"Who are you?" Ce'Nedra demanded indignantly. "What do you think you're doing?"
"Actually, we're members of the Imperial Elite Guard," the man with the sword answered urbanely. "And we're here, your Highness, to extend to you the invitation of his Imperial Majesty 'Zakath, Emperor of Mallorea. His Majesty requests the honor of your presence in his pavilion." His face hardened, and he looked at his men. "Bring them," he ordered. "Let's get out of here before someone comes along and starts asking questions."
"They're digging in," Hettar reported to King Rhodar, gesturing toward the west and their now-blocked escape route. "They've already got a trench-line running from the river for about a half a mile."
"Is there any chance of going around them?" Rhodar asked.
Hettar shook his head. "That whole flank's seething with Nadraks."
"We'll have to go through them, then," the King of Drasnia decided. "I can't very well attack trenches with cavalry," Hettar pointed out.
"We'll storm them with the infantry units," Rhodar declared. "We'll have a certain advantage. The Asturian bows have a longer range than the short ones the Malloreans use. We'll move the archers to the front as we advance. They can rake the trenches and then harass the Mallorean archers behind the lines. The pikemen will go in first." The sweating fat man looked at General Varana. "Can your legionnaires clear the trenches once we open a hole for you?"
Varana nodded. "We train extensively for trench fighting," he replied confidently. "We'll clear the trenches."
"We'll bring the wounded with the main force," Rhodar said. "Somebody locate Polgara and the princess. It's time to leave."
"What task hast thou for Lord Hettar and me," Mandorallen inquired. The great knight's armor showed a number of dents, but he spoke as calmly as if he had not spent the entire morning involved in heavy fighting.
"I want you and your knights to hold the rear," Rhodar told him. "Keep that army out there off my back." He turned to Hettar. "And I want you and your clansmen to go to work on the Nadraks. I don't want them to come swarming in while we're working in the trenches."
"It's a desperate move, King Rhodar," General Varana said seriously. "Attacking even hasty fortifications is always costly, and you're going to do it with another army coming at you from the rear. If your attack is beaten back, you'll be caught between two superior forces. They'll grind you to dogmeat right on the spot."
"I know," Rhodar admitted glumly, "but our only hope of escape is breaking through those lines that have us blocked off. We've got to get back upriver. Tell your men that we have to take those trenches on the first charge. Otherwise, we're all going to die right here. All right, gentlemen, good luck."
Once again Mandorallen led his steel-clad knights in their fearsome charge, and once again the attacking Malloreans recoiled, driven back by the dreadful shock as the mounted men of Mimbre struck their front ranks. This time, however, the pikemen and legionnaires, as soon as they were disengaged from the enemy, turned sharply to the left and, at a jingling trot, abandoned their positions to follow the Sendars and Asturians who were already withdrawing from the field toward the west.
The delaying action of the Mimbrate knights was costly. Riderless horses galloped wildly about the battlefield, quite frequently adding to the havoc by trampling through the Mallorean ranks. Here and there among the red tunics that carpeted the field lay the single gleaming form of a fallen knight. Again and again the Mimbrates hurled themselves against the advancing red tide, slowing the Malloreans, but not quite able to stop them.
"It's going to be tight, your Majesty," General Varana advised as he and King Rhodar rode toward the hastily drawn lines blocking their escape. "Even if we break through, the bulk of the Mallorean forces are going to be hot on our heels."
"You've got a great talent for the obvious, General," Rhodar replied. "As soon as we get through, we'll put the archers at the rear and let the Malloreans march through a rain of arrows. That will hold them back."
"Until the archers run out of arrows," Varana added.
"After we break through, I'll send the Algars on ahead. Fulrach's got whole wagonloads of arrows at the rapids."
"Which is two days march ahead."
"Do you always look at the dark side of things?"
"Just trying to anticipate, your Majesty."
"Would you mind anticipating someplace else?"
The Algars had moved out to the right flank of the retreating army and were gathering in their characteristic small bands, preparing to charge the Nadraks drawn up on the hills above the river. Hettar, his scalp lock streaming, moved forward at a steady lope, his sabre drawn and his eyes like flint. The Nadraks appeared at first to be awaiting his charge, but then, amazingly, they turned away and rode rapidly toward the river.
From the midst of that sudden surge, a half dozen men riding under the Nadrak banner swerved out toward the advancing Algars. One of the riders was waving a short stick with a white rag tied to it. The group reined in sharply about a hundred yards in front of Hettar's horse.
"I've got to talk to Rhodar," one of the Nadraks bellowed in a shrill voice. He was a tall, emaciated man with a pockmarked face and a scraggly beard, but on his head he wore a crown.
"Is this some trick?" Hettar shouted back.
"Of course it is, you jackass," the scrawny man replied. "But it's not on you this time. Get me to Rhodar at once."
"Keep an eye on them," Hettar told a nearby Clan-Chief, pointing at the Nadrak forces now streaming toward the Mallorean trenches lying in the path of the retreating army. "I'll take this maniac to see King Rhodar." He turned and led the group of Nadrak warnors toward the advancing infantry.
"Rhodar!" the thin man wearing the crown shrieked as they approached the Drasnian King. "Don't you ever answer your mail?"
"What are you doing, Drosta?" King Rhodar shouted back.
"I'm changing sides, Rhodar," King Drosta lek Thun replied with an almost hysterical laugh. "I'm joining forces with you. I've been in touch with your queen for weeks. Didn't you get her messages?"
"I thought you were playing games."
"Naturally I'm playing games." The Nadrak King giggled. "I've always got something up my sleeve. Right now my army's opening an escape route for you. You do want to escape, don't you?"