We are not sure when the enemy will arrive, but it will be soon. I must ask you to prepare now. You know what to do. Ensure that your men are well hidden. The enemy must not see you.

And Klamath? Heed me in this. When the cavalry comes, let it pass. Do not strike until the cannon fire. That will be your signal.

Fight while you have bullets. Then retreat. There is a plateau above you. You can gather there.

The Queen seemed to sigh. I hold your life in my heart, Klamath. I will help you as much as I can.

For a moment after she was done, fresh tears blurred Klamath’s vision. They stung his cheeks in the cold air. How had King Bifalt ever refused her love?

As she had promised, she had brought cannon to the Last Repository. The coming battle might not be as fatal as General Klamath feared.

When he had mastered himself, he gave Hegels the task of composing the list Queen Estie wanted and dispatching it to her. He spent an hour resting to conserve his strength. Then he walked for a while among his riflemen, reassuring them—or hoping that they would reassure him. The wagons loaded with the supplies he had been promised lifted his spirits.

As the sun began its slow slide toward evening, he summoned all of his officers and their under-captains to explain Queen Estie’s orders. She had not said so, but he expected Rile’s infantry to come uphill in a straight line toward the Repository. He divided his men into two companies, one for each side of that line. The force that would position itself on the south, he gave to First Captain Hegels. He took the north side for himself.

Fretting, he watched the riflemen scramble up into the foothills, searching for suitable coverts. While they settled themselves, he walked up and down a stretch of the road, convincing himself that they were well hidden. Finally, he went to find his own place.

He chose a mound of boulders and smaller stones high enough to hide him. There he was well below the rim of rock where he had seen Amikan soldiers. When the sun rose again behind the Wall, the shadow of the keep’s tall white tower would cover him. But first he would have to endure a cold, lonely night.

Since her visit to the cannon with sub-Commander Waysel, Queen Estie had returned every morning. Rising well before dawn, she had walked out onto the Repository’s porch. There she had studied the west while the sun rose.