Kushiel's Mercy - Jacqueline Carey [193]
“What about speed?” I asked, remembering what I’d seen atop the battlements. “Astegal’s got his cavalry pinned behind his infantry, trapped between two rivers. They’ll have to get through their own defenses to reach us.”
Liberio gave me an approving look. “True. However . . .” He reached for a sketch on Serafin’s desk. “There’s an embankment here, and defensive trenches here and here. The bridge across the Barca River lies here, between the trenches. Astegal’s cavalry will have to pass the embankment and a trench to reach it, but you’ll have to cross a trench, too. We’re still working out that part.”
I studied the sketch. “So we’ll not have much of a lead.”
“No,” he said bluntly. “And every mount in Amílcar’s been on siege rations for the past weeks. Unless I miss my guess, Astegal will send his Amazigh after you. Those desert-bred horses they ride are swift, hardy, and well-fed. I don’t like your chances in a foot-race.”
“So where does guile come into play, my lord general?” Sidonie inquired.
“Ah.” Liberio nodded. “We mean to capture and hold the nearest trench long enough to get a small mounted company across it and over the bridge. Half of them will scatter, bound for the cities Ramiro discussed. The other half, with you among them, will race northward.” He exchanged the sketch for a map and traced a line. “Astegal will expect you to make for the nearest pass. They will. But you’ll take your leave of them before his cavalry catches you and make your way secretly through the mountains to Roncal.” He tapped the map. “Here. It’s a Euskerri stronghold with a pass beyond.”
“I remember,” Sidonie said absently. “Janpier Iturralde was from Roncal.”
“Who?” I asked.
“The Euskerri ambassador,” Serafin said. “Or as near as they have to one. That’s who you’ll treat with, Sidonie.”
“So I take it we’re no longer serving as bait?” I inquired.
The other two men exchanged another glance. “I’m afraid that’s not changed,” Liberio said somberly. “I expect the Amazigh will catch the men they’re pursuing, your highness. And when they do, my men will have orders to betray you, leading the Amazigh into a Euskerri ambush. You’ll have a lead on them, nothing more.”
“You mean to force the Euskerri’s hand,” Sidonie observed.
He shrugged. “Into the ambush, aye. Whether or not they’ll agree to more is anyone’s guess.”
“I mislike this.” I frowned. “Would it not be simpler to abandon the notion of forging an alliance with the Euskerri altogether? All we need to treat for is safe passage over the mountains. If Sidonie and I can reach Terre d’Ange, we can undo Carthage’s spell. Terre d’Ange and Alba alike will send aid.”
“Yes.” Serafin poured a cup of water from a ewer and drank. “There is that option. And there is fear among certain quarters that you will take our aid and do exactly that.” He set the cup down. “The Euskerri are near. Despite the hostilities between us, they are a known quantity. Terre d’Ange is far. And despite the long alliance between us, it is currently very much an unknown quantity. The consensus was that at this juncture the Euskerri are a better wager. And that is the price of our aid.”
“I see.” Sidonie was quiet a moment. “So Imriel and I and a lone guide are to make our way to Roncal, where I will inform Janpier Iturralde that I’ve brought a hostile Carthaginian force into Euskerri territory, then expect him to treat gladly with me.”
“I don’t expect you to succeed.” Serafin met her gaze squarely. “Only to try. The Euskerri want sovereignty very badly. And there are those still very much opposed to granting it. You were the one tipped the balance. Are you unwilling now to stand by your words?”
Her eyes flashed.
“Sidonie.” I held up my hand. “You don’t have to agree to this. Neither of us expected it to be quite so dangerous.”
“If there were a safer way, I’d offer it,” Liberio murmured. “There isn’t. As it is, a good many