“I would be greatly amazed if they didn’t swarm the place, doing all sorts of little chores. Anybody expecting a bunch of terrified, wild little beasts is going to get a shock. Having ’em around is a lot like having a tribe of those little house sprites some old stories talk about; they can’t do heavy labor, but by the gods, when they get determined to do something, it gets done. I had to fish more of ’em out of my wash tubs than I care to think about.” She chuckled a little, then sobered. “Listen, you have the Queen’s ear; make sure no one breaks them up into little groups right away—let ’em sort themselves out. They’ve made up little family groups of their own, and it’s all they’ve got. Make sure none of us take that away from them.”

“I shall,” he promised. It wasn’t a difficult promise to make.

The caravan moved on, ghosting through the darkness. And even at the slow pace, they reached the Border again a little after sunrise.

The children were awake by then, and peering eagerly ahead. Alberich had elected to come into the camp, not from the south directly, but indirectly from the west, saving the children the sight of the battlefield. They might have run tame in the Tedrel camp for most of their lives, and they might be inured to the aftermath of battle, but he didn’t think they had ever seen a battlefield. Even now, there would still be much of horror about it. The result of so great a conflict was not cleaned up in a day or two… and it was no sight for these little ones.

So they actually made a detour upcountry, leaving the trampled “road” that the Tedrels had left until they struck an old track that crossed the Border at a ford, and joined up with one of the Valdemaran roads used by Border patrols. The old track showed some wear, so someone was still using it; it was rutted and gave the teamsters some hard times, but they took it in good part, knowing they were nearly home. Whenever a wagon got stuck, the children (if it was one that was carrying children) all piled out and the largest children mobbed it, put their young shoulders to it, and helped in the front by hauling on the horse’s harness. No wagon remained stuck for long, with that kind of help.

For Alberich, crossing the Border brought on a mood of melancholy and depression. Not despair—but his heart sank with every pace they came nearer the camp. For a little, he had been allowed to forget, but only for a little and now—

They had all lost so much… so much.