Dark clouds stormed. Some men sat in their boats that would lead them straight into the battle with a shiver all over their body. Some sat in silence and prayed. Some rocked back and forth. Soon they would join their brothers on the battlefield. Bullets flew across and brought invisible death to anyone who dared enter their territory. The high-pitched whistle of artillery fire was easier to make out, but its impact no less deadly. In brave desperation, the men stormed up the sandy beaches to enter the land. They paid their entry in blood.

Or at least that was what Corco had expected, based on some popular movie depictions. Maybe his other life hadn't prepared him as well as he thought, at least not in every regard. In truth, the journey across the Narrow Sea had been pretty uneventful, as was the landing, so far.

Rows upon rows of soldiers passed the shallow water of Sinchay and trudged up the sandy beaches and finally onto the green land, where the roots of the plants had managed to hold the land together against the water's constant erosion. All of it happened under the watchful eye of their king, and the people under his command. On a small hill overlooking the entire beach, they had erected a temporary tent, until the camp would be completed.

“Where are all the machine gunner nests?” Corco searched for the hidden enemy emplacements. How would they use their hand grenades if not to get rid of the bunkers?

“I believe the birds have traveled north over the winter,” Tamaya answered with a sweet smile that told Corco that she had no idea what he was talking about, but still tried to humor him.

“No, that's...” First he raised a finger and tried to explain his joke, but didn't even know where to begin. Defeated by the girl's smile, his hand dropped as his voice deflated. “Never mind.”

Rather than bother with movie references before the invention of photography, the king turned to another of his close aides.

“How far along are we?” he asked the man who had just received a report of supplies and men and checked it at the tent's exit.

“King Corco, it appears the men will be able to unload everything before nightfall.” Nahlen answered and looked up from his list. “There have been no delays so far.”

“And the camp?” Corco asked the main question. Some ways away, the soldiers had begun to use the shovels and logs they had brought with them to construct a fortified wall.

“As you can see, the men have already begun the establishment of the encampment. We will have the basic accommodations ready by midnight, long before there is any threat of a counterattack.”

“Good work. You keep keeping an eye out for our keep, huh?” Corco made what he considered a joke.

“As you wish, King Corco.” Without even pretending to laugh, the mercenary bowed and left. Ever since the failed revolt, Nahlen had become much more respectful around Corco, more careful.

“Well, I thought it was funny,” the king shrugged and looked over to Tamaya with raised brows which brimmed with expectation. “It was funny, right?”

“Do you wish to hear the truth or flattery?” This time her smile was different, a light smirk around the corners which showed her disapproval for the 'joke', though she still played along.

“Never mind,” he repeated. For some reason, he began to laugh and Tama's smile grew larger as well. After a while he had calmed down again and they could focus on more important issues.

“King Corco, I do not intend to impose my views upon you, however...” As she spoke, Tama took Nahlen's previous position and looked out of the tent, towards the camp and its busy soldiers. “Was this truly wise?”

“Was what wise?” he asked, certain about her question already.

“Was it truly wise to trust that mercenary, Nahlen? Although I have not been in Saniya during the revolt, I have seen the reports. I believe his presence will be a considerable risk, even more so in a time of war.”

Corco just smiled and waited for her to continue.

“Not that I would doubt your judgment, King Corco.” With large eyes and a high-pitched voice, the girl turned to him and waved her hands around in denial. “I am sure we will win any battle even with a bit of dead weight attached to our ankles. However... this servant is fearful of our efficiency. If Nahlen is not part of our command structure, I am convinced that many deaths can be prevented. These are good soldiers, and we do not have many of them.”

“Well, I can't just demote Nahlen without a good reason or I get problems with the rest of the army. But sounds like a solvable problem, doesn't it?” Corco's smile deepened. “Isn't this your area of expertise anyways?”

“Pardon?” Physically taken aback, Tama took a step to steady herself, a look of surprise on her face.

“I think this is a great chance to put your talents to the test, again. You think you can come up with a clean solution for this mess? Preferably one which will not cost us too much money or men and doesn't compromise the loyalty of the wolves?”

For a moment, Tamaya stood there with a dim expression on her face, as she twirled one of her long locks between her slim fingers. All the while, Corco only waited and watched. He could practically see the gears turning in her head. It was pretty fun. At last, the girl's face lit up from the light bulb over her head. Of course it didn't really appear, but Corco thought it might as well have.

“I know! I believe King Corco will enjoy this solution to the problem...” Her voice blurred as her expression dimmed. “though I cannot tell you any details, I am afraid.”

“You can't tell me?” Both eyebrow raised to indicate his surprise and suspicion, Corco had no idea where Tama was going with this.

“Of course I could explain the details and will do so if ordered. However, it would be better if King Corco did not know too much about this issue. The solution I have found is... unorthodox, and might draw some ire from the people if they were to find out about it. However,King Corco needs to be a shining beacon for the people, and someone who can be trusted and respected. As such, it would be best if king were removed from this matter as far as possible. This way, you can deny any wrongdoing and save the reputation of the office even in case of failure.”

For a while Corco just stared at her again. Ever since Tama had been involved in Fadelio's plot during the succession war, Corco had been suspicious of her. Things had only gotten worse once they had traveled south together and he had seen just how big her influence on the ghost warriors was, back then one of only two fighting forces at the king's disposal. Time and again, he had tried to test her loyalty. Time and again, she had proven worthy of trust. Even so, Corco had done his best to remove Tama from her men, reduce her influence and power.

At this point, any more distrust would be nothing less than paranoia. There was no reason to further limit her influence, or to limit her effectiveness. It had been a while, but Corco decided to properly, honestly trust someone.

“Okay, why not.” With a casual expression, he shrugged his shoulders as if he hadn't just made a massive decision. “Surprise me. Just tell me what you need and you'll get it. Let's hope everything goes smoothly.”

“Yes, King Corco.” Her smile returned as a gratified Tamaya bowed her head. Though when she looked back up, she had calmed herself already.

“There are other issues that need discussing, King Corco.”

“Right, shoot,” Corco said.

“We have already established a solid perimeter around the landing site to guarantee we will not be spotted too early. In the process, our men have caught a few people in the vicinity. Most were only fishermen and merchants, but there were a handful of warriors as well. Even worse, they have spotted a few others in the distance, who ran at the mere sight of our men. Despite our best efforts, it appears as if our actions will not remain secret to the local powers for long.”

“That's to be expected, isn't it? If we could beat out the local intelligence on day one, I'd have to question the competence of these local families. By the time they reach any of the surrounding cities, our walls are built anyways, with us safe behind them.” Unfazed by the news, Corco stretched out his back. “Plus, we want Pacha to know we're here after all. We need him to leave his encampment and run after us. With our troops assembled, he won't be able to do much even if he rushes here from the Narrows.”

On fleet feet, Tama rushed over to Corco and offered a cushion for his back.

“Yet our troops are not here yet, so we are still vulnerable. Especially the troops of the other southern lords are still left in the south, as they wait along the shores.”

“Thank you,” he said as he took the cushion he didn't really need.

Even though Corco had brought additional ships from the Verdant Isles, they still didn't have enough to move their entire massive army in one batch. Since the operation had been planned on short notice, most of the southern lords had been caught off guard by Corco's sudden orders. In order to avoid any delays, he had decided to send his own men first and then transport the remaining troops in a second batch. With their general unhelpful attitude and chaotic composition, the various southern troops wouldn't be much of a help in a proper fight anyways.

“We already have half our men across the sea, the half that counts. Once everything is offloaded in a couple hours, Wacoca will cross again and bring the rest, together with our supplies. By the time Pacha hears of our landing, a day or two will have gone by, even if the local lords send him a message right away. At that point, he still has to send his own scouts to confirm the information and find out about our exact movements. That will take several days more, if your people do their jobs right. Not to mention the travel time for an army.”

“Of course the ghosts will do their best to prevent any scouts from King Pacha's side, but we can only hold them for so long, and accidents cannot be avoided. What happens if Lord Ichilia decides to join the war?” At the thought of the powerful northern lord, Tama showed a rare frown. Huaylas, the capital of House Ichilia's estate, was no farther from here than the Narrows, and Lord Ichilia had a much denser net of informants around these parts. Not to mention ships.

“That's... unlikely.” Although he hid his own frown, Corco's voice lacked its usual surety. “I admit that our move was a bit risky, and that we are still somewhat vulnerable for now, but with any luck we should be safe from interference. From what our people in the capital tell us, the Ichilias are waiting for a chance to sell a favor to Pacha, aren't they? Trying to show my uncle that he needs them and can't ignore their influence. Divitius Ichilia won't interfere until Pacha has suffered a major loss or three. How would that even happen if I don't intend to fight him at all? We'll just sit here until his army moves. That way, we make room for Fadelio and the craftsmen to cross the border into the south or join up with us. That's the only goal of this operation... and maybe we can disrupt Pacha a bit while we're at it.”

Already, Tama's frown had disappeared. The girl had always been hard to read, but over the year, Corco had gotten a lot better at it. Though her face was calm, he was sure she would be relieved that the main priority of their operation was her brother's safety, rather than some vain fantasy of conquest.

“Very well,” she said. “Though if a fight does indeed happen...”

“We have no reason to hold back. Pacha might still think that he is superior, but he'll soon enough find out that numbers aren't everything, least of all in modern warfare. We might not have machine gun nests, but we're still centuries ahead.”