It never came. The Royals turned neatly in place, opening holes in the line just wide enough to run through, and Abby’s company passed through as cleanly and quickly as a pebble dropped into a cup of water. The women came out the other side of the line, whooping and hollering; Abby herself, who was waiting there, immediately began getting them to form a line of their own. In less than a minute, they were all through, and the Royals closed ranks again to present an unbroken line of muskets to the “enemy.”

“Fire!” Vidolet shouted, to another round of clicks.

The soldiers began their loading drill again, and Winter let out a breath she didn’t know she’d been holding.

“It works,” Cyte said.

“Get them to try it again,” Winter said. “Then switch companies. I want every soldier to have a chance to practice before we break camp today. If that all goes well, tomorrow we’ll see if they can do it with bayonets fixed.” Assuming we get another day to practice. They were only fifteen miles from Gaafen, where the enemy was reported to be digging in.

“Yes, sir!” Cyte said.

“And once we make camp tonight, go and get decent food for everybody. Spend whatever we’ve got left.”

Cyte nodded. “Yes, sir. What about Novus?”

There had been a moment, as Novus had unleashed his tirade, that Winter felt absurdly grateful she hadn’t abandoned her male disguise, as Bobby had. It wasn’t a feeling she was proud of. But Novus’ reaction was the one she’d always expected would follow discovery—if not the outright rape and murder that had been on Sergeant Davis’ mind—and though when he’d found out Janus had not lived up to her fears, she suspected that Janus was, as usual, exceptional. If the old-fashioned royal officers or traditionalists like Colonel d’Ivoire found out, she suspected a verbal explosion like Novus’ would be the least of her worries.

It’s all well and good for Bobby. As an officer in the Girls’ Own, she only has to answer to Winter. I have to work with the rest of the army . . .

“We’ll get rid of him,” Winter said, shaking her head to clear her brief reverie. “But he’s Royal Army, so we need to do this properly, or he’ll tie us in knots with regulations. I’ll have to write to Janus. We’ll see if he grins at me when I’ve got a letter from the commanding general backing me up.”

“I look forward to seeing his reaction, sir.”

*   *   *

Winter awoke to the sound of a whispered argument outside her tent.

The news that they were getting a decent meal in place of army rations had lent the camp a carnival atmosphere. While Winter hadn’t issued any alcohol, there were plenty of locals willing to remedy that deficiency. Trying to keep it out of the camp altogether would have been futile, so Winter passed the word for the sergeants to circulate and make sure nobody got more than tipsy. There was another march tomorrow, after all, and possibly a battle after that.