at least can be trusted to follow order. He’s General Lahk’s twin brother.’
‘Ah yes, now I remember. I have some knife work to be done. You may tell those three - and any of the rest with the necessary skills - to report to Dashain.’
‘Your Majesty — ’ Jachen had begun, only to have his protests cut off once more.
‘Major! Is there any part of that instruction you do not understand? ’
Jachen hung his head, well-aware of his place and how far any objections could be taken. ‘No, your Majesty.’
‘Then carry out your orders, and without further question, if you please. Narkang shares your grief for Lord Isak, but it does not excuse forgetting your place - indeed, it shows just how serious events have become.’ King Emin’s face had hardened as he leaned forward over his desk. ‘You may not fully understand your orders; you may not have all of the information you think you need, but that should be nothing new. This is a war, and you must do your part. The more you do not understand the reasons for your mission, the more you should realise the deadly importance of the task. Do you understand me?’
Jachen, chastised, saluted, not trusting himself to speak. He had talked his way into trouble his entire career, but he knew enough about the Narkang king to realise talking back now wouldn’t just result in demotion.
‘You all right, sir?’ came a voice from behind him.
Jachen flinched, and Private Marad chuckled in a half-hearted way. The other member of their party, a grizzled sergeant called Ralen, just squinted at him, but as he looked back, the major couldn’t tell whether Ralen’s expression was one of concern or just discomfort at the sun.
‘I’m fine, Sergeant, just wondering what’s waiting for us.’
‘Bunch o’ jabbering monsters, sir,’ Ralen drawled, ‘if it’s anything like the last time we was ’ere.’
‘Nah,’ Marad said, ‘gentry only comes out a night.’ He pointed past Jachen to a long line of huge pine trees that dominated the view. ‘See them big stones at the base o’ them trees? They’re called twilight stones; gentry stand on ’em and watch the sun set. That’s the first you’ll see of ’em all day, so we were told.’
Jachen followed the line of Marad’s finger. He thought he could make out shapes in the shadows under the trees, but with the sun so high it was hard to make out much more. ‘We’ll soon find out enough,’ he said, urging his horse into a trot again. ‘Let’s hope we get more answers here than we did from the king.’
‘From a witch?’ Marad scoffed. ‘Not bloody likely - ’bout as much chance as ’er lettin’ the sarge shag ’er.’
Ralen gave a wistful sigh and started on after Jachen. ‘Man’s gotta have goals in life,’ he said, prompting another laugh from Marad. ‘Considerin’ the closest thing she’s got to a friend has blue fur and fangs, I ain’t givin’ up yet.’
The three soldiers found themselves riding through the belt of ancient pine that denoted the Llehden border in silence. There was an occasional marker stone, but it was clear few travelled this way. The woods were strangely hushed for a spring afternoon, the birdsong sounding distant, coming in clipped bursts, as though even the birds were wary to break the silence.
The pines extended a mile past the twilight stones, dwindling in number as the land rose, then dipped away. Only when the last of the huge trees were behind them did they start to see signs of civilisation, and when they reached the first hamlet it was the soldiers who were more surprised. At a fork in the path they came across eight cottages huddled along the bank of a stream, penned in by a wicker fence and cultivated hawthorn thickets. To the right the oak and birch trees thinned out and they could make out the long grass of pastureland.
Jachen assumed the thorny fencing was to keep the animals from wandering at night, but as they drew closer he began to pick out rabbit-bone charms and polished metal discs hanging amongst the branches. It was unusual to see so many charms on display like that - they didn’t look religious, and it was the sort of thing priests objected to.
For a small settlement frightened enough to put so much effort into protective charms, they betrayed very little fear - or even interest - at the sight of strange horsemen. The few locals in sight - five women