Chapter 12 - The Eastern Threat
Three weeks of relative peace settled over Dunstanburg Castle, but out in the jagged peaks of the eastern frontier, the embers of war were being fanned back into flame.
General Orlov, the ambitious Romanov loyalist who had inherited the remnants of the shattered Russian guard, refused to accept defeat. Operating out of an impenetrable fortress carved directly into the ice-blue cliffs of the Ural mountains, Orlov had united several rogue clans and acquired a cache of heavy siege weaponry left behind by the Venetian syndicates.
Inside the war room, large parchment maps of eastern Europe were spread across the heavy oak table, pinned down by iron weights.
"Orlov is fortifying the Iron Pass," Garrick pointed a leather glove at a narrow canyon bottleneck marked on the map. "It’s a natural choke point. If we send the main cavalry division through, they will be picked off by artillery from the cliffs. If we try to scale the peaks, the winter winds will freeze our men before they reach the ridge."
Cedric stared at the map, his jaw set in a hard, unyielding line. "He thinks he can hide behind geography just like Nicholas did."
"He has hostages, too," Evangeline added, stepping up to the table. She pointed to a smaller settlement marked near the foothills. "Before we mobilized, Orlov’s raiders swept through the border villages. They took dozens of civilian families from our eastern territories. He’s using them as a human shield to deter our siege engines."
The generals around the table muttered angrily, slamming fists against the wooden boards.
Cedric looked over at Evangeline, his golden eyes narrowing. "He wants to draw us into a war of attrition. He wants us to hesitate so he can rebuild his forces."
"Then we don't give him the chance to hesitate," Evangeline said calmly, her amethyst eyes flashing with tactical brilliance. "Orlov expects a frontal assault because that is what the Romanovs always do. He is arrogant, and he relies on brute force." She traced her finger along a hidden tributary river running parallel to the pass. "Send a small, elite strike team through the old smugglers' caves beneath the glacier. They can disable the cliff artillery from behind while the main army pins his front gates."
Garrick stared at her in astonishment, then slowly grinned. "The smugglers' caves... they were sealed off a century ago. No one even remembers they exist."
"I remember," Evangeline said quietly, looking up at Cedric. "During my first diplomatic journey through those mountains, before the attack... I mapped every hidden trail within fifty miles of the border."
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Cedric looked at her for a long, silent moment, feeling a fierce surge of pride and love swelling in his chest. He slammed his fist down onto the map, finalizing the plan.
"Then that is our path," Cedric ordered. "Garrick, ready the vanguard. We ride at midnight."
