braggarts seeking preference-
'You think well of yourself, don't you, Captain Arras?'
He dared not look away, even as his heart was laid bare. Aui! Now he must think of Zubaidit, curse her!
Lord Radas looked bored as he gestured to let Arras know he was released. 'Odd. You possess the power to force the woman to have sex, yet you refrain. You're a proud, ambitious man who thinks well of yourself and poorly of others. Do your part in taking Nessumara, prove yourself to me, and you may hope for advancement. I'll need a commander for the coming campaign against Olo'osson.'
He bit down a grin of triumph. 'Yes, my lord.'
A man yelled a warning. The tent gave way. A big rock had plummeted to earth, carrying the canvas roof down with it, the frame collapsing as another rock struck and then a third, none atop him, thank the gods. But the weight of that collapsed fabric forced him to his knees. Lord Radas was cursing, and horns were blowing. Arras drew his knife and sawed at the canvas as the heat and heavy canvas began suffocating him.
Ai! Ai! He cut an opening and dragged himself through, began cutting where Lord Radas struggled. The cloak emerged in a fury; his gaze struck Arras so hard the captain fell backward with a shout of pain. So much anger, slapping back on him: People are such imbeciles! I am the only one worthy to rule.
Neh, these were not his thoughts. They were the cloak's.
A rock slammed down an arm's length from him, its impact shuddering through the ground. Men cried: 'We're being attacked!'
He crawled over the writhing canvas as more rocks thumped down. They were being dropped by reeves. A subcommander had been hit, his head cracked open. Arras cut where men were trapped, freeing two, five, ten from beneath the fallen tent. One man was no longer breathing. Arras shouted for guards; he needed to return to his cohort. Were they holding discipline? What in the hells was going on?
A second flight flew overhead, dropping more rocks. A skir-
mish was spreading at the eastern edge of the camp, and then a flash of flame, and abruptly a thunderous sound like a storm crashing down, only the sky was cloudless. Horses were stampeding through camp.
Arras rounded up every soldier he could grab and formed a wedge as protection against the horses. Men who panicked and bolted were not so fortunate, tumbling under hooves.
Yet the flood poured away to become a trickle. Grooms dashed in pursuit. No third flight of reeves assaulted them. Arras ran to his cohort's encampment at the marsh edge of camp. His soldiers had held their ground against archery fire, but the assailants had melted away.
'Don't pursue,' he ordered his subcaptains. 'Hold position. You've done well.'
He tracked down Zubaidit, who had held her cadre along a line of wagons that anchored one flank. One of her men had been grazed but was not otherwise hurt.
'What was that?' she asked. 'A diversion?'
'Someone in Nessumara knows a thing about shaking up the enemy. You'll pick ten men and remain in Saltow with the prisoner when we move out.'
'Will I? Why?'
'To turn him over to a cloak. Be patient, and you'll get your reward.'
'Turn him over to Lord Radas? Is be here?'
Her words fell unheeded on his back. With Giyara and two runners in tow, he was already racing back to the command tent, wondering what Commander Hetti would say. Confusion boiled; tents had been smashed by falling rocks or trampled by frantic horses. Over by the horse lines, a fire was smoldering in hay. Sergeants called cadres to order; soldiers milled around casualties. Hirelings and grooms were out hunting horses. A chicken ran loose, and dogs barked, chasing it. Some idiot had dropped his sword.
At the collapsed command tent, a hurried council was in session.
Lord Radas beckoned to him. 'Captain Arras. You kept your head about you when the tent collapsed. My thanks.'
He kept his head down. 'My apologies, Lord Commander. I went to check on my cohort. They held ranks, so I returned. There was archery fire on the perimeter, from attackers out in the wetlands. It was a coordinated attack — reeves, archers, horse lines — meant to frighten and bewilder us.'
'These cursed reeves are getting out of hand,' snapped Lord Yordenas.
'The reeves never worked in concert with the militia,' said Radas. 'When we first attacked Nessumara, their militia blocked the causeways, while the reeves only watched; In High Haldia, only the militia tried to hold the gates. The only time our forces have faced a coordinated attack was at Olossi. I want to know who is in charge of Nessumara's militia, and I want to be rid of him.'
'Can you not see into the hearts and minds of all people, my lord?' asked Arras into the silence left by this bald statement. 'If they have reeves who can scout, so can you scout out their plans. There is nothing they can keep hidden from us, were you to seek out the truth with your second heart and third eye.'
'Yordenas,' said Lord Radas, 'you must fly into Nessumara and discover their plans.'
'But-Lord Radas-!'
In that arrogant voice Arras heard the taint of fear.
Could Guardians fear} Yet hadn't Yordenas been injured in the first attack? Were the cloaks afraid to penetrate the heart of the enemy? Were they not as powerful as they seemed?
Lord Radas gestured with an arrow held like a speaker's baton. 'They cannot see you until you touch the earth. Make them cower, and they will flinch. Execute any criminals who stand in your way. That will frighten the rest. You are a Guardian, and they must obey you. Move in fast, and move out fast. I must ride to Mire Pool Altar to give this and other news to Night. At dusk you will ride into the city. The information you return with will allow us to alter our attack so it is most effective. At High Haldia, Lord Twilight did not fear to ride into the city to scout out the positions of the militia. Can you not do what the outlander has already done?'
'Of course I can!'
Lord Radas turned to his. military council. 'Commander Hetti, the army must begin its push into the delta tonight. The dry ground favors our attack. We will reach the inner islands by tomorrow night if we push hard now. They will believe we are too frightened and bewildered to strike because they have thrown this insignificant diversion at us. Therefore, we will strike.'
34
When Mai and her small party arrived in Merciful Valley, Toughid was waiting for them. He had been sent ahead, and now would be flown back to West Track to join the army and Captain Anji on the march. He spoke briefly to Tuvi but left with Reeve Siras before Mai had a chance to talk to him.
She drew Tuvi aside. 'Did Anji send Toughid up here to warn my Uncle Hari that we would have to remain here for some time?'
Tuvi shook his head. 'The captain did indeed send Toughid to scout the valley. To make sure no cloaks have come. To make sure no red hounds have found some treacherous path to this haven. It is possible that despite his lady mother's intelligence and sharp eye, one or two red hounds hid themselves within her party and got wind of this place.'
'Or she welcomed them in herself!'
Astoundingly, he set two fingers on her wrist, the pressure causing her to go still. 'Whatever else, Mistress, understand this. She will do nothing to harm her son, or his seed.'
She clutched Atani against her breast. The wind murmured peacefully within the trees, and the birds had resumed their singing now that the big eagles had taken off. A deer paced into view and, as two Qin soldiers grabbed their bows, bolted back into the trees.
'If Toughid found no sign of intruders in the valley,' he added, 'then there are none.'
'What of Uncle Hari?'
'Since he is a demon, he can surely hide himself so no human can find him.'
They spent the rest of the day sweeping the floors and beating the dust out of the bedding and mats, setting a fire in the kitchen hearth, stowing rice and millet and foodstuffs as well as the small chests they had brought with
