"You have a point, but where did you get these bodies?"
"They are the monks from the catacombs beneath the temple. They were happy to honor and serve their people in life, they will be just as happy to do it again in death." Ismat smiled.
"Well no wonder they looked like mummies." Giselle thought at she helped the few warriors get the bodies situated. She wondered how old some of them actually were.
Giselle adjusted her cloak as they exited the walls of the Nazario. She was dressed as a child in mourning, a hood covering her head to hide her distinctive pale skin and blonde hair. There were enough warriors accompanying them so that it appeared like Kagan's army had come to the city's aid to assist in dealing with the dead which they had. Giselle hoped Vigdis would just assume the rest of the army was inside the city while the funeral finished.
The men and women around her stood tall as they made their way across the field. They had to avoid the covered pits in the ground as they moved toward the still raging funeral pyre.
"Remember you're in mourning." Giselle whispered loudly. It shouldn't be a hard act, most of them still were grieving.
The task at hand had given the mourning Cadi a purpose to stand up for, a way to get even. So many of the surrounding people looked too proud to be going to a funeral.
Several people hunched their shoulders. One woman leaned into a warrior and shook. Giselle had to repress a grin at the subtle yet effective alteration.
Giselle held Jolana's hand as they walked. She squeezed it as she looked at the woman.
"Have faith." Giselle encouraged.
Grainne, Jolana's mate, was one of the men occupying the many hidden burrows in the field. He and several other warriors would be tasked with guarding the gates should it come to that.
"I got so lucky the first time. I just pray that luck holds." Jolana hung her head as she spoke about her fears for her mate.
Giselle wanted to say that her luck would hold. She wanted to tell all the people who had become her friends that everything would be fine, but that would be a lie. In all reality, not everyone would survive tonight. That was a hard thing to wrap your head around. It was maddening wondering where the ax might fall to cut you off from your loved one forever. You hoped it passed you by and yet at the same time felt selfish and cruel for wishing it on someone else.
Giselle instead nodded and leaned into the woman to offer her support and glean some for herself.
Once they reached the funeral bier Ismat started chanting and bellowing out a long drawn out prayer over each of the bodies as his fellow monks were committed to ash. One of the females wailed and collapsed to the ground as a body was placed on the fire. The sound of her anguish wasn't feigned. The poor woman had actually lost her mate and used this opportunity to let out the grief she'd been bottling up.
The ceremony wore on slowly and the sound of the enemy cloaking pulse grew in volume out in the dense forest. Giselle was glad it didn't get so loud she was deafened by the shrieking device. The sun finally dipped on the horizon and their group made its way back into the walled city. As the gate sealed behind them Giselle prayed like hell the enemy had seen enough to think they had the upper hand.
Madhava
Madhava ventured to the edge of the forest by the walled enemy city of Nazario. He wanted the truth behind why Vigdis insisted they trace the Vidya Cadi army here. If his Daimio was going to lead them into the lion's den Madhava wanted to assess the situation for himself.
Vigdis had been so certain that Kagan quo Rordan would bring his army against the Scelus Cadi even though it was on the far side of the swamp. Vigdis insisted to Madhava that he dealt the Kagan a blow that couldn't be ignored but refused to say how. Vigdis quo Carnager, the Daimio of the Scelus Cadi was suspicious of all his commanders. It made Madhava's job leading his army practically impossible.
The day came and went for Madhava to march the Scelus Cadi army out to meet the Vidya Cadi in battle, only to find Kagan was a no show. Madhava wasn't surprised, Kagan was no fool.
Madhava looked past the line of trees out onto the field to see that Kagan's warriors were escorting several of the citizens to a funeral pyre. Madhava paused as he took in the sight.
"What has Vigdis done?" Madhava stared at the fire that extended for hundreds of feet. A massacre unlike any he'd ever witnessed had occurred here. The enormous pyre still raged consuming the countless bodies that had been piled onto the inferno. This was the very definition of madness.
Giselle
The hour was growing late as Giselle wandered the garden behind the regent's manor. The stars were so bright here on Cadi. Giselle nearly laughed as she realized there wasn't a single constellation she could identify only to remember where she was again.