Chapter 3
"Our position here just became a little more secure, thanks to the fact that my daughter is going to marry the Directrix," Duke Longbert said in the cave where the resistance to the empire met.
This cave, one of many in the mountains north of Russville, was the headquarters of the local rebel movement, which sought to achieve independance for Bravia from the clutches of the Empire. The mass of people hated the empire, and yet they hated the privations of the radical revolutionaries as well, and the dukes who payrolled the rebels often used them to serve their own interests rather than that of the people, that amorphous concept that had crept into the minds of political theorists. What exactly were "the people" anyway, but an illegitimate contrivance of liberal theoreticians to describe the poor, the marginalized, the lazy, and the mediocre? Some of these, had the system been more just, would rise to greater power, but most of these people were slaves to their own emotions, unable to think rationally, and thus were prey to charlatans and demogogues as much as they were to imperial legates and native aristocracy.
"That is excellent news," the second in command of the rebels, a one-eyed professional soldier named Henry Petain said, doing his best impression of the Directrix. Everyone laughed.
"With the death of the two generals formerly in charge of the army, what do you think our prospects are for an eventual victory here in this front?" Eric asked, rather naively.
"Well, son, this can have two different effects. It remains to be seen just what kind of general Van Larken is. He appears to be in high standing, and a much more dilligent general than the previous two were, so this means that the Empire could be staking a lot on this city, which would mean we will probably have to lay low until the Directrix is gone," the Duke replied.
"This meeting has been called for military planning, and so right now we will discuss what sort of moves we should make towards preventing the construction of Russville. If we let Russville be finished, then this area will forever be under thrall of the empire. There will be a permanent strong military presence in the area in the citidel, an imperial governor to collect taxes and ensure obedience, and a large middle and upper class always willing to be toadies to the imperial regime. With all of this in place, and with a new aristocracy in place, the revolt will be in serious doubt in this area," Petain said.
"That said, the question remains how do we stop the city from being built. Thanks to forced labor and generous gifts, which the Directrix seems to combine without effort, much of the upper city, where the new bourgeois and imperial leadership of the area is to live, is already finished. However, we can still attack the lower city and the completed upper city, while the lower city is being built, for the walls for the city, upper and lower, will not be completed in full until the whole city is built, which gives us some breathing room to attack. Only the Palace and its walls have been completely finished, as the Directrix made sure of that," the Duke replied.
"Of course, it is possible that the whole setup is a trap. With so many troops around, a half completed wall limits entry and exits, and creates the illusion of weakness in what in all actuality could be a position of strength," said Eric Longbert, to the surprise of the people there, unused to hearing intelligent comments from him.
"That is a possibility, but an unlikely one. The Directrix is smart, but he seems to have been lazy about siting the walls. After all, the half-completed walls allow for three entrances, one from the citidel high on the hill, where the palace and fortress sit, one from a beautiful meadow near the river on the eastern side of the city, and the other from a hill near here on the western side of the city. This would allow us to plunder the work camps and partially built structures in the lower city, demolish the homes in the upper city, and then rush out the city and flee by boat back to here," Petain says.
"That would work, though the plan seems complicated and that much could go wrong. We should write down that plan if we want to use it. I cannot see a better plan, though, as there is no way we are going to sneak through the gates and we cannot wait for the completion of the city, for then our chance would be lost forever," the Duke says, ending the discussion.
They write the plan, drawing a picture of the town, its walls, and the movement they will take during the raid, and then Petain takes it and prepares to go to his operatives and deliver the news to them, so the raid can commence just after the wedding some two weeks from then. The three leave the cave and head off to their various concerns, hoping to get some kind of defeat on the Directrix and the Empire after what should be the happiest moment of his life.
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