"No, sir." Marcus debated remaining on his feet, but decided there was nothing to be gained from it. He took the cushion opposite Ja.n.u.s. "I wondered if I might have a word."

"Of course." Ja.n.u.s slid the papers aside and steepled his fingers. "What's on your mind?"

Marcus glanced uncomfortably at Augustin, who had discreetly faded into the background. Ja.n.u.s looked up at the manservant.

"Augustin, would you be so good as to make the captain a cup of tea?" he said.

With another sour look at Marcus, Augustin bowed and ghosted out.

"You really must learn to ignore him," Ja.n.u.s said. "I a.s.sure you that his discretion is impeccable. But, if it makes you more comfortable . . ." He spread his hands.

"Thank you, sir." Marcus cleared his throat. "I-that is-I'm not sure how to begin."

"You have some advice for me," Ja.n.u.s said.

Marcus blinked. "How did you know that?"

"You'd hardly dither so over a report or some minor matter, would you?" Ja.n.u.s gave a disarming smile, gray eyes shining in the lamplight. "I did ask for your a.s.sistance, Captain. So long as we're in private, you may always consider yourself at liberty to speak your mind. I can't promise I will always follow your counsel, but I'll certainly listen."

"Thank you, sir." He took a deep breath. "Then I respectfully suggest that the marches be shortened, and that we inst.i.tute some sort of regimental drill."

There was a moment of silence. Ja.n.u.s, leaning back, c.o.c.ked his head as though considering the matter from a new angle. Finally he said, "And why do you say that?"

"Fifteen miles a day . . ." Marcus paused. "It's not that the men aren't capable, sir, but the wagons won't make it. Our supplies-"

Ja.n.u.s waved a hand. "There'll be time for the supply train to catch up, never fear. It's more important that the troops accustom themselves to hard marching. Soon enough we'll have need of it."

Marcus sat back, feeling defeated. Ja.n.u.s, watching him, burst out laughing.

"Sir?" Marcus said uncertainly.

"I'm sorry," the colonel said, still chuckling. "It's my own fault, I think. I'm not yet used to what you might call the military context. Captain, if you disagree with me, I encourage you to say so. I'm not Karis speaking the Law."

"You're a colonel," Marcus pointed out. And a count besides. "It's not my place-"

"I intend to take advantage of your judgment and expertise. That means you must be more than a dumb recipient of my lordly wisdom. So long as the enemy are not actually before us, I expect you to correct me if I say anything foolish."

"Yes, sir," Marcus said. He'd forgotten how useful that phrase was-it could mean anything you wanted it to mean.

"So-you're not really worried about the supply train, are you?"

"Sir . . ." Marcus paused again, then gave an inward shrug. "There's been talk. The men aren't happy-well, that's nothing new-but they don't think we can win. They're saying that you're just out for glory, or that you're mad, and if we come up against the Redeemers . . ." He shook his head. "I haven't spent much time with the recruits, sir, but the Old Colonials feel . . . fragile. They'll march, for now, but one hard rap and they'll fly all to pieces."

Ja.n.u.s said nothing. His smile had gone, replaced by a thoughtful expression, but there was still a touch of humor at the corners of his eyes. Encouraged, Marcus went on.

"Val-Captain Solwen, that is-came to me this afternoon. He said some of the new men never even made it to depot, and none of them had the full training course."

"That's true," Ja.n.u.s said. "The Ministry was unwilling to send an experienced regiment to Khandar, so it was decided to bring the Colonials up to strength by throwing together the sc.r.a.ps from the depots and the backcountry recruiters."

"Then I'm not sure hard marching is what they need. They might get where they need to be, but will they fight when you need them to?"

"Just because they're untrained doesn't mean they're cowards." Ja.n.u.s frowned. "I was hoping the veterans would provide some unofficial instruction."

"From what I've seen, sir, the two groups don't seem to mix much. And the recruits need to practice formations most of all. That's not something you can do on your own time."

The colonel tapped one finger on the table. "Nevertheless," he said, "time is of the essence. If we delay . . ." He appeared to be speaking half to himself, and didn't wait for an answer. "I will think on it. Thank you, Captain."

"Sir-"

"You've made your point." Ja.n.u.s smiled again, but only briefly. "Now I need to consider." The tent flap rustled, and the colonel looked up. "Ah, and here's Augustin with your tea!"

a a a Though he knew Give-Em-h.e.l.l's men had swept the route of march, Marcus found his eyes drawn to every obstacle that might hide some kind of ambush. It made for uncomfortable riding, all the more so because Ja.n.u.s seemed oblivious to any sense of danger. With the sun barely past the overhead, the heat was at its worst, and Marcus had to keep wiping sweat from his eyes with the back of his sleeve. Meadow plodded placidly beneath him, unperturbed.

Behind him, the regiment trudged onward, four thousand men in blue uniforms that by now had a healthy coating of the ubiquitous brown dust. To the left, the land fell away gradually to the sea, and on the right rose a line of dry, rocky hills. In between was a strip of ground bearing what the Khandarai laughably called a road, which amounted to a pair of wagon ruts and a path worn through the scattered scrub weeds. The only virtue the track had was that it kept the men from getting lost. Hundreds had dropped out, from heat or exhaustion, and would have to straggle in as best they could after the main body finally reached camp.

And if there's a Desoltai ambush over the next rise . . . The Redeemers were the princ.i.p.al enemy, but it was the desert nomads Marcus feared the most. The Desoltai had never been comfortable with Vordanai hegemony, and they'd thrown in with the rebels at the first opportunity. They lived out in the Great Desol, where the more cautious Khandarai feared to go, and practiced both horsemanship and marksmanship in endless raids against one another and the surrounding towns.

And now they have a leader. The Steel Ghost, a subject of endless rumor, was supposed to have committed a dozen atrocities already, and to possess fell powers besides. But the man's personal characteristics were less worrisome than the fact that the Desoltai were united, and committed to ridding their land of foreigners.

It wouldn't take much. A hundred hors.e.m.e.n would cut us to pieces. The infantry might be able to form square, eventually, but the wagons and guns would be so much meat for the butchers. And with Give-Em-h.e.l.l out scouting, we wouldn't be able to chase them off.

He looked at Ja.n.u.s, who rode with the unconcerned air of a man without a care in the world, moving with a natural grace in his saddle. Marcus scowled.

The h.e.l.l of it was, the colonel was probably right. He would get away with it today-the odds of the Desoltai being so far west were small. And he'd get away with it tomorrow, and the next day, until one day he didn't. Then it would be too late. But try explaining that to him.

He glanced over his shoulder at the drummers, three of whom walked beside the sweltering column. Each battalion had its own, stationed around the colors, and in theory signals could be relayed from one to the next, allowing orders to pa.s.s all the way down the extended line of march without the need for galloping messengers. This worked well enough on the drill field, Marcus knew, but in the field of battle only the simplest commands would get through. "March," say, or "halt."

Or "form square." Marcus stiffened as the idea struck him. Just for a moment, he allowed himself to think of the possible consequences. Ja.n.u.s would be furious, of course, and as a count he might have influence at court in addition to his pull in the Ministry. He could . . .

. . . What? Ship me to Khandar? Marcus reined up, and Meadow came to a halt. After a few moments the drummers drew level.

"Sir?" one of them said, a heavyset, red-bearded man named Polt. His cheeks were slick with a sheen of sweat, and he looked about ready to drop. "Is it time to call a rest?"

Ja.n.u.s had proscribed rest and water breaks every two hours, but there was some time yet before the next. Marcus looked at Polt's eager face and smiled.

"We're having a drill. Beat emergency square," he said.

"Sir, I- What?" He scanned the horizon frantically for signs of approaching enemies. "Really?"

"Yes, really. Do it now."

"But-" He caught Marcus' expression and decided not to argue. Instead he turned on his heel and addressed the two drummer "boys." In a normal regiment, these would be promising young sub-officers, but no one promising was sent to Khandar. These two looked like they were older than Marcus.

"Emergency square!" Polt bellowed, veins standing out on his neck. "Now!"

The three carried their drums strapped to their backs, where an ordinary soldier would have his pack. They scooted them round and let them fall flat, the straps holding them at waist level, and retrieved their heavy wooden sticks. Tentatively at first, but with increasing volume, they pounded out a basic rhythm. Boom, pause, boom, pause, boom boom boom-a simple signal for a vital command that might have to be executed on a moment's notice, with no more warning than a sentry's scream.

At the sound of the drums, the men at the head of the column halted. Those behind took some time to react, so the whole column closed up a little, but the regiment was still dreadfully strung out. There were no neatly dressed ranks on the march. Men walked in little cl.u.s.ters, vaguely divided by company, with their sergeants and lieutenants more concerned with chivying slackers than keeping order. They were expecting the command to halt for rest, and some few even took the opportunity to sit down in the road.

It was a few moments before the battalion drums picked up the signal, but once they did, it echoed up and down the whole column. The effect was everything that Marcus had hoped for-or, more precisely, dreaded. The Old Colonials knew what the signal meant, but had only a foggy idea of what they were supposed to do; the recruits mostly didn't understand, but they knew something was up by the panicky looks. Their officers, the lieutenants Ja.n.u.s had brought with him, were split about evenly between the two camps. Marcus heard a few shouts of "Square! Form square!" but for the most part these were submerged in the babble.

The long march column contracted as the men instinctively bunched up, forming a blob around the battalion color bearers and the drums. From where he was sitting, Marcus had a good view of the First and Second Battalions, and he was pleased to see that the First, at least, was slowly coming into some kind of shape. That was Fitz at work-he had a brief glimpse of the lieutenant grabbing an officer several years his senior by the arm and shoving him in the right direction. The blob gradually opened out in the center and became a ring, whose sides straightened as sweating lieutenants and sergeants shouted their men into something like a line. Bayonets came out of their sheaths, and there was a chorus of swearing as the recruits tried to fit theirs with suddenly awkward fingers.

The Manual of Arms said that a battalion in column of companies should be able to form square within two minutes of the order being given. A battalion on the march was allotted a bit more time, five minutes considered the standard. It was at least fifteen before the First Battalion emerged into something recognizable as a formation-a hollow rectangular block, each side three ranks deep, with fixed bayonets bristling like a hedge of steel points from every face.

Nor was the First the worst offender. Val had screamed the Second into shape, and Marcus didn't have a good view of the Third, but before long a stream of running, shouting men came up the road from the rear. Marcus thought they were from the supply train, fleeing a supposed enemy attack, until he saw the uniforms and the desperate, shouting officers and realized they were the men of the Fourth Battalion. Apparently all attempts to bring order there had failed, and the men had decided their only chance was to seek shelter in the steadier squares. A few shoving matches resulted, and Marcus winced, hoping that no bayonets would come into it. The last thing he needed was for his demonstration to cause actual casualties.

Next up the road came a dozen guns, pulled at a brisk trot by st.u.r.dy Khandarai horses, and accompanied by a double column of gawking artillerymen. Marcus had to grin at that. At least the Preacher knows how to keep his men in order. An infantryman of the Fourth, seeing the approaching cannon, decided he would be safer in amongst them, while a sword-waving lieutenant ran after him to a volley of curses and protests from the gunners.

All it needs is a fat captain with his pants around his ankles chasing a skinny blonde with a tuba going oompah-oompah, and we'd have a perfect music-hall farce. Marcus jerked Meadow's reins and turned back toward Ja.n.u.s, steeling himself for the colonel's reaction.

Ja.n.u.s was staring at the disorderly scene below. It took Marcus a moment to realize he was laughing, inaudible in the din. When he saw Marcus approaching, he turned on him with a faint but unmistakable smile.

"Sir!" Marcus barked, trying to make himself heard. Ja.n.u.s brought his horse alongside and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Point taken, Captain," he said. "Your point is very much taken." He shook his head ruefully. "Once everyone gets sorted out, you may order a halt for the day. We start drill in the morning."

a a a A halt was inevitable in any event, as it took most of the rest of the day to get the troops back into something approximating order and untangle the panicked supply trains. Marcus winced when Fitz presented him with the final bill-forty-six men with sc.r.a.pes and bruises, four horses so badly injured they'd had to be put down, and one wagon that had cracked an axle when its driver had driven it into a ditch. It could have been worse, though. The losses of materiel could be replaced or repaired, and he was relieved to hear that no one had been seriously hurt. And who knows how many lives saved, down the road. As the sun was setting, Marcus headed back to his tent with a cautious sense of optimism.

He was nearly there when a meaty hand descended on his shoulder. He started, spun to face his a.s.sailant, and found himself staring into a wild tangle of hair that failed to conceal a mocking smile.

"What's the matter, Senior Captain? You seem a little jumpy."

Captain Morwen Kaanos, of the Third Battalion, was a tall, heavyset man with weathered, tanned skin that spoke of years in Khandar. Between a thick goatee, bristly muttonchops, and an unkempt mustache, his face was almost invisible. His eyebrows were bushy as well, giving him the look of a wild man, hermit, or possibly the scruffier cla.s.s of saint. The hand he'd clapped on Marcus' shoulder was big enough to be called a paw, and the hair on the back of it was practically fur.

"It's been a long day," Marcus said, irritated by his own reaction. "And I was hoping to get off my feet for a minute."

"Don't let me stop you," Mor said, in his heavy mountain accent. "Mind if I poke my head in, though? We wants a word."

Marcus gave an inward sigh, but nodded. The two of them practically filled the little tent. Marcus sat heavily on his bedroll and started unlacing his boots, while Mor stood by the flap, arms folded across his chest.

"I hear," he said, "that we got you to thank for the mess this afternoon."

"Where did you hear that?"

Mor tapped his nose, then shrugged. "Ain't no big secret. Polt's been telling the story since he put down his drum. Prob'ly 'cause half the Old Colonials seemed inclined to blame it on him."

"They're angry, are they?" Marcus worried at a knot that seemed to have become inextricably glued tight with sweat and Khandarai dust.

"Some are. You didn't make them look good back there."

"I didn't make them look bad, either. I've seen a pack of wild dogs form a better square."

"h.e.l.l, your boys in the First weren't too quick about it," Mor snapped. "Don't try to pin this-"

"It's on no one," Marcus said. The knot came free, and he slid his foot out of the boot with a sigh of relief. "It's a gang of half-trained recruits and a bunch of old grumblers who've had it too soft for too long. What do you expect?"

"What did you expect? Why'd you do it? Don't tell me you saw some old goatherd on a pony and shat your pants."

"I did it," Marcus said grimly, "because I knew what would happen, but His Lordship didn't believe me."

"Ah." Mor uncrossed his arms. "Suddenly it all makes sense."

Marcus frowned. Mor was always happy to suspect the worst of senior officers, particularly n.o.ble officers. As a general rule, the Colonials didn't dwell on the stories of how they'd ended up in exile, or ask about the disgraces of others, but Mor's tale was well-known: he'd illegally dueled a n.o.bleman, he said, over the attentions of a young woman, and had accidentally killed the man. Whether that was true or not, he certainly harbored an inveterate hatred of n.o.bility and privilege.

"He's not bad," Marcus said. "I think we can work with him. He just needed a little lesson on what's possible and what isn't. If he thinks he's going to take this lot into battle after a week of forced marches . . ."

"Battle?" Mor said. "You think it'll come to that?"

"Probably. We aren't marching all this way for our health."

"Last time I checked, there were a h.e.l.l of a lot more of them than there are of us. Has anybody told His Lordship?"

"I told him myself," Marcus said. "Fighting isn't just about counting noses, though."

"Let's hope you're right about that. Though I'd lay ten to one we come scampering back down this road before the month is out."

"Either way," Marcus said, starting on the other boot, "it's not our problem."

"True. Our problem is currently sprawled in a supply wagon, making a solid try at drowning himself in wine."

Marcus swore softly. "Adrecht."

"Adrecht. You saw the way his men behaved today?"

Marcus nodded. Adrecht's Fourth Battalion hadn't even managed to stay together, let alone form square. "Where was he?"

"Search me, but he wasn't with them. Lieutenant Orta said he rode off around midday and never came back."

"Saints and martyrs," Marcus cursed. "Is he trying to get himself brought up on charges?"

"Last I talked to him, he was convinced we were all going to end up on Redeemer spikes, so I'm not sure he cares anymore." Mor gave Marcus a careful look. "What do you want to do?"

Marcus heard the question under the question. Do we cover for him, he translated, and try to snap him out of it? Or ignore it and let the colonel deal with him? He suspected he knew what Mor's opinion was. Mor had never had much use for the mercurial, unreliable captain of the Fourth.

"What do you think of this . . . Orta, was it?"

Mor shrugged. "He seems competent enough. A little hesitant to cuss an' shove when he needs to, though. The new lieutenants your colonel gave us are a bunch of spoiled-rotten a.s.sholes, and they like to talk back."

Marcus wondered if Fitz had the same problem and hadn't mentioned it. Somehow he doubted it. Fitz had a way of getting what he wanted, though he never raised his voice.

"Right. Have you got a sergeant with a big mouth you'd be willing to part with for a while?"

Mor laughed. "You can have your pick of a dozen."

"Send one or two of them over to Orta, and tell him to work on getting the Fourth into shape. Hopefully that will buy us enough time to have a word with Adrecht."

"I suppose that's fair enough. It's going to have to be you that talks to him, though. He's never paid me much mind, and I doubt he'll start now."