11 XI
"You're right, of course; there isn't much to forage in arid grasslands."
Thyrn and Farn sat in the shade of a hastily-erected pavilion. Beside them, the army marched along; Farn had said this would be quick, but was urgent, and Thyrn didn't want their conversation to consist of shouting from chariot to chariot.
"So, why send them?"
"Habit, in part. More theirs than mine; I'd like them to be used to it when we reach more fertile lands. But they also act as a screen for the army."
"Isn't that what scouts are for?"
"They can, but scouts can be killed or avoided. Foragers don't go so far out, and they're a much denser screen; they can't be avoided, and they can't be engaged without us hearing. But that isn't what you wanted to talk about, is it? Screening tactics are hardly urgent."
"No, it's not," Farn agreed. "I've been harassing the goat shaggers up north like you ordered."
"Ah, and how did that go?"
"If I never see a shepherd's sling it'll be too soon. We lost half a dozen chariots, one at a time, but don't worry; a few gross goatherds won't be bothering anyone anymore, and a mass or so goats dine with Obitz."
Thyrn frowned. "I take it you don't think this was worth it?"
"You could say that. These are civilians for Laitz's sake! We asked around and none had heard of any raiding. They didn't have an army before we started killing them."
"Would they have told you even if they did know?" Thyrn shook his head. "I trust the word of my own men more than that of theirs. But even if my men did lie, their ability to gather an army is reason enough to subjugate them; I plan on connecting the Laks Valley to the lands to the north, and I can't just let a potentially hostile army sit in the middle."
"But why? What's there in the north except... goblins..." Thyrn saw it click behind Farn's eyes. "I should have seen it! Masses of goblins march in your army. Their homeland has no gemstones and a pittance of metal, so no one's ever conquered it before, but they do get more rain! The drought might not have hit them—we used to import novel foods from there, like corn. That's where all this food comes from: you conquered the goblins!"
Thryn smiled. "Mostly right, but I don't rule over all goblins, and the drought did affect them. It didn't cause a drought, but they couldn't spare as much as they could before. Were they willing, I would have paid any price to import grain. I would have seen my kingdom go bankrupt before it starved."
Farn grew somber at that. "So, this food comes at the expense of an entire people starving?"
"Goblins," Thyrn corrected, "not people. Their kind have invaded the Laks Valley and the Sodden Lands countless times. They burned your own city in the past; they brought down the Thorish Empire a massyear ago! Which would your rather starve?"
"A hard decision."
"These are hard times."
Farn sighed. "Them, I suppose. But how's conquering your fellow dwarves gonna help them?"
"I bring food."
"You could bring food to independent cities. 'Bitz, you could sell food and become the richest dwarf since King Beld!"
"I can't hold the goblin lands with Nuxish armies alone," Thyrn admitted. "And alliances are no good; just ask Beld."
"Bought allies are always fickle. This is different. We can live without riches, but not without food."
"With allies it wouldn't be mine. My idea—my conquest, which my people bled for—would end up being dominated by Cethon." He spat the word like a curse.
"And you'd be deprived of prestige and influence."
"And? Is it wrong to long for glory? Even if it is, it's not your place to judge. Your swore fealty to me, remember?"
Farn's lips pulled into a tight line. "Yes."
"Good. Now, where is this army?"
"Northwest, about two gross massmeasures* out. It was two days by chariot, so five days, maybe a week for the army on foot."
"How large?"
"Maybe...two mass, four gross. Undisciplined, poorly armored, and all on foot, but they'll have the high ground."
"It won't save them. I've easily got twice that, without even counting the arrow fodder."
*Approximately 80 miles, or 130 kilometres
