The Serpentwar Saga. Raymond E. Feist

compound. They wouldn’t be able to break it down and carry it with them, as they had with the gate they had built at Weanat—that one had been lost with most of their other equipment outside the barrow up on the Plain of Djams.

      Erik wondered about crossing the plain. Even though they were miles farther south than when they last encountered the Gilani, he knew that to encounter the diminutive warriors could spell the ruin of this mission. At the last he decided there were too many things to worry about, so he’d leave worrying to Calis and de Loungville while he just did the work that needed to be done.

      After seeing the gate finished, he noticed the day was rapidly approaching noon. He ordered a couple of fires started and then decided to see if the watch had changed. He found the same men on duty since he had passed them at first light, so he went back into the tents and kicked some protesting men awake, telling them it was their turn on watch.

      He was seeing that the mess was in order for the noon meal when de Loungville returned from interrogating Nahoot’s men. De Loungville got off his mount and asked, ‘Is that parapet finished?’

      Erik said, ‘About two hours ago.’

      ‘Stakes?’

      ‘Being sharpened and placed now.’

      ‘The gate?’

      ‘In place.’

      ‘Sally ramp?’

      ‘It’s being built – I doubt it will be much use, though; more than a single horse at a time and it might fall apart.’

      ‘Has anyone changed the watch?’

      ‘I took care of that a few minutes ago.’

      ‘Where’s the Captain?’

      ‘Up talking to Greylock, Praji, Vaja, and Hatonis.’

      ‘Regular officer’s country, eh?’ asked de Loungville, taking a cup from near the cook’s fire. He dipped it into a bubbling kettle, then blew on the contents before he finally took a sip of hot soup.

      Erik said, ‘If you say so, Sergeant. I’m still new at this.’

      De Loungville surprised him with a grin, then drank his soup. Making a face, he said, ‘This needs some salt.’ He tossed the cup down and stated walking away. ‘If you need me for anything, I’ll be with the Captain.’

      Erik turned to one of the men near the cookpot and said, ‘I wonder what that was about.’

      The man was named Samuel. He had served with one of the first groups taken from the gallows and had been around de Loungville for a long time. ‘Sergeant has his reasons for doing what he’s doing.’ Then he paused. After a moment he added, ‘But it’s the first real smile out of him since Foster died, Corporal.’

      Erik started to correct the man, as no one had named him corporal officially, but then thought if it made the men do what needed to be done that much quicker, he’d be better served by keeping his mouth shut. He only shrugged. As the food was almost ready, Erik decided it was time to get the men rotating through the mess, so the sentries could get a hot meal before the next watch.

      Erik oversaw the distribution of horses to those men given one day’s grace before being hunted down. Calis made an unusual offer to them: if they would ride directly for the river Dee, to the south, then follow it to the coast before making for either Chatisthan or Ispar, he would send no one after them. He warned them that if they followed him and his men to Port Grief, he would kill every one of them. He also paid a small bonus in gold. The men who were turned loose swore a mercenary’s oath to do as bidden and were now getting ready to ride out of the camp.

      What surprised Erik was that about twenty of Nahoot’s men were being offered a place in the company. They were being kept apart from those trained by de Loungville by being put under Greylock and they would ride with Hatonis’s clansmen, but having outsiders at this late juncture was a risk Erik was not sure he would be willing to take. Then again, he decided, that was probably why Calis was the Prince’s Eagle of Krondor and he was only an acting corporal.

      De Loungville came over and watched as Erik set up the sixty men leaving. They were being given the least desirable horses and knew it, but at least none of them was lame. They were allowed to carry a week’s worth of rations and the gold Calis gave them, as well as their weapons. All other baggage and stores were remaining with Calis’s company.

      A half-dozen riders from Calis’s company would shadow the men for a half day, then return. When all were mounted and ready, the order was given and the defeated mercenaries and their escort rode out.

      Erik watched them leave, then asked, ‘Sergeant, why are we taking on those extra men?’

      De Loungville said, ‘Captain’s got his reasons. You just keep an eye on them to see they do as they’re told, and don’t worry why they’re here. Just one thing: pass the word that no one is to talk about our previous set-to with the Saaur with those new men.’

      Erik nodded and walked off to pass the word. When he reached the center of the compound, he saw that Greylock was passing out green armbands. Erik took one and said, ‘What is this?’

      ‘As of this morning, we are now Nahoot’s Grand Company.’ He motioned to where de Loungville was walking, inspecting the stores they’d won. ‘He’s Nahoot. At least, the men who’ve joined us say Bobby looks the most like him of any of us here.’

      Erik said, ‘And Calis figures the Saaur might think we all look alike anyway?’

      Greylock grinned. ‘Never thought you were stupid. Glad to see I was right.’ He put his hand on Erik’s shoulder and walked him away from the men gathering to pick up their armbands. Lowering his voice, he said, ‘Nahoot’s due to be relieved in the next few days. At least, that’s what everyone thinks.’

      ‘So if we can pass ourselves off, then we can walk back into the Queen’s camp and no one will look at us twice.’

      ‘Something like that. If those boys are to be believed, things are even crazier down here than they were up north of Lanada. There’s a chance we might run into someone who might remember us from up there, but it’s a slim one.’

      Greylock looked around to see who was nearby, then continued. ‘Seems Nahoot’s boys were sent to find us.’

      ‘That a fact or a guess?’ asked Erik.

      ‘Guess, but probably a good one. The orders were to ride out to this road and keep a lookout for any company riding down out of the mountains that didn’t have armbands and didn’t know the password. I don’t know who they were expecting to come down out of those mountains except us.’

      Erik said, ‘You’re right. I wouldn’t bet against its being us they were looking for.’

      Greylock shrugged. ‘Maybe they’re concerned we saw something up in that maze of caves and galleries.’

      Erik said, ‘I saw enough to think it’s not someplace I’m in a hurry to visit again.’

      Greylock grinned. ‘How are the horses?’

      ‘Good. We’ve moved them and they’re fattening up on fall grass. There’s nothing here to ride that a noble back home would lose sleep over not owning, but for common mercenaries, they’re a serviceable bunch.’

      ‘Pick me out a good one,’ Greylock said. ‘I’ve got to get back. We’re setting new duty to get the new recruits out of our hair and then we’re going to wait.’

      ‘Wait for what?’

      ‘Replacements so we can head back to join in the assault on Maharta.’

      Erik shook his head. ‘We’ve got a funny way of fighting this war: helping the enemy take their objective.’

      Greylock shrugged. ‘Aside from the pain and dying, war can be a pretty funny business, Erik. I’ve read every written history of war I could get my hands on, and I know this: once