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Preparations for Airy's illicit campaign proceeded expeditiously despite espionage by her opponents and well-intentioned subversion by her over protective commanders. Glic's ruse declaring that the purpose of the sudden mobilization was to supply reserves to the western army went unquestioned by the queen's subjects, but more critically, enemy spies dutifully passed news of the deception to their credulous masters outside. Equally satisfactory, inimical opposition from her commanders concerning the wisdom of her venture remained subdued, though Airy suspected Milikes of dispatching messengers to White Paw and Vaunortheses informing them of her plan.

If Milikes thought the chief of all Wolf chiefs or her commanding general could forestall her advance, he was mistaken. Airy would be well on her way to conquering the northeast before any messengers reached her long ears with entreaties to desist. Such unwanted envoys were doomed to be ignored by her regardless. Providential news had arrived the previous day that forged her already rigid resolve into a core of adamant. Agreement to rally to her side from Vaun's father, Duke Sochalethetes, was made officially. The single condition he attached to his pledge of support was that her army battle its way to within a day's march of Perseine's western border before he openly broke his truce with the AR. Having no intent of stopping there, Airy eagerly accepted his terms. Sochalethetes' capital of Vynuurtos was her goal, and with her preparations complete, she was ready to take her first step towards it.

A contingent of Wolves over five hundred strong led by Bear and accompanied by a smaller force of two hundred knights had already departed by boat nine days previously to sail down river ostensibly as the first wave of troops heading west. Only travelling far enough to escape the watchful eyes of the enemy, the flotilla traversed less than a dozen river miles before landing on the northern bank. Within lands controlled by Wolves, they made their way unseen and unhindered back upriver gathering additional recruits as they went.

To ensure their march was unobserved, Cat scouted ahead of the secretive force on both sides of the river to intercept any AR patrols brave enough to cross the river into Wolf hunting grounds, but even Cat could not hope to cover so much ground alone. Working with Bandrosett was a condition Cat had long since reluctantly accepted, but enduring the responsibility of leading a cadre of scouts rankled her worse than a condescending pat on the head. The feline had raged and complained bitterly when the queen had implored her to recruit, train, and command the unit she now led. Everything about the request had annoyed Cat, but the concept of leading others was particularly distasteful; her nature rebelled against military discipline and obedience. Under no circumstance would the untamable feline ever wear the clothing and armor of a knight let alone salute anyone as a gesture of respect.

Equally stubborn and strong willed, Airy hounded Cat relentlessly over the matter for weeks until she conquered Cat's intransigence with a mutually acceptable compromise. Airy acquired the best military scouts in Rikifur, and Cat won sovereignty over their selection, training, and the authority to dismiss anyone from the unit at any time for any reason without the burden of official command. As unusual as its leader, the new unit existed outside the normal lines of military command by reporting directly to the queen.

To Airy, these were small sacrifices. She knew that Cat's affiliation would lend the platoon of scouts an exclusivity that would attract the best soldiers. It was thus no surprise when hundreds applied, and it was equally predictable that most were subsequently rejected. Meticulous and finicky, Cat wrung the applicants through a series of rigorous physical tests for speed, stealth, and endurance in addition to the mental stress everyone exposed to her ire inevitably suffered. Forty survived the ordeal.

Complaints about the selection process reached Airy, primarily from Rabbit nobles upset that the majority of the accepted applicants were Wolves. Confronted with her bias, Cat resolutely insisted that the canids naturally took to stealthy hunting in the woods. Airy yielded the point once Cat demonstrated it was inevitable that some Rabbits would make the cut. Even the feline saw the need for fast riders, and Rabbits were the best equestrians in the West.

Jak's kit bugler, Dryphythus, was among the few bucks to survive Cat's scrutiny. Despite his young age, he proved to be both a competent rider and a cunning scout. The brown and black mare he rode moved as surreptitiously through the forests as any Wolf warrior. Ever unorthodox, Cat ignored centuries of Rikifur tradition by having the teen promoted to lieutenant. She would have made him captain and leader of the Panthers, as the unit came to be called, if he had been older than his meager thirteen years.

The commission was both a dream come true and a heavy burden for Dryphythus' young shoulders to bear, forcing him to mature rapidly. Having a hard and inscrutable commander, whose criticism was as sharp as her claws, left him exhausted and close to renouncing his commission each evening, but the emotional stress was mediated by the respect he earned from his peers and leaders like Bear whose expeditionary force was relying in part upon him to ensure the success of their mission.

Maintaining the secret of their passage up river and then back into Rikifur required more of Bear's battalion than stealth. It was also necessary to find a river crossing location that was not watched by the AR, which meant no shallow fordings. To solve the problem of crossing deep water, Jorveth devised a temporary floating bridge built with timber planks over lightweight canoe shaped floats. For eight days, Wolves led by Frost had been busy at the chosen site felling trees, turning them into pontoons, making rough planks, and tying them together into modular bridge deck segments to ensure the improvised span was ready when Bear's warriors and knights arrived.

Once across the river, Bear's orders were to strike and harass the enemy's fortified siege positions at their vulnerable rear flank. Scattering the AR's horses to eliminate their cavalry was Bear's foremost task. When forced to retreat without cavalry support, the fleeing AR army would be vulnerable to harassment from Airy's knights giving it no time to regroup or recover on their long flight back to a friendly stronghold. Airy was prepared to drive them relentlessly the entire distance to the closest fortress - Montethoytos in neighboring Segyrseine.

If conducted simultaneously with Airy's assault from the keep, Bear's attack would render the AR's entrenched positions ineffective. For all of Rikifur's history, coordinating such a complex venture would have been unthinkable due to lack of communication between the castle and her outlying units, but Airy now possessed an unmistakable method to announce her intentions for miles to anyone with eyes to see and the knowledge to interpret her signal. Raising Jorveth's reconnaissance balloon hundreds of feet above River Keep on its maiden voyage became the agreed upon cue to attack.

Airy hoped that Cat's scouts were well hidden behind the AR's lines watching for its appearance, but she was committed to claiming victory without them. Nearly ten thousand troops were at her command - easily equal to the numbers that opposed her. With an abundance of experienced knights supplied by her new allies, she even had parity of cavalry for the first time in her months' long stalemate with the AR.

If the rear attack failed to materialize, her Wolf archers and trebuchets mounted on wheels would be deployed to force the enemy from their defenses. Incapable of matching her range, the AR would have to advance, retreat, or have their protective entrenchments become their graves. Victory was the only viable result Airy envisioned from their limited choices.

Because casualties were inevitable in even the most well-orchestrated battle, Milikes and Sunorthoses implored Airy to remain in the castle arguing that if she were killed, all was lost. Beyond irritated with that oft-repeated rationale for keeping her sheltered, Airy rejected their appeal with vehemence.

"The risk is low!" she had shouted. "And if it wasn't, I would go regardless. Do not coddle me like some mewling kit. I will ride into battle exposed to the same danger facing the most well-bred knight and the lowliest peasant. Any leader who would do otherwise is unworthy to follow."

Those were the reasons she offered aloud to her commanders, but privately she admitted to herself that primitive emotions ruled her decision. While donning her armor, strapping her sword to her waist, and mounting her steed, feelings akin and to the ecstasy of sex and the beatitude of the devout suffused her with an unquenchable exhilaration that drowned all thoughts of mortal peril. No wise counsel or physical restraint could douse the battle hungry inferno raging in her heart. Like a wildfire, it would burn until it had consumed all the tinder of her rage against her enemies who fought to steal her birthright and harm her family.

Continuing to chafe at her recalcitrance, Milikes compensated for his failure to control his truculent queen by tripling the size of the royal guard that normally surrounded her. His efforts transpired to be for naught. Fate's endorsement fell to the young queen, and all anxiety over her safety was soon vanquished along with her opponents.

The day evolved perfectly from the moment the balloon rose above the castle until the sun set below the western horizon. Gently rotating at the end of its long tether, her aerial wonder alternately displayed the crest of her Royal House on one side and Jak's sigil on the other. Clever tailoring had transformed a motley collection of commandeered garments into a tapestry that captured in bold relief the majesty and splendor of each image.

Like an omen of doom for the Anti-Royalists, the balloon's appearance proceeded Airy's outward advance. As hoped, the spectacle surprised and unnerved the ill-prepared siege army that had fallen prey to laxity induced by its forced idleness. The hovering, inverted silk teardrop had the added effect of diverting their attention away from their vulnerable rear flank.

As planned, Bear was positioned to unleash mischief upon the horses in the AR's corrals. The effectiveness of much of the enemy's cavalry was decimated before the battle began, and the rebel troops nearest the upstream river wall of the castle reeled in further confusion from the subsequent combined attacks upon their front and rear.

Once again, the AR was routed at River Keep by Airy's ability to surprise, but this time familiarity with her unique army and its capabilities helped the broken host avoid a complete panic. Though flanked on the northeastern end of their long curving siege line, several downstream regiments retained their coherence and were able to affect a hasty but orderly retreat.

The abundance of abandoned weapons and armor they left behind was a welcome boon to supplement Airy's dwindling reserves. With the siege of River Keep broken, the castle garrison and civilian workers emerged to gather and store the captured bounty and to cheer Airy's victorious force as it marched eastward.

Only a few days were needed for Airy to cross the border into Segyrseine. Unhindered, half of her knights roved freely across the countryside seeking hidden pockets of resistance, capturing additional supplies of food and weapons, and destroying bridges on her flanks. The remainder relentlessly pursued the enemy to deny them an opportunity to regroup, to reduce their numbers, and to force them towards her chosen destination. Short on provisions and suffering continuous attrition from Airy's harassing running battle, the fleeing AR had no alternative but to cooperate.

If it had been possible, Airy would have bypassed Segyrseine's capitol and strongest fort at Montethoytos, but she had to assume that the AR would counter her threat by dispatching reinforcements from Perseine to intercept her. Though they were without a doubt unaware of her accord with Sochalethetes, she would encounter them long before she reached the rendezvous point that would trigger the end of Pereseine's neutrality. Bold, daring, and audacious were all qualities of which Airy had no lack, but placing herself between an enemy stronghold and another army required an abundance of impetuousness to which even Airy was not susceptible.

Furthermore, Montethoytos was strategically placed in a narrow river valley in a rough, hilly region with few roads. No routes suitable to move an army existed to bypass it. The castle had to be taken, and she possessed the means of conquest in the form of her mobile artillery plodding slowly behind. Engineered by Jorveth for rapid assembly and disassembly, the trebuchets fit in wagons pulled by oxen. Special units had been relentlessly drilled until they could accomplish both set up and tear down in under an hour, but the heavy carts were still slower than the rest of the army. They would arrive at Montethoytos days after Airy's harassing forward force. She was willing to gamble that her artillery beat the AR reinforcements and was prepared to develop contingency plans if they did not.

When she first beheld Montethoytos' walls and the surrounding landscape, she was satisfied the topography suited her needs and her foe was where she wanted him. As though Airy were gifted with Tigan's Maker provided foresight, the enemy continued to react exactly as she predicted. What remained of the scattered army fleeing before her cowered behind the ramparts afraid to meet her on open ground. Cat's scouts reported that a sizeable reinforcement AR force was approaching from Perseine, but it was still several days away.

Confident that her trailing artillery would arrive first, Airy boldly moved forward to deploy her army behind a curious slab-like projection of rock. It began at the south wall of the valley east of the castle and ran north in a gently curving arc until it grew in thickness and rose in height to become a steep, rocky ridge that merged with the valley wall west of Montethoytos. Composed of a red stained, black, volcanic rock that rose up to twenty feet above the flat plain, and sank below the ground in other places, it was reminiscent of the lower set of teeth of the jaw of a legendary behemoth.

Seeking the best vantage point to complete her surveillance, Airy and a company of foot soldiers led by Sunorthoses scrambled up the black, treeless hillock. They inadvertently chased away a small enemy squad of forward observers. The high ground was too steep and dangerous for any but foot soldiers and archers to occupy, but it provided a commanding view of the field of battle and a place of safety for her that would appease her overly apprehensive commanders. From the summit, Airy surveyed the terrain while formulating a stratagem to accomplish her simple goal: crush her enemy so thoroughly that she would be able to move unhindered past this annoying roadblock between her and her ultimate goal.

Montethoytos was a walled city nestled against a north-facing cliff of more of the same rusting black rock rising over three hundred feet high before merging into the more chaotic angularity of the upper peaks of the low mountains that dominated this hilly province. The logical field of battle was a relatively flat plain of tilled farmland spread like a patchwork quilt north of the castle-city, the smooth perfection of which was only marred by the arc of jagged rock behind which Airy's army was assembling. To the east, broken, craggy terrain enveloped by dense stands of trees and thickets was impassable to any but the most adventurous scouts. West of the castle, in front of Airy, the farmland formed a narrow border between the castle walls and the low arm of the mountain that jutted north into the valley to terminate as the prominence upon which she stood.

Airy forgave the original builders of Montethoytos for failing to envision that the curious giant's teeth-like geologic feature could pose a threat to their defenses. During Rikifur's long history, no arrow or stone throwing catapult ever devised had the capability of spanning the distance between the arc of black rock and the castle walls. Though the ridge was a logical location for an enemy to establish a safe, defensive position, any foe attempting to cross the intervening plain would be exposed to attack from the defenders behind their stout walls.

The lack of perceived strategic value explained why the feature was left undefended, but it proved to be a fortuitous piece of geography to Airy offering a protected position from which Jorveth's marvelous trebuchets could bombard the castle. In addition to that gift, another less obvious strategic advantage was soon revealed. West of the castle, a deep canyon cleaved the mountains as if by a giant's axe. The narrow gorge exited the escarpment just east of Airy's ridge, becoming a ravine that divided the plain from the high ground before turning west just south of her position, sundering her perch from its parent ridge. Cat's scouts reported that the ravine's walls were steep, but horses and soldiers could enter it about eight miles downstream, and a path to climb out was present just upstream of where Airy now stood.

The inside of the ravine was obscured by the dense stands of tall fir trees that clung to its steep sides providing concealment for any force that chose to wait there. Unfortunately, open ground at the top of the defile meant an army emerging from the chasm would be an easy target for the castle defenders. Additionally, the ravine's isolation from the rest of the battlefield meant that communication with those inside the gorge required messengers to make a sixteen mile round trip. Thus, it was a useless piece of geography, except to a Rabbit queen with a secret weapon.

With several days remaining before her artillery arrived, Airy reaped the benefits of the military engineer corps Jorveth had developed. They began constructing a system of defenses utilizing the natural barrier afforded by the giant's teeth, as her troops had begun to call the black rock barrier. At all but a few of the gaps where the rock failed to rise above the valley floor, trenches were dug and the earth piled up on the inside to form berms behind which were erected platforms for archers and spearmen. Where the rock was too tall to see over, earth was moved to build ramparts. Upon completion, the improved wall was a formidable barrier. A few of the natural openings between the teeth were not filled. Instead, a maze-like series of palisades were constructed through which her cavalry and infantry could sally forth as needed, but if the enemy attempted to enter through those same gaps, he would find only a bloody labyrinth of death. Horrendous losses awaited anyone brave enough to dare assault her.

Confident she would be able to hold the bulwarks with only half her troops, Airy deployed a sizable force to wait inside the ravine, putting Milikes in command. His orders were to wait there, unseen, and react to whatever prearranged signal the balloon displayed. Until needed, the aircraft was inflated and concealed behind Airy's hill.

In addition to Airy's aerial observer, Cat and her scouts, invisible and tireless, roamed east of the castle all the way to Vynuurtos providing reports of the progress of the AR reinforcements. Only when the new host finally began to arrive, did Cat return to Airy's headquarters. It was late evening on a clear autumn day. Airy's artillery had caught up with her that afternoon, been assembled, and placed into position where they could strike either the castle or the flat ground where her foe would assemble to defend the citadel.

Airy and Sunorthoses were observing the gathering of boulders for the trebuchets' ammunition when the stealthy feline appeared at Airy's side, unescorted and unannounced. Accustomed to Cat's disrespect for protocol and flouting of the rules regarding the queen's safety, Airy's guards pretended to ignore her.

"Enemy is here," said Cat.

"Excellent," responded Airy. "Your reports on their numbers and movements have been invaluable. Rest for a while; you've earned it, and I have less need for scouts on the ground. The weather is good, and the balloon will be sent aloft in the morning. I will have the eyes of an eagle to scout for me."

"It is clever tool but do not become too dependent upon it. Eagles see much, but not everything. Ve vill continue to explore vhere birds cannot see. My scouts may even be able to cause some little mischief."

"That's unnecessary, but I will be grateful for whatever you can do. I plan to begin our bombardment of the castle tonight, and this hill provides an excellent vantage point to observe the damage. We will use a combination of exploding shells and boulders. The bombs will illuminate the target so that we can calibrate the range for the rocks that will bring down the walls."

"The night attack is intended to unnerve the defenders in the castle," added Sunorthoses, "and, we hope, provoke the newly arrived army into a hasty and ill-conceived attack when daylight arrives. We want them to see that their fortress will be breached and helpless within days unless they can drive us away."

Strategy discussions always bored Cat. Yawning, she turned to leave.

"In that case, I vill find less noisy place to sleep tonight."

As she strolled away, Cat dragged her claws across the steel breastplates of several of Airy's Wolf and Rabbit guards garnering their attention and inviting them with her eyes to follow if they wished.

"Perhaps I vill forego sleep and enjoy some companionship in my bed instead," she added with a voice laced with innuendo.

Promising both pleasure and peril, the danger intrinsic to all dealings with Cat was emphasized by Bandrosett's growl. Each guard was menaced in turn leaving doubt as to the wisdom of accepting the tantalizing invitation. With their sovereign present, none dared acknowledge the overture , though all eyes including Sunorthoses' followed Cat's departure with the same lustful yearning. Caught ogling the feline by Airy, her colonel attempted to deflect the blame for his wicked thoughts.

"She routinely violates the rules prohibiting inter racial sex, you know. Quite shameful, but no one dares counter the royal favor she enjoys."

Airy was well aware that knew that she indulged the feline with special treatment but had no intent off letting Sunorthoses off so easily.

"Is your knowledge from personal experience, Colonel? You are well known for your charming ways with the does. Does your charm translate across racial boundaries?"

A few of the Wolves sniggered, while the Rabbits grinned covertly. Sunorthoses, unabashed, laughed with the Wolves.

"If it were so, I would freely admit to that malfeasance, Your Highness, but alas, Cat's disrespect and dislike for authority makes one of my rank unappealing. My vanity will not let me suffer the rejection that would certainly follow."

Airy silently agreed with the colonel's assessment, and let the matter drop. Being the highest rank of all, Airy was experienced with feline aversion to authority. Untamable and too valuable to dismiss, Cat had long ago been ceded leave by Airy to break the rules, and that was unlikely to change any time soon.

Olycksus, commander of the combined reinforcing AR army from Perseine and the tattered remnants of the forces from the siege of River Keep, pounded his furry fist on the table swearing numerous vituperative and vulgar oaths. The more pious of his officers cringed at his blasphemous embroilment of the Maker in his tirade, but whether or not they approved of his language, they understood and sympathized with its cause. Their foe was confounding them with a seemingly endless supply of new tricks. Nighttime attacks had never been attempted before.

As if daylight sporadically returned, the dim luminescence from the scattered oil lamps in Olycksus' command tent was magnified a thousand times by the queen's uncanny artillery, dazzling their eyes and then hammering their ears with a concussive peal of thunder. Even at their camp's safe distance far from the young princess' defenses, the steady bombardment of the castle was unnerving due to their helplessness to stop it.

"She has brought her cursed catapults and fire stones," interjected one of his colonels attempting to forestall more curses from his commander, but earned instead a harsh rebuke for his effort.

"Trebuchet not catapult, and bomb_s not _firestones!" corrected Olycksus.

Exasperated with so many benighted and backward fools in his command, the chocolate furred, middle-aged general absently pulled at the beard like tuft of darker fur that grew beneath his chin. Counting silently in his head to ten, he paused before delivering a less choleric lecture of admonishment.

"You must not only learn their correct names, Colonel, you must also try to understand how they function and how we can use similar devices to our military advantage. These bombs are not magic; they are just new weapons, nothing more."

So fervently did Olycksus believe his own words, he had been one of the foremost proponents arguing for the kidnapping of the Princess' equine source of military miracles. Though bungled, Olycksus did not regret the attempt or his more successful placement of spies within River Keep to learn the princess' secrets. War was changing, and Airiphryone, with her bizarre collection of associates, was leading the revolution. The canny general did not intend to remain far behind.

"Our task is to adapt to this transformation of warfare. We cannot rely on tried and true methods in the face of these new weapons no matter how many centuries those strategies have proved useful. Abandon your complacency. Challenge yourselves to discover how to negate her advantage, or resign yourselves to lose every battle against her and ultimately the whole Maker damned war!"

Silence greeted his vitriolic challenge. Unused to the demands of thinking beyond generations of proven warfare tactics, his abashed officers refused to meet his eyes, except for one. A young colonel named Gryphothes, son of Duke Dypholones, the leader of the Anti-Royalist rebellion, glared insolently back. Promoted beyond his abilities by the favor of his birth, the arrogant kit enjoyed and often abused the protective cover his father provided, making him a nagging source of irritation to Olycksus. Being the highest-ranking surviving officer of the beaten siege army, Gryphothes was legitimately second in command beneath Olycksus granting the impudent buck more unnecessary encouragement to be brazen.

"We have confirmation that the Princess is leading their army. It is our duty to kill or capture her. No ingenious strategy is needed to accomplish that. Our combined forces outnumber her. A massive frontal assault to overwhelm her defenses will do the trick."

"A brave proposal, but risky. She is too well dug in. What you propose is exactly what she wants us to do. Our troops will be slaughtered."

"But we must do something," implored the colonel who had prompted Olycksus' earlier lecture. "The castle walls will be reduced to rubble within a matter of days, and we can't position ourselves close enough to harry her with our catapults without drawing her fire."

"Let her breach the walls," scoffed Olycksus eliciting gasps from several officers. "What good will it serve her? She can't enter inside without leaving her defenses and exposing herself to attack from us."

"We can't just let her have her way," insisted another. "Morale will suffer."

"Morale will improve when everyone realizes she is wasting her time. Winter is coming and will force her to retreat or to attack. Let her be the fool for once and make the critical mistake. We have stopped her advance. That is enough."

"Is it?" pressed Gryphothes. "A rare opportunity has been placed at our hindpaws by the Maker. To squander it is foolish, perhaps even cowardly."

The use of the word "cowardly" was an insult and a direct challenge to Olycksus. The temptation to backpaw the impudent kit across his smug little snout was tempered only partially by Gryphothes' prestigious kin connection. Olycksus also had to consider the mood of the other officers under his command.

General Dypholones' arrogant son was not alone in his desire for immediate vengeance upon the princess. Many of the eyes that previously were averted in shame at their ignorance of the enemy's capabilities now dared glare at him with animus. Belonging to bucks who were veterans of the war against Airiphryone and had suffered the indignity of being routed from their siege of River Keep, those eyes perceived Olycksus as a newcomer intent on stealing their vengeance. Thirsting for a chance to pay back their humiliation, they were convinced they now had the strength and opportunity to do it with a traditional assault.

Olycksus preferred the more judicious approach of letting Airiphryone be the impatient and foolhardy combatant. If she proved to be uncharacteristically cautious, he was ready to await the arrival of more backup troops to augment his forces until he was certain he could surround and crush the royal brat. Word had already gone out to all the neighboring provinces to deliver whatever they could spare to defend this route to Perseine. If they complied, his army should more than double within a few weeks.

It was a pity that his officers were in no mood for patience or for sharing the glory and renown with others for defeating the princess. With minds intransigent, only the blood spilled by thousands with nothing gained would leave them amenable to Olycksus' more reasonable strategy. How Olycksus longed for the unified and obedient chain of command he knew the self-proclaimed queen enjoyed. A maddening expectation that all nobles were equally important regardless of rank pervaded all levels of the AR army, birthed by the ideal that the power of the monarchy must be spread among the nobility in an egalitarian fashion. He was now participating in a perfect example of the all too common anarchic mob rule that passed for command decision making in their rebellion. Though mutiny was unlikely at present, the longer he held to a wait and see strategy with this disgruntled command, the more probable he would be deposed. Olycksus was pragmatic as well as intelligent.

"There are no cowards in this army, Colonel Gryphothes. That is obvious from the willingness I sense in each of you to brave this assault despite the losses we will surely endure. Tomorrow could well decide the fate of this war. We shall deploy for the attack before first light. May the Maker guide us to victory."

Ignoring Gryphothes' smug smile, Olycksus basked in the cheers of the other officers and waited until the fools were quiet again. He would let them have their way until they were more pliant to his will. Then, he would deal with the princess in his own way.

"There are precious few hours before dawn. Have your bucks get some rest tonight, if that's possible with the Princess' damn racket."

Awake and in the saddle of his horse before the first stars began to wane with the lightening of the eastern horizon, Olycksus directed the movement of his men to their positions through the quiet, light morning mist that hung just above the dew-covered ground. The atmospheric conditions presaged a clear, sunny day.

Gryphothes' units were in the front and center. Olycksus silently prayed to the Maker that the miserable brat be killed in the assault. It would be easier to explain to his father how he had died valiantly in battle than to continue to tolerate his seditious attempts to subvert Olycksus' command.

Olycksus had wanted to divide the army, probing the queen's line nearest the castle as a distraction while a sizable force on her northern flank moved to encircle the Princess and probe for weaknesses in her defenses, but Gryphothes' reiterated his argument from the night before and convinced the other officers that glory and victory was only achievable by a concentrated assault at one location. Being at the center became the most coveted and likely most fatal position of the day.

Retaining some measure of authority and control, Olycksus was able to break a portion of his army away from those positioned for the mad dash up the center to explore instead to the right. The left was dangerously undermanned, but he trusted the castle defenders to protect that flank. Troops could be hiding in the ravine, but there was no way for the princess to communicate with any that might lurk there to coordinate an attack. Still, an uneasy foreboding overcame him whenever his thoughts returned there.

The night bombardment achieved the twin effects Airy desired. Serious damage was done to the castle's walls, and the newly arrived enemy reinforcements obediently arrayed before her preparing for an assault against her well-fortified position. The dawn light over the distant Earth Spine would be in her eyes and her archers, but that would not matter if the enemy charged en masse as she hoped they would, making them unmissable targets. Airy felt pity for the bucks who were to be sent to die charging her position, but she could not afford to show them mercy.

To hasten their assault, she gave two simultaneous orders. Trebuchets were repositioned so salvos of exploding shells were redirected from the castle towards Olycksus' army, and the balloon that had been inflated during the night was sent aloft to be the first Rabbit-made object to intercept the golden rays of the new day.

The balloon's function was a supreme mystery to Olycksus and his commanders. To many of them, it was a source of superstitious dread. They presumed it to be a new weapon that would rain death down upon them in some unfathomable way. Unafraid and ever curious, Olycksus Squinted at the plain brown box slung beneath the colorful orb. Movement within caught his eye.

"Is that a person?" he asked of his standard-bearer, who was younger and possessed keener sight, "...near the bottom in that square part."

A moment of intent observation passed before the gray buck responded.

"Yes. A Rabbit. Not a Wolf."

The occupant's race didn't matter, but the added detail in the report gave the general confidence in the answer. Reports had come to him of the same or a similar object appearing above River Keep moments before the princess left the castle. It had served no discernible purpose in that battle. Olycksus was baffled and pondered its possible function and significance to his plans until the thought struck him that it wasn't a weapon at all.

"She has eyes in the sky, Maker dammit!" he exclaimed partly in admiration and partly from fear when he realized the device's true power. "We need to shore up our flank...!" he began to shout to Gryphothes as the first exploding shell of the new day burst above him.

Whizzing bits of metal zipped about like invisible, deadly bees. The eagle-eyed bearer of his banner screamed and fell forward against the neck of his horse. Blood oozed from the back of his skull through a rent in his steel helmet. Simultaneously, Olycksus felt a hammer blow against his side that shoved him sideways. He was vaguely aware of the ground rushing towards him when all went black.

Two soldiers rushed to their general's side to tend to his wound. Layers of leather padding and steel had stopped the shrapnel from penetrating his hide, but the impact of his head against the ground during his fall had rendered him senseless. As they carried their injured leader away to safety, Gryphothes had occasion to assume command. Ignorant of the meaning of Olycksus' discovery of the balloon's threat, he raised his sword above his head.

"For revenge and glory!" he shouted.

"Glory!" they replied and began a rapid march towards the line of black rock only pausing for their crossbowmen to send swarms of arrows at Airy's defenders. Opposing Wolf longbows in turn released their own volleys to fall among the attackers. The AR infantry did their best to hide beneath their shields while pressing forward, but the exchange was unequal with the advantage to Airy's better-protected troops. The first assault barely made it to the wall before falling back, regrouping, and trying again two more times. Thousands died or were wounded.

Airy's losses were minimal, though one of her personal Wolf guards had been struck by an arrow and grievously injured. Sunorthoses, who had been assigned by Milikes to protect the queen, cringed at the near miss and prayed fervently to the Maker that no similar stray shot found its mark on her.

Gryphothes stood just beyond the Wolf archer's arrow range panting, barely able to hold his sword level even though its tip rested across the pommel of his saddle. His arm was tired, not from using the heavy blade against the enemy, but from waving it above his head to encourage his ground troops to brave repeatedly the rain of arrows and labor to scale the bulwarks against stabbing pikes and jabbing swords. Despite his position behind the unfortunates who comprised the front of their line, he shared the same degree of exposure to death. Atop his horse, he was an irresistible target. Several broken arrow shafts protruded from his shield; their deadly tips mere inches from his arm.

Reeling from their failure to break through Airy's perimeter, Gryphothes' troops wavered in their resolve. Olycksus had been right. At no point in their attack had they come close to victory, and now their numbers were too few for any hope in another assault. As his soldiers retreated and tended their wounds, the other officers began to request new instructions. Gryphothes refused to surrender to the strategy of sitting on his paws and waiting for the princess to act. Enough of his time had been wasted at River Keep doing that to no profit.

Remembering vaguely Olycksus' last words before he was struck down, Gryphothes recalled something about one of their flanks, but could not remember which. The left was guarded by the damaged, but still occupied castle. Fresh troops occupied his right. The latter was the key, he decided, and orders were issued to probe the right again for vulnerabilities and possibly divert enough of the enemy's strength for him to break through the center.

As the novice commander made his fateful decision, Airy struggled with her response to his temporary withdrawal from the fight. If she renewed the bombardment, she feared provoking the AR to retreat out of range again. She could redirect her fire and breach the castle's walls easily, but saw no gain in that. With Gryphothes army still present, a bloody battle would be required to capture the keep. The fortress was an unworthy prize for such a high cost.

It was during this moment of indecision that the balloon proved its immeasurable value. Word from above came to her that the enemy was attempting to advance around her left flank, but was being easily repelled. It was obvious from the insufficient numbers deployed to the south by the AR commander that he was unaware of the sizeable contingent of reserves she maintained there. He would make no more progress there than he had attacking the northern edge of her line.

"Colonel," said Airy to Sunorthoses, "It's time to assume the offensive and end this fight. Order the balloon pilot to prepare the signal for General Milikes to lead our forces on the right to attack the enemy's left."

"It will be done, but won't they be outnumbered and pinned before the castle?"

"We shall provide cover bombardment of the castle to minimize that threat. The army outside will be too distracted by the bait I am going to lay in front of them to notice Milikes until it is too late."

"Bait?"

Sunorthoses' red-hued ears swiveled from confusion and then twitched in suspicion as he guessed her intent.

"We shall move our troops out in front of the rock wall and raise my command banner," continued Airy. "They will not be able to resist that."

"Permission to be the bait, Your Highness," begged Sunorthoses, hoping to sacrifice himself to forestall her suspected imprudence.

"Permission granted in that you will accompany the bait, which shall be me."

"Maker, no!" blurted the colonel. "There is no need for you to go out there. If anything should go wrong..."

"The bait must be real, and I have a need for this, Colonel. I am resolute. There is no way to dissuade me, only to help me as best you may."

Groaning in despair, Sunorthoses abandoned all hope to alter her mind.

"If Milikes doesn't have my ears for this, Vaunortheses certainly will," he muttered with a sigh.

Airy ignored his complaint. The thrill of battle was up on her once again. Memories of her glorious charge into River Keep and her more recent triumphant exit from it fueled her passion. Feelings of invulnerability and destiny suffused her hot blood like a drug.

Gryphothes' probes of the wall's southern flanks were being repulsed. He was on the verge of ordering a retreat when the princess' army unexpectedly left their defenses to assemble in the open. Desperate for just this kind of change in fortune, the field promoted general could not believe his luck. Was this the mistake Olycksus had hoped she would make? Greedy for the honor of turning a defeat into the most important victory of the war, Gryphothes organized his units again for the decisive clash of arms that would decide the day.

With armor glinting in the sun, Airy rode front and center atop her armored stallion with Sunorthoses and her guard knights surrounding her and her command banner. It was her deliberate attempt to draw the attention of everyone towards her including that of her own troops. Observing her fearless provocation of the enemy, a few Wolves began a howl that spread in area and volume among their ranks. Airy ordered the war cry to be encouraged. The resultant noise was her personal challenge to the AR commander, and it was accepted.

"It sickens me that she employs those filthy savages against us," spat the officer at Gryphothes' side.

"They are nothing but dogs dressed as bucks," sneered Gryphothes. "Now that they have no wall to hide behind, we can show them how real soldiers fight. Give them a yell of our own, and then begin the charge."

Shouting "Freedom!" the AR surged forward rapidly closing the short distance separating the two armies. The fastest and most determined came straight for the Royal banner, but Airy was in little danger. Foot soldiers skillfully formed a bristling wall of pikes and swords six deep in front of her. Wolves loosed their longbows into the foe, blunting but not stopping the charge.

Arrow fire was exchanged filling the air with deadly darts. To Sunorthoses horror, an enemy bolt glanced off Airy's helmet. Knowing better than to plead with her to retreat out of range, he instead silently thanked the Maker that she was unhurt and let himself smile and revel in the shared moment of glory with his dauntless queen.

Exhibiting no trace of fear, Airy remained unflinching despite the near miss. She was the center of attention for both armies and wanted all eyes that gazed upon her to see what she desired. To her own, she was a bulwark of invulnerability, but her foe perceived her position as an opportunity for easy victory.

The war cries intended to inspire courage and ferocity on both sides grew in volume, but lucidity devolved into an incoherent roar of violence when weapons and bodies collided. Shrieks of agony, the ring of metal upon metal, and urgent shouts of command became a gruesome opera accompanied by the symphony of bugle calls and the staccato percussion of Airy's artillery battering the castle.

Though the AR still outnumbered her slightly, Gryphothes' left remained exposed just as she required. Signaling the balloon pilot, Airy raised her sword horizontally above her head. He began waving a green flag in response. Milikes and hundreds of knights burst from hiding seconds later followed by running columns of pike and swordsmen. Airy signaled again, this time with her sword pointed towards to enemy. With an audible grunt, her troops pushed forward against the attackers. The line of battle bent and writhed like a snake wherever one side found advantage over the other.

It was an evenly matched struggle until Milikes' thundering knights caught the AR between Airy's surging ranks. Unable to defend against both, the enemy's will broke. Confusion erupted everywhere as Gryphothes' soldiers panicked and ran. Pressing forward and sweeping left, Airy's combined army rolled forward like a flood. The castle defenders were impotent to hinder them. Shrapnel from the bombs exploding above and behind pinned them down, and many of those brave enough to attempt to target the queen's troops were killed. With the rout of his army underway, Gryphothes reluctantly ordered an ignominious retreat along the same path upon which Olycksus had so confidently advanced the day before.

Identical to her breakout from River Keep, Airy was merciless in her harassment and annihilation of Gryphothes' fleeing forces. She wanted as few as possible to limp back home and be capable of regrouping for a last stand before her objective in Perseine.

By the end of the day, the best intelligence reports estimated no more than half of the AR reinforcements escaped. Airy ordered three companies of her knights, led by Sunorthoses, to maintain the chase for several days to reduce those numbers further. The remainder of her troops arrayed themselves before the castle of Montethoytos to goad the lord of the castle to surrender.

Resolved to taking it from him by force, Airy was relieved that the siege was mercifully brief. A few hours of boulders thrown from the trebuchets collapsed the walls in several places and left the gatehouse in ruins. It was nearing dark when Airy raised a white flag of parley inviting the besieged castle an opportunity to end their misery. The lord of Segyrseine, Duke Hrothsthentes, agreed to meet her to discuss terms of surrender.

Neither Milikes nor Sunorthoses dared suggest that Airy excuse herself from the negotiations. The victory was hers. To put her safety above her right to savor the glory of her success was an unthinkably grievous insult. Instead, armed with grim determination to protect her at all costs, a small host of knights and ten Wolf warriors armed with pikes comprised her delegation. The meeting place was a neutral location between her army and the maximum arrow range from the castle walls. Both parties stopped when they were twenty paces apart.

The duke rode in the middle and ahead of his small line of knights. The queen was likewise positioned in front of her contingent. Hrothsthentes was a relatively young duke, barely older than Airy with cream-colored fur and a long, silky mane of orange-red hair that contrasted with his black surcoat and blackened armor styled to match his simple ebony command banner adorned with a single vertical white stripe.

The design sparked a memory from the heraldry tutoring Airy had received as a kit. The white line represented an alleged direct link between the Maker and the family of house Segyrseine. Not more than a generation or two after the founding of her own royal house, this upstart noble family claimed that its founder was a bastard son of Jacynthopoles. It was a claim that Airy's family forever denied. The Church, of course, upheld the proper legitimacy of the Chosen One's progeny. Segyrseine had been subsequently ostracized and marginalized as it continued through the centuries to insist on the validity of its royal blood connection. Airy was unlikely to find a warm welcome here.

Drawing his sword, the young duke saluted her formally by holding the weapon upright before his snout. After raising his blade towards the first faint stars of twilight in deference to the Maker, he lowered it again, and tossed the blade to the ground in front of his horse. Mimicking his gesture, a clattering collection of swords and lances from his knights accumulated on the rocky ground. As Hrothsthentes dismounted and walked forward, his retainers continued to emulate him. Bidding them to kneel, the Duke advanced three more steps before bending on one knee with his eyes fixed submissively on the ground.

With a gesture of her paw, Airy bade her escort to hold so she could she ride forward alone until her mount stood aside the Duke. From her lofty position, Airy broke the deferential silence.

"Greetings, Duke Hrothsthentes."

"Greetings to you also, Cousin Airiphryone," he replied with more than a mere suggestion of impudence.

It was an improper address designed no doubt to remind her of the obloquy his family had endured for centuries, but at least he had the sense to speak his claim quietly so that it was audible to her ears only. Wishing to avoid a genealogical debate, Airy let the presumption pass.

"I am here to accept your surrender. Though the balance of power weighs heavily in my favor, I am willing to give fair consideration to any conditions you may wish to discuss. Have you any?"

The young duke removed his helmet but kept his eyes cast downward. His left ear was pierced by a series of six gold ringlets that intertwined with each other. It was atypical to see such ornamentation a noble, such affectations being more common among the peasantry.

"From a less honorable conqueror I would have many, mostly related to the well-being of my subjects, but it is known to all that you are merciful in your treatment of those you vanquish. Thus, I have only one condition."

"Which is...?"

Raising his chin, he met her eyes. Defiance mingled with an unexpected share of disgust greeted her.

"I ask that none of the lesser races be among any occupying forces you leave in the castle or within any surrounding villages within my lands."

Glancing past Airy to the canids accompanying her parley contingent, the source of his ire was unmistakable. His was a common complaint throughout Rikifur. Too many Rabbits, peasants and nobles alike, shared Hrothsthentes' bigotry. Many would not fight alongside other races, and she had lost count of how often she had been advised by allies to send the Wolves home. It was true, that Rikifur's ancient racial foe was costing her converts to her cause, but she would not cast Jak or any other of his kind aside to placate the mindless hate of others. Airy was committed to ride a wave of social progress to a new shore of peace and harmony. Fools like Hrothsthentes would have to find enlightenment or be swept aside.

"That I shall not grant. Wolves are an integral part of my army and thus of Rikifur. They fight with honor and dignity. I will not deny them their rightful place in this victory. Look upon them and tell me honestly that they are not the equal in bravery to Rikifur's best bucks."

Hrothsthentes surveyed the Wolves again silently, but his expression remained unaltered. Hoping to avoid consigning the recalcitrant noble to the reprehensible annals of the wrong side of history, Airy proffered one last opportunity for him to take a higher road.

"Do they prevent you from recanting your alliance with the revolutionaries of the Anti-Royalists and pledging your loyalty to me?"

"I could not join you in good conscience with or without your war dogs. I honor my late father's pledge to the Anti-Royalist cause for both the love and respect I have for his memory and because I still believe in the underlying ambition of this rebellion. The monarchy is too powerful and usurps our Maker given right of self-determination. Your royal fiat demanding we accept the Wolves as friends and equals proves the righteousness of our revolt. No governing body of nobles would have allowed such an outrage."

Though Airy sympathized with some elements of the AR's philosophy, especially those concerning the dissemination of decision-making, political debates would have to await the end of the war. What interested her more were the nuances of political motivation that existed within the buck kneeling before her.

"Late father? Your sire was killed in this war?"

"He was."

"Fighting whom?"

"The armies of the Church."

"Join me then to avenge his death against a common enemy."

"The common enemy is among your host."

Tired of the young duke's stubborn, irresolute prejudice, Airy moved to end the parley.

"Will you surrender unconditionally to me then? I offer no other terms, for your situation is without hope. If you refuse, I will reduce your proud castle to rubble. Many inside will die in the process. When we finally enter your keep, Wolves will be among those storming the walls, and they will not react with restraint if you fight against them."

Detecting a hint of lingering resistance in his eyes, she offered Hrothsthentes the only concession she was willing to yield to gain his acquiescence.

"However, if you surrender, I pledge that all Wolves deployed within your keep and the surrounding lands will be subordinate to Rabbit officers and subject to their discipline and punishment as necessary if they violate standards of propriety for the occupation. Think well upon the care of your people before you answer. Is abiding the presence of another race worse than death and degradation by their paws?"

Though the Wolves in her army were too well disciplined to rape and pillage, Airy let Hrothsthentes' prejudices control his assumptions and prey upon his fears. The stratagem worked. A meek nod from the duke made Montethoytos Airy's and cleared the only remaining obstacle she could foresee between her and victory.

[End of Chapter]