I sat down on the ground. There was nothing to say. Id known it. Id seen it happen, too. But I hadnt wanted to believe it. Till that instant, I realized, Id been carrying some small hope that Id been wrong.

Impossible that I could feel such loss and pain. Damn him, Croaker was just a man! How did I get so involved? I never meant it to get complicated.

This wasnt accomplishing anything. I got up. We lost a battle but the war goes on. The Shadowmasters will rue the day they decided to bully Taglios. What are your names?

The little man said, Im Narayan, Lady. He grinned. Id get thoroughly sick of that grin. A joke on me. Its a Shadar name. He was Gunni, obviously. Do I look it? He jerked his head at the other man, who was Shadar. Shadar men tend to be tall and massive and hairy. This one had a head like a ball of kinky wire with eyes peering out. I was a vegetable peddler till the Shadowmasters came to Gondowar and enslaved everyone who survived the fight for the town.

That would have been before wed come to Taglios, last year, when Swan and Mather had been doing their inept best to stem the first invasion.

My friend is Ram. Ram was a carter in Taglios before he joined the legions.

Why did he call you jamadar?

Narayan glanced at Ram, flashed a grin filled with bad teeth, leaned close to me, whispered, Ram isnt very bright. Strong as an ox he is, and tireless, but slow.

I nodded but wasnt satisfied. They were two odd birds. Shadar and Gunni didnt run together. Shadar consider themselves superior to everyone. Hanging around with a Gunni would constitute a defilement of spirit. And Narayan was low-caste Gunni. Yet Ram showed him deference.

Neither harbored any obviously wicked designs toward me. At the moment any companion was an improvement on travelling alone. I told them, We ought to get moving. More of them could show up.... What is he doing?

Ram had a ten-pound rock. He was smashing the leg bones of the man hed killed. Narayan said, Ram. Thats enough. Were leaving.

Ram looked puzzled. He thought. Then he shrugged and discarded the rock. Narayan didnt explain his actions. He told me, We saw one fair-sized group this morning, maybe twenty men. Maybe we can catch up.

That would be a start. I realized I was starving. I hadnt eaten since before the battle. I shared out what Id taken off the dead elephant. It didnt help much. Ram went at it like it was a feast, now completely indifferent to the dead.

Narayan grinned. You see? An ox. Come. Ram, carry her armor.