The General and the City Guard

"She’ll put meat on your tits, wont she man." Pon said hitting Gorum’s back and grinning. He reached into his pocket and took out a small baked potato, ate it slowly. Gorum pulled out his own lunch, a plain potato as well. The difference was, a feast awaited him back at the Seer’s, and this man, perhaps he had another potato coming to him today, perhaps not. Pon drank deeply from the wine and smacked his lips.

Men stretched out the noon meal as long as they could, resting along the cold stones of the square, moving slowly when Gorum announced it was time to regroup. Yawns fluttered about the square.

A group of women showed up, side bags full of sewing and stationed themselves at Alvon’s Café, draping themselves over his windowsill and outdoor chairs and tables as they always did on days with fair enough weather not to ruin their cloth. Alvon brought out their customary pots of tea and Lyvia paid him, "Thanks love." There was no beauty in the lot, hard women living hard lives but Alvon stammered and served them just the same, agog with this wealth of femaleness.

There was something about the women. Gorum could not get it out of any of them but he was sure they were stationed here for their own purposes, and while they diligently sewed the commissioned city guard uniforms, all innocence and work, they were up to something else as well.

Gorum sighed at their arrival, they made the men, even those old and faithful prance about and worry more about how they looked then the task on hand, though, Gorum had to give the ladies this, there had been very few desertions and less men coming in late after their scathing remarks had hit them a few times.

"Slept sweet as a baby Jarno? Good to see you well rested."

"Sintha always said you couldn’t hold your wine, drank like a child." A woman spoke to a man just arriving, "Perhaps we should water your wine tonight so you can make it here a bit earlier then sunset tomorrow." The women’s tongues moved as they sewed, pushing thick needles back and forth out of the poor cloth, willing their cold fingers to keep moving.

Men huddled in there squads around the edges of the square. gorum walked to the middle and yelled out, "Men, the task at hand is to follow the orders of your demi commander, they will change throughout the afternoon. Watch where you are going and move fast. Begin!" Three squads ran behind barricades and began knocking clothed arrows, shooting them at the nearest men. Four other squads threw rope up surrounding buildings and got their men up as best they could, for the two other squads instructed to stop them. Five other squads ran patterns throughout the square at their commanders orders, running into each other and getting turned around. Still other squads set up huddles of blunted spears and rushed men, stopping them in where they meant to go, rushing the barricades. It was chaos, and the men wheeled around confused disoriented before they found their demi commander and his instruction next. The women dropped their sewing and stared, laughing at blunders, pleased with deft maneuvers. The men had asked him to teach them how to fight in the city and this was an idea of what it would look like with men who were not soldiers and a battle made around buildings, not fields. Gorum studied the men, how they moved. The squads were working well. Any bigger group and the men seemed to drift off. This is what a battle of men fighting for their city looks like he thought and smiled. It was like nothing he had every seen.