Council had finally decided to send someone like they promised. Of course, they're on the road somewhere, and Tir knows if they'll come up in time to fight. Or if they'll fight. Militia!"
Stammel nodded his agreement. "Has it been quiet over here, then?"
"Not really. You'll find out. He must have a small army of agents in Cilwan; they can take out sentries without a sound. You'll lose a man or so every night if you don't double your guardposts. And all you ever get back is pieces—hands and feet lying in the trail, or an arm tacked up on a barn."
"And you've never caught them at it?"
"No, not since we left the city. We lost three men in Cortes Cilwan, but we caught those bastards who did it in the same house with the bodies. Out here, no."
A shout from the captains ended this conversation, and the army was soon marching again, enlarged by Vladi's Company. The rest of that day and the next they marched north and