They made their way back to the tents and found the captain already up and dressed, having a light breakfast of herbal tea and bread spread with kank honey before starting his morning tasks of preparing the caravan. He rose to his feet at once as they entered the tent, but Kieran waved him back down.
“Sit down, Captain, please,” he said. “Do not let us interrupt your breakfast.”
“Is something wrong, sir?” the man asked anxiously, as he resumed his seat.
“We are going to be attacked by the Shadows tonight.”
“Gith’s blood!” the captain swore. “The Shadows!”
“Lower your voice,” said Kieran calmly. “We have been infiltrated. The bard, Edric, is one of their agents. There may be others. How well do you know your men?”
“I have had the same crew for close to a year now,” the captain replied, “and some have been with me even longer. I trust them, but I cannot speak for the passengers.”
“They can be watched,” said Kieran. “However, there may be some last minute additions. Anyone who books passage this morning must be especially suspect.”
“Then we’ll take no passengers from here.”
Kieran shook his head. “No, that would not be wise. There would be no reason to refuse except that we may be expecting trouble. Accept anyone who wants to go, but point them out to me.”
“Understood,” the captain said. “How do you wish me to proceed?”
“Your crew seems efficient,” Kieran said. “We’ll tell them nothing until we make camp tonight. But in the meantime, I want you to select half a dozen mercenaries and inform them individually during the day. They shall report to me at the midday stop. Now, here is what we are going to do…”
* * *
By midday, the caravan approached the northern tip of the Estuary Mountain range. The broad Estuary of the Forked Tongue thrust deep into the desert Tablelands from the Sea of Silt, curving slightly from the coast and terminating roughly two hundred miles inland, just a few miles east of the Estuary Mountains. Where the mountain range straddled the estuary, it formed a small valley in a natural pocket, with a pass leading through the mountains to the west. It was in this small valley that Altaruk stood.
“From here on in,” said Kieran as they rode together at the head of the formation, “we will be traveling with the estuary on our right flank and the mountains on our left, which makes the terrain ideally suited to an attack.”
Sorak nodded. “By late afternoon, the mountains to our left will cast shadows toward us. Together with the rolling terrain of the foothills, that will make any approaching party difficult spot. By nightfall, even if the moons were full-and tonight, they won’t be—there will be little visibility.”
“Precisely,” Kieran said. “That means the outriders will not be able to range far from the camp without exposing themselves to danger, but bringing them in closer reduces their effectiveness.”
“There seems no point in exposing the outriders,” Sorak replied. “They could be ambushed before giving the alarm. It would be wise to bring them in. That way, they will not be so exposed and shall be more useful when the attack comes.”
“Good thinking,” Kieran said, nodding. “Did you happen to notice that three new passengers joined us at Grak’s Pool?”
“Mercenaries,” Sorak said. “One half-elf and two humans. But tribal elves do not accept half-breeds, and certainly not humans.”
Kieran shook his head. “No, these are merely hired blades. I asked Grak about them before we left. They arrived at the oasis the day before we did. And they came in from the north, which means from Altaruk. They’re going back the way they came. No one comes to Grak’s Pool just for a short visit.”
“It does seem rather a long way to go for a drink,” said Sorak.
“Especially when Altaruk offers much better entertainment,” Kieran said. “So, it seems we shall have at least four people to take into custody.” He smiled. “I do hope they resist.”
“What do you want me to do?” Ryana asked.
“I appreciate the offer of assistance, my lady,” Kieran said. “We will require every fighter we have to ward off the attack, for we do not know how many raiders to expect. With any luck, we may learn that information shortly, but the safety of the passengers must be considered. And for all we know, there may yet be other infiltrators among them. To guard against that possibility, and to keep the others safe from harm, I would like to place you in charge of the roustabouts who will be protecting them. They are a hardy lot, but there’s not a trained fighter among them.”
“Some might resent taking orders from a woman,” said Ryana.
“If any of them are fool enough to question the abilities of a villichi priestess,” Kieran said, “then you have my wholehearted encouragement to point out the error of their thinking.”
Ryana grinned. “I would be happy to.”
As they stopped for their midday break, the outriders came in, and six of them came at once to Kieran. He quickly instructed them in what they were to do. As the passengers dismounted, the outriders quickly closed in on the three mercenaries who had joined the caravan that morning. Two of them took each of the three, disarmed them, and took them into custody. It was all done so quickly and efficiently that the three men never had a chance to put up a struggle. As they were being taken, Sorak and Kieran positioned themselves close to Edric, and Ryana stood by to watch Cricket, just in case.
Edric showed only the barest flicker of alarm when the three mercenaries were seized, then quickly got himself under control and turned to Kieran with a frown. “What’s happening?” he asked. “What have these men done?”
“Oh, nothing—yet,” Kieran replied casually. “We are merely taking your confederates into custody as a preventive measure.”
Edric frowned. “My what?”
“Exactly how many Shadows may we expect in
