Chapter Thirteen The Invasion.
The people gathered around the tower and cheered until their throats were hoarse, and freed their friends and relatives who had been locked up earlier for opposing the occupation. Only seven of the pirates had been killed during the fight. Amber said to the citizens "Members of the Home Army, members of the Vandersil Police, citizens, I declare today a national holiday. We will bury our dead and then we must strike Valermoore quickly.
I hate war. It's horrible. It kills people who mostly do not deserve to die. If we do nothing the Queen will hear of this uprising, and gather her full army and invade. If we lose we shall all be slaughtered, and even if we win, it will only be after a long hard war. The only way to avoid that is to invade now before she knows what has happened. Then we can repair our damaged city and live in peace."
For three days the dead were buried whilst the weapons were gathered together and ploughshares were beaten into swords. Amber was careful not to introduce conscription.The army that formed was badly trained but was a volunteer one, and they sailed across to Valermoore in fishing boats, trading ships, rafts and the five war-galleys that Vandersil possessed. As quickly as possible they diembarked and began marching on the Queen's capital.
The people gathered around the tower and cheered until their throats were hoarse, and freed their friends and relatives who had been locked up earlier for opposing the occupation. Only seven of the pirates had been killed during the fight. Amber said to the citizens "Members of the Home Army, members of the Vandersil Police, citizens, I declare today a national holiday. We will bury our dead and then we must strike Valermoore quickly.
I hate war. It's horrible. It kills people who mostly do not deserve to die. If we do nothing the Queen will hear of this uprising, and gather her full army and invade. If we lose we shall all be slaughtered, and even if we win, it will only be after a long hard war. The only way to avoid that is to invade now before she knows what has happened. Then we can repair our damaged city and live in peace."
For three days the dead were buried whilst the weapons were gathered together and ploughshares were beaten into swords. Amber was careful not to introduce conscription.The army that formed was badly trained but was a volunteer one, and they sailed across to Valermoore in fishing boats, trading ships, rafts and the five war-galleys that Vandersil possessed. As quickly as possible they diembarked and began marching on the Queen's capital.
