and yelled a warning. As the first soldiers turned, Paks drove her sword into the back of the rearmost. They had not had their swords out; she killed another before facing a useful weapon. Across the gap an archer let fly. Paks heard a yelp and a curse behind her. She drove on; in minutes they had killed those on their side of the gap. Paks looked down and across. Crude steps had been cut into the fill, leading to a walkway a few feet below the rim; similar steps led up to the wall on the far side.
“Let’s get across that,” she said to Malek. He glanced back; Vossik was on the wall with their reserves.
“Good idea.”
Paks waved to her squad and started down the steps as fast as she could. She heard bowstrings twang both before and behind as Vossik’s archers tried to drive the enemy away, and the enemy tried to shoot her. An arrow sank into wet clay near her foot. Another. She held her shield before her face as she ran across the walkway. She could hear her squad coming close behind. At the foot of the steps, she took a deep breath and surged upward, yelling encouragement to those following.
When she topped the steps, no one was there. Four crumpled bodies sprawled on the wall; the rest of the enemy were many strides away, running as fast as they could. She started to pursue, then looked back at Vossik. His hand signal was emphatic: wait. She looked back at her squad. Only Arne was missing; she had taken an arrow in her arm, and Vossik had held her back. Paks looked down the outer face of the wall. Some were already climbing the wall, and others followed Volya, who was cutting steps in the clay earthwork.
No enemy soldiers showed on the wall, now. Paks explored eastward, finding a narrow break with a worn footpath climbing tumbled stones from inside the wall, then winding down the slope of broken rock below the gap on the outside. Stammel posted a guard here, and another at the river end of the wall. Then they moved into the ruins themselves.
It was hard to tell what the ruins had been. Both walls and buildings had crumbled into mounds of stone that angled into other mounds. Grass, bushes, and even twisted trees grew over all. Old streets made ravines, partly blocked by fallen stone and tangles of vines and brambles; they could not see more than a few yards. They found no direct route to the tower where Siniava’s banner still flew. As the afternoon drew on toward evening, the intricate maze became even more confusing. Paks hated the thought of prowling there in the dark. Despite herself, she could not forget Vik’s remarks about demons or wizards.
Before dark, the mercenaries linked into a protected perimeter. Although the guard posts were closely set, the brooding ruins and Siniava’s presence nearby made everyone edgy. And the night had its troubles: poisoned arrows killed two in Vladi’s Company, rocks heaved out of darkness bruised several sentries.
As dawnlight spread through the ruins, the companies began to move, drawing their ring tighter about the central tower. Paks looked for Siniava’s banner. She could not see it. Almost at once others noticed that it was gone, and a shout rose. Then they heard the staccato alarm call from the northern wall.
As quickly as they could, they made for the north wall, boots clattering through the twisting, cluttered streets. Paks could hear the noise of other companies behind them. More horn signals ahead. She dodged blocks of stone, and crashed through bushes, went over a place she remembered as a direct line to another street. The wall should be close. She caught a glimpse of black and yellow darting through a gap ahead of her, and yelled. Something hit her helmet hard, and she staggered. Vik grabbed her arm and steadied her. She shook her head to clear it. A shower of rocks came from the gap. Paks looked back and saw a squad of Cracolnya’s archers moving into position behind her. They poured arrows into the gap; all heard the sharp cry from within. Paks jogged forward and stuck her head cautiously around the corner. Then she led her squad past a body bristling with arrows.
Now only an open space lay between them and the outer wall. A little to one side was the narrow breach where Stammel had posted a guard. The guards were gone. Clearly some force had come this way and overwhelmed them. Paks could not understand how they’d gotten through the closely guarded perimeter. She clambered up the steep path over the broken stone until she could see out. There they were—marching rapidly away along the river toward the forest that lay a few miles upstream. She turned to call Stammel or Kefer, and saw the Duke himself climbing the path, his squires behind him.
“Do you see them?” he called.
“Yes, my lord. They’re retreating to the forest.”
“I wish I knew how in blazes they got through our lines,” he said. “Not that it’ll help them. We’ll harry them now—they don’t have a chance.” He squinted at the retreating force. “Hmm. Looks like no more than five hundred or so. What do you think, Selfer?”
“The same, my lord. Do you think the rest of his army has just fallen apart?”
The Duke grunted. “I don’t know. I wish I did. But we’ll be after them. Kessim!”
“Yes, my lord.” The Duke’s junior squire, lean and dark, seemed afire with eagerness.
“Get back to the outer camp. Make sure the quartermaster gets everyone moving in a hurry, and knows where to go. He’s to stay far enough back that the wounded are safe, but not out of touch. And Jori—”
“Yes, my lord.”
“Bring all the horses we’ll need—Kessim can help—for the captains, too.”
Kessim and Jori scrambled down the outer face of the breach and jogged toward the camp. Paks could see mounted men approaching; the Duke smiled.
“That’s a smart man,” he commented. “He saw something going on, and knew I’d need mounts. Paks, tell the captains I want them to form the cohorts below the wall, and wait for me.”
“Yes, my lord.” The Duke turned and started down the path, followed by Selfer. Paks watched them go. Then she saw a flicker of movement, of yellow, among the tumbled rocks to one side of the path. She yelled just as a man rose from the rocks and leaped toward the Duke. Selfer dove between them, clawing at his sword. Paks charged recklessly down the path. Another enemy, this one in black, leaped from cover on the opposite side of the path to strike at the Duke, who had his sword out by this time, and was fencing with the first attacker. Selfer was down, but struggling to rise.
The Duke parried the strokes of both attackers for a moment. Then Paks was beside him, thrusting at the man in black. When he turned to meet her attack, she saw a face dark with tattoos. He had a long, narrow sword and a long dagger; the tips of both were stained brown. Paks took a slash of the dagger on her shield. She could not reach him with her short blade, but she could make sure he didn’t touch the Duke. She heard yells from above, and the clatter of many boots on stone. Beside her was the almost musical jingling of the Duke’s mail, and the clang of blades. Her own opponent kept trying to force her to one side, exposing the Duke, but she kept her place despite the attack of both blades. She heard a yelp from the Duke’s opponent, then a grunt as the Duke lunged.
Suddenly the man in black dropped his dagger, leaped forward, and grabbed her shield with one hand, fending off her thrust with his other blade. As his weight jerked forward on the shield, Paks staggered and fell. She saw his sword dart past her, and tried desperately to deflect it with her own. The blades scraped together. She heard him gasp, then he rolled onto her, and she felt hard hands gripping her throat. She couldn’t free her shield arm.
“You—you northern bitch—” he growled, then his hands went slack, and many arms pulled his heavy body off her. Stammel, grim-faced, offered a hand, and Paks pulled herself up. Volya helped her reset her shield. The Duke stood cleaning his sword. Selfer lay propped against Arcolin, his shoulder soaked in blood. Both attackers were dead.
“My lord—” Stammel held out the blades Paks had faced.
“Yes?” The Duke glanced at the weapons; his face froze. “Poison!”
“I thought so, my lord. Did these touch you, my lord, or your squire?”
“No. That one—” The Duke pointed to the sword dropped by the first attacker, and Arcolin reached out to examine it. “But Paks—is she—”
“I’m not hurt, my lord,” she said quickly.
Stammel looked closely at her. “Are you sure? The least scratch—”
Paks shook her head. “No, sir. He came close, but he didn’t touch. I couldn’t disarm him—”
The Duke snorted. “You did well enough to hold him off with that short sword. Arcolin, what about that one?”
“I don’t think so, my lord. Selfer, how is it?”
“It—hurts.” Selfer was breathing in short gasps. “But—it feels—much like any wound.”
The Duke knelt beside him. “Selfer, that was well done; without you, I’d have had no chance. Let’s see now —” He drew his dagger and widened the slit in Selfer’s tunic. “Ahh—you’ll need stitching, and some quiet days with the surgeons, but it’s not as bad as I’d feared. Any other injury?”
