'Your men are skilled with their bows?' the assassin asked a few minutes later.
'Like vipers, Mekral.'
'With about the same range,' Kalam muttered.
'They'll not miss.'
'No doubt.'
'You are afraid, Mekral? You, such a large, dangerous-looking man. A warrior, without doubt. I am surprised.'
'I've a bigger surprise,' Kalam said, reaching over and sliding a blade across Bordu's throat.
Blood sprayed. Gurgling, the bandit leader reeled back in his saddle, his head flopping horribly.
The assassin sheathed his knife. He rode closer in time to prop the man back up in his saddle and hold him balanced there, one hand to Bordu's back. 'Ride with me a while longer,' Kalam said, 'and may the Seven Holies flay your treacherous soul.' As
The glimmering firelight lay ahead. Distant shouts announced the bandits' charge. Horse hooves thumped the hard ground. Kalam tapped his mount into a canter. Bordu's horse matched the pace, the bandit leader's body weaving, his head now lolling almost on its side, ear against one shoulder.
They reached the hill's slope, which was gentler on this side and mostly unobstructed. The attackers were visible now, riding into the shell of firelight, arrows zinging to thud into the blanket-wrapped figures around the hearth.
From the sound those arrows made Kalam knew instantly that there were no bodies beneath those blankets. The soldier had proved his worth, had laid a trap. The assassin grinned. He pushed Bordu down over the saddlehorn and gave the bandit leader's horse a slap on the rump. It charged into the light.
The assassin quickly checked his own mount's canter, slipped to the ground still in the darkness beyond the firelight, and padded forward noiselessly.
The crisp snap of a crossbow sounded. One of the bandits pitched back in his saddle and tumbled to the ground. The four others had pulled up, clearly confused. Something like a small bag flew into the hearth, landing with a spray of sparks. A moment later the night was lit up in a cascading flame, and the four bandits were clearly outlined. The crossbow loosed again. A bandit shrieked, arching to reach for a quarrel embedded in his back. A moment later he groaned, sagging as his horse stepped in a confused circle.
Kalam had escaped exposure in the burst of light, but his night vision was gone. Swearing under his breath, he edged forward, long-knife in his right hand, double-edged dagger in his left.
He heard another rider coming in hard from one side. Both bandits wheeled their mounts to meet the charge. The horse appeared, slowing from what had been a bolt. There was no-one in the saddle.
The flare-up from the hearth was ebbing.
His nerves suddenly tingling, Kalam stopped and crouched down. He watched as the riderless horse trotted aimlessly to the right of the bandits, the animal moving closer to come alongside one of the attackers. In a fluid, graceful motion, the rider swung up into view — a woman, who had been crouching down out of sight over one stirrup — twisting to chop down at the nearest bandit with a butcher's cleaver. The huge blade connected with the man's neck and cut through to lodge in his vertebra.
Then the woman had both feet on the saddle. Even as the bandit toppled she stepped onto his horse, taking the lance from the saddle holster and jabbing it like a spear at the second bandit.
Cursing, the man reacted with a warrior's training. Instead of leaning back in what would have been a hopeless effort to avoid the lancehead flashing at his chest, he drove both heels into his horse, twisting to let the lance slip past. His mount rammed the other horse, chest to flank. With a startled yelp the woman lost her balance and fell heavily to the ground.
The bandit leapt from the saddle, unsheathing his tulwar.
Kalam's dagger took him in the throat three paces from the dazed woman. Spitting in fury, hands clutching his neck, the bandit fell to his knees. Kalam approached to deliver a killing thrust.
'Stand still,' a voice snapped behind him. 'Got a quarrel trained on you. Drop that lizard-sticker. Now!'
Shrugging, the assassin let the weapon fall from his hand. 'I'm Second Army,' he said. 'Onearm's Host-'
'Are fifteen hundred leagues away.'
The woman had regained the breath that had been driven from her lungs. She rose to her hands and knees, long black hair hanging down over her face.
The last bandit finished dying with a faint, wet gurgle.
'You're Seven Cities,' the voice behind Kalam said.
'Aye, yet a soldier of the Empire. Listen, work it out. I rode up from the other side, with the bandits' leader. He was dead before his horse carried him into your camp.'
'So why does a soldier wear a telaba and no colours and ride alone? Desertion, and that's a death sentence.'
Kalam hissed in exasperation. 'And clearly you chose to protect your family instead of whatever company you're attached to. By Imperial Military Law
Kalam saw a man half dead on his feet. Short and wide, he wore the tattered remnants of an Outpost detachment uniform, light-grey leather jerkin, dark-grey surcoat. His face was covered in a network of scratches, as were his hands and forearms. A deep wound marred his bristly chin, and the helm shadowing his eyes was dented. The clasp of his surcoat ranked him a captain.
The assassin's eyes widened upon seeing that. 'Though a captain deserting is a rare thing …'
'He didn't desert,' the woman said, now fully recovered and sorting through the weapons of the dead bandits. She found a lightweight tulwar and tested its balance with a few swings. In the firelight Kalam could see she was attractive, medium-boned, her hair streaked with iron. Her eyes were a startling light grey. She collected a belted sword-hoop and strapped it on.
'We rode out of Orbal,' the captain said, pain evident in his voice. 'A whole company escorting out refugees — our families. Ran smack into a Hood-damned army on the march south.'
'We're all that's left,' the woman said, turning to gesture into the darkness. Another woman — a younger, thinner version of the other one — and two children stepped cautiously into the light, then rushed to the captain's side.
The man continued to aim an unsteady crossbow at Kalam. 'Selv, my wife,' he said, gesturing to the woman now at his side. 'Our children, there. And Selv's sister Minala. That's us. Now, let's hear your story.'
'Corporal Kalam, Ninth Squad … Bridgeburners. Now you know why I'm out of uniform, sir.'
The man grinned. 'You've been outlawed. So why aren't you marching with Dujek? Unless you've returned to your homeland to join the Whirlwind.'
'Is that your horse?' Minala asked.
The assassin turned to see his mount step casually into the camp. 'Aye.'
'You know your horses,' she said.
'It cost me a virgin's ransom. I figure if something's expensive it's probably good, and that's how much I know horses.'
'You still haven't explained why you're here,' the captain muttered, but Kalam could see he was relaxing his guard.
'Smelled the uprising in the wind,' the assassin said. 'The Empire brought peace to Seven Cities. Sha'ik wants a return to the old days — tyrants, border wars and slaughter. I ride for Aren. That's where the punitive force will land — and if I'm lucky I can slip myself in, maybe as a guide.'
'You'll ride with us, then, Corporal,' the captain said. 'If you're truly a Bridgeburner you'll know how to soldier, and if that's what you show me on the way to Aren, I'll see you rejoin the Imperial ranks without fuss.'
Kalam nodded. 'Can I retrieve my weapons now, Captain?'
'Go ahead.'
The assassin crouched down, reached for his long-knife, paused. 'Oh, one thing, Captain …'
The man had sagged against his wife. He swung bleary eyes on Kalam. 'What?'
