Stathis went to the barracks, filled with the standard activity of soldiers that had been told to rest ten minutes after getting up, geared up for combat that hadn’t happened; gambling, cleaning equipment that was already prepared, staring into space and griping about their officers.

The chatter went quiet as she entered, one of the quicker-witted troops leaping from their bunk and standing to attention. Stathis groaned. ‘I’m not here to check up or anything, just to pass time until we have to do something.’

She picked up a shield, checking the straps and the wood, making sure it could withstand a blow. This didn’t dissuade the others from saluting as well, or making themselves busy, sharpening and polishing weapons and armour that were already shiny and sharp.

‘At ease! I’m not here on formal business, dammit.’ Uncertain awkwardness spread around the room, the soldiers uncertain how to behave. ‘I’m just here as a mercenary. Hey, Brennik, you doing OK?’

She walked over to the back, where a board was being used as a table, cards dealt out, small piles of coins as the stakes. One of them moved an arm, trying to hide the cards.

‘Mind dealing me in? Could do with some extra cash.’

He laughed. ‘This is going to make a difference to you? We’re playing for silvers, not platinum! You might be a bit rich for this.’

‘I wish, not had much luck on the job lately, and I’ve only just managed to repay a big debt, so I’m a bit short myself. And I’ve no idea how I’m getting paid for this one, it was a bit of a rush.’

He shuffled the cards, although looked nervous. ‘So, what’s the crack? I wasn’t expecting you to show up, at least not without an army. When are the reinforcements coming?’

‘I’ve no idea. As far as I know, it’s just me. But we’ve got a decent position here, we just need to deal with the necromancers.’

‘They’re on the other side of all of the undead bloody horde though.’ He dealt out, Stathis trying not to wince at her cards, a terrible mismash of low numbers. ‘Going to be a hell of a time punching through, we’d need heavy horse and a run-up, or a solid line of shield and pike and a lot of hacking and smashing.’ Low grumbles of agreement ran around the room. ‘Undead don’t go down easy.’

She tossed a coin into the stakes, exchanging a card for something only slightly better, but at least she had a pair now. ‘With this terrain, they’re not going to expect anything other than a straight siege. In a straight fight, my team can take them, we just need to get around. Having Semari jump into the middle of a punch of wizards, that’s going to stop them casting anything.’

‘Think you’re going to try and pull off something like that grading again? Still don’t know how you did that.’ He turned to one of the others, explaining in more detail. ‘Final grading before mustering out. Stathis was green commander and attacking, Herith blue, and I was with Stathis. Herith took out our advance guard, managed to retake the scout posts. Knew every damn move we made before we made it, locked us down utterly. Her heavy foot smashed the gate, and it was all over. Stathis had buggered off somewhere, I was ready to surrender. And then we won!’ He turned back to Stathis. ‘You’d managed to sneak off with that cleric friend of yours and scale the cliffs, in full plate. You took their command hostage, which was a win condition. How the hell you managed to get up those cliffs, in that time, I don’t know.’

She’d just flown up while carrying Pajaran, but that didn’t seem anything other than a problem to bring up. ‘Yeah, it was hard work. And I should really have lost, but the rules weren’t well-written – in an actual battle, even taking out the enemy commander wouldn’t have kept my side alive. Herith is the better commander, and the best suited for somewhere like this. She aced all the exams and the practical assessments as well.’

‘Yeah, but she always lost to you in the bouts.’

‘How did my mother put it? Oh yeah, “if your commander has to take the field, something’s gone to shit”. Listen to her orders, and leave the heavy lifting to my team.’ She flipped her cards over, pushing the coins towards him without even bothering to see what he had. ‘Let’s go again. Anyone else want in?’

The two remaining slots were quickly filled, the gambling continuing, Stathis applying the most gloss she could to the achievements of the Goldthirst Company, leaving out all the times they had lost, Janaxia had gone weird, Semari had gotten possessed by a goddess, or they’d just generally gotten screwed. It didn’t actually sound too bad, as long as you hadn’t been there to know what had really happened. ‘As long as we can hold here long enough to line everything up, we’ve got a chance. And we’ve got the 42nd as well now.’

‘True. They looked knackered, but I’m glad they’re alive. And better them here, than outside getting turned to the enemy. Now just to hope they’re all robe-wearing tossers with no tactical sense.’

‘These are wizards, so you never know. If they were smart, we’d be fighting off a continual stream of small attacks, stop us getting any rest. And there’s no sign of siege weapons. That flyer we drove off might be a problem, but we’ve pushed it off once, I doubt they were expecting a quick win. We hold the line here, and we keep everyone else safe.’

One of the others flipped a card into the centre, drawing a replacement. ‘Couldn’t believe it when it blinked out like that! Bit crap when it came back, but dismissing it just like that.’ He clicked his fingers. ‘Was a handy skill! Two wizards, right? The fancy one and the plain one?’

‘Yup. Hakara was top of the class from Barinian, Janaxia’s from an old magical family. Some of her stuff looks a bit strange, just as a warning, but she’s good at destroying things. We just dealt with a nest of vampires in Sainted Hirata. Fold, and can you deal me something that’s not utter junk next time?’

‘So, what’s the secret plan then?’

‘Same as always – don’t die! Oh, and maybe hide your contrabrand better?’ She gestured at a loose brick in the wall, behind which several bottles could be seen. ‘I hope no-one’s brewing their own, there’s only two healers and they have better things to do than cure self-inflicted sickness. If you’ve got anything stronger, it might be useful as a last-ditch firebomb. Who’s your quartermaster?’

‘Thanalan.’

‘Shit, still? I thought he retired!’

‘He did. He got bored and kept fighting with his husband, so this is his third “final tour”. His pension must be gold-plated by now, but he’s never not been fighting. Even your mother’s trying to get him to quit, but he won’t have it! They had a goddam argument about it at court once, when she gave him a medal and ordered him to retire.’

‘I bet that was… loud.’

Another of the soldiers snorted. ‘I’ve never heard anyone talk back to the Lord Commander like that! Amazed he wasn’t given fifty lashes.’

‘Thanalan’s been around since the early days, he’s earned the right. He was serving back when the Iristari were just a mercenary company, before Mother took over. Probably taught her swordplay back in the day. Doesn’t even want to be any higher than he is. But he loves his strong drinks, so he’s going to have a few bottles stashed away.’ One of the bottles was produced and offered to Stathis. She shook her head. ‘Wouldn’t want to deprive you. Anyway, what secret stuff have you found?’

They looked away without speaking, Brennik coughing and dealing her another card. ‘It’s an empty castle in the middle of nowhere, there’s nothing here.’

‘It’s an empty castle that’s been used by loads of different groups, that’s been rebuilt a load of times. If nothing else, there’s going to be some rooms that have been walled off. So, have you found anything, or do I need to ask more formally?’

‘There’s a cave beneath us. Vanir found a walled-up passageway down there. Would have reported it, but it was only yesterday, been a bit busy!’

‘Show me.’

There was some awkward tugging and prying at the wall, before part of it slid back, a well-made hidden passage. There was a steep spiral staircase going downwards, stonework worn and pitted. The light was provided by a purely mundane torch, as they wound down and down, beneath the bedrock. The only thing Stathis could sense, other than musty and old air, was Janaxia, somewhere above her, and the slight scent of sulphur.

They came to a chamber, large and low, far side beyond her sight. Water lapped against ancient stone, slight scudding mist above the surface. A shape loomed at her, roughly humanoid, and she scrabbled for her blade. Then she saw that it was just a statue, old and worn, an elf holding out its hands. There was a small side-chamber, with stone benches and niches in the wall.

‘This is a hot spring, isn’t it? Would explain why the bloody elves built something all the way up here.’ She knelt down, dipping a hand into the water. ‘Nice and hot. Has someone checked the back?’

‘Yup, couple of tiny natural springs feeding it.’

It was almost disappointing, but it didn’t seem to present any immediate dangers. ‘Any reason you’ve not told Herith?’

Brenik looked away. ‘Well, it seems safe, and I know a bunch of guys not far off mustering out, so…’

‘You were going to not tell anyone, then get this a group claim? Given this is right on the edge of Iristari territory, and no way is the castle going to be let go, that seems optimistic. Nice dream though. And you really should have told Herith, just in case this turns out to be something else.’ An uncomfortable shuffling passed around the group. ‘Don’t worry, if you’ve scouted it out and say it’s safe, I won’t tell her. But given the situation, I hope you’ve scouted it really well. If undead or ghosts start coming up from beneath, we’re screwed.’

‘Fine, I’ll make the report.’

‘Thank you. If this place gets opened up, guess it might make a nice resort. Bit far out to be a trade route though, and farming would be hard work.’

‘Think I want to be a farmer? That shit’s hard work! Nah, open up a hotel, watch the money roll in.’

‘Let’s survive this first, OK? Anything else you’ve found and not mentioned? Old weapons, stuff that might be cursed, anything like that?’

He looked at her. ‘We’re not stupid, Stathis.’

‘Sorry. Just wanted to be sure.’

One of the other soldiers, a recruit Stathis didn’t recognise, approached, looking nervous, rubbing his hand on his sword hilt. ‘Uh, Princess Stathis?’

‘I’m not a princess. Unless Mother has become a queen at some point, which I don’t think she has, but I don’t really keep track. I’m here as a knight, nothing more. Anyway, what is it?’

‘Do you think we’ll survive?’ He looked worried, far too green for this.

‘Yes. It’s not the best scenario, but it could be a lot worse. We’ve got a decent defensive position, they don’t have anything powerful enough to break through immediately or they would have used it, and their basic troops are garbage against a formation or defences. Getting through to their casters is going to be a problem, but we’ll sort something out.’ He still looked nervous, so Stathis kept talking. ‘First tour with an actual enemy?’

He nodded.

‘Yeah, that can suck. It gets easier as you go on, don’t worry about it.’

Brennik slapped her on the back. ‘What would you know about it? You scarpered off to go dungeon-delving, you’ve never been on a tour of duty.’

‘True, but I’ve been doing it with three other people instead of a whole army! I’ve fought dragons and demons and weird magical monster-things, how much time did you spend in a village pub when you were “patrolling”?’

‘Hey, that’s a soldier’s prerogative. And that wizard you’ve got must be nice to have around, she’s easy on the eyes. Her gear sure looks better than the uniform robes our lot have to wear. Not that our wizards have that figure!’

‘Yeah, I saw Kelnara’s gotten a bit pudgy, too much studying, not enough exercise. But trust me, she’s more trouble than she’s worth! She got cursed one time and her clothing disintegrated, right in the middle of a cathedral. She fainted, her clothing melting away while I was talking to a priestess.’

‘Really?’

‘Have you ever known me lie? I had to throw her over my shoulder and run out before she was stark naked, under the eyes of the gods! And then Larrik heard about it and accused me of kidnapping a woman! Gods, the entire thing was a mess. That was in Cormantara, the whole thing was a bloody nightmare, and that was before the riots.’

‘You always did seem to be carrying women away from some danger or other. I suppose it’s what knights do, but in the stories, it’s normally from dragons or something.’

‘Last time we met a dragon, she needed saving from Janaxia.’ Brennik looked at her strangely. ‘Don’t ask, long story. Same with a medusa, actually.’

The soldier was looking impressed. ‘You’ve fought a medusa, Knight Stathis? They are said to be as fearsome as they are beautiful.’

‘Didn’t really “fight” as such. And Janaxia was the only one to go into it’s, uh, lair, so I only really saw the, um, aftermath, not much of their… encounter, I could only hear that. It was quite loud.’ She could still remember the gasping, orgasmic groans, Janaxia even louder than the medusa, seeming to enjoy being nibbled by the snake-heads rather more than was normal. Quite what she found so appealing about being bitten, Stathis didn’t get.

‘But a medusa?!’ He was standing taller now, looking more confident.

‘Yeah. We dealt with a lot of the demons at Redcastle as well.’

‘I heard Priestess Carissia was there as well?’

Stathis nodded. ‘Yeah. She spent most of her time haring around the countryside dealing with monsters and demons, I ended up fighting their leader. A lot of the town had been cursed by her, but we managed to get through that fine. So we can probably manage here as well.’ She patted him on the shoulder. ‘It’s not going to be easy, I won’t lie, but it’s not impossible. And Herith is a damn good commander, probably one of the best the Academy has produced. She should have beaten me back then, so if anyone can make a plan to get us through this, it’s her. Now, we should probably get back out of here, in case the alarm’s going off and we can’t hear it.’

They returned upstairs, the light seeming welcome after being done in the damp darkness. Mercifully, the alarm wasn’t ringing, as they settled down to some more cards, trying to whittle away the time before an attack, keeping the terror of waiting at bay through mundanity, waiting to be rotated onto the walls.