Following the victory at Apurvio, and the three days of rest and unrestrained plunder the Yarzat soldiers took to sate whatever appetites the battle had stirred, Alpheo found himself staring at a hard decision.
It was the kind of choice commanders liked to pretend was simple: either keep to the original plan despite the new complications, or risk overreaching in pursuit of a prize too tempting to ignore.
The scouts' reports had brought him the complication. Many of the Oizenian lords who had escaped the field, ragged remnants of their former pride, had taken refuge within the walls of Apurvio. They had brought with them whatever troops had managed to survive the rout.
Alpheo doubted there were many. With Egil free to ride unopposed across the field, unshackled from the chore of countering enemy cavalry, Yarzat steel had cut through the fleeing Oizenians like a farmer's scythe through ripe wheat.
