“How is that plan supposed to work, since there’s at least one version of the future in which we chose it?”

“Guerrilla campaigns can’t bring victory by themselves,” said Olivenko. “But if you run it properly, you can win over the ­people while humiliating and terrifying the government. The foolish way to do it is to force the villages to feed your men and assassinate anyone who opposes you, so that all the villagers obey you out of fear—and betray you the first chance they get.”

“That’s why I was surprised to learn we had chosen it,” said Rigg.

“I doubt that you did, because, as I said, it’s foolish. Fools resort to those tactics because they expect the people to support them voluntarily, and when they don’t, the rebels become angry and take vengeance. But you’re not fools. You know that the villagers can’t pay taxes to King Haddamander and to the Rebel King. When they hid their meager supplies from Haddamander’s tax collectors, they weren’t saving it for us and our army.”

“So what is Captain Toad doing in his raids?” asked Rigg. “Considering that if I’m Captain Toad, I’m no soldier.”

“You could be,” said Loaf. “It takes training, but if there’s one thing we have, it’s time enough to do whatever we want.”

“Training would be good,” said Olivenko, “but what I had in mind was a place of refuge and a source of supplies. And here’s where Ram Odin becomes part of whatever we do. In ordinary guerrilla campaigns, the rebels have to hide. Since they’re constantly being betrayed by people who want the reward money, they have to move frequently. They can’t bring their wives and children. They can’t farm or even store up food against the winter.”

“You want a safe refuge on the far side of the Wall,” said Ram Odin.

“Where Ramfold, Vadeshfold, and Larfold come together, the land is fertile and there’s plenty of rain and good streams.”

“Some have facemask spores in them,” said Ram Odin.

“I think you’re perfectly capable of eradicating them from any stream you choose,” said Olivenko. “All I ask is that you pull back the boundary of Vadeshfold and make an enclave that isn’t inside any of the three wallfolds. Then when we recruit fighters for the rebel army, they bring their families. They farm. They hunt. They make weapons. They train. They stockpile food.”

“That could take years,” said Loaf.

“But you can always give yourself years,” said Olivenko. “Don’t make this enclave now. Make it ten years ago. The people we recruit will be the ones who are angry—their number will increase, but we can start small. The first recruits will clear land. They’ll have children. One village will turn into two or three or four.”