Dunloe seemed to find this question amusing and chuckled softly, looking around to see his fellows on the benches were equally entertained. “I was present during the Rebellion, Master Loamtoes.”

“I remember,” Deglan said. “And you sat around flapping your fat mouth then as you do now!” That sparked more grumbles, but Deglan rode over them. “There is such a thing as marching orders, Burden. I doubt if Canker was told anything by Torcan directly, but the Red Caps are spread out in raiding parties across the countryside. Their leaders would have been given a point of convergence. They are to gather four days march from the city. I tell you, Torcan means to take Black Pool.”

“To what purpose?” Burden Calum asked. Deglan relaxed a little. Calum was old, but practical as ever. Maybe there was some sense left amongst the King’s advisors.

“Recruitment,” a gravelly voice answered. Deglan turned with the rest and looked to Durock Moundbuilder, standing by the entrance to the galleries. “If he can take Black Pool, then he can swell his ranks. Convince or threaten the goblins there to don the Cap.”

Deglan nodded gratefully, taking comfort in the general’s presence. Durock’s broad forehead now sat below a bald pate, but the fierce, black hair that had retreated from his head now covered his cheeks in bushy whiskers.

“Which is why you must strike now,” Deglan urged the assembly. “Before his forces gain further strength.”

“We still have been given no proof to this report,” Burden Dunloe said.

“Then send riders to confirm it!” Deglan thundered. “If my word is no longer good in this council!”

“No,” a frail looking gnome said from the back gallery. Deglan could not believe that after all this time Burden Feeney still shook when he spoke. “We must not send our forces out needlessly. Not with Red Cap patrols on the loose.”

“So!” Deglan threw his arm angrily in Feeney’s direction, causing the whelp to flinch. “The Red Caps are out there, after all. Just not where I say they are!”

“Sit down, Burden Feeney,” Dunloe scolded and waited until his instructions were followed before turning back to the room. “If this army is marshaling where you claim, then it will reach the city long before our troops could muster. The Red Caps would hold Black Pool and we would be forced into a siege.” Dunloe hung his head sagely and then shook it before looking back at the assembly. “Too costly.”

“You need not risk a siege if you ride now,” Deglan could hear the plea in his own voice. “The Wart Shanks could cover the distance and with luck take the Red Caps by surprise. They would be caught between us and the walls of the city. You could end this with one crushing blow.”

“We have no assurance that Black Pool will offer any resistance,” Windbag threw down. “They may simply open their gates to the Red Caps.”