“We’re not far now.” Giles was still frowning down at her. “Maybe I shouldn’t have woken you up. If you really need more sleep—”

“I wasn’t sleeping.” She hadn’t truly slept since they’d left Raven’s Nest. She’d only drifted as the land had dragged her under every night. Even her triplets couldn’t manage to distract her from that while they slept.

“If you say so,” he said, “but you looked—”

“I was listening.” She climbed wearily to her feet. “There are a lot of people moving around right now between us and the closest city.”

“Well, that’ll be the army we saw before.” His frown deepened. “Cordy …”

“Everyone ready?” Rosalind’s face was red from exertion, and her short, thick hair stood away from her face in wild, sweaty, black hanks, but she grinned fiercely as she strode toward them, dusting her hands against her sides. Her sheathed sword hung ready at her hip, slapping briskly against her leg with every step. “Finally. Today’s the day we fight!”

“Don’t get too carried away,” Giles said. “Remember, you’re not taking on that whole army by yourself.”

She shrugged, her spine so tight that it looked ready to snap. “I wouldn’t need to take on the whole army. If I could figure out which ones are the dukes and duchesses—”

“Rosalind!” He ground the heels of both hands into his forehead. “Just follow the plan. First, we try to find a way to sneak past them all without being noticed. Then, if that works, we find Mother and Connall, get Mother’s collar off her neck, and then they’ll take care of any fighting that’s needed. Got it?”

“Ha.” She tilted her head at Cordelia. “Have you told her that?”

“Cordy isn’t the one who wants to go charging at hundreds of grown men with swords!”

“Of course not,” Rosalind said. “She has me to do that for her. Find some faith!”

Giles looked between the two of them and groaned piteously. “Just … try to stay quiet,” he begged. “We might still manage to sneak into the city without being noticed. It could happen.”

Rosalind rolled her eyes at Cordelia … who nodded in silent agreement.

She had tried to tell Giles how many soldiers she had sensed between them and those high city walls. Even she wasn’t prepared for the sight that greeted them when they finally arrived, though. From the hilltop where they stopped to stare, it looked as if the whole valley ahead had turned into a shifting quilt of martial colors, with barely a speck of grass left to be seen.