Enchanter's End Game

filled in, yes."
    "What's your assessment - as an observer?"
    "You're in trouble."
    "Thanks," Rhodar said dryly.
    "The numbers dictate that you take a defensive posture."
    Rhodar shook his head. "That might work if all we had to worry about was Taur Urgas and the Southern Murgos, but 'Zakath is landing more troops at Thull Zelik every day. If we fortify and try to sit tight, and he decides to move against us, he'll be able to bury us in Malloreans by autumn. The key to the whole situation is putting Anheg's fleet into the Sea of the East to stop those troop ships. We're going to have to gamble a bit in order to pull that off."
    Varana studied the map. "If you're going to go down the River Mardu, you'll have to neutralize the Thullish capital," he said, pointing at T'hull Mardu. "It's an island - like Tol Honeth - and it's right in the middle of the river. You'll never get a fleet past it as long as a hostile force holds it. You'll have to take the city."
    "That had already occurred to us," King Anheg said from where he sprawled in his chair with his ever-present ale cup in his hand.
    "You know Anheg?" Rhodar asked the general.
    Varana nodded. "By reputation," he replied. He bowed to King Anheg. "Your Majesty," he said.
    "General," Anheg responded, inclining his head.
    "If Thull Mardu is heavily defended, it will cost you a third of your army to take it," Varana continued.
    "We're going to lure the garrison out," Rhodar told him.
    "How?"
    "That's going to be up to Korodullin and me," King Cho-Hag said quietly. "Once we get to the top of the escarpment, the Mimbrate knights are going to move out and crush every city and town in the uplands, and my clansmen will strike down into the farming regions to burn every standing crop."
    "They'll realize that's only a diversion, your Majesty," Varana pointed out.
    "Naturally," Brand agreed in his rumbling voice, "but a diversion from what? We don't think they'll fully realize that Thull Mardu is our main objective. We'll try our best to make our depredations as general as possible. The loss of those towns and crops might be acceptable at first, but it won't be long before they'll have to take steps to protect them."
    "And you think they'll pull the garrison out of Thull Mardu to meet you?"
    "That's the idea," King Rhodar replied.
    Varana shook his head. "They'll bring Murgos up from Rak Goska and Malloreans from Thull Zelik. Then instead of a quick raid on Thull Mardu, you'll have a general war on your hands."
    "That's what you'd do, General Varana," King Rhodar disagreed, "but you aren't 'Zakath or Taur Urgas. Our strategy's based on our assessment of those two men. Neither of them will commit his forces unless he's convinced that we pose a major threat. Each of them wants to save as much of his army as possible. In their view, we're only an incidental annoyance - and an excuse to put an army into the field. For them, the real war starts when they attack each other. Each of them will hold back, and King Gethell of the Thulls will have to meet us on his own with only token support from the Murgos and the Malloreans. If we move fast enough, we'll have Anheg's fleet into the Sea of the East and all our troops pulled back to the escarpment before they realize what we're up to."
    "And then?"
    "And then Taur Urgas will stay in Rak Goska as if his foot were nailed to the floor." King Anheg chuckled. "I'll be in the Sea of the East drowning Malloreans by the shipload, and he'll be cheering me on every step of the way."
    "And 'Zakath won't dare risk those troops he already has at Thull Zelik by moving against us," Brand added. "If he loses too many men, Taur Urgas will have the upper hand."
    General Varana considered that. "A three-way deadlock, then," he mused. "Three armies in the same region, and not one of them willing to move."
    "The very best kind of war." King Rhodar grinned. "Nobody gets hurt."
    "Tactically, your only problem is gauging the severity of your raids before you attack Thull Mardu," Varana noted. "They'll have to be serious enough to pull the garrison out of the city, but not so serious as to alarm 'Zakath or Taur Urgas. That's a very fine line to walk, gentlemen."
    Rhodar nodded. "That's why we're so delighted to have Tolnedra's foremost tactician here to advise us," he said, bowing floridly.
    "Please, your Majesty," General Varana interposed, lifting one hand."Suggest, not advise. An observer can only suggest. The term advice implies partisanship that is not in