Dawn broke cold and clear.
The Wolf Clan army made camp two miles north of the capital. Not advancing. Not retreating. Waiting with the particular discipline of soldiers who had been given a clear order and were deciding how they felt about it.
Xin stood on the northern palace wall and watched the cook fires.
Thousands of them. Each one a person who had marched south to destroy something and was now eating breakfast instead. The distance between those two things felt fragile. Like ice that looked solid and probably was not.
Mei appeared beside him with two cups of tea.
"Shen Bao's surgeons are working on him," she said. "Three cracked ribs. Torn channel in his left arm. He will be functional in a week."
"And the two generals he fought?"
"Alive. Humbled." She handed him a cup. "The t
