The new order he was speaking of was something the traitor had suggested, putting the army under a system not so different from the way the Forest Guard ran things.

“Yes, well, get used to it.” Qurong spit. “I was told you lost our prisoner in the middle of the night. Tell me I’ve heard wrong.”

Tulong hesitated.

“One simpleton in your grasp and he’s gone?”

“Yes.”

“Sir.”

“Yes, sir,” Tulong said.

“And have you discovered who took this young fighter?”

“Not yet.”

“And why not? There’s no trail?”

“They dragged the body. But then the marks vanished.”

“Just vanished? I would guess it’s your investigative skill that has vanished.”

Tulong didn’t react. His heartless demeanor makes him a good officer, Qurong thought. No reason to expect any feeling from him.

“Some are saying it was magic,” Tulong said.

“Bah! Magic. There is no such thing. The other three?”

“Gone into the desert. Deep.”

Qurong faced the traitor, who’d remained silent. There was a mystery about him that was nearly irresistible.

“But this changes nothing,” Qurong said. It came out more like a question.

“The prisoner is Horde by now,” the traitor said. “But the marked one is with the others. They should never have been allowed to escape.”

“They are deep in the desert. Horde as well. This means nothing.”

“And why haven’t they turned back to join us?”

A good question. The traitor only asked good questions. “They will,” Qurong said.

“Then let’s wait until they do,” the traitor said. “If for no other reason than to satisfy the priest. He insists that black magic is underfoot, and the word is spreading through the army.”

“What do you suggest?”

“We tell the forces that we will delay our attack until we have them. We don’t need tales of black magic haunting our men when they attack the forest.”

This is what makes the traitor so special, Qurong thought. Whereas before, the Horde army has relied solely on brute force, he brings trickery and planning and double-talk to the war. A good thing.

“How long?” he asked. “You yourself have said that we depend on surprise, which we now have on our side. If we delay, we risk the campaign.”

“The Guard has massed on the eastern front, and they are digging in,” the traitor said. “We attack from the opposite side as planned in two days, when they are fully entrenched.”

“Good. Pass the word.”

THOMAS HUNTER STOOD ON THE LEDGE, SCANNING THE canyons to his right and left. They’d come with a hundred fighters and spent the night searching with dogs, but they had found no sign that the four had reentered the forests after arriving at the Igal point.

Now, in daylight, the fighters were searching from the cliffs for any sign of the recruits.

“Anything, Mikil?” he asked.