[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
for good measure, burned a dozen coastal villages.
The three remaining dukes assembled an army of three thousand and attacked the
Troice encampment. King Granice had secretly reinforced his expeditionary army
with two hundred knights and four hundred heavy cavalry. The undisciplined
clansmen were routed; the three dukes were captured and King Granice
controlled
Scola.
Yvar Excelsus issued an intemperate ultimatum: King Granice must withdraw all
troops, pay an indemnity of one hundred pounds of gold, rebuild Malvang Castle
and put a bond of another hundred pounds of gold to insure no further offenses
against the Kingdom of Dascinet.
King Granice not only rejected the ultimatum but decreed annexation of Scola
to Troicinet. King Yvar Excelsus raged, expostulated, then declared war. He
might not have acted so strongly had he not recently signed a treaty of mutual
assistance with King Casmir of Lyonesse.
At the time King Casmir had thought only to strengthen himself for his
eventual confrontation with Dahaut, never expecting to be embroiled in trouble
not of his own choosing, especially a war with Troicinet.
King Casmir might have extricated himself by one pretext or another had not
the war, upon due reflection, seemed to promise advantage.
King Casmir weighed all aspects of the situation. Allied with
Dascinet he might base his armies on Dascinet, then thrust with all force
Page 50
ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html
across Scola against Troicinet, and thereby neutralize
Troice sea-power, which was otherwise invulnerable.
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%2...s%200%20-%20Suldrun's%20Garden%20
1983.html (71 of 513) [12/29/2004 12:02:33 AM]
- - - - Vance uses many footnotes in this volume
King Casmir made a fateful decision. He commanded seven of his twelve armies
to Bulmer Skeme. Then, citing past sovereignty, present complaints and his
treaty with King Yvar Excelsus, he declared war upon King Granice of
Troicinet.
King Yvar Excelsus had acted in a fit of fury and drunken bravado.
When he became sober he perceived the error of his strategy, which neglected
an elemental fact: he was outmatched by the Troice in every category: numbers,
ships, military skills and fighting spirit. He could take comfort only in his
treaty with Lyonesse, and was correspondingly cheered by King Casmir's ready
participation in the war.
The marine transport of Lyonesse and Dascinet assembled at Bulmer
Skeme; and there, at midnight, the armies of Lyonesse embarked and sailed for
Dascinet. They discovered, first, contrary winds; then at dawn, a fleet of
Troice warships.
In the space of two hours half of the overloaded ships of Lyonesse and
Dascinet were either sunk or broken on the rocks, with a loss of two thousand
men. The lucky half fled back downwind to Bulmer
Skeme and grounded on the beach.
Meanwhile a miscellaneous flotilla of Troice merchant ships, coastal cogs and
fishing vessels, loaded with Troice troops, put into Arquensio, where they
were hailed as Lyonesse troops. By the time the mistake was discovered, the
castle had been taken and
King Yvar Excelsus captured.
The war with Dascinet was over. Granice declared himself King of the Outer
Islands, a realm still not so populous as either
Lyonesse or Dahaut, but which held in total control the Lir and the Cantabrian
Gulf.
The war between Troicinet and Lyonesse was now an embarrassment for King
Casmir. He proposed a cessation of hostilities and King
Granice agreed, subject to certain terms: Lyonesse must cede the
Duchy of Tremblance, at the far west of Lyonesse, beyond the
Troagh, and undertake to build no warships by which it might again
file:///C|/2590%20Sci-Fi%20and%20Fantasy%2...s%200%20-%20Suldrun's%20Garden%20
1983.html (72 of 513) [12/29/2004 12:02:33 AM]
- - - - Vance uses many footnotes in this volume threaten Troicinet.
King Casmir predictably rejected such harsh conditions, and warned of bitter
consequences if King Granice persisted in his unreasonable hostility.
King Granice responded, "Let it be remembered: I, Granice, instituted no war
upon you. You, Casmir, made wanton war upon me.
[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]