Free War Maid's Choice-ARC by David Weber Page B

another three-quarters of a mile to go. That’s only another two months. And the locks in the Balthar are already finished—they’ve had barges hauling construction materials all the way from from Hurgrum to The Gullet for two months now. The Derm Canal’s taking longer, but I expect it to be finished by next spring, even allowing for construction shutting down over the winter months. In fact, they might even get it done before first snowfall, if the weather favors them over the summer.”
    Sahrdohr pursed his lips in a silent whistle, but Salgahn shook his head.
    “That’s all well and good,” he pointed out, “but they’ve still got the River Brigands and the Ghoul Moor to worry about. As you just pointed out, Arthnar isn’t going to take Bahnak’s and Tellian’s plans very cheerfully.”
    “Neither are the Purple Lords,” Varnaythus agreed. “But exactly how do you think they’re going to discourage a trio like Tellian, Kilthan, and Bahnak? Unless we—by which I’m afraid I really mean you , this time around—can convince Arthnar to try to kill them...and he succeeds, of course.”
    Salghan snorted in acknowledgment, but he also shook his head again.
    “I’m just saying it’s going to be a little more complicated than simply building a couple of canals and digging a tunnel,” he said.
    “And that’s exactly what Yeraghor’s been counting on—and Cassan, too, I suspect.” Varnaythus shrugged. “Which, frankly, is...shortsighted of them, to say the least. Given the success rate Tellian and Bahnak—and Kilthan; let’s not forget him—have demonstrated to date, how likely do you think it is that they won’t succeed this time, as well?”
    It was Salgahn’s turn to shrug, conceding the point.
    “As it happens, the Ghoul Moor is going to figure rather more prominently in our plans than I’d thought it was,” Varnaythus continued. “I don’t know that it’s going to give us everything we want, although the chance that it might is actually better than I expected before She told me what resources we’ll have there. Even if it doesn’t work as well as expected”—he grimaced, and the others joined him as they recalled other plans which had failled to work exactly as the people who’d made them had expected—“it’s still going to hurt them badly. It may actually stop the canal project completely, although I expect it’s more likely just to slow them up for a year or two. More to the point, it ought to both draw attention to the foot of the Escarpment and away from what we’re really after on top of it. It may well fan the fire under Cassan and Yeraghor, as well, and whether it does or not, nothing that goes wrong for them on the Ghoul Moor is going to suggest any special interference on our part.”
    “Ah?” Sahrdohr cocked an eyebrow, and Varnaythus smiled unpleasantly.
    “I don’t have all the details yet, myself, but apparently the Ghouls are going to be receiving just a bit of a reinforcement. Quite a sizeable one, actually—possibly even enough of one to give one of those damned champions of Tomanāk pause. And since the Ghoul Moor’s always been a...chancy proposition for the other side, let’s say, no one’s likely to be very surprised if this year’s expedition suffers an accident or two, even if the accident is rather more spectacular than most.”
    The younger wizard nodded, and Varnaythus nodded back, then leaned back in his chair.
    “The only downside in helping the ghouls slow them up is that if it does slow them up, it’s likely to undercut the sense of urgency we’ve been trying to encourage among Tellian’s opponents. One of my jobs is going to be keeping that urgency alive, and that means convincing Yeraghor and Cassan of just how close to success they are at court. Cassan’s had too much personal experience with the ghouls to expect them to stop Tellian’s and Bahzell’s plans unless they succeed a lot more spectacularly than I expect, but Yeraghor