With the war’s progression, it became ever clearer the price Aquitania’s homeland was paying. Rural villages that once thrummed with life and activity stood silent and sullen, their half full larders promising a hungry winter for the inhabitants. Beggars crowded the streets of the market towns and cities, achingly pleading for the charity very few of the hard pressed merchants could afford to give. The weight of the war pressed upon all of the realm’s inhabitants and the alms giving programs Zavie had ordered instituted made hardly a ripple in the stream of suffering.
Encamped in Jaca, Zavie regarded the tactical situation with his advisors. Bourbon, the last rebel stronghold in the north had been secured with a minimum of effort. The castle’s garrison had easily realized its cause was lost and without Jaume to direct the defense, an accord was struck almost immediately.
In order to show his approval and appreciation of the Duke of Poitou’s handling of the northern revolt, King Zavie had documents drawn up to confer the titles of the defeated Jaume to Poitou. This move quickly elevated Michels de Montesquiou to the most powerful of Aquitania’s lords, only slightly beneath the King himself in power.
There were of course grumblings when the announcement was held, but Zavie had always believed in rewarding those that led his campaigns and the King could think of no man he trusted more. Being so distant from the southern theatre of war, Zavie sent word for the northern armies to depart for their homes with his thanks for their service.
The Kingdom of Brittany, Aquitania’s close ally, had not as of yet given aid in the current conflict. The reason behind this was the reemergence of hostilities between the Emirate of Almeria and the Breton kingdom. Tied down by their commitment to defend their own Iberian possessions, no Breton assistance would be forthcoming.
Still, reports indicated that Aquitania’s friends (black) had done well, occupying the Almerian capital and another province (red). Only one province remained in the Emir’s hands and Breton troops were en route to lay it under siege and force a profitable peace on the Muslim leader.
After a series of unimpressive feints and withdraws from Muslim forces on the borders of Jaca, troubling news reached the King. No doubt realizing that the approach of winter made a bid for Jaca an impossible feat, the Badajozian generals (red) had decided to shift their attack to the exposed province of Viscaya (gold star). The plains of the seaside province would be much more conducive to successful campaigning in the season. Cursing the move, Zavie ordered an immediate council to discuss the options open to them.
After hours of back and forth argument, a course was decided for them. King Zavie would lead an army (black) to meet the Muslim army on the plains of Rioja in order to delay and possibly defeat the threat to Viscaya. The numbers were equal for both parties, but Zavie felt confidant in his ability to deliver a decisive blow and end the war in Aquitania’s favor.
Leaving with the main part of the force holding Jaca, Aquitania’s king descended to the rolling grasslands of Rioja intent on bringing the Badajozian army to battle. A week passed with little contact other than light irregular skirmishing at the edges of the march’s path. It was at the crest of one of the ubiquitous hills that dotted the landscape that Zavie’s scouts first made contact with the Muslim force.
The Badajozian army was nearly twice as large as he and his officers had been led to believe. None knew how they had gotten there; faulty intelligence seemed to be the easiest culprit to blame. Filled with an icy sense of dread and raging inside at the agents that had assured him of their reports accuracy, Zavie at once realized that he stood no chance against the mammoth force displayed before him.
A battle here would achieve nothing, King Zavie thought. He stood with the cream of Aquitania’s military and inglorious retreat was the only option that would not leave a pile of rotting Occitan corpses to cover the fields of Rioja. Luckily a path still lay open to his retreat if he acted quickly, one that led straight into the hills and mountains of Navarre. Frankly, Zavie was sick and tired of the region after having marched and countermarched across its length and breadth seemingly scores of times.
No other option was present however, and Zavie quickly delivered his orders to the army which quickly aligned itself to its distant destination. None of the lords accompanying their King dared to question the command, having reached the same conclusions as to the hopelessness of any battle given the circumstances.
The siege of Viscaya began early in December. Only a portion of the massive army encountered by Zavie led the encirclement, but it was plenty capable of holding the isolated city hostage. The defenses of the citadel were strong, yet it seemed that it would not be long before some weakness betrayed the city into Muslim hands. Such a situation would be untenable for the Aquitanians, with Burgos itself becoming more isolated than ever before.
Still, fodder for the besieging force around Viscaya was a scarce commodity and attrition amongst the gathered army in Rioja was deadly. The Emir could not hope to keep his massive army supplied much longer. Zavie found himself in the same predicament, facing the prospect of starvation amongst the bleak landscape of Navarre.
It was under these circumstances that Zavie chose to execute his plans for securing a cease fire with the Emir. After the fool incident early in the war, relations had slowly thawed between the warring powers. Each realized that a halt to the hostilities could allow for the shoring up of crumbling domestic situations, civil disorder had been inflamed by the war in several Badajozian provinces, and winter was always a difficult season to campaign during even in normally sunny Iberia. Zavie's hope was that the status quo would be maintained until the following spring, when the two powers could clash with more cooperative weather.
Zavie’s diplomatic envoys returned from the Emir’s camp in Rioja only days after being sent out. The Emir had refused outright to recognized Zavie as lord over Jaca, yet the other terms had only taken minor reworking to become acceptable to both parties. No repairs or extentions would be made to Viscaya's walls and no armies stationed in the province while the Emir's troops would also be withdrawn. The cease fire would last until May 3rd, four months from the present date.
Relief flooded Zavie at the news. They would be a busy few months, filled with work and worry over the reemergence of the conflict. Plans would be drawn up, continguincies put in place, interminable meetings over the important matters of running a war even when the killing had stopped for a moment. He would most likely only be able to go back to Bordaeux when the treaty expired to gather his levies, with no time to spend with his wife and children.
But the time would allow his scheme to come to fruition.