Chosen (The Warrior Chronicles #1)(73)

About midday everyone came to a halt. A young man came trotting down the line, young but self-important, until he stopped even with Shanti. “The Captain wants you.”

“Oh well, I better hurry then, shouldn’t I? I wouldn’t want to offend his majesty.”

Three men surrounding her sucked in a hasty breath. For a Captain that hardly ever punished anyone, she had no idea how he inspired this much fear. It was a thing she actually wanted to learn. Quite useful at times.

Antsy men shifted their stances as Shanti walked past, loose dust kicked up from a hundred men and twenty or so beasts. The midday sun baked down on the line, stifling the air, glistening the brow. Battle was near. They could all sense it. Expectation buzzed louder than a swarm of flies, battering her shields and pumping her blood. This was what she was born for. To lead men into battle.

Duty hummed through her bones as she rounded the horses and glanced up at the Captain, tall and strong atop his horse, shoulders and head high, a similar feeling coursing through his body. The only difference was, these were his men, and the leadership was his duty. She was but a sword within his arsenal.

Chosen, my stubbed toe.

“We are getting close,” Cayan said without preamble, sparing her no more than a glance. “They will have sentries soon. We need to make a plan of entry now, in the event we meet the enemy.”

“You’re aware this isn’t their home land, right?” Shanti asked as she stopped beside Sterling’s horse.

“But they reside here now,” a stern man on a dapper horse said.

It was time for serious and hostile, was it? She hadn’t gotten the decree.

Pushing down an insane urge to stick a knife in his shoulder just for giggles, she said, “A faction of Inkna reside here, yes. But their people, as a whole, are spread across the land, trying to dip their fingers in everything profitable. This faction will be attached to a small city the same size as yours or less. They will be running things, but the work donkeys will not be theirs. They will have a few sentries to monitor trade routes, or crazed indigenous peoples wanting their land back, but they belong to a giant nation dominating the west, plus they have capable mental warfare that has probably so far been unimpeded. They are not overly concerned with the probability of assaults from a foreign nation.”

“But even though they aren’t the work horses...” A balding, stodgy character paused in his speech, giving her a weighty stare, before continuing, “Their forces will double ours in size.

Shanti pondered that statement. “Possibly. They are branching out, which means they have a stable horde here in which to sustain their leadership. Assuming they are torturing Sanders for information with which to spread their forces to your city, they probably have enough to cover both areas. Which means that, yes, they probably double this war party in size. At least.”

“Well, that’s terrible news,” a furry-browed man said, his lips in a thin line.

“Tobias,” the Captain barked, silencing the other man immediately. He squinted ahead, thinking. Grim blue stare met Shanti’s. “You think their sentries will be light?”

“I do.”

“They’ll be expecting us, though.”

Shanti blew out a breath, slowly shaking her head. “There are not many leaders that would send this kind of response if a few of their men were taken.”

Three horses started to prance, and Shanti, the only one on foot, backed away quickly. Getting trampled before the battle would be just her luck.

“I assume you imply that their leaders are wanting, and not a judgment on my leadership,” the Captain said with a warning in his tone.

“This isn’t the time to be prickly, but that is correct. As I’ve said—“

“I’m not interested in what you’ve said. Do you think they expect us?”

Shanti took another couple steps back, Cayan’s gaze nearly a physical push. “Not so soon, no. And not with your best men. We will have surprise on our side. And skilled fighters. The only thing of concern is mental warfare.”

“Regardless of whether or not they are expecting us, they will have some warning system in place,” Sterling stated mildly.

A baby-faced man spoke up. “Not if we kill them before they get the signal up.”

“Well, now, that is the question, isn’t it?” Shanti said. “What is their signal? Is it a light or sound device, like your city has? If that is the case, then yes, killing them will solve the problem.”

“You wonder if they are monitored mentally,” Cayan said with a grim voice. The men tried to hide masks of confusion at the mention of mental abilities.

She nodded. “I don’t know how powerful they are. If their power matched the little mouse I spoke with, then they can probably reach about two hundred spans, maybe less. But if they have a few powerful men, they can space themselves out and monitor each other, making the first sentry you come across as good as a siren for the rest.”

“Can you cut the link?” Lucius asked.

“I can disguise it, certainly, but that limits my power for when we go into their hold. If it were my call, I wouldn’t waste valuable power on the sentries, unless they try to attack us mentally. They will have their most valuable members behind the walls. I will need to attack them or shield you once we go in.”

“We kill them on sight,” Cayan decided. “If they are warned prior to our coming, then all of their mental defenses will be lined up waiting. They will at least be all in one place. No surprises.”