Well, they were past that now. She was holding this grudge far too long. No one deserved the disgust she seemed so determined to level upon him, not after all these years of marriage. Uneventful marriage. No crises, and a son – true, he’s rejected the soldier’s path, but surely we can forgive him that, if only to accept, finally, that his is a weak soul, a soft soul, too tender for most professions, and we well know the harshness of an army’s culture. Its cruelties.

No, it’s all for the better, Esthala, and all this contempt – for me, for our son, for so many others – it offers no useful salve to your life. You must see that.

To reveal tenderness, darling, is not a confession of weakness. And even if it is, then we must all know that weakness, with someone.

You seek to be strong, at all times, in all company. It makes you impatient. It makes you cruel.

Still, he was done with delivering mundane messages. He would face her down, this night. There were different kinds of strength, after all. He would show her his, and name it love.

He started as a figure joined him, matching his stride. A glance across revealed a hooded, cloaked form and little else. ‘What is it you wish with me, soldier?’

‘Ah, forgive me, Silann. It is Captain Sharenas, fighting the cold however I can.’

Though she did not draw back the hood, Silann knew the voice. ‘Welcome back, Sharenas. Have you just returned, then?’

‘Yes. I was on my way to speak to your wife, in fact.’

Ah, then… well, Esthala and I will need to find another night, I suppose. Tomorrow night, to work things through, to make it better again. ‘She is awake,’ Silann said. ‘I too am on my way back to her.’

‘I assumed as much,’ Sharenas said.

The camp was relatively quiet, as the cold bit ever deeper. A few fires were still lit, making lurid islands of orange, yellow and red light. But most tents they passed were dark, tied up, as soldiers slept beneath blankets and, if they were lucky, furs.

‘Have you reported to Lord Urusander?’ Silann asked.

‘I have,’ she replied. ‘It was… extensive. The countryside, Silann, has become a troubled place. Many have died, and few of those were deserving of the violence delivered upon them.’

‘That is always the way, in civil war.’

‘Worse, of course, when the victims knew nothing of any civil war. When, alas, they were the first ones to fall to it. Knowledge and intention, Silann. In these circumstances, we can name them crimes.’

A faint tremor slipped through Silann. ‘Have you… have you compiled details, then?’

‘As best I could,’ Sharenas replied. ‘It was difficult, as not everyone was willing to speak to me.’ She paused, and they turned down a side avenue, approaching the command tent of Esthala’s cohort; then she said, ‘But I was fortunate to find some who would.’