MACE

       Eleventh moon, seventeenth year of the reign of King Rastoth

       West Rank headquarters, Cattle Lands, Rilporian border

      Mace Koridam, general of the West Rank, rested back in his chair and stretched his shoulders when Captain Tara Carter entered. ‘Report?’

      Tara saluted and stood at parade rest in front of his desk. ‘There’s a lot of movement up there. Some sort of raiding or tracking party, it looked like. Found what was left of some dead Raiders, gear and weapons mostly. Animals had been at the bodies, but most had Wolf arrows in them. We got within five miles of the Sky Path, but the number of Mireces patrols forced us back.’

      Mace frowned and crossed his arms. ‘Your orders were explicit, Captain.’

      Tara met his gaze steadily. ‘Yes, sir. I’m aware I went beyond my remit, but there was too much activity, so I made the call. Sir.’

      ‘If this is about you proving yourself, Carter, I can assure you that you have singularly failed to impress me.’

      ‘It isn’t, sir. Word in the mountains is that Liris is dead, killed in his own bedchamber.’

      Mace paused and eyed her. ‘You’re sure?’ he asked, though Tara was already nodding. ‘By the gods, this changes everything.’ With Liris dead, they could have an opportunity to force a battle and break the Mireces once and for all, ending the constant border threat.

      ‘My opposite number among the Wolves filled me in on that particular piece of intel,’ Carter said as there was a knock at the door. It opened and she gestured. ‘Dalli Shortspear. Turns out we weren’t the only ones sneaking around the Sky Path.’

      Dalli gave Carter and Mace a strained smile and Mace winced. ‘Gods, woman, that’s the most impressive black eye I’ve seen in a long while.’

      Dalli fingered the bruising. ‘Mireces spear butt, right in the eye. I will confess to a momentary confusion in the aftermath.’

      Mace whistled. ‘I’d confess to being unconscious if it was me. But you’re otherwise well?’

      Dalli gave a half-shrug, her usual energy missing. ‘As well as can be expected. Mireces war party on the hunt for an escaped slave. She made it down to us and they followed her, attacked the village. Burnt the village. We lost nearly seventy.’ She tapped her fingertips to her heart, commemorating the dead, and Mace and Tara copied her. ‘We’d had a few hours’ advance warning, but there were too few of us nearby to form an effective defence. We fought a holding action, then had to run.’

      ‘My sympathies, Dalli, to you and yours. Any help you need rebuilding, please do ask. I’ll increase our patrols in the meantime, give you a chance to recover.’

      ‘Thank you, General, we’d appreciate that. We’re stretched thin. For now we’ve sent the girl to Watchtown with Dom, to keep her safe and … keep her away from the other Wolves. There’s some bad feeling about what happened. The Mireces wouldn’t have attacked if she wasn’t there, and if she’d told us beforehand that she’d murdered Liris – well, let’s just say we wouldn’t have sent most of our warriors to winter in the smaller settlements.’

      ‘She killed him?’ Mace asked, incredulous. ‘A slave?’

      Dalli touched her face again. ‘That she did, General. Or that’s what she told us anyway, and we believe her.’ She rested her hip against his desk and Mace was suddenly aware of her exhaustion. She was hurt and hurting, grieving, but she’d come to warn them anyway. She puts half my men to shame.

      ‘At least that fat old bastard Liris is dead,’ Dalli said. ‘Even if too many of ours are as well.’

      Mace stalked to the window and back again. ‘You say there’s bad feeling around the slave? We’d be happy to host her here,’ he said, trying not to sound too eager. Her knowledge of Eagle Height must be extensive. This could be the turning of the tide. But why did she have to make her way to the Wolves? I could do so much with that knowledge, so much.

      ‘She and Dom will stay at the temple. With luck there won’t be trouble, but we’ll bear it in mind.’

      ‘Of course. If her presence in Watchtown becomes complicated, let me know and we’ll send someone to fetch her. In the meantime, if you learn anything from her, please do share it with us.’ He paused and Dalli dipped her head. ‘Do we know who the new Mireces king is yet? Or if there even is one?’

      Tara sighed. ‘That we don’t know. I can take a patrol—’

      Mace held up a finger. ‘You’ve done enough, Carter. Just let me have your full report by this evening.’ She opened her mouth to protest. ‘I’ve told you before, being a reckless idiot is not going to get you promoted any faster. If anything, it’ll make me more inclined to demote you. You are not the only captain with a Hundred in the West Forts. I appreciate your zeal, but I have other capable officers who can take out patrols. And I’m not sure your men would appreciate another run out so soon. Dismissed,’ he added when Carter looked like protesting anyway.

      She saluted and stalked to the door, closing it very firmly behind her. Mace suppressed a smile; Carter was going to be an outstanding general one day, if she managed to stay alive that long. And if she could actually bloody listen to orders.

      ‘She’s a good one,’ Dalli said, breaking into his thoughts. ‘You’re lucky to have her.’

      ‘I know, I just wish she didn’t think she had to prove herself all the time.’

      Dalli snorted. ‘She’s the only woman in the Rank, and she’s an officer. Of course she has to prove herself all the time. She’s fighting the instincts of five thousand soldiers.’ Dalli poked at the bruise again. ‘Your men aren’t as enlightened as ours; most of them don’t believe Tara should be wearing trousers, let alone wielding a sword. She’d probably be better off joining the Wolves.’

      ‘Stop trying to steal my best officer, Dalli,’ Mace said with a mock frown. ‘You can’t have her. Listen,’ he said, moving back to the desk, ‘how bad is the feeling about this woman?’

      Dalli’s brows drew together. ‘Bad enough. Seventy is too many for a single skirmish on our own ground. Those four incursions we repelled over the summer cost us less than a hundred, plus your losses of course. To lose so many now, this late in the season …’ She closed her eyes. ‘It’s been a hard year for us.’

      ‘Then maybe she should stay at the forts,’ Mace said. He squeezed her shoulder and she opened her eyes