a dubious intel report that nobody other than the scouts, who weren’t in the meeting, could confirm.

“No, your assignment is better suited to the men you’ve taken under your wing. Come, we’ll speak privately,” Emmet said, leading her out of the planning tent and into a smaller, but even better decorated one, that the council leader must have used for personal audiences. Collins accompanied them and pulled a map from his cloak that he spread over a small table. It took Sabine a few moments to figure out what she was looking at, but it eventually clicked. She was looking at a map of the city sewers.

“Don’t tell me you intend for us to try and assault through the sewers. I don’t care how incompetent your opponent is, I can guarantee that they have forces covering such an obvious weak point,” Sabine said.

“Normally, I’d agree, but we have a special situation here. Collins, bring in Mr. Dretch,” Emmet ordered. A plainly nervous, older man entered. He was rail-thin but had the wiry toughness of someone that had worked hard all his life.

“Mr. Dretch, please tell the esteemed mercenary captain Sabine Giroux what you told me earlier,” Emmet commanded.

“Aye sir,” Dretch said, tipping his head pulling on his forelock in deference to the head of the council. “Ma’am, I’m one of the city engineers and was tasked with expanding the sewer system. As I told the good Councilor here, there’s another place to get into the city,” Dretch said.

“A new sewer entrance would be found and covered. I doubt every city engineer remained loyal. I’m sure some have sided with the other side, or were captured during the uprising,” Sabine argued.

“Not this place, ma’am, this place isn’t on any map. We found it when plotting another exit for the sewage. There’s a natural cavern under the city that is partially filled with seawater. We thought it would have an easy exit we could use, but it just ends in a wall, so we used another, shorter path to build the new main sewer outlet,” Dretch said.

“Cut to the chase, if you don’t mind,” Sabine said sharply. She didn’t want to harass the man, but she also didn’t want to hear a lecture about sewer planning.

“Sorry bout that, I tend to get a bit long winded when I talk about work. At least that’s what my wife claims. So, that natural cavern weren’t no good for a sewer outlet since the ocean current there would just wash everything back into the city. Well, my oldest did find something interesting when he was down there. He dropped a sack of tools into the water, and he dove in to get them. Well, while he was in the water gathering up his tools, he found out that the cavern wasn’t closed off completely and that a small tunnel connected it to the sea. He could see daylight in the distance,” Dretch said.

“Okay, so he saw daylight in the distance that indicates the cavern is linked to the outside. I doubt I can swim my force through an undersea passage in the middle of winter. I can’t even tell you if any of them know how to swim,” Sabine argued, not seeing how this unknown entrance was going to be useful.

“That won’t be a problem. You see, my son’s a curious sort and swam through the tunnel. It lets out in along the cliffside of the city, right at the shore,” Dretch said.

“We’ll have you go in by boat under the cover of darkness. Mr. Dretch and his son will lead the way swimming through the opening while hauling a line from the boat. Your force just needs to get into the water and follow that line. Easy enough for even a non-swimmer to handle,” Emmet claimed.

“Okay, say running a line through the cavern works and we get my troops inside the sewers past the guards. What then? Fifteen mercenaries along with me and Skrix aren’t going to do much on our own,” Sabine argued.

“You won’t be on your own. You’ll have the guard detachment that has been overseeing your charges. In addition, I’ll have some of our archers join you. What I want is for you to sneak into the city, assault and secure the gatehouse and raise the gate so the forces outside can move into the city,” Emmet said.

“I assume Mr. Dretch will be our guide down there?” Sabine asked. So far, the plan had some merit, but there were still too many ways for this to go wrong as far as Sabine was concerned.

“Yes ma’am, I’ll show you on the map,” Dretch said. He showed Sabine the path they would take from the cavern to the main sewer line. The cavern was large enough, but the main sewage line would be cramped and the tallest of their group would have to stoop over in certain sections of it.

The route would bypass any guards that were likely at the end of the sewer line, but there might be a patrol or listening post in the sewer that they would have to take care of. The sewer grate on the city street that Dretch had picked out for their destination was in an alleyway close to the gate. It would be a good location to gather her forces without too many enemies in sight.

The walls near the gate would be heavily manned and the gatehouse with the controls for the gate itself would be protected, but if the assault on the breach was going strong, Sabine should have a decent chance at securing the gatehouse and getting it open before the enemy could react. The gods knew that she had taken on riskier missions than this before, and if she wanted to reach Golgotia in time, this was her best chance.