Chapter Twenty-OneI leapt for the closest bell and rang the signal for battle. It was echoed almost immediately by the relay bells Shing had installed all over the fort, and the caves, and the medical house, and the valley floor.
‘Are you sure you want to face the blood and dying of the medical centre?’ I asked her. ‘You’ve chosen the hardest path of all.’
‘I’m sure,’ she said, and kissed me farewell. ‘Don’t be heroic. Stay alive.’
‘You’re not the first to ask that of me,’ I said.
‘Are you listening?’ she said tartly.
‘Yes—I’ll be careful, as much as I’m able. I promise.’ I moved back to the bell to call for an escort, but she stopped me.
‘I saw the medical house—across the river. There’s no need for an escort.’
‘Very well.’ I looked out the window and saw my first wave of soldiers
