Stone King - Chapter Eight - Battle Plans

"Excuse me?  Are you awake yet?"  Thea stuck her head inside the new stone house Kivi had just finished yesterday and watched as his mother rolled over.  Her eyes were shining brightly, a change from how she looked the day before.

"Just coming to, love."  Thea smiled.

"Kivi is waiting over by the river.  He wants to chat with you and his father for a bit.  He wouldn't say what about though."  She bit her bottom lip.

"He never does, love.  We'll be there when we've stretched out the kinks."  Thea smiled again.

"Alright.  We'll have breakfast ready by the time you return.  Put on the furs this morning.  The storms are about to start."  Jaana lifted her head from her fur.

"Storms?"

"Winter storms in the mountains are particularly brutal, Jaana."  She frowned.

"But we're not in the mountains."

"Its close enough to make the winters hard."  She sighed.

"Why did they move up here if its such an unforgiving place?"  She asked.

"From what I've heard, they didn't have much choice in the matter.  If the river had not snaked north around the village and then down over the falls, Kivi would never have found these ladies, and they both would be dead by now."  Jaana lifted her eyes in anger.

"Who would hurt these women?  They're so friendly and hospitable!"  Banus sighed sadly, and heard his wife's voice speak.

"The wind whispers said they were exiled because the girl is half human.  That bastard of the south pushed north every year or so, and were close to pushing them off the land entirely."  Jaana smiled.

"So the little Stone Man pushed back."  Hella smiled brightly.  That smile was something Jaana had missed a great deal.  "Is that what he wants to talk about?"

"Most likely.  To warn us what may come up the hill."  Mena turned her head away, after she heard every word.

"Why would he even care?"  She muttered bitterly.  Hella chose to ignore her words, but Jaana could not.

"Mind yourself in his home, Mena.  If you can't be polite, be silent!"  Mena turned to her in shock.

"You're turning on me too?"

"I haven't turned on you, but I will not allow you to insult our host!  He may be your brother, but he is still your host!  Remember that!"  Jaana got to her feet and left without the customary hug for the woman who still behaved as a child.




Hella noticed how hard both Thea and Gita worked as soon as she exited the house.  A cartload of firewood was already outside their door, but Thea was pushing a second one towards the house.  She smiled warmly at her.

"The place we go is just over there.  We'll have some water warmed for bathing when you're ready to wash up."  Hella smiled.

"I can see why my son loves you so."  She blushed slightly.  "Is Gita your mother?"  Thea nodded.

"We are Mirri.  We mate with whom we want, as long as they are not close relatives.  I'm not jealous of his love for my mother, and she is not jealous of me."  Hella smiled.

"Then I will not object to his love for both of you."  Thea bit her bottom lip.  "What's the matter, child?"

"I'm not sure he does love us."  Hella frowned.

"Why do you say that?"

"He's harder now.  He's still gentle with us, but his eyes seem colder somehow."  Hella sighed.

"I have a feeling that has nothing to do with you.  The past is a shadow that has chilled his warmth.  Make sure you light up his future.  That will warm up his eyes again."  Thea smiled.

"Thank you, mother."  Hella blushed a little.  She hoped that soon one of these women would bare a son and she would be a grandmother.

It took a few minutes to get to the place where her son waited, but when he turned towards her, she could tell that these things they would discuss would be unpleasant.  However, when his eyes fixed directly on her, she could see the life return to his eyes, and a fire ignite.

"Mother, you're looking better."  She smiled.  "Father."  Banus lowered his eyes.  Kivi rarely called him father, but when he did, it gave him a deep sense of contentment.  He had missed his son.

"What is on your mind, Kivi?"  Hella asked.  "Is it Mena again?"  He looked at her and blinked.  No, that hadn't occurred to him.  "Then what is it?"

"You could always read me, mother."  He looked down the river, towards the bottom of the valley, and the hill country laid out for many miles.  "War is coming.  We need to prepare our plans for defences, homes, grains, water, and the inevitable influx of those who will need protection, and guidance."  Banus frowned.

"Guidance, Kivi?"  He nodded.

"This is our land.  The Mirri to the southeast will be forced from their homes.  They have an elder council that has already failed to plan."  He then looked straight at his father.  "The Wolf kin to the north will not allow us into their territory, but they will come to us soon."

"The Hukka will come to us?  Why?"  Kivi looked down the hill, then to his left and in behind him.

"Straight up the hill is not the only way to get to our farm."





Kivi looked directly at his mother and pinned her hard with a stare she had never felt on her before.

"Eat, mother.  Do not eat slowly for fear you'll miss something.  I feel your pangs from here."  She lowered her eyes.

"Sorry, Kivi.  I.....thought you were dead.  I had no reason....."  Kivi cut her off.

"Jaana is reason.  Father is reason. Mena is reason.  Eat."  She lowered her eyes and let a few tears fall.

"I'm sorry."  She said in a small voice.  Thea looked at her husband.

"Be nice to your mother, Kivi.  It is not nice to twist a knife that you've already removed."  He looked up in surprise at the young woman he had recently mated with, and heard the steel in her tone.  He also heard the wisdom.  He watched his wife put her arm about his mother's shoulders.

"He doesn't mean to be like this."  Hella nodded then lifted her eyes.  She had the steel back in her own gaze, and it made Kivi smile wide.

"I know, but he had better remember who he is talking to."  She said in a low hard voice.

"I do know, and that is why I'm telling you to eat.  I need you alive and healthy.  We all do."  His voice was gentle again, and he lowered his eyes, then cleared himself of any emotions that would make it difficult to discuss the necessary and vital points that lie ahead of them.

"Love, can you make a rough drawing on some leather of the hill, the river, where the village is located, and the place you were last pushed from."  Gita nodded, and got up out of her seat.

"What's got you tied up, son?"  Banus asked.

"The river is our life.  Its water can keep us alive after the food has run out.  It will help our crops grow, and keep any animals alive.  Its also why we have so much meat smoked.  The deer and predators always come to the river each day to drink."  Banus heard his son's words and thought for a moment.

"The city has an aqueduct that brings water in.  Its on the surface where it meets up with the river, then goes underground for the rest of the way into the city, to protect it from damage and sabotage."  Kivi thought for a moment.

"Its possible to do that here too.  Make a large cistern underground, and it would be fed from the river, and that cistern would feed some wells in various places.  That would take a lot of time though.  Time away from defenses, and farming."  Jaana listened carefully.

"What if you make a large well, then dig a trench about four feet deep, line it with stones to make a shallow tunnel, then cover it back over?  We only need enough water to keep us going, not to feed an entire city, right?  That river runs swift and deep, and feeds entire lakes far to the south.  Its unlikely they would try to block it, or even search it.  They won't even believe we have the ability to protect ourselves."  Kivi smiled when Thea spoke up.

"If you make a trench, why not make a gate that you can close if you need to?  That way if you need more water, you can close the gate, expand the well system, then open it right back up!"  Gita laid the map out on the floor in front of her husband.

"Here is what I could remember, love."  He smiled when he looked it over.

"Thorough.  Only thing missing are the markers of the Wolf kin."  She frowned.

"Markers?"  He took her charcoal piece and put several points further up the hill, and several hundred yards away from their home.

"The Wolf Kin marked their territory with claw and scent markers.  We'll put a gate right here,"  He marked a spot to the north, then to the east, and the south.  "These gates will allow those we want inside."  Then he marked an area that stretched far down the hill and into the valley below.  "And this will be the territory we'll need to feed those people."  Gita put her hand on his shoulder.

"Kivi, love, that's where we used to live.  The farmers there won't take kindly to us pushing back down the hill."  He nodded.

"If I'm correct, the king will put soldiers there, take over the farm after they've planted and gotten close to a harvest, and push them north towards us.  The soldiers will use the harvests to feed themselves, and use it as a base to launch a much larger attack against your people, and us."  Banus thought for a moment.

"How will we defend against a larger force?"

"Thea said it once.  The homes we build will be on the outskirts, and will use the outer part of the wall to make part of their construction.  Each occupant will be responsible to build portions of the wall their house is attached to, and for several yards in either direction.  We'll organize the rest."

"A large force and walls means a siege."  Kivi nodded.

"But it won't be a long one."  He picked up a small stone and rubbed it until it glowed.  "We'll have assistance."