The Fist grunted. ‘This news is disturbing, Captain. You do not trust your own soldiers. And this is the first time you’ve told me of any of this. Have you considered confronting the sergeant directly?’

They had reached the edge of the camp. Before them stretched a broken line of hills; to their right, the dark forest of Vathar.

To Gamet’s questions, Keneb sighed and nodded. ‘They in turn do not trust me, Fist. There is a rumour in my company ... that I abandoned my last soldiers, at the time of the uprising.’

And did you, Keneb? Gamet said nothing.

But it seemed that the captain heard the silent question none the less. ‘I didn’t, although I will not deny that some of the decisions I made back then could give cause to question my loyalty to the empire.’

‘You had better explain that,’ Gamet said quietly.

‘I had family with me. I sought to save them, and for a time nothing else mattered. Sir, whole companies went over to the rebels. You did not know who to trust. And as it turned out, my commander—’

‘Say no more of that, Captain. I’ve changed my mind. I don’t want to know. Your family? Did you manage to save them?’

‘Aye, sir. With some timely help from an outlawed Bridgeburner—’

‘A what? Who, in Hood’s name?’

‘Corporal Kalam, sir.’

‘He’s here? In Seven Cities?’

‘He was. On his way, I think, to the Empress. From what I gathered, he had some issues he wanted to, uh, raise with her. In person.’

‘Who else knows all this?’

‘No-one, sir. I’ve heard the tale, that the Bridgeburners were wiped out. But I can tell you, Kalam was not among them. He was here, sir. And as to where he is now, perhaps the Empress alone knows.’

There was a smudge of motion in the grasses, about twenty paces distant. That dog. Hood knows what it’s up to. ‘All right, Captain. Keep Gesler in the rearguard for now. But at some point, before the battle, we’ll have to test him – I need to know if he’s reliable.’

‘Aye, sir.’

‘Your beast is wandering out there.’

‘I know. Every night. As if looking for something. I think it might be . . . Coltaine. Looking for Coltaine. And it breaks my heart, sir.’

‘Well, if it’s true, Captain, that the dog’s looking for Coltaine, I admit to being surprised.’

‘What do you mean, sir?’

‘Because the bastard’s here. You’d have to be blind, dumb and deaf to miss him, Captain. Goodnight to you.’ He turned and strode off, feeling the need to spit, but he knew the bitter taste in his mouth would not so easily leave him.