"Repetition is ultimately the key to success. We look so harshly on one who does not learn easily that we forget it is not ignorance which drives us to repeat our mistakes - it is indeed the desire to overcome them. So we throw ourselves again and again at the thing we fear. Look no further than war itself - such a jealous and foolish endeavor, which many thought consigned to the old world. Well, why do the Invictan Solists fight so fiercely to overcome their neighbors north and south? They have always been repelled, yet they throw themselves at the target again and again. For decades now they have done this. It is because they seek to overcome. And as for their neighbors - well, of course, they fight for dignity - perhaps the one motivator stronger than the desire to overcome. Empire has never been kind to the vanquished."

　　-Andrew of Dresh

　　244 YT, Late Spring: Kivv

　　 Kamila groaned as the sun, streaming in through her half-open window, reddened the space behind her eyelids. She slowly pushed herself up from the bed, sitting and blinking away the sudden, unbidden tears.

　　 The same dream again& A cold sweat ran down her brow. Outside, it was already mid-day. Kamila caught a glimpse through the window of a set of wagons moving through the Rust Gates, led by men in Ordian armor, carrying Ordian weapons. For a moment Kamila`s barely-awake mind swelled with panic - then she remembered. This was anticipated - the caravan from Dresh. Guests. Come to trade.

　　 Chaika, the cat she couldn`t quite bring herself to throw out, stood up from her spot next to Kamila`s head and stretched. The little creature meowed and pawed indignantly at the spot where Kamila`s head had been a moment before. Kamila grunted and stood up, glancing back at the cat. "Oh, don`t act so helpless," she said, reaching for the sword where it stood leaning against the wall next to her bedframe. She stopped with her hand hovering over Wallshaker`s hilt, and she stood a moment, staring down at the blade; then she shook her head to clear it and picked up the weapon.

　　 As she moved back and forth throughout the room, Kamila continued casting glances down from the tower at the Dresh caravan. The weapons they carried were, at first glance, simple - swords, spears, bolt-throwers, crossbows, rifles. Kamila wondered what secrets each one of those weapons held. Ordian-craft gear, custom made for each wielder, wasn`t ever quite what it appeared to be at a first glance. That`s what Kamila`s studies had said.

　　 When she was fully armored, Kamila checked herself in the mirror - the sword rested conveniently on her hip, and looked suitably even. She nodded at her reflection before throwing the book from the desk into her bag and heading down the stairs.

　　 "Come on, time to go outside," she said, but Chaika was already at her heels, and running past. Kamila stopped to pick up the other half of her sandwich from the previous evening, and by the time she looked, Chaika was already sitting in front of the door, tail swishing impatiently. "Okay," she said. "Point taken." Kamila placed her hand on the doorknob, turned it, stepped outside.

　　 Chaika dashed out the door before Kamila had even crossed the threshold, and with high steps, the cat pranced off into the distance. Kamila couldn`t help chuckling a little bit as she watched the cat go - she had to admit the creature was pretty cute.

　　 From the base of her tower it wasn`t far to the rust gates, where the caravan was waiting. They had passed under the gate and were gathered in the field just inside, taking up the whole of the main stone path through the town. A few of Kivv`s militia guards, bolstered by a few Mirshalites and Adma forces, watched the caravaneers from the margins. Even from the door of her home Kamila could probably have been heard, had she shouted out to them. Hand resting comfortingly on the hilt of Wallshaker, she picked up her pace and marched toward the caravan.

　　 These days, the streets were fairly crowded, even without the caravan. Finally the city`s residents were getting more comfortable with the large number of new guests in their midst. At least no one was menacing the newcomers, but it would have been better - Kamila thought - if the militia spent less time in Kivv and more time in the south, fighting the Invictans. They were trying to push their frontier north, and they were slowly succeeding - armies fanning out from the border town of Carakhte and taking over villages and towns throughout the Vale. Many had repelled their invaders, especially with the help of the militia, but the people were spread too thinly and took too long to respond in many cases. So instead of towns truly holding out against the invaders, they would fall and be re-taken. By the time they were retaken by the Valers, though, there would be dozens of hundreds of refugees fleeing north to Kivv already.

　　 And when they arrived in the city, what would they find? There was not enough housing to go around, and all newcomers would end up living on the outskirts, in camps too crowded for permanent habitation. They`d face a city populace so exhausted by the war and the fear of an invasion, so penned-in by the sudden increase in the number of their neighbors, that they had begun to look for someone to blame.

　　 "Why didn`t you stay and fight?"

　　 "It would be better if you`d died there."

　　 "You`re putting the rest of us in danger just by being here."

　　 No one dared say anything like that to Kamila, or to Hilda, or to Aleks. She and her siblings were treated like heroes. When Kamila`s neighbors smiled at her on the street, sometimes she wanted to walk up and wipe those smiles off their faces, maybe knock in a few of their teeth when she was at it.

　　 But with time, even the most resentful people could get used to the presence of strangers.

　　 These days, the streets were fairly crowded. Kivv-born city folk and Valers from near the Invictan mountains alike, they thronged the streets. Everyone seemed to simply tolerate one another - which was good enough for Kamila. The real enemy was elsewhere, though they`d be at the gates soon enough. She thought of her dream.

　　 "Hey, Kamila& are you ignoring me?"

　　 "Huh?" Kamila blinked, the voice shaking her out of her thoughts. It took her a moment to process and realize the voice had come from behind her. And it was Aleks. She started to turn toward him, and as she turned she spoke.

　　 "Aleks, what are you doing out here this early?" As soon as the words were spoken Kamila felt a rush of embarrassment. "I mean& it`s not morning, I`m sorry, I just woke up a little while ago&"

　　 Aleks tilted his head at her, concerned. "You aren`t one to sleep in late."

　　 "Normally, no." She shrugged.

　　 "Is something going on with you?"

　　 Kamila thought of her recent days of intense training - drilling against all kinds of magic. Voloshko had thrown her around the room, filled her mind with voices from his memories and her own, twisted her every movement so that when she took a step forward she moved back instead. She thought of the late nights spent studying the latest intercepted transmissions courtesy of the Adma - recordings of Invictan officials, up to and including the Emperor himself, discussing the invasion plan. She thought of the lingering voice at the back of her mind. How, sometimes, when it spoke, she wasn`t sure if it was herself or Karla Enok who was talking.

　　 "Nothing out of the ordinary," Kamila said. "I have a lot on my mind, but that`s nothing new."

　　 "Does it have anything to do with&" Aleks didn`t need to finish the sentence. Kamila knew he didn`t know about her training, and of course he wasn`t asking about the transmissions, since he was a part of that too. Does it have anything to do with Karla Enok?

　　 "When doesn`t it?" Kamila asked, trying to sound nonchalant. "But I`m handling it. It`s fine."

　　 "If you say so." Aleks did not sound convinced.

　　 "Anyway, what are you doing here?"

　　 "I`m supposed to be helping out with a caravan from Dresh, which I believe is& that. Those people over there."

　　 Kamila nodded and looked back in the direction of the caravan. There were a few locals talking to the caravaneers now, some prominent civilian leaders whose names Kamila had never been bothered to learn. "Right," Kamila said. "Voloshko mentioned they were coming today. I wanted to get a look at some of those Ordian weapons."

　　 "Right. Maybe once they work out a deal you`ll be able to get something you want - I`m sure we`ll be getting plenty of those weapons, considering. Oh, I heard Lucian was looking for you."

　　 "Lucian?" Kamila grunted, wondering just how much Aleks knew. "Why would he be looking for me?"

　　 "I don`t know," Aleks said. "He said it was militia business. Must want an early report from you or something. I hope nothing`s wrong."

　　 Kamila sighed. "I don`t want to talk to him any more than I have to& I don`t trust him, really. But if he`s looking for me I`ll make sure to talk to him." She hoped she sounded nonchalant.

　　 Aleks laughed quietly. "Don`t trust him?" He paused. Take the bait, Kamila thought. At least he would be too distracted to think twice about what she`d said earlier. "Don`t you know he`s -"

　　 "Yeah, I know," Kamila said. "Hilda can make her own decisions. She doesn`t need my approval." She said that through gritted teeth. There was no need to feign the resentment and turmoil she felt. There was no lie, after all& only a convenient distraction.

　　 "Alright, never mind." Aleks grunted and gestured toward the caravan. "So are we going?"

　　 "Right."

　　 As they approached the caravan the sound of voices haggling rose, and Kamila found herself recognizing a few words. The Ordian speech was difficult for her to understand - but the language was not completely unrecognizable. She gathered that they were talking about the price of the weapons in the caravan, the most expensive items there were. The Ordians from Dresh insisted that these items were worth dozens of times the value of ordinary weapons. From what she could tell, they were probably right.

　　 Kamila reached into one of the carts. Weapons were arranged as though on a display shelf turned horizontal. The trident her hands went to was slotted into a series of planks, carved so that it fit perfectly. Next to it were polearms of other sorts - longer glaives, a few short javelins, a guisame& One of the merchants caught Kamila`s eye and grunted as she closed her hand around the trident. In slightly broken Valer tongue the man said, "You touch, but don`t run off with that."

　　 Kamila nodded and raised the trident. "That one can fire," the merchant said, stepping between the wagons and moving to stand next to Kamila. She bristled at the unexpected closeness. He was close enough for her to hear his breath, and that set Kamila on edge - as though it could only mean that he were about to attack her. But he simply reached around and placed his hands on the shaft of the trident. "There is lever," he said, and indicated a small lever placed along the shaft, conveniently near where Kamila`s hand now rested. "Point it down, be careful."

　　 Kamila fell into a stance with the trident, as though she were about to thrust with the spear, and gave a few practice swipes. It was a surprisingly light weapon, but it had enough weight that her strikes felt like they would have impact. The way the weapon cut through the air was satisfying to Kamila`s ears, and she advanced a few steps with it, then aimed it at the ground, slipped her hand up the shaft, and pulled the lever.

　　 One of the trident`s three tines disappeared from the trident`s head and buried itself deep in the dirt before Kamila`s eyes. She barely even saw the movement. The recoil of it surprised her and made her stumble back, nearly falling off her feet. But, adjusting quickly, she recovered, and pulled the lever again, this time bracing beforehand and managing to keep her footing.

　　 She placed the trident on the ground and reached down. The tines in the dirt were buried deep, and it took a few seconds for her to gather the strength to pull one of them out. She examined the head of the trident, found where the pieces could slot together, and replaced the tine in its spot. When both detached tines were returned to their place the weapon looked as though it had not even been fired at all. Without knowing the weapon`s function, Kamila wouldn`t even have noticed a seam or guessed there was anything special about this weapon other than the high quality of its craftsmanship.

　　 "There is more," the merchant said, standing by the cart and reaching inside. "Hold the lever down, do not release."

　　 Kamila did so, while pointing the trident down at the dirt again. This time, however, there was no sudden recoil, no blade biting into the dirt. Kamila glanced over past the merchant`s shoulder to see Aleks talking with one of the others from Dresh. He was holding a rope in one hand, attached to the front of one of the wagons, and nodding whenever his interlocutor pointed or gestured.

　　 Kamila shifted her feet, and realized that something felt different in the movement. Her feet were heavier, somehow, than they should have been, like she was planted more firmly upon the ground. The merchant`s hand withdrew from the wagon, and Kamila`s eyes widened when she saw what the hand held.

　　 Nails?

　　 With a sudden movement, the merchant threw the nails. It was a simple shift of the feet, a quick drawing back of the arm, a sudden striking motion like an adder uncoiling. Kamila started to bend away, by instinct, turning her head away from the oncoming shrapnel and raising her right arm.The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

　　 She heard a rustling of grass as a series of small objects fell to the ground nearby.

　　 Slowly, Kamila turned, opening her eyes and relaxing her grip on the lever of the trident. The nails lay in a small, neat pile on the ground just one pace`s length from where Kamila stood.

　　 "Magnetism," the merchant said, by way of explanation, and held out his hands. "You are buying?"

　　 Kamila shook her head and pointed toward Aleks and the other Valers. "They are the ones handling the purchases, I think," she said.

　　 "I will tell him you are interested in this." The merchant nodded sagely and held out his hands. When Kamila did not immediately hand the trident back, he waved his fingers to indicate she should return the weapon. Kamila placed the trident in the merchant`s hands and walked past him as he returned it to its place in the wagon.

　　 When she came up behind Aleks she leaned over his shoulder. He was deep in a conversation about the value of the other goods that had been brought from Dresh - preserved foods to last the winter should a siege-force come at the wrong time. "Aleks," she whispered, "I just realized I need to be somewhere."

　　 The sun was already beginning to move lower in the sky and she said she`d meet with Lucian and the others early in the afternoon. If he was looking for her` as Aleks had said& she just hoped he hadn`t given anything away. There was a reason they were supposed to keep their secrets.

　　 "Alright," Aleks said. "When our business here is done I`m going to head back home - you want to meet me there?"

　　 "Sure." Kamila nodded and stepped away.

　　 She crossed the city quickly, with rapid steps that didn`t pause for the passing of anybody on the streets beside her, even those she knew well. Most of the people she passed were strangers to her - even the ones whose names and faces she remembered, even the ones she`d spoken to many times in the seasons since coming to Kivv. They were all nothing more than strangers.

　　 And most of them were fools, too. Kamila knew they all thought Mirshal could save them. Kamila was meant to kill the Emperor, yet for weeks all she`d heard from Antonin was talk of restraint and peace. He knew as well as she did that there was no reasoning with the Invictans, no way to avoid the war. War had already begun, hadn`t it? And yet, increasingly, he talked of restraint.

　　 It made Kamila furious. She was glad, for once, that she`d soon be gathering with her fellow Hunters without Antonin Voloshko`s presence. Relations with the Adma were growing tense, and Kamila didn`t need to be a mind-reader to know that Voloshko was losing his patience with them. His influence was strong enough that Mirshal`s tenuous alliance with the Adma might soon be in jeopardy - if Voloshko decided the time for that friendship was past.

　　 Kamila didn`t like seeing that much power, the power to throw away a perfectly good alliance, in the hands of one old man. Not even in the hands of her mentor.

　　 Pondering this as she crossed through the city, Kamila kept her eyes fixed on the street in front of her. She looked up once as she came to a bridge across the canal, and glanced up at the walls. There was someone sitting on the walls - it looked like Hilda, but from this distance and with the figure`s back turned to her Kamila couldn`t be sure.

　　 After crossing the bridge she glanced down at the crumpled map in her hand, then up at the nearby building. Clay and stone, it stood to her left among many other buildings like it. She approached quietly, glanced over either shoulder to ensure she was not being watched, and slipped in through the back door.

　　 Lucian was there, and Erik, and the others Hunters of Kivv. They gathered around a large table, Lucian at its head, his hands resting on the table, palms down. A plate of sliced fruits and nuts sat on the center of the table. Directly across from Lucian was a cluster of people Kamila didn`t recognize. One young man with a poorly-combed mop of grey hair sat opposite Lucian at the table`s other end, with others dressed in the same makeshift armor as him standing behind. A rifle lay on the table in front of the man, and though he did not touch it Kamila immediately perceived a threat in the presence of the weapon.

　　 With her hand resting on Wallshaker she crossed the gap between herself and the young man in an instant. She drew her blade in a flash, moving behind the man and striking out at one of his fellows with her elbow. Before the other had time to reel back from the attack Kamila placed the blade of her sword against the young man`s throat. "Who are you?" she hissed.

　　 Lucian stood up, staring at Kamila, hand balled into a fist. "What are you doing?" he half-shouted. "Kamila -" he glanced past her, over her shoulder. "No one shoot!" he said.

　　 Slowly, Kamila turned her head, without moving the sword away from the young man`s throat. Half a dozen Invictan rifles were pointed directly at her back. The one she`d elbowed glared angrily at Kamila. She could see his fingers shaking near the weapon`s trigger.

　　 "No one shoot!" Lucian repeated. "Kamila, these aren`t enemies. They`re with the Adma."

　　 Kamila blinked, took a deep breath. "Is that so?" she said, staring at the one she`d struck. "I`ll let this one go as soon as you lower that gun," she said, staring directly at him.

　　 "Kamila&" Lucian warned. "Everyone& just put your weapons away."

　　 "Why didn`t you warn me we`d have guests?" Kamila asked without turning back toward Lucian.

　　 "I didn`t know," Lucian said. "Put the sword away."

　　 "Not until&"

　　 Slowly, the man with the shaking fingers lowered his gun. A little stream of blood was beginning to run out his nose and over his lips. The other guns remained pointed at Kamila, shouldered and ready to fire. "Fine," Kamila said, and pulled the sword away from her captive`s throat. She heard a sigh of relief as she relaxed her grip and placed her sword back in its sheath. She turned to the other Adma fighters, at the guns pointed at her.

　　 Inside the barrels of those guns, it was so dark& and she thought of Zoe Bari, of staring down the barrel of that one`s gun.

　　 "Well?" Kamila said.

　　 The guns lowered, slowly, with the mechanical sound of weaponry relaxing. Kamila stepped away from the cluster of Adma soldiers and moved along the table, reaching out to grab a handful of nuts from the plate.

　　 "Sorry for the misunderstanding," Lucian said, and Kamila grunted noncommittally.

　　 "You should have told us you were coming," Kamila said.

　　 "Zil-Antonin told me, this morning," replied Lucian. "It was short notice, but these folks require a place to stay and lay low for a while. They`ve been harrying Invictans in the south, but it seems they`ve become well-known among the soldiers, robbing them of the element of stealth."

　　 "And I thought dear old Voloshko wasn`t friends with the Adma anymore," Kamila said, lifting her hand to her mouth and crunching down on a few of the nuts. "So we`re on good terms again?"

　　 "Look," said the seated Adma fighter, "I don`t know about the internal politics of Mirshal and I don`t much care. What I do know is that there`s a fresh army massing at Carakhte. All this harrying and raiding in the south? It`s just a prelude to the larger battle. They`re going to try to take out Kivv. Take Kivv, and the Vale will follow."

　　 "We know already," Kamila said impatiently, pouring the rest of her hand`s contents into her mouth. "You really came here just to tell us that?"

　　 "We came here to offer our services in the upcoming battle, and to lay low for a while as your friend just said." Kamila saw that the seated one was red in the face now, and his hand was resting much closer to the butt of his rifle. She smiled grimly as the man continued speaking: "We`re trained in going stealthfully behind enemy lines. When the army comes, I think you`ll find us useful allies against the Invictans."

　　 "That`s assuming you`re still welcome here by the time the battle comes," Erik said in monotone. "Kamila`s not wrong - things are tense between Mirshal and the Adma now. We can`t be sure that Antonin Voloshko won`t change his mind - and he`s influential enough that if he decides to cut ties, that`s what will happen."

　　 "Maybe," said the Adma fighter, "but we`re happy to help either way. Kivv is too important to allow to fall."

　　 "Ghire, we can`t just keep you here in secret if it comes to that," Lucian said.

　　 "We`re Adma - we`re used to camping in the wilderness, hiding in the spaces between, thriving there. You couldn`t stop us from being a part of this battle even if you wanted to."

　　 "Fine by me," Kamila said, kneeling on the floor with her arms resting on the table as she watched the Adma group from the corner of her eye. Her gaze flicked back to Lucian. "And you all called this meeting just to let us know about this?"

　　 "Not just that." Ghire stood, leaning forward against the table. "We already discussed this before you showed up."

　　 "We`ll be training together," Lucian said. "There`s a lot that we can learn from them, and a lot for them to learn from us. We`re also going to be facilitating cooperation between the Adma and our local Valer militias. It seems to me there`s been a lot of unnecessary tension between us, when ultimately we`re all on the same side of this fight."

　　 "Now you`re speaking my language," Kamila said. "But how are we going to keep from blowing all our covers if we`re working this openly with the Adma? As far as anybody knows, you`re just a local who works with the militia - you aren`t even an official ranked member. Erik`s just a shopkeeper. And I`m just a militia member."

　　 "Militia captain," Lucian corrected.

　　 Kamila laughed, until she realized Lucian was being serious. Then she lost her grip on the table and nearly fell to the cold floor. "Militia captain?" she said. "Isn`t that even more suspicious? How could I have risen in the ranks that quickly?"

　　 "Because you`re an incredible fighter," Lucian said, turning to Kamila. His elbow rested on the table as he counted off the reasons with his fingers, and Kamila scrambled back up to her feet. "Because you survived Etyslund. You and your siblings are practically local heroes, whether you realize it or not."

　　 "Hold on, Hilda`s the one everyone gushes over. And she hates that anyway!"

　　 At the mention of Hilda`s name, Lucian paused - the hint of a smile on his face. "She does, but that doesn`t change the fact that she`s admired here. And you, too. You just don`t give anyone a choice but to give you a wide berth."

　　 Ghire chuckled from the other side of the table. "Ooooooh, scary lady." He gave a little nod of his head, a grin. His fingers tapped against the table, rhythmic rapping on the wood, little bursts of four. Kamila found herself uncomfortably aware of the dust in the air, the deserted location. This room must not have been used - or cleaned - in some time.

　　 "Besides," Lucian continued. "Anyone who cares to notice can tell that you`re favored by Voloshko. That you have as much experience facing the Invictans directly as anybody else here." He gestured at the Adma fighters across the table. "Present company excluded, obviously, but most of Kivv has never seen combat, let alone against the Empire`s soldiers."

　　 "Well I never exactly went around blabbing about what exactly I saw there. And besides, I was out of the village before the battle happened. Shouldn`t they all be hero-worshipping somebody else? Someone who was actually there?"

　　 "No one who was there is here now - except for you." Lucian sighed. "Look, all I`m saying is that nobody is going to spend much time questioning why you`d be promoted to captain. You deserve it, anyway. No one is questioning your resolve, or your strength. This isn`t nepotism - it`s about time you received this honor.

　　 "And," he continued, "now that you`re captain, it won`t be suspicious for you to be in charge of liaising with the Adma. So officially, Kamila, you`re the one who will serve as their primary contact here. You`re going to manage our joint training - though obviously Voloshko will help, as your mentor."

　　 With a deep sigh, Kamila nodded. "Alright. Anything that`ll help us get closer to the goal."

　　 "And what goal, exactly, is that?" When Kamila turned to look at Ghire, the Adma fighter simply smirked silently and met Kamila`s gaze head-on.

　　 "Isn`t it obvious?" Kamila said. "We`re going to kill the Emperor."

　　 Ghire laughed. It started as a low chuckle, and then the Adma fighters near him joined in. Ghire slapped the table as he laughed, a deep belly laugh, and Kamila felt the table shake where she stood with her hand resting on it. The Hunters gathered to Kamila`s left all looked on quietly at the bemused Adma.

　　 "That`s the truth," Lucian said, and his voice cut through the laughter, silencing everyone. "Antonin Voloshko, our mentor, has made it so. Our goal is to kill the Emperor, not merely to withstand this assault. We will destabilize Invictan society from the core."

　　 Ghire stared across the table, his jaw dropping slightly. "You know that the Emperor will just take another host?" he asked. "If defeating the Invictans were as simple as killing the Emperor, we would have done it already and you would not be in this predicament at all. The Adma are not stupid - we are merely cautious."

　　 "We know he`ll take another host," Kamila protested, her hand making a fist on the table.

　　 "It may be so," Lucian continued, "but then we will kill the next host, and the next."

　　 "You`ll be hunting forever," Ghire said.

　　 "Maybe," Lucian replied. "But the goal isn`t to make that Emperor`s spirit stay truly dead. The goal is to destabilize the Empire, to attack Invictan society at its core, and depriving them of their Emperor will accomplish that."

　　 "A society is not a snake," Ghire replied. "You cannot chop off its head and expect it to die. Even if you could remove Aivor from the equation, others would fill his place. Your ambition is to achieve a permanent goal by temporary means."

　　 "And that`s worse than just trying to hold out here, and then waiting for them to attack again?" Lucian raised an eyebrow.

　　 Ghire shook his head. "Here, we can build. You know, out there in the wilderness, the Adma is not what they say we are - mere bandits nipping at our enemy`s heels, feeding off their scraps. We`re building a society out there, and for all that we fight, it serves no purpose other than to secure that."

　　 "And killing the Invictans once and for all will secure the Vale`s safety for decades to come!" Kamila shouted. Lucian and Ghire both turned to her, startled, as she slammed her fist on the table, back bent forward, eyes shut. She slowly raised her head, opened her eyes, and looked between them. "You`re bickering - pointlessly. We all want to fight the Invictans, don`t we?"

　　 "I`m just saying to temper your expectations," Ghire said, his tone weary. "I can`t fault you your mission, but& you`ll be hunting forever."

　　 "Yes," Lucian said. His eyes grew distant as Kamila watched, his head bowed a little. It was a subtle movement, one she wasn`t sure Ghire or the Adma, or perhaps even Erik, picked up on. His teeth gritted. "At least some of us will have to.I don`t say this because I`m eager to leave my home behind forever, I`m not."

　　 "You`ll have to," Ghire said.

　　 Lucian looked away, shying from Kamila`s and Ghire`s eyes alike.

　　 "Captain& Captain Kamila," Ghire said. "You and your Hunters have us at your service. We`ll train with you for as long as we`re welcome here, and for a while longer if you`re willing to go behind the backs of the rest of the city. We`ll teach you how to survive in the wilderness if need be, how to get behind enemy lines, the Adma ways of battle. And." Ghire reached under the table and lifted up a heavy bag. When he placed it on the table, with a thud, it spewed up eddies of dust into the air surrounding. "We have collected much intelligence in our journeys across Gaurlante and the Vale. That may be useful in preparing for the attack. Information on the Invictan armies, on current activities in Carakhte, correspondence between officials in their army. We have papers."

　　 Ghire reached into the bag, and when his hand withdrew, he held a small stack of metal-encased devices. They were large, like thick rectangular books. "Diagrams. Audio recordings. Simulation data for weapons we`ve taken from them."

　　 Kamila found herself staring at the devices. She hadn`t ever seen so much digital storage up close. "We passed in secret through the Invictan border town, Carkahte," Ghire said. "I believe you already know your woman on the inside. She has managed to sneak a few of your own people into the town, and they`re waiting there for the proper time to make their move." He smiled. "We met with her. She apparently snuck in while pretending to be an Invictan soldier who was actually killed in the battle of Etyslund. Then, in the chaos of organizing for the invasion, she simply disappeared. Now she`s incognito - within the city. And as long as she doesn`t try to leave, she`ll be fine. That`s one of the nice things about your enemy preparing for an invasion - there`s always going to be some bad organization, and you can take advantage of that.

　　 "Plus, it didn`t hurt that we were right there to help make sure all the paperwork proving her arrival in the city simply disappeared. As far as anyone in Carakhte is concerned, she doesn`t exist - either as herself or as the fake identity she took in order to sneak in."

　　 "Anything else?" Kamila said.

　　 "The army`s beginning to mass in earnest at this point," Ghire said. As he spoke, he reached out toward the center of the table, took a handful of berries. He popped one between his teeth, and as he bit down the juice dribbled from his lips. "They aren`t at Carakhte yet, but everyone is talking about them. The High Priest Zhiren is going to be leading the army when it comes for us. And with them& well, you`ll have your opportunity to try to kill the Emperor." Ghire smiled, a grim smile with no joy in it whatsoever. "Gaius, Host of Aivor, is coming to Kivv."

　　 "We already knew that," Kamila said. "They`re probably the biggest threat we have to face. It`s why the Hunters are training so hard."

　　 "You thought that," Ghire said. "It`s what they were planning, but they hadn`t already done it. Well, the preparations are in place. Zhiren`s retinue makes for Carakhte, and he won`t be far behind. Now you know."