As the light failed the drums rattled, and we stopped and I watched the other three put up the tent, making certain to show me how the pieces fit together. Then we lit fires, ate an evening meal that was suspiciously like the one yesterday, and sat around in front of the fire. Rascha approached and said, "Aelburr and Vlad, first shift on picket duty tonight."
"Okay," said Aelburr.
"Vlad?"
"Yes?"
"Did you hear?"
"Yes."
"Then acknowledge."
"Sorry."
Rascha moved on. I said, "How long does a shift last?"
"Two hours," said Virt, "unless they decide we're in imminent, in which case time doubles and personnel triples."
" 'In imminent'?"
"In imminent danger."
"Ah."
"Which I don't think we are."
I looked an inquiry at Virt, who shrugged and said, "I doubt it."
Aelburr stood up and buckled on his sword. I did the same. He led the way past the rows of tents to where we could just make out the banner in the fading light. Crown was there, and pairs would approach him to be sent off; to us he said, "North edge, forty yards out," and pointed. Aelburr saluted and turned away. I also saluted, which earned me a glance I couldn't read, then I went after Aelburr. But I was pleased; I'd finally gotten to salute.
"What do we do?" I said. "Stand in place like idiots or walk back and forth like morons?"
He gave a token chuckle. "Stand in place," he said. "More or less, anyway. As long as we keep watching, and we don't stray out of call, it shouldn't matter much."
We were out there for two hours, and nothing happened, but it was spooky. At first there was a hum of low conversation from the camp, but that died fairly soon, and then it was quiet, and I was one of those guards whom I'd spent so much time figuring out ways of circumventing, or sometimes knocking out, or occasionally killing. All of those occasions presented themselves to my memory with a snicker of revenge. I wasn't really worried, because Loiosh was there, but it was a position I didn't enjoy being in. I tried to start a conversation, but Aelburr let me know that we were supposed to use our ears, and that if we were caught conversing Bad Things would happen.
"What does the military consider a Bad Thing?"
"Latrine duty."
"Sold," I said, and shut up for the rest of our shift. We were relieved right on time by a couple of soldiers I didn't know and who didn't seem interested in either conversation or latrine duty. I followed Aelburr to the tent, which I couldn't have found on my own, and I climbed into my cot just an instant after I fell asleep.
Thirty hours later I got a practical demonstration of what "in imminent" meant. My feet were a day more sore, my legs a day more tired, and my spirits a day nastier. Virt seemed slightly amused at either my discomfort or my annoyance; Aelburr seemed lost in thought, and Napper, still scowling as before, appeared the only sane one of the lot of us. In any case, our entire tent was informed we'd be doing four hours of picket duty in the middle of the night, which made Virt nod sagaciously, Napper scowl menacingly, and Aelburr shrug philosophically. Then, an hour later, Rascha called me aside and informed me that I was excused and was not expected to do picket duty after all, and then she turned away before I could ask her why. I cursed under my breath.
"What is it, Boss? You enjoyed it so much last night that you want to do a double-shift tonight?"
"No, I just resent the implication that I'm not as reliable as anyone else."
"Getting a bit touchy, are we?"
"Bug off."
About then a mixed group of strangerssay a hundred of themcame rolling into camp on wagons pulled by horses. By mixed I mean I identified at least a couple of Vallista, and a few Teckla, and some Dragons. I looked an inquiry at Virt, who said, "Engineers."
"Ah. What will they be engineering?"
"Defenses. Earthworks. Bulwarks. We're apparently going to be required to hold this position."
"This position? Where in blazes are we?"
"You'll see the Eastern Mountains in the daylight."
"Oh. I guess we made good time today."
"We did at that." I recalled Sethra's plans, and then wished I hadn't known them, because I suddenly got the impression that our entire company was a marker on a gameboard that she was going to be maneuvering around with no concern for the individuals who comprised it. In an effort to distract myself, I strained my eyes eastward, but in the failing light couldn't see any mountain.
"We're pretty high up, Boss; I can tell you that much."
"How?"
"It's noticeably harder to fly."
"Why should it be harder to fly just because you're starting higher?"
"That's for you higher order animals to figure out; we avians just do our business on instinct."
"You're not an avion, you're a reptile."
"I still don't know why it works that way."
"If you had opposable thumbs you probably would."
"You want to drop that opposable thumbs bit, Boss?"
I suddenly had the impression that there was something I'd meant to do, something I should be thinking about, something … oh. Right.
"Who is it?"
"Morrolan."
"What do you want?"
"Aren't you even going to thank me, Vlad?"
"For what?"
"There's never been a soldier born who wasn't grateful to get out of midnight guard duty."
"I see. No, I don't think I'm going to thank you. I take it this is a good night to act?"
"The Captain is expecting you, and I'll be there."
"On my way," I said, relieved to know that I hadn't been let out of picket duty because they didn't trust me, and then annoyed with myself for caring.
I made my way through the camp toward where the Captain's tent should be.
"This way, Boss."
"Thanks."
It was very dark by this time, but I found it with Loiosh's directions and by hearing the flap of the banner. Then I wandered around it like an idiot until I found the entrance. The worst part of this nonsense was that I kept finding myself doing things I wasn't good at, and that meant looking stupid, in front of my-self if no one else, and I've always hated that. I clapped outside of the tent.
"Enter," said the Captain, and at the same time I heard Morrolan's voice: "Please come in."
"Well," I said, stepping in. "How pleasant that we should all run into each other here."
"Sit down, Vlad," said Morrolan.
I did so. I tried to read the expression on the Captain's face, but I couldn't quite make it out. But from the instant I'd stepped into the tent, things were different, and I think he sensed it: I was no longer one of his soldiers; now I was something else, though he wasn't certain what. I suspect I enjoyed the sensation more than he did.
"Their nearest outpost is three miles northeast of us," Morrolan began without preamble. "We can expect an attack tomorrow."
"Which means I have things to do tonight."
"Yes."
"What, exactly, do you want?" Morrolan said, "Captain?"
The Captain's eyes widened, then he grunted, as if it all made sense to him now. "Let me think. We're still planning … uh … "
"You may speak in front of Vlad."
He grunted again. "We're still planning a withdrawal to the southeast?"
"Yes."
He considered some more, then said, "How much of his army are we facing?"
"About a third. We know another third is marching to reinforce, and he probably has a division that's trying to move around our flank."
"What if he decides not to attack? Maybe he'll wait for the other divisions to arrive. Functionally, they're an outpost; they're losing a big part of their advantage right from the start if they launch an attack."
"They may not; if they don't, we'll attack."
The Captain shook his head. "We're an advance guard. I don't like the idea of attacking."
"We won't commit a great deal of force, just enough to encourage a counterattack."