“Anywhere from a hundred to a hundred and fifty,” Khollo said immediately.
“And we have a hundred and ten, including cadets,” Janis muttered. “Not good odds, not by a long shot.” He looked up and frowned at Khollo. “You need to leave, before they get here.”
“What?” Khollo demanded.
“I’m not losing you too, I’ve already failed my brother once,” Janis snarled. “Go to Ardia, it will be safer there, for a time.”
“I’m not going anywhere!”
“Yes you are!” Janis roared. “I am trying to keep you alive!”
“And I am trying to keep you, and everyone else I care about alive!” Khollo replied. “I can fight, and you’ll need every man you can get. If you want, I’ll stay on the roof and pick them off with my bow, but I won’t run.”
Janis sighed heavily. “I can’t let you,” he said in a whisper shot through with grief and misery. “The fight will be far too dangerous.”
“No,” Khollo said firmly. “I will stay. I will fight by your side, and we will win. If the vertaga aren’t stopped here, it doesn’t matter where I am. The kingdom will be vulnerable to a full invasion and the world will burn.”
“What I don’t understand,” Janis muttered, looking down at the map. “Is why they aren’t sending more troops.”
“The vertaga?”
“Yes.”
“Maybe this was the largest force they thought they could move in secret,” Khollo suggested.
“They could have brought soldiers north through the burned villages without us noticing.”
“They would have been seen,” Khollo countered. “Leon’s men are everywhere. The vertaga must need soldiers somewhere else.” His eyes slid across the map and locked on a small dot along the southern coast.
“Ishkabur,” Khollo and Janis said simultaneously. “They’ll be attacking the city as well.”
Janis spun around and marched to the door. “I must make preparations for the inevitable and send another message to Ishkabur. The full council will meet in an hour, then we will speak to our esteemed chatelain.” He looked askance at Khollo. “You might use the next hour to dress properly and find some breakfast. Today will be busy, and we need to impress Clemon.”
Khollo nodded and headed for the stairs. “I’m on my way. Should I bring Sermas and Hern as well?” he asked as an afterthought.
Janis nodded gravely. “Yes. As your closest friends and self-appointed bodyguards, they are in this, whether they like it or not. In fact, inform them that they will join you on the roof as my personal guard during the battle.”
Khollo quickly made his way down the stairs, pulled on a fresh tunic, and armored up for battle. His weapons belt went over one shoulder, the Sen-teel sheathes settling comfortably. Another, lighter belt went around his waist, a dagger swinging from his right hip. He strapped bracers to his arms, the ones he had been given as a cadet, and stuffed his feet into his best boots. Thus armed, Khollo snatched up his father’s bow and made for the kitchens.
Already the fortress was buzzing with activity. The hall was full of men bolting a hasty breakfast and officers shouting orders. Extra quivers were to be drawn from the armory, the gate to be barred permanently. Oil from the kitchens was to be moved to the walls to pour out on the enemy, and a few unfortunates were sent to liberate the privies of their slop buckets. The watch was tripled, with every man expected to go armed for battle at all times, even in sleep. Anyone not trained to fight was to confine themselves to the kitchens and other secure, ground-level rooms in the keep. Khollo found Sermas and Hern sitting at a long table with the other cadets, receiving their orders from Wilkes.
“Make sure your gear is ready for battle. This isn’t a test, this is real!” Wilkes was barking as Khollo moved closer. “You are to take positions on the walls, evenly spaced among the veterans. You do exactly what they tell you, do you hear?”
“Yes, sir!” the cadets chorused.
“And – is something the matter, Lieutenant?” Wilkes broke off impatiently, glaring at Khollo.
Khollo shook his head. “No, but I have different orders for Cadets Sermas and Hern. They are to accompany myself and Lord Kurkan and act as bodyguards and messengers while we oversee the defenses and the battle from the roof of the keep.”
Wilkes nodded, taking this news without complaint, a minor miracle considering who the deliverer was. “Very well. Cadet Sermas, Cadet Hern, dismissed.”
Sermas and Hern stood from the table and joined Khollo as he headed for the kitchens. “Since when are you and Wilkes getting along?” Sermas asked. “And where did you learn to talk like that?”
“Talk like what?” Khollo asked absently, scanning the kitchens for a quick meal.
“Like a general,” Hern said, somewhat awed. “Military speak. You sounded like you’ve been doing this your whole life.”
Khollo shrugged uncertainly. “I don’t know. I’ve been in meetings with generals and commanders for months now. I guess some of it just rubbed off.”
“More than some of it,” Sermas countered. “You were a natural, all ‘overseeing the defenses’ and such.”
Khollo shifted uncomfortably. I am talking different, Khollo realized. Sometimes anyways. I wonder if that’s a good thing.
“Anyway,” Hern said, pilfering a loaf and some sausage from a tray that was clearly on its way to the hall, “What’s with the assignment?”
“Janis wants the three of us with him at the top of the keep,” Khollo replied in a low voice as he ripped a chunk from Hern’s loaf. “I think he’s trying to protect us to some extent, but we can still be useful there.”
“Good place to command from,”
