They were woken in the morning by a squad of troops asking if they could pack up because they had to take the tent down. This confused them a bit, until Gwen explained that they had been breaking down the camp since before light. So, Delta and Gwen got their stuff together, and Zipper went and fetched their cart and donkeys from the stable.

There were a number of other carts staged in the big central area that were being loaded with all the mobile parts of the camp. To Zipper’s relief the kitchen was still serving, although just bundled up stuff to go. They stood for a while eating some sort of leftover concoction on bread.

“Glad to see you up finally”, said a voice. Major Kanni had come up to them.

Delta gave her a respectful nod rather than a salute as her hands were full. “Good morning. Are we moving out?”

“Yes”, she said. “This is where your guard duty starts.”

“Fair enough”, said Delta. “What position do you want us in?”

“We’ll put you on point”, she said. “We’re not expecting trouble. And I don’t think you want to be shepherding the stragglers at the back. I’m not so worried about our baggage train but we’re also escorting the civilian merchants we’ve cleared from the roads back to Bourger. So, I’ll take the rear and make the executive decisions about who to bawl out the most. I’ll send signals up if I need you to slow down. Understood?”

“Yes, sir”, said Delta. “But unless you are going to use runners, I’ll need a brief on your horn signals.”

“I’ll send a corporal up to go over the basics”, she said, nodding. “When you’ve licked the grease off your hands, take your wagon down to the road. There will be a caravan of the merchants coming up from Touchelle. Have them wait there. I’ll organize this lot in the lane, and when everyone’s ready to pull together, we’ll set out. Any questions?”

“No, sir. Seems light duty”, said Delta.

“Let’s hope so”, said the Major, and moved off.

After finishing up and stowing their gear, Zipper begged a helmet full of scraps from the kitchen for Johnston and put them in the back of the wagon. They moved out to the lane facing in the direction of Bourger. While they waited they puttered around, putting things in order, and rigging up additional storage.

“They must be moving towards Metzre”, said Delta. “Otherwise they wouldn’t be moving the baggage train in that direction.”

“Maybe they’ve boated out onto the lake, and up the river to Metzre”, said Zipper.

Delta shook her head. “No one has moved a military across water since that disastrous attempt to invade the Elven Isles way back when.”

“Well, it would be unique and unexpected”, said Zipper. “That seems their style.”

“True”, thought Delta. “Although getting enough ships might be hard.”

“Maybe he’s had orcs building them over in Bright for him”, said Zipper.

Delta’s mind boggled at the concept. “That’s a scary idea. If he can get orcs to build boats, he can do just about anything.”

“Magic”, said Gwen. “Magic up. Magic down. Answer not know. Answer is magic.”

“Yeah”, said Delta. “Given the magic they have, the answer could be anything. No point speculating.”

Carts and wagons had started lining up in the lane. And, in the distance, they saw more making their way up the lane from Touchelle.

“Looks like the party is here”, said Zipper.

Major Kanni turned up, gave a critical look at the civilians, and waved the mercenaries into motion. Zipper snapped the reins and the donkeys set off at their own pace. Wagons lurched into motion behind them, as those in the lane started up and then paced themselves behind them.

The day passed trivially. For the most part the forest was thick, and Gwen chatted with them. They were down to non-critical words, which were harder, since they were seldom literal, and they didn’t always have something at hand.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

Goblin grammar was quite different from what they were used to. They suspected it was much more complicated than Gwen was explaining it, but that she left out all the irregularities. They tried to do the same, but the Romitu language, the language of the Empire, was an obnoxious polyglot of borrowed words form all the countries they had conquered. They really had no appreciation for how unruly it was until they tried to teach someone else.

Major Kanni rode up and down the line on her horse, when she wasn’t cajoling civilians to keep to the pace. She listened for a while when she was at the front. When they stopped she encouraged them to continue and participated. She didn’t understand goblin, but she had learned several languages, and occasionally had an insight into common grammatical constructs.

“Maybe we’ll extend your contract into linguistic training” she joked. “I certainly wouldn’t mind a goblin tutor. Maybe I’ll get the General to send me on a recruiting expedition to the goblins.”

Gwen looked very skeptical. “Mountain Goblins stay”, she said. “Respect humans not.”

Kanni shrugged. “Doesn’t mean we don’t respect them. Our general philosophy is that if you can pay taxes, you can be a citizen.”

“How long have you worked for this new empire?” asked Delta, carefully.

The Major gave her a penetrating stare, but with some humor. “I’ve been an officer a month”, she said. Then she followed on more quietly, “I was in Romitu when he created a fuss in the assembly and stormed off. I had read a lot of his speeches afterwards and was very impressed with him. It was disappointing when he vanished into the wastes and didn’t come back. Never did I expect him to turn up on my doorstep.”

A rider came back, indicating that Bourger was not far ahead. “Take the column straight through and out the other side of the village. There will be a field a bit of a distance past it marked with an imperial eagle. They are to set up base there. I’ll get our civilians split and parked in Bourger.” She cracked her reins and was off.

“Just a wee bit of hero worship, there”, said Zipper, under her breath.

“Seems a common affliction in this army”, said Delta. “I almost hope I never meet this general.”

“Magic”, said Gwen, and wiggled her fingers.

The sun was nearly down when they hit Bourger. A squad of troops came forward to encourage the locals back and let the army pass through. They could see fear and uncertainty in their eyes. But it was notable that they were out, straining to see, rather than cowering behind shuttered windows.

Shadows were lengthening by the time they got to the field. Some sort of order went out, and a few bright lights, much like the signal they had seen at Banbury Tower, went up and lit the area. Zipper and Delta helped where they could, setting up tent after tent in long rows. More and more kept being unloaded from the wagons.

“How big is their army?” said Zipper. It was well after sunset and they were still putting up tents.

“This does seem excessive”, said Delta. “Maybe it’s another ruse. To make them seem bigger than they are.”

By the time the last ones were up, cook had plenty of meals set out in the mess tent, which was, easily, three times the size it had been at the previous camp. They also noticed that there were many supplies being set out. And not just stacked for storage but being set out for preparation. It was very puzzling.

At least until the morning, when the first refugees began to arrive.

They came down the road from Metzre. Some in wagons. Some carrying packs. Many had been walking through the night. They were at first distressed to find an army between them and what they thought was safety in Bourger. But unarmed troops met them and directed them to tents and food. There were very little questions after that.

The news they had was scattered. Metzre was being attacked, but the details were vague. Most just knew there was fighting in the street, and those that couldn’t get behind the walls decided to just get out of there. They hadn’t stayed to see which side was winning.

Major Kanni snagged them early. “Ready for today’s duty?” she asked.

“We’ve taken the shilling”, said Delta.

“Good”, said Kanni. “The tabards are good. Leave them on. Take your poles. I want you to walk up and down the road from here to Metzre. As far as is reasonable and back. Let people know there is food and shelter ahead. But, mostly, keep the peace. Discourage looting. Help those in distress. Keep an eye out for brigands and others taking advantage of the situation.” She smiled. “Guard them. Understood?”

“I understand the orders”, said Delta. “It’s somewhat unconventional. But I’m not disagreeing.”

“This is a civil war, not a conquest”, said Kanni. “We wish these to be our subjects, not our chattel. Treat them as such.”

“Yes, sir”, said Delta, and saluted.

She and Zipper started down the road, poles propped over their shoulders. They let people know there was no harm. Space had been made for them in Bourger, and that it was not far ahead. They suggested, very politely, that those with carts consider taking on those exhausted from walking, since it was only a little further. The fact they were armored and had weapons made them very persuasive.

“Unconventional, my left eyeball”, said Zipper. “This is just crazy. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying I prefer the weeping, wailing, innocent bloodshed and burnt crops that normally come with war. But people have always needed to do those things to win. These people’s ambitions are so far outside their grasp. How can they afford to be this magnanimous?”

Delta pondered in silence for a while. “I wonder”, she said eventually. “Just because it’s always been, does that mean it always has to be? How much of the pillage was for the victor, and how much for the victory?” She gestured around her. “This invading army may be the cause of their displacement, but it’s also going to feed and shelter them tonight. People have really short memories. It may be that there’s more to a war than just stabbing people.”

Zipper walked for a while as they approached the next clump of refugees. “This guy is either really stupid, or really clever. Either way, he’s either too stupid or too clever for me to work out.”