Portals of Infinity: Book Four: The Sea of Grass by John Van Stry Page A

Obviously they had become much more experienced with wolat behavior.
    "So, how many of my new cavalry are you planning on taking with you?" Rachel asked as I put my arm around her and we walked back to the castle.
    "I'm thinking five hundred. That would allow for attacks with overwhelming force. They'll probably be broken up into several groups, but until they've become experienced with fighting from the back of wolats, they're going to need to fight in larger groups. They'll probably need two to one, or even three to one, odds to win safely."
    "That makes sense. That will also leave enough for General Holse to continue his training. Once we finish Diament's project, I'm thinking of building a large breeding ranch out to the north of it, on a small section of the plains west of where the tribes are. I'm hoping that I might be able to entice a few of them to work there, and learn what they know."
    "So, you're starting to agree with me that we need them?" I asked.
    "Let's just say that if this plan to hamper Barassa works out, I want to be ready to follow up. I'm still not fully sold, and neither is General Holse, but he admits that it looks promising. That even if we don't fight from the backs of them, just being able to move our troops faster, and having them arrive without being exhausted from marching, will be a serious advantage in combat.
    "Plus," Rachel leaned into me and purred, " I like riding them. Seeing as I'm queen, that means I get what I want."
    "Tyrant!" I laughed.
    "Well somebody has to be in charge, it's just better that it's me!" Rachel said grinning.
    "You won't get any arguments from me!" I smiled back.
    "How are Baron and Suisan doing?" Baron had just turned four and his younger sister was now ten months old.
    "Baron wants to see his father of course; I weaned Suisan two weeks ago. Guess who turned up yesterday?"
    I shrugged, "I have no idea."
    "That girl you rescued, Goth."
    I looked down at Rachel in surprise. "What? I left her with Jezza and his wife. They have several children; I thought she would be happy there."
    Rachel nodded, "She ran away, made her way up here to see you. I let them know she was here so they wouldn't be worried."
    "Well, send her back," I sighed.
    "She'd just run away again. This is something you're going to have to deal with dear," Rachel said with a smile.
    "I don't know how to deal with it, that's the problem!" I grumbled.
    "Then why did you save her?"
    "I couldn't just leave her there, not when I learned what they were doing to her!"
    "Will, there are probably hundreds of little girls being abused at least as bad as she was, if not worse. You didn't save them, did you?"
    "No, but I saw what they were doing to her, hell, they offered her to me! I was involved. I had to do something about it." I looked back down at Rachel beside me as we walked. "Doesn't it bother you?" I asked her.
    Rachel smiled, "Why do you think I want to destroy their city? Slavery is only for criminals until they've worked off their sentence, or captured enemy officers until they've won their parole. It is not something to trap people into, and trading in them is just wrong. Reliance on slaves makes a people soft, and separates them from their lives and obligations."
    "It also allows people to treat other people like objects," I growled.
    "Oh, that's what husbands are for," Rachel laughed and then squeaked as I pinched her.
    "Well, let's go see the kids; I'll deal with Goth after I've seen them, which will hopefully give me a few minutes to figure out what to do with her."
    "Just remember, you saved her for a reason."
    I nodded and smiled, yes, I had. So the last thing I wanted to do was to make it worse.
    I held Suisan after I had romped with Baron a little bit, as he started to tell me the things he had been doing, and asking questions in that endless stream of words that all little children seem to use.
    "Go get Goth and bring her in here, please?" I asked one of the maids, who came back a minute later