Pawns and Queens--A 15th Century Gwynedd Story--Chapter Twenty-Nine

[drakensis]

That was a lovely chapter and it was highly appropriate that the actual duel was an anti-climax, because Cinhil had already won - even if Remy somehow won, he'd have the 'glory' of killing a dying man for no reward except having alienated his own allies and proven himself a fool for accepting terms that didn't favor him in the slightest.

Somehow I do not think Renier will take this well, and I suspect that he will decide to take this out on the Healer who 'should' have blocked Alixa's now demonstrated deryni abilities.

Now, it does occur to me that Remy knew how to find that gentleman, and Cinhil did just smash through his shields so he might have taken the chance to check for certain useful information to pass on to his intelligencers. He doesn't have much time, but he might have enough.

[Evie]

That was a lovely chapter and it was highly appropriate that the actual duel was an anti-climax, because Cinhil had already won - even if Remy somehow won, he'd have the 'glory' of killing a dying man for no reward except having alienated his own allies and proven himself a fool for accepting terms that didn't favor him in the slightest.

Yes, as far as Cinhil was concerned, it was a win-win situation for him, since either way he would be weakening the enemy even if there was no way for him to assure a complete victory. Besides which, he'd figure if he's going to die anyhow, he might as well have a bit of fun on his way out. 

Somehow I do not think Renier will take this well, and I suspect that he will decide to take this out on the Healer who 'should' have blocked Alixa's now demonstrated deryni abilities.

Now, it does occur to me that Remy knew how to find that gentleman, and Cinhil did just smash through his shields so he might have taken the chance to check for certain useful information to pass on to his intelligencers. He doesn't have much time, but he might have enough.

"Somehow I do not think Renier will take this well."  Why, Drakensis, you master of understatement, you!

Yes, Cinhil did just take a dumpster dive into that toxic sludge of a mind, so you can expect to find out very soon if he discovered anything of interest while he was in there.

As for Renier and any potential repercussions he might have in mind, it is fortunate that they live in a medieval society, and that Joux is several hundred miles away even as the crow flies, so it's going to take several days at minimum before any news of what has just happened  can get back to Renier, which would buy our side a little extra time to formulate whatever plans they might make. Not that that's a lot of lead time, but sometimes every minute or hour helps.

[DerynifanK]

Don't forget that there will be a spin-off story coming out on Saturday. (Though probably not at the crack of dawn like my regular chapters, since it's a Saturday, unless my body clock just automatically decides to wake me up on Workday Time
instead of letting me sleep in.)

. well at least you get an extra hour of sleep since we turn the clocks back Sat.
I agree with Shiral, destroying Remy and saving Gwynedd and anyone else who might be a target for him is a most worthy cause. In the future I picture two statues in Rhemuth's main square; Kelson and Cinhil, saviors and builders of Qwynedd.

[Evie]

Don't forget that there will be a spin-off story coming out on Saturday. (Though probably not at the crack of dawn like my regular chapters, since it's a Saturday, unless my body clock just automatically decides to wake me up on Workday Time
instead of letting me sleep in.)

. well at least you get and extra hour of sleep since we turn the clocks back Sat.
I agree with Shiral, destroying Remy and saving Gwynedd and anyone else who might be a target for him is a most worthy cause. In the future I picture two statues in Rhemuth's main square; Kelson and Cinhil, saviors and builders of Qwynedd.

I forgot about the extra hour of sleep. Now hopefully my body will get the memo and cooperate!

Certainly Cinhil has dealt the enemy forces a heavy blow, but don't forget we still have the Eistenmarckers and Nordmarckers to contend with, and both of those armies are larger than the Jouvian army. But at least once the Jouvians have been dealt with, that will leave a smaller collective force for Colin and Camber to have to continue to deal with after Cinhil's death, and as we've seen, there are a few growing rifts between those remaining enemy forces that could make it harder for them to continue working well together.

[LauraS]

Cinhil certainly did not waste any time or energy, did he? Remy didn't really stand a chance. I cannot wait until Thursday to see how Remy's erstwhile allies react. Somehow, I don't think Torval will be at all surprised at the brevity of the duel or the conclusion. He knows how ill-trained Remy was and that his arrogance would be his downfall. And Ingrid and Haakon have no real context in things Deryni other than what they may have heard second-hand. Given the distortion of the wards, they can only guess at what really happened inside. Thursday should be interesting.

[Evie]

Cinhil certainly did not waste any time or energy, did he? Remy didn't really stand a chance. I cannot wait until Thursday to see how Remy's erstwhile allies react. Somehow, I don't think Torval will be at all surprised at the brevity of the duel or the conclusion. He knows how ill-trained Remy was and that his arrogance would be his downfall. And Ingrid and Haakon have no real context in things Deryni other than what they may have heard second-hand. Given the distortion of the wards, they can only guess at what really happened inside. Thursday should be interesting.

Yes, once that Empowerment ritual was complete, Cinhil knew his life clock would start counting down from that moment onward, so you'll notice they started the ritual at midnight and he was already outside challenging Remy by dawn. In the intervening hours, they were likely finalizing plans and contacting the Camberian Council to be on standby for appearing at the right moment. There would have been little margin for error, at least if Cinhil wanted to be certain of confronting Remy while he still possessed his full energies from the Empowerment.

I'm pretty sure Torval isn't at all surprised by the outcome of the Duel, nor is it an entirely unwelcome outcome at least as far as Ingrid and Torval are concerned. They started off their alliance with Joux considering Remy a necessary evil, and nothing since then has served to disabuse them of that notion. If anything, continued contact would have just cemented their desire to be rid of him as soon as it became convenient to. The only downside to this duel for them is that it removed a large number of useful (and in their minds more easily expendable) combatants from their side of the equation.

Haakon would be the only likely one of Remy's former allies to miss him, because Remy became his big brother/bestie figure over the past few months, but Remy attempting to claim all of Gwynedd for himself (and basically throwing Haakon under the bus in the process) would have been a big eye-opener for him.

We will see over the next several chapters how the rest of the war plays out after this key turning point.

[revanne]

Don't forget that there will be a spin-off story coming out on Saturday. (Though probably not at the crack of dawn like my regular chapters, since it's a 

. well at least 

Don't forget that there will be a spin-off story coming out on Saturday. (Though probably not at the crack of dawn like my regular chapters, since it's a Saturday, unless my body clock just automatically decides to wake me up on Workday Time
instead of letting me sleep in.)

. well at least you get and extra hour of sleep since we turn the clocks back Sat.
I agree with Shiral, destroying Remy and saving Gwynedd and anyone else who might be a target for him is a most worthy cause. In the future I picture two statues in Rhemuth's main square; Kelson and Cinhil, saviors and builders of Qwynedd.

Given the medieval mind set I'm sure Cinhil will become a Saint despite anything his siblings and mother may argue to the contrary.

[DerynifanK]

"How is Alixa pregnant?" repeated Cinhil with an amused glint in his eye. "Well, Rémy, when a man and a woman love each other very, very much...."

The best line so far?  Go Cinhil

Remy would not understand a man and woman loving each other very much. The only person Remy loves is Remy.

[Evie]

Don't forget that there will be a spin-off story coming out on Saturday. (Though probably not at the crack of dawn like my regular chapters, since it's a

. well at least

Don't forget that there will be a spin-off story coming out on Saturday. (Though probably not at the crack of dawn like my regular chapters, since it's a Saturday, unless my body clock just automatically decides to wake me up on Workday Time
instead of letting me sleep in.)

. well at least you get and extra hour of sleep since we turn the clocks back Sat.
I agree with Shiral, destroying Remy and saving Gwynedd and anyone else who might be a target for him is a most worthy cause. In the future I picture two statues in Rhemuth's main square; Kelson and Cinhil, saviors and builders of Qwynedd.

Given the medieval mind set I'm sure Cinhil will become a Saint despite anything his siblings and mother may argue to the contrary.

Hey, at least he's not Camber! Two Saint Cambers would be really confusing! 

[Evie]

"How is Alixa pregnant?" repeated Cinhil with an amused glint in his eye. "Well, Rémy, when a man and a woman love each other very, very much...."

The best line so far?  Go Cinhil

Rent would not understand a man and woman loving each other very much. The only person Remy loves is Remy.

Only too true, sadly.

[drakensis]

There is also the morale question to consider.

Cinhil didn't just defeat Remy. He essentially swatted him, and the brevity of the duel will make that very clear.

It's likely Torval didn't expect a good performance, but the vast majority of all the armies are not trained Deryni or the equivalent and to most of them it will seem that Haldane magic is significantly stronger than one of their magic users. To most of them the idea Remy, a royal prince, was that incapable would seem very strange and it's a bit late to start explaining that.

Counterversely, the Gwynedd forces just got the morale-boosting news that their king got out of his sickbed and categorically dispatched one of the invading armies singlehandedly. A tale that will grow in the telling. I imagine they are very motivated (and I do not envy any Eistenmarckers trying to retreat north in small numbers, because the local peasants will know all the hiding places and be quite eager for payback for all the atrocities).

[Evie]

There is also the morale question to consider.

Cinhil didn't just defeat Remy. He essentially swatted him, and the brevity of the duel will make that very clear.

It's likely Torval didn't expect a good performance, but the vast majority of all the armies are not trained Deryni or the equivalent and to most of them it will seem that Haldane magic is significantly stronger than one of their magic users. To most of them the idea Remy, a royal prince, was that incapable would seem very strange and it's a bit late to start explaining that.

Counterversely, the Gwynedd forces just got the morale-boosting news that their king got out of his sickbed and categorically dispatched one of the invading armies singlehandedly. A tale that will grow in the telling. I imagine they are very motivated (and I do not envy any Eistenmarckers trying to retreat north in small numbers, because the local peasants will know all the hiding places and be quite eager for payback for all the atrocities).

A tale that will grow in the telling, of a Prince who got himself swatted down effortlessly by a man who had to crawl out of his sickbed to do it. Oh, if only the Haldanes knew a troubadour who could spead that ballad far and wide....  

[DerynifanK]

There is also the morale question to consider.

Cinhil didn't just defeat Remy. He essentially swatted him, and the brevity of the duel will make that very clear.

It's likely Torval didn't expect a good performance, but the vast majority of all the armies are not trained Deryni or the equivalent and to most of them it will seem that Haldane magic is significantly stronger than one of their magic users. To most of them the idea Remy, a royal prince, was that incapable would seem very strange and it's a bit late to start explaining that.

Counterversely, the Gwynedd forces just got the morale-boosting news that their king got out of his sickbed and categorically dispatched one of the invading armies singlehandedly. A tale that will grow in the telling. I imagine they are very motivated (and I do not envy any Eistenmarckers trying to retreat north in small numbers, because the local peasants will know all the hiding places and be quite eager for payback for all the atrocities).

A tale that will grow in the telling, of a Prince who got himself swatted down effortlessly by a man who had to crawl out of his sickbed to do it. Oh, if only the Haldanes knew a troubadour who could spead that ballad far and wide....  

The perfect job for Devyn McLain, troubadour par excellence. That should discourage not only the current invaders but also any future ones

[Evie]

There is also the morale question to consider.

Cinhil didn't just defeat Remy. He essentially swatted him, and the brevity of the duel will make that very clear.

It's likely Torval didn't expect a good performance, but the vast majority of all the armies are not trained Deryni or the equivalent and to most of them it will seem that Haldane magic is significantly stronger than one of their magic users. To most of them the idea Remy, a royal prince, was that incapable would seem very strange and it's a bit late to start explaining that.

Counterversely, the Gwynedd forces just got the morale-boosting news that their king got out of his sickbed and categorically dispatched one of the invading armies singlehandedly. A tale that will grow in the telling. I imagine they are very motivated (and I do not envy any Eistenmarckers trying to retreat north in small numbers, because the local peasants will know all the hiding places and be quite eager for payback for all the atrocities).

A tale that will grow in the telling, of a Prince who got himself swatted down effortlessly by a man who had to crawl out of his sickbed to do it. Oh, if only the Haldanes knew a troubadour who could spead that ballad far and wide....  

The perfect job for Devyn McLain, troubadour par excellence. That should discourage not only the current invaders but also any future ones

Fortunately the most likely candidates for wanting to invade Gwynedd already had a front row seat to the event. Though the spread of the news might help raise support for Gwynedd, which will be helpful whether during the war itself or afterwards as they work towards rebuilding their kingdom.

[DerynifanK]

There is also the morale question to consider.

Cinhil didn't just defeat Remy. He essentially swatted him, and the brevity of the duel will make that very clear.

It's likely Torval didn't expect a good performance, but the vast majority of all the armies are not trained Deryni or the equivalent and to most of them it will seem that Haldane magic is significantly stronger than one of their magic users. To most of them the idea Remy, a royal prince, was that incapable would seem very strange and it's a bit late to start explaining that.

Counterversely, the Gwynedd forces just got the morale-boosting news that their king got out of his sickbed and categorically dispatched one of the invading armies singlehandedly. A tale that will grow in the telling. I imagine they are very motivated (and I do not envy any Eistenmarckers trying to retreat north in small numbers, because the local peasants will know all the hiding places and be quite eager for payback for all the atrocities).

A tale that will grow in the telling, of a Prince who got himself swatted down effortlessly by a man who had to crawl out of his sickbed to do it. Oh, if only the Haldanes knew a troubadour who could spead that ballad far and wide....  

The perfect job for Devyn McLain, troubadour par excellence. That should discourage not only the current invaders but also any future ones

Fortunately the most likely candidates for wanting to invade Gwynedd already had a front row seat to the event. Though the spread of the news might help raise support for Gwynedd, which will be helpful whether during the war itself or afterwards as they work towards rebuilding their kingdom.

Hurry up Thursday. So many questions. Can hardly wait.