There had to be nearly a thousand men camped in front of us—more than twice our number. How could they have made camp since nightfall without arousing any suspicion? Men could be ordered to be silent, but no matter how well-trained the animals, they whinnied and stamped as they willed, yet the guards who watched swore they’d heard nary a sound. It was as though they were phantoms from a previous war, there to reenact a battle long since decided. I shivered, wondering what magic they could have wrought to go unnoticed.
The warriors looked so small from my vantage point, as though I was a god looking down upon the earth and could crush them under my thumb. But it would not be nearly so easy—that much I knew. As the view became clearer, I watched those closest to the outer palisade as they w
