200 Bedtime Worries (2/2)

”And Verania?” I asked although I could already guess at her answer.

”Verania told us to mind our own business,” Aura said with a roll of her eyes.

”Yup, that's Verania alright,” I chuckled. Then my face turned serious as I leaned into Aura and asked about Thom's and Thor's missions. ”Any word on them?”

Aura shook her head. ”Neither of them could leave during the day's battle so I only just watched them head out half an hour before you arrived. About fifty of their most worthy spies were sent out including the two of them… we should hear more before the night ends.”

But when the night did end — with us stuck in the reserves unit with nothing to do — no words from either Thom or Thor came.

”You haven't heard back from your cousin, Enna?” I asked the drow who was part of my personal fire-team — my term for the special squad who joined me on my personal missions.

”No, Commander,” Enna said with a shake of her head. ”But you needn't be concerned as he tends not to send word until he has proof or no proof could be found.”

I knew she had a point and that I shouldn't have to worry, but I couldn't help it. That was just how I was wired. Sadly, that's how my night ended in the Fayne, and it was a bit of a repeat to yesterday's worrying.

However, the very next night back in the Fayne, two things caused my furrowed brow to deepen even more.

First, there was no word from either Thom or Thor yet again. Not even an update on their tasks. Second, the Foolhardies was ordered to remain in the central army's reserves. Not that I didn't mind my men getting a second night's reprieve from battle, but that also meant another night where we weren't earning glory on the battlefield. And from what I heard later that night, we would have been pretty useful.

Unlike yesterday's successful sortie into enemy territory, tonight's battle between Garm's fifty thousand center army and Lord Rah's seventy thousand center army was mostly a stare down contest. Apart from a few skirmishes in the vanguard, the day ended fairly uneventful.

The very next night was the same as the last. We Foolhardies were told to stay with the reserves while Garm barely sent out any forces to attack Rah's position apart from the small battles at the front. In contrast, the battles in the south and north battlefronts were really ramping up.

Thanks to our slaying of General Amon, a new, less experienced replacement had filled his shoes as leader of the now lesser fifty thousand right army.

Yeah, we'd whittled down their numbers by at least thirty thousand soldiers. Sadly, there were still more of them than Redbull's remaining thirty-eight thousand left army. He'd lost nearly half of his manpower in our attempt of slaying Amon.

Still, Redbull's army was high in morale after our big victory, and they'd managed to push the enemy's lines in the south further back than any other battlefield.

Meanwhile, in the north, the battle was neck and neck between Llewellyn's fifty thousand strong right army and the Dominion's sixty thousand strong left army. Apparently, Llewellyn, who like me was a strategic-type general, was fighting against a different type of general who used instinct to foil Llewellyn's tactical plans.

The battle in the north was the kind of battle where I would have inserted a wild card like the Foolhardies to shake things up. Sadly, I wasn't the supreme leader of our army, and therefore, could only wait in the reserves while shit hit the fan.

Oh, don't think I didn't try to change our fate because I did. In fact, I requested several meetings with the Great General, even using my status as one of his tacticians to get into one of his meetings, but no joy. The bastard was boxing me out.

I could guess he didn't want a repeat of my last two victories and he simply couldn't trust his two subordinates in the right and left armies not to use me. So he was keeping us locked in the reserves and out of the spotlight.

That's how my second night in the reserves ended — with no chance to claim glory or riches.

Finally, on the third night where we were once again told to stay put at the back of the lines, I'd heard news from both Thom and Thors who'd finally resurfaced. But with the way they disappeared, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when they came back with bad tidings.