opened into Lake Tullamayne, which glinted dully beneath the overcast sky, flanked by mountains. That way was the Taneryn border, where more mountains rose. Beyond those mountains, Halleryn. So little distance had the Hadryn had to come.
About the western bank of the river's bend, the land rose in foothills that stretched from the base of the Shudyn Divide all the way to the valley mouth beyond, where they reared up once more to form steep, imposing sides. Another sharp range rose to form the valley's eastern flank, spreading from that narrow point as they progressed northwards, high ridges of treeless rock, linked in places by a dipping, sweeping spine that looked sharp enough to cut leather, swathed in cloud. Down below, nestled in the foothills upon the outer, western bend of the river, lay the town of Ymoth. Sasha caught a brief sight of green pasture along the riverbank, and a bridge. So beautiful, from this height. She had little faith it would remain so, once they were closer.
“What do you guess we are facing?” Sasha asked.
“It depends on how quickly their messengers moved,” Tyrun said grimly. “Far slower than ours, certainly—among the villages, messengers and horses can be swapped, and ridden through night and day in all directions. Any northern messenger has had to avoid the villages, has received no change of horse and has had little sleep. It's possible we are less than a day behind such a message.”
“And then the question is ‘What will Usyn do?’” Sasha replied.
Tyrun nodded, a ginger hand on the reins as they turned a downward corner, avoiding slippery rocks. “We could assume he learned this morning. In that case, had he moved immediately, his forces could be gathered at Ymoth now…if hidden in those woods, we could not see them from here.”
Sasha made a face. “That's a big force to move so fast. They'll have been encamped before the Udalyn Wall for a siege. Camps can tend to become permanent, and forces who do not believe themselves threatened are not prepared to move quickly…and they're not known as ‘heavy horse’ for nothing. The wall is at the valley's far end, and the valley is no short hike. Also, I'd not have thought it in the Hadryn's nature to hide in the woods. Heavy cavalry likes open space—I'd think he'd meet us on those fields beside the river. If he's here, we'll see him.”
Tyrun gave her a wary glance. “M'Lady is an optimist.” In a tone that suggested a learned distrust of such things, especially from youngsters.
Sasha shrugged. “Then I'll give you true optimism. I think Usyn is a crazed fool bent on avenging his father's death. I think he'll resist any request from his commanders to pack up and move away. At the least, that could gain us some time. When he does move to meet us, he'll also leave behind a portion of his force to keep the Udalyn contained behind their wall. He'll think to deal with us, then return to his siege. But he will not be at full strength when we meet him.”
“Perhaps the Udalyn have already fallen, M'Lady,” Tyrun said darkly. “Perhaps the valley wall is breached. The north has siege weapons…Hadryn in particular, one suspects, having dreamed of this campaign for some time. If that is so, we shall face the entire Hadryn force all at once.”
“The valley wall stands firm,” Sasha replied. “I'm sure of it.” Tyrun just looked at her, even more warily than before. “It must,” she corrected herself, with a resigned smile. “Otherwise, we'll have come all this way for nothing.”
“Must move fast!” called Captain Akryd of the Taneryn Red Swords from behind, having ridden past Sofy and Jaryd. “If we waste time scouting, that bastard Usyn will arrive in force! Certainly we can't camp overnight. It's now or never.”
Tyrun made a face, wrinkling up his moustache. Then he nodded. “We go immediately, no waiting.” And spared Sasha a faintly amused look. “Otherwise, we'll have come all this way for nothing.”
It began to dawn on Sasha what that would mean. A full charge into rolling terrain with plenty of ambush opportunities, without knowing what it was they were facing. She took a deep breath. “All right!” she announced, loudly enough to include Captain Akryd behind them. Akryd, she reckoned, would have been selected by Krayliss himself, as great lords typically selected the commanders of provincial companies. She hoped he wouldn't do anything stupid. “If it's not Usyn himself, it'll probably be Banneryd