Chapter 21The next day the attack was on.
Scaif led his squads west from their camp to the road that ran from the city to the palace. They led the horses on foot, ready to mount and make their run when Troy indicated. As usual, they’d communicate by runner and horn call, and Sleer was standing by Troy, ready to go as the Foot squads moved north and east.
The final camp wasn’t that far from the palace, but they saw no one in the preserve as they passed through. Markus guessed that it was because Kalmar was no more interested in hunting than he had been five years before. Troy noted this as a vulnerability that should be corrected, once he had any say in the matter. Neither complained.
As they reached the border with the formal palace grounds, a young gardener weeding a perennial border s
