“No, sir,” I replied. Most of my former brothers had either accepted my presence with cool politeness, as if dealing with a squad leader we all knew was a jerk, or pretended I didn’t exist. There had been a few death glares, and one incident where someone had spit in my direction before being shouted down by his squad leader, but no outright challenges or attempts to corner me. This was partially due to the respect Gabriel Martin commanded, but an imminent attack from dragons also commanded everyone’s attention. The chapterhouse had been so busy preparing for the assault there had been no time for scheming or thoughts of revenge against a single soldier.

Martin nodded, his face dark. “If they do,” he said, “if there is trouble, Sebastian, I want you to come to me. Don’t try to handle it yourself. If this attack doesn’t happen soon, tempers are going to fray, and the tension is going to drive some very foolish decisions. I don’t want this base to fall into chaos, nor do I need anyone in the infirmary right now. I know most of the men will follow orders, but I can’t be everywhere at once. If you think there could be trouble, I want you to tell me. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

“And that goes for your dragons when they get here, as well.”

“They might not show up, sir. There are only a few hours of daylight left.” And the attack is supposed to happen tonight. I swallowed the bitterness in my throat. Ember, it’s probably for the best that you don’t come. I suspect very few of us are going to live to see the next morning.

“Even so. If they do arrive, we’ll have our hands full keeping everyone in line.”