A Time of Tigers - From Peasant to Emperor-Chapter 970 - The Verna Army - Part 2
970: The Verna Army – Part 2
970: The Verna Army – Part 2
“Beyond the hill, I expect,” Verdant told him.
Yorick and his cavalrymen had joined the rest of them in guarding the flanks of the wagons.
It was then that the Colonel would likely call on if they needed a swift response, so Oliver had kept them ready.
Still, there was a hopefulness in their state of readiness.
Though their Colonel and his men were at the front of the line, the Patrick forces were still placed somewhere towards the back of the Colonel’s group.
In front of them were a good thousand Blackthorn men that he would likely choose before them.
It didn’t help that the Colonel himself had started to drift even further forward, and Oliver could no longer overhear the conversations that he was having.
His information was now based purely on a reactionary network.
Minutes passed.
One, two, and then ten.
They stood right before the peak of the hilltop, flanked on one side by a spattering of forestry, but otherwise rather exposed.
If the enemy were to top that hill in that moment, Oliver feared that their momentum would be enough to crush the advanced force in a single move.
‘Still,’ Oliver thought to himself.
‘It can’t be anything that serious, or else Karstly would have already put us in battle formations.’
The snaking line that they currently awaited in was certainly not the best formation for battle.
His sword loosened ever so slightly on the sword as he thought that, though to his side, he saw Lady Blackthorn draw hers.
“Have you noticed something?” Oliver asked.
She shook her head.
“I thought I’d simply be ready.”
Impatience, then, Oliver guessed.
He was beginning to feel it himself.
That dull restlessness that he’d felt at the very start of their campaign.
He could see it in his men too.
They ached for the chance to get blooded.
“EENEEMMMMYYY AHEADDD!” The Colonel shouted.
The shout rippled down the line, and the men adopted a renewed state of alertness.
Spears were grasped tightly, as the men prepared to lower than at the first sign of danger.
They were ready, but after that shout, no more orders came.
If there was a battle on the horizon, they would have been told to get into formation.
Oliver heard movement at the front of the line, and dared to leave his post for a second, so that he might see what was going on.
With a firm heel, he guided Walter outwards, and the two of them looked towards the head of the column, just in time to see General Karstly crest the hill.
He had an unusually serious look on his face – serious for him, anyway.
He had a man to either side of him.
His retainers, Oliver presumed.
They shared a muted conversation, and a handful of nods, before General Karstly looked down to the men below him, and called Colonel Gordry by name.
The Colonel went galloping at the call without a shred of hesitation.
“Captain!
Rejoin the line!” A shout came for Oliver from up ahead.
He recognized a Blackthorn man.
A Captain, just like him.
He wasn’t aware of his name, but he was at least vaguely aware of his existence, given that they’d made camp together.
He didn’t delight in taking orders from him, but Oliver had already seen what he wished to.
He rejoined his men, and told them what he’d seen.
“The Verna must be a distance away, then,” Verdant said.
“I suppose that the hill offers a vantage point in which we can finally see them.
The General is prolonging our march, until he is sure we will not be spotted.”
“Do you have a map, Verdant?
I’m wondering why he bothered to take this route when we’re so exposed from below,” Oliver said.
“I thought our primary objective – until we crossed swords- was stealth,” Oliver said.
“I’ve kept it on hand with Lady Blackthorn’s retainers.
Miss Pauline has sworn to guard it well, in the case that we need it,” Verdant replied.
“Blackthorn,” Oliver said, turning his attention to the woman beside him.
“It’s that carriage,” she pointed, having overheard their conversation.
In short order, Oliver had dismounted, leaving Karesh to tend to his horse, and he threw open the carriage door.
“Ought I tell the man that they need not stand so ready?” Verdant asked.
“Indeed,” Oliver replied.
If it was as they expected, there was nothing to be gained from wasting alertness now, not when the day was likely to be fraught with it.
“Uhm… Would you like me to hold this side, Ser Patrick?” Pauline said, spreading the map across the floor of the carriage, only for it to continually fight to roll back up again.
Without something to weigh it down, it was all but impossible to look at.
“If you would,” Oliver said, running his finger across the lower corner, and tracing their route.
“We’re here,” he murmured, tapping their hill with his finger.
Then, he went looking for their destination.
There was of course more than one route towards it.
They could have followed the road, but Karstly had taken them up onto this hill, for some reason or another.
As open as it was, there seemed to be nothing of interest.
At least, not in the immediate vicinity, and not unless one looked.
A few miles up ahead, though, as the hill stepped back down again, there was a large expanse of forestry blocking from the left-hand side.
He tapped it, and Verdant spoke his thoughts aloud as he looked over his shoulder.
“Indeed, that seems to be reason enough,” Verdant said.
“The General has gambled our current innocuousness for future stealth.
Not a bad trade-off, I do suppose.
The further n we go, the more important our invisibility shall be.”
“That forest, and this hillside path… If they march up forces through it, the forest will cut them off from the main band,” Oliver said.
“Ah… but that’s assuming we know what direction they’re coming from.
I’m assuming east, and it seems the General is as well, if he’s betting on this forest.”
