“You ain’t always been fat,” Hitch said suddenly.

I gave a snort of amusement. “How would you know?”

“The way you move. You act like a packhorse who’s carrying more than his fair share, or one that’s been badly loaded. If you’d carried that fat all your life, you’d be used to it by now. But I been watching you, and how you set your feet before you try to sit down, and how it takes you two tries to get up.”

I shrugged. “You’re right. This time last year, I was leaner than you.”

“What happened?”

Hitch’s eyes were a bit too bright. Fever burned in him. “If you want, I could go back to those willows and shave off some bark. Willow bark tea is supposed to lower a fever.”

“It’s supposed to, yes. It tastes awful. But actually, I’d rather you answered my question. What happened to you?”

I tried to find a comfortable way to sit. My arse was sore from a day in the saddle, and there was nothing to lean back against except an uneven tree trunk. “I got Speck fever. Everyone else either died or came out of it like a rack of bones. But I got better. Then I started to gain weight. The doctor at the academy knew what was coming. He said that this is a rare side effect of the plague. And they gave me a medical discharge.”

“Academy boy. Should have known,” Hitch muttered. He smiled derisively.

“So that makes you Lord Grand Somebody’s son, right?”

“No. I’m nobody’s son anymore. My father disowned me. I failed him. I disgraced myself. I didn’t get through the academy to be a cavalla officer, and he reckoned that I’d never be a soldier of any kind.”

“Probably reckoned right. Most regiments won’t take you in like that, not even as a foot soldier.” He tossed his empty toasting stick into the fire.

“But if you wanted, I could put in a word with Colonel Rabbit for you.”

“Colonel Rabbit? Does he command Gettys?”

He laughed out loud. “Yes, he does. But his real name is Colonel Haren.

The other name is a bit more apt. He spends all his time hiding in his hole. But you probably shouldn’t call him that if you’re trying to get on with him.” His voice was wandering.

“I think your fever’s coming up. I’m going after some willow bark while I still have light to see by.”

“Suit yourself.” He leaned his head back against a tree trunk. I took my kettle with me, and went back to the streamlet. I knew little other than that willow bark tea was supposed to be good for a fever. I scraped some from the trunk of the tree there, and some from the more supple branches.

I filled the kettle half-full of tree shavings and then topped it off with water. I took it back to the campfire, added a few more bits of the dry wood, and left it to heat. The light was fading. As much to warm myself as to be a good soldier, I took my hatchet and went looking for more wood.