Chapter 592: An Irregular Commander
"Before I begin, I want to make something clear when we talk about your irregular forces, Commander Tausau," Ashlynn said, addressing the elder vampire as a commander even though he had yet to accept the title.
Her father had often said that when you spoke as if a decision had already been made, by the time you asked them to formally make the decision, their minds had already been shaped to accept the outcome you desired. While it felt slightly underhanded to use such a technique on one of their own allies, in this case, she felt more like she was helping Tausau to overcome his own lack of confidence rather than manipulating him against his own interests.
"During our time in High Fen City, Lady Heila secured the services of ninety gladiators and mercenaries who fought against her in the arena," Ashlynn reminded the gathered leaders of the Vale. "As useful as it would be to have that force under her command in the months to come, as a member of my coven, Heila’s duties lay elsewhere. If we have need of them, we may request that they return to her side, but for now, especially for the next few months while my coven trains and prepares for what is to come, these men would be more useful serving in an army like Commander Tausau’s."
"You mean to say that you’d transfer ninety of these gladiators to my command?" Tausau said, looking slightly startled as he considered the number of warriors who had pledged themselves to Heila as part of her wager with a merchant in High Fen City. "That’s three times the number of Mongrels I brought across the mountains," he said as he struggled to think of how he would use such a sizable force.
"Not only them," Ashlynn added. "There are several former refugees with unique skills for defending their villages, but just as Heila can’t be spared to lead her gladiators, Ollie has even greater need of this time to train," she said, nodding at one of her two new witches. "The hunters, trappers, and guardians of his village, some of whom helped in Commander Bassinger’s summer campaign, would also come under your command while Ollie learns his craft."
Neither Ollie nor Heila looked surprised at Ashlynn’s decision to pull soldiers away from them in the months to come. While both of them felt varying levels of attachment to the people whose trust and service they’d worked hard to gain, they also knew that compared to the likes of Savis, Tausau, and Lord General Thane, they were far too young and inexperienced to lead soldiers effectively in battle.
It would be better not only for Hiela and Ollie to focus on mastering their witchcraft in the months to come, but for the people who relied on them to have competent and capable commanders in the battles ahead. Things might change in the years to come as they grew into their powers and their roles within the Vale, but for now, both of the young witches readily accepted this arrangement.
Across the table from the witches, hearing Ashlynn describe what sounded like an increasingly powerful force, Tausau’s gaze flickered briefly toward Savis, looking for a sign of support or approval from his elder brother.
Sitting here in the depths of the Vale of Mists, in Torbin’s old castle, the Clanless vampire missed his fallen brother’s wise council more than ever. Of the three of them, Torbin had always been the master of reason. ISince his death at the hands of the human crusaders, Tausau had fallen under the sway of the strongest of Hamdi’s progeny, depending on him for guidance for more than a hundred years.
The white-furred vampire’s jaw tightened almost imperceptibly, his golden eyes narrowing at the edge of Tausau’s vision. Even as he struggled to process his own defeat, Savis radiated a quiet displeasure seeing the way his Clanless little brother seemed to be rising rapidly in Lady Nyrielle’s favor while he was subjected to a humiliation at the hands of her progeny.
In the end, however, he held his tongue. Both Thane and Nyrielle had made it clear that, while he would be respected as a commander, the decisions of the ruling trio weren’t to be defied. If they wished to offer Tausau a position equal to his... he could only accept it.