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tfieir bishop, openly told the invaders' scouts mat they had stores enough put
by to withstand a siege that would last all winter. They would be eating well,
still, when the enemies of reason and sense outside their city were stewing
their boots and eating mud because all the dogs, cats, and rats had been
devoured.
Bishop Serifs came out of me manor while the invading force was setting up
camp. He was livid over the damage to his vines.
Else was not far away when the bishop encountered Grade Drocker. He was not
close enough to overhear tiieir exchange. But the sorcerer had an immediate
impact. The bishop gulped air, became pale, sputtered. The sorcerer stalked
away. The bishop gradually regained his breath and went red again. He stormed
back into the manor house.
Grade Drocker must have some real power behind him. The bishop was supposed
to be one of the Patriarch's favorites.
Else settled his bunch where he could see the sorcerer's tent, the manor
house, and still had a good view of Antieux. Else considered the city and
concluded that its denizens were justified in their confidence. Those tall
walls could withstand the attentions of this incompetent mob forever. Even if
Grade Drocker chose to invest the full extent of his remaining sorcery.
THE PATRIARCHAL FORCE HAD BEEN IN PLACE FOUR DAYS. Those who had besieged the
bishop were a problem no longer.
The force's only intercourse with Antieux was a regular exchange of insults.
The Patriarchal soldiers were young and intemperate and would have gotten
themselves badly hurt had anyone inside the city had the sense and smarts to
exploit the fact that the besiegers were so inexperienced they still could not
yet stay in step.
Of course, die folk of Antieux had no need. They could sit back and let
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winter drive the besiegers away. Count Raymone Garete, in fact, issued
proclamations to that effect, confident that it would be possible to end the
siege with the only casualties being the bishop's vineyards and the Brothers'
pride.
GRADE DROCKER ASSEMBLED HIS OFFICERS. HE WANTED THEIR opinions before making
any decisions. At Else's level no one saw the point. The man would do what he
wanted. Why waste time on voices that would not be heard?
Else was now a brevet officer who held his position only because none of the
Brotherhood soldiers wanted it. He did not rate a chair in the room Bishop
Serifs provided so the meeting could be held safe from the drizzle outside.
That room had been stripped of everything crude men might steal or sully. Else
leaned against a cold, damp wall, out of the way in the rear, beside Pinkus
Ghort. It was ironic. He had slipped right into the same role that he had
played at home. He was God's company commander.
Ghort murmured, "Brother Drocker seems a tad disgruntled, don't you think?"
"I'd say." And almost completely incapacitated, too.
Rumor was right. That blast of silver shot had left Drocker damaged
dramatically and permanently. Spots of raw bone could be seen on the left side
of his face.
Ghort observed, "Man, he's totally fucked up. He looks like he spent about
four hours on the wrong end of a toothless tiger."
Else had heard Drocker wore a mask most of the time. He wondered why the
sorcerer had not done so today.
Drocker needed assistance seating himself at die high table. And he was
angry. His voice was not weak when he said, in breathy, tiiree-word bursts,
"Bechter. Find Bishop... Serifs.
And Principal ... Doneto. They were ... told to be here."
Ghort murmured, "I hope Drocker reams them two a new set of assholes. Them
fuckers got us up to our tits in the shit and think they're too fucking good
to show up when we're going to fixitr
Else kept his expression blank. Ghort must have had wine for breakfast He
had stated his opinion loudly.
Ghort was not so tipsy that he failed to recognize his gaffe. He shut up. He
stayed shut up. For a while.
The bishop arrived. Else saw a sizable man showing obvious signs of
prolonged and diligent dissolution. His fat face was florid, suggesting an
old, long-term acquaintance with drink and a current case of apoplexy. There
was somewhere else he would rather be.
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