The next day’s drive was mostly under the eaves of the wood. Gwen practiced shooting at trees, which Zipper and Delta would then sprint out to attack. It was tiring work, but more interesting than attacking the back of their wagon.

They didn’t see another soul on the road going in either direction.

“Yep”, said Zipper. “I’m pretty sure they took the coast road.”

“We should probably put the bow away and stop charging random trees”, said Delta. “I expect they will have an ambush set up. It is kind of the perfect set up for it.”

They all concurred and stowed their gear. However, they left their tabards on. It wouldn’t do to be pre-emptively taken out as attackers, but they also didn’t want to just be corralled as travelling merchants.

Delta was just about to call a halt when Gwen tapped her on the shoulder. She had been napping on and off during the day. But the shade of the wood didn’t bother her as much as when they were under broad daylight. Delta looked down and pointed to Johnston, whose was alert and whose ears were twitching.

“I agree”, said Delta. “It seems to have gotten awfully quiet.”

Zipper reined in the donkeys. They all put their hands in plain sight, watched and waited.

A few minutes passed and Delta was just about to give up when there was a rustling in the undergrowth. A man emerged, dressed in dark and dirty clothes, smudges on his brown skin and a kerchief over his hair. He had a strung bow over his back and a quiver of arrows strapped to his thigh. However, he moved cautiously and, likewise, with his hands in easy reach.

“Stand and deliver?” asked Zipper.

The man grinned a flash of white teeth. “Not precisely”, he said with an eastern accent. “I would be warning you about entering a disputed zone, and how you are subject to seizure and holding. But I do not think you are normal itinerants.”

“Captain Delta, Wight’s Brigade”, said Delta, formally. “We are currently out of contract, and do not raise arms to any who do not raise them to us.”

“Looking for work, then?” he asked, flashing his grin again.

“Possibly”, said Delta. “More immediately, we have in our possession something that we think is of interest to your commander.”

“Oh ho!” he said. “Is that so?” There was more rustling, and another figure emerged. It was a young girl, dressed much the same, but with fairer skin and red hair peeking form her kerchief.

“I can take them in”, she volunteered.

The man gave her a long-suffering look. “I have not even decided what to do with them!” he complained.

“But you will”, she said, confidently.

He sighed, good humoredly. “Apparently I am going to decide to send you to the commander.” He looked speculatively at the wagon. “I do not think you are plotting assassination. Whatever you might possess of interest to The General I will let him decide. I do not need to know.” He nodded at each of them. “Please keep your weapons stowed, so that there are no misunderstandings.” He gestured to the girl next to him. “This trooper will provide you escort to our camp.”

“Thank you.” Delta said formally. “We left from around Bourger this morning, and did not see any traffic on the road, either before or behind us.”

He smiled and bowed formally. “Thank you for your information. We will check ourselves, but if true it will confirm your good intentions.”

The girl strode up to them and hopped on the running board on the side. “We need to go ahead about half a mile, and then there’s a turning.”

Zipper snapped the reins and the wagon jolted off.

“So… Wight’s Brigade?” started the girl. “That means you were at Cleres. I was there too. Left flank, archer unit. There to suppress flankers. There weren’t any, so there wasn’t that much action for us. Been with them long?”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Delta looked at her and her cheery expression. “About half a year. We were in the middle and got overrun by your charge. I’m the only one who survived. The other two have joined since then.”

“Two?” she asked. Then she peered in the back. “Oh! Thule be far! I didn’t see you there.”

“Thule and Yarltep be far”, answered Gwen.

“I love your wolf!” said the girl.

Zipper leaned forward to get a better look. “Aren’t you precocious?” The girl grinned apologetically. “We can scoot over if you want to sit.”

“Nah”, she said. “I’ve been squatting under a bush all morning. Happy to move my legs.” Her face became a little more serious. “I’m sorry for your loss at Cleres. We hit the middle pretty hard. Dad says they always put the mercs in the worst positions.”

“You’re Dad’s a mercenary?” asked Zipper.

“Yes! The Fighting Fifty-first!”, she beamed. “They were something back in the day. But both Dad and Mom retired just a bit after, well, me.”

“Before my time”, said Delta. “Are you following in their footsteps?”

“A bit. Dad’s the archer. I’m trying it out for a turn of service.”

“Regular army then”, said Delta.

“Yep”, said the girl. “Just one of the troops. A couple of mercenary squads did just join up this morning. Are you here to join as well?”

“I think we’ll just see how it goes”, said Delta. The girl shrugged.

“Which brigades?” asked Zipper.

“Hearth Mother’s Marauders and Weaver’s Wolverines”, said the girl. “Amazons.”

“I think the Marauders tried to recruit me once”, said Zipper.

“Are you from Amazonia?” asked the girl.

“No”, said Zipper. “But neither are they.”

“Well, they’re ex-pats”, said the girl. “We have a lot of ex-pat Amazons.” She looked around the inside of the wagon. “So, spear, glaive, black and white heraldry… were you guys the ones in the tower on the west side of the woods?”

“We were harassed in Banbury Tower by… some of your troops” said Delta.

The girl snapped her fingers. “I had a friend in that unit. A shield. Small, blonde, short tempered.”

“I think I conked her on the head”, said Delta, suppressing a grin.

The girl did not suppress her grin at all. “She was spitting mad that you got away.”

“Sorry for the inconvenience”, said Delta. “I hope there’s no hard feelings.”

The girl rolled her eyes. “That one’s a professional at holding a grudge. But don’t worry. We have strict rules about who is and is not an enemy combatant.”

They rode on for a bit as the girl held out her hand for Johnson to sniff. Gwen watched warily but did not intervene.

“Up there, between those two big trees, there’s a lane”, said the girl. “You need to take that.” She looked back to the wagon. “If nothing else I hope you guys sign on for training. We’re woefully short of polearms. Not to mention cavalry. The General says that limits our options on the battlefield.” She leaned closer and spoke in mock confidentiality. “He’s big into options.”

She hopped off as they made their turn. “Anyway, if you do, I’ll try to get time off to train with you. Mom says my pole work is substandard!” She trotted off ahead as they made their way through the trees.

“Was I that young once?” asked Zipper.

“I started probably a year or two after her”, said Delta. “Had training for two years before that.”

“I can’t imagine you that chipper”, said Zipper.

“Neither can I”, agreed Delta.

The lane was fairly narrow, but they could see, by the light, that it opened up more widely some distance ahead.

“Imperialists all speak goblin?” asked Gwen, confused.

Delta shrugged. “I wouldn’t have thought so.”

“We might want to reconsider our choice of secret language”, said Zipper.

The forest changed around them. There weren’t any fewer trees, but the underbrush around them had been cleared out. There was a cottage here, like a nucleus, and tents arrayed around it. Troops marched up and down, training, or stacking or moving stuff.

The red-haired girl, who had taken off her kerchief, waved them over to the side of a more open area, to an open sided tent. A man stood in front, fists on his hips. It was the clerk who had done their paperwork at Cleres. The girl waved one final time and strode off.

“Wight’s Brigade”, said the clerk.

Delta and Zipper dismounted. “At your service”, said Delta.

He raised up on his toes and looked at the wagon. “Up to three now. I saw the paperwork.”

“From strength to strength”, said Delta.

“I’m told you have something for me”, he said.

Delta explained the story, from when they took the contract, to Arcand’s discovery of the lead, and handing it over to them. “We were hoping there was some sort of bounty” finished Delta.

The clerk nodded. “Well, I do thank you for not holding it ransom, burying it in the woods, or threatening to melt it down. As for bounty…” He tapped his finger on his lips. “We do have some rules about that, but they are mainly based on the raw value of the reclaimed goods and need a few cross signatures.” He looked at Zipper. “I know how motivated you are about making the paperwork easy.” He grinned. “It might just be simpler to say that you took on the commission for delivery, and to just pay you the already agreed upon and budgeted amount for delivery.”

“How much would that be?” asked Zipper, resignedly.

“Thirty shillings”, said the clerk.

“That sounds just fine”, said Delta. Zipper looked fit to argue, so Delta said aside to her “It’s a lot more than we would have got for just the lead, or just taking Arcand’s final payment.” She sighed.

Delta turned back. “I hope your orcs enjoy their medals.”

The clerk smiled thinly. “If they find out about your daring rescue of them, you may get one or two yourself”, he warned.

They laughed politely. “So, would you have any contacts up for, say, training, or nocturnal scouting?” asked Delta.

The clerk smiled warmly. “We do indeed. Perfect for a half strength unit. I’ll just get the tablets.”