There you go, Kildragon said. March all the way from High Crag, forced march, killing ourselves, so we can save this dump, and what do we do? Walk away. Why do they always let the morons do the military planning?

Listen to the old strategist, Haaken mocked. He dont have sense enough to hold his spot in the line, but he knows better than the General and Harouns old man, whove only been leading armies since before he was a twinkle in his fathers eye.

Keep it down, Bragi said. Were supposed to be sneaking out of here.

With all this racket? You could probably hear these wagons four miles away, theyre making so much noise.

The Wahligs horsemen had ridden out at nightfall, several hours earlier, in hopes of scouring the area of enemy spies. Now the main column was under way. The Guildsmen would guard its rear. The Wahlig hoped his getaway would not be noticed till he could not be overhauled.

Ragnarson.

Bragi faced Lieutenant Sanguinet. Sir?

Too much noise from your crowd. Tell Kildragon to keep it down or Ill leave him for the jackals.

Yes sir. Ill gag him if I have to, sir.

That should have been it. But Sanguinet remained rooted, staring. Bragi began to wilt. Once the man finally did leave, Bragi told Haaken, He knows. He has to pretend he dont on account of if he doesnt hell have to do something about it. Even if we did save the Wahligs kid. Were going to be walking on eggs. Hell be looking to get us on something else. Reskird, you better pretend you never learned to run your mouth.

What did I do? I just said what everybody is thinking.

Everybody else has sense enough to keep it to themselves. Lets move out. Bragi left el Aswad and never looked back. A glance over his shoulder would have been a glance into his past, and he did not want to rue his decision to enlist. A fools decision, that, but he was here now, and he was of that stubborn sort which insists on enduring the consequences of its acts.

Looking ahead, he saw nothing promising. He expected to shed his lifes blood somewhere on the sand of this savage, alien, incomprehensible land.

Haroun did look back. He had no choice. The litter he rode, despite insisting he could ride a horse, faced the castle.

He wept. He had known no other home, and was certain hed never see it again. He wept for his father and Fuad, for whom el Aswad meant even more. He wept for all the valiant ancestors who had held the Eastern Fortress, never yielding in their trust. And he wept for the future, intimations of which had begun to reach him already.

Megelin joined him, and walked beside him, sharing a silence no words could give more meaning.

Before dawn arrived the column vanished into the Great Erg, unmarked by a single unfriendly eye.