“Curiously, it seems that historically both the worst treatment of prisoners and the fiercest fighting have been reserved for civil wars and rebellions.” -Caurus Etrenius, “A Treatise on the Nature of Conflict” “No, lad, run the loop under next to the point, like this.” Bat took the thin cord from me and demonstrated. “Do your […]

It took the better part of the day for the camp surgeon to get around to fixing am Stomund’s shoulder, long enough for the rest of us to migrate our camp back from the clearing’s edge to the path that ran by Sir Hagan’s tent. Sir Hagan had given us a grunt when we finished, […]

Green and tan, it turned out, meant servants of Sir Glen Irby, Lord Carson’s quartermaster. We were directed to a larger tent surrounded by wagons; there, we traded off our cart full of spear points for three carts loaded with poles, cloth, and ropes, and with buckets of pitch, spades for digging, and mallets for […]

“The most important property for a soldier to possess is obedience. Instill in him this, and all other traits are secondary.” -Caurus Etrenius, “A Treatise on the Nature of Conflict” “Well,” Kellan said, “at least the day is nice.” I blinked, coming to my senses. I’d spent the last hour or so watching the wheel […]

I had trouble sleeping that night, my mind refusing to quiet no matter what I tried. I finally gave in and got up a couple of hours before sunrise. Moving as quietly as I could to avoid waking Vardon, I collected a lamp and gathered up a few things to use as offerings, pulled my […]