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of the courtyard. On the door was a large scroll, held with two heavy nails.
The Baron took it down, unrolled it, and read it with mounting anger and
frustration.
"My dear Baron:
"Welcome to Castle Terindell. I hope that you and the boys won't make too much
of a mess of it, since it's a very nice castle in a "wonderful location. You
can safely put up your troops here and be comfortable about it, as I will have
no need for it in the immediate future. You should have no difficulty in
defending it, as there is no enemy army anywhere nearby.
"I must thank you, though, for that brilliant infiltration plan.
I admit that my military education is sadly lacking, and I would never have
thought of it on my own. Of course, you must have realized that moving such
large forces, even in small groups over a long period, would inevitably
attract somebody's atten-
tion, and it did. When I saw just how ingenious the whole thing was, I
embraced the plot wholeheartedly.
"It should be immediately obvious to one of your talents and intellect that it
is far easier to move such forces downriver
214
DEMONS OF THE DANCING GODS
JACK L. CHALKER
215
than up, and far faster. It therefore occurred to me that if you really wanted
this place so much, it would be absurdly easy to swap. By the time you read
this, Esmerada will be disposed of and Witchwood will be under my domain, but
I suppose you expected that. However, at almost the same time, my forces will
have seized control of the roads and river routes between
Zhafqua and the Khafdis, giving us effective mastery of all
Zhimbombe except for Morikay itself, which is totally besieged
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file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%20Jack%20L%20-%20The%20Dancing%20G
ods%202%20-%20Demons%20of%20the%20Dancing.txt and cut off.
"In the meantime, my agents in and around your three armies have the ability
and means to poison meats, fish, fowl, and water selectively, by nonmagical
means. As long as your armies remain in and occupy the places they took today,
all will be well; but should you take to the march, you will find the pickings
slim. I'm afraid, too, that our effective blockade of the Dancing Gods at the
River of Sighs has already captured more than a third of your fleet. The rest
can not come up, while those that you have are trapped, as we sank a number of
old ships in the main channel of the Rossignol after your supply boats passed
and I'm afraid there isn't enough draft left to allow travel. Feel free to
start removing my obstacles, but we sank a tasty cargo with them, so you'll
find the river mon-
sters rather dense, shall we say? And, naturally, I'm saving some other
surprises so as not to spoil your fun.
"The civilian populations you now hold have all been given an effective poison
antidote, but they remain your hostages, of course. I might remind you,
though, that your attack on Sach-
alin has brought an additional and formidable sorcerer into the fight against
you, so ifyo« leave, you'll give our brother free rein to trample your army
with all sorts of delightful scourges.
"I believe I have given you only one way out, and I shall be delighted to meet
you in some neutral place to settle this.
Bring your friend, too. Otherwise, have a nice day. Love and kisses,
Throckmorton P. Ruddygore."
The Baron shivered in cold fury, then handed the scroll to the General, who
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read it without any visible reaction.
"Now what?" the Baron asked him.
"Well, I would say that we certainly underestimated the man," the General
responded. "From a military standpoint, he's got us cold. He is quite right
that it is far easier to enter a place than to leave it. We can't even depend
on treaty to keep the waterways open, since nothing says he cannot block-
ade his own lands. We could certainly consolidate our forces into a formidable
army, but we would then face a fighting retreat of over a thousand miles.
There are harsh and difficult measures that could be taken, of course,
including the whole-
sale elimination of the civilian population, one bit at a time, attempting to
force terms, but we don't have enough force to hold this vast north country
well enough to keep the majority from fleeing to the wilds and waging an
endless guerrilla action.
In any such war of attrition, the carnage would be horrible, and we would
lose."
"We could always retreat inland through Marquewood under a pledge of safe
passage," the Baron suggested hopefully. "They would go for it, I think, just
to eliminate the devastation we could cause."
"To what end, though? Ruddygore would be under no such constraints. It would
be the Valley of Decision all over again, with all the elements in the enemy's
favor."
"I suppose. Damn Ruddygore! He's thwarted us at every
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file:///F|/rah/Jack%20L.%20Chalker/Chalker,%20Jack%20L%20-%20The%20Dancing%20G
ods%202%20-%20Demons%20of%20the%20Dancing.txt turn! Only my slow subversion by
means of the books you imported from Earth through Hell has shown any
measurable effect, and that will take decades, perhaps, to have any real
impact!"
"He cannot take Kaladon now. Morikay may be besieged, but its seat of power is
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