Chapter 133: I will go north on my own

Ulrich Vance was standing on the Fifth Bastion beside Encrid when he watched thirty men carry a shaped piece of oak up a ramp.

He watched them for a long time without saying anything.

The Wall was changing.

It had changed more in the last few days than it had in years.

Massive machines were being mounted onto the parapets, large enough that some of them could be seen from the Shambles below. They came up the inner stairs in pieces, carried on carts and on the shoulders of thirty men at a time. Once they reached the bastions, the pieces were covered with oilcloth while the workers assembled them.

In some places, the workers had to build the beds for the machines themselves because there was simply no other way to mount them.

The frames were enormous.

That was the first thing anyone noticed.

Timber and iron, built to hold mechanisms that most people on the Wall had never seen before.

Some of the timber came from the heavy stock the Wall kept for repairing the great arch over the main gate.

Vess had signed it out with the expression of a man watching someone carry away his own furniture.

Nobody on the Wall had ever seen anything like the machines being built now.

Nobody wanted to be the first person to say it.

Ulrich finally broke the silence.

"I have been on this Wall for a very long time," he said. "I have read every engineering return this Wall has produced during that time, and some of the records from before I arrived."

He watched another piece of the machine being lifted into place.

"None of them come close to this."

Ulrich turned toward Encrid.

"To be honest, what is this?"

Encrid smiled.

That answer seemed to irritate the old commander.

"I am not going to ask how the Fourth Son of Duke Aegis Gannon, or a clerk at the Wall, learned how to design something like this."

Encrid remained silent.

"I am very sure you would simply tell me that you read it somewhere."

Encrid’s smile widened slightly.

"And I am not an idiot, so I would not believe you."

Encrid looked back toward the workers.

The machine was beginning to take shape.

Ulrich sighed.

"The Empire is going to make a great deal of noise if they see these."

Encrid glanced at him.

"You understand there are laws about what a frontier command is permitted to build. There are very good reasons for most of them."

Encrid looked over the parapet.

Thirty miles of freshly cut trenches stretched across the killing ground below.

Men were still working around them.

Others were carrying timber toward the next section.

The Wall was not beautiful anymore.

It looked like a place preparing to survive something.

"They should be happy we are still holding the Wall," Encrid finally said.

Ulrich made a sound that was almost a laugh.

"I see."

He looked at Encrid for another moment.

"I am glad you act like a young man sometimes."

Encrid raised an eyebrow.

"That will do. Go and get some sleep, Strategist."

✧ ✧ ✧

The Eastern Garrison was having an important discussion that day.

Zuri stood inside the command tent with a map spread across the table.

Four Imperial officers were arguing with her about the supply road.

The road had become a problem several weeks ago, and none of them seemed capable of agreeing on what should be done about it.

It was right then that someone came in and told them that someone had sent a letter to Zuri.

Zuri was preparing to tell Sir Agnus to take the letter and leave it for later when the messenger mentioned who had sent it.

She stopped.

"Give it to me."

The messenger handed it over.

Zuri immediately dismissed the officers.

They had barely stepped outside before she broke the seal.

The letter was short.

Zuri,

I am alive.

The people here are kinder to me than you might expect, although there is a mountain of work to do. I am sending this letter to you because I do not know if I will get another chance to do so.

Something is coming for the Wall, and I am not sure if we can stop it.

But if I do make it back, we are going to Selvara’s, and I am going to judge how good the braised lamb is with you in person.

- Your brother, Encrid.

That was it,

Zuri read it once.

Then again.

Then a third time.

She folded it carefully and placed it inside her coat.

She sat down.

For a long while, she did nothing.

Half an hour later, Sir Agnus found her with the letter open on the table and both hands resting flat on either side of it.

He did not interrupt.

He waited.

Eventually, Zuri looked up.

"Sir Agnus."

"My lady."

"I want the Fifth Order ready to march by tomorrow morning."

Agnus remained still.

"Full field kit. Remounts and with eleven days of feed."

He had been her guardian knight since she was twelve.

He was a Master of the Earth element, an experienced soldier, and one of the few people in the garrison who could speak plainly to her.

In nine years, he had never questioned an order she gave him in front of another person.

There was no one else in the tent now.

"Where are we going?"

"North."

Agnus stepped inside.

"My lady, the Duke’s orders place this garrison in the East until spring, and those orders were specific."

"I know."

"There is still work here. The road question is not settled. If we march north without instruction from the Dukehold, every one of us will be in breach."

"I am aware of all of that."

"Then may I ask what is in the letter?"

Zuri looked down.

"Nothing."

Agnus frowned.

"I do not follow."

"That is what is in it."

She touched the page with one finger.

"I have written to my brother every two weeks for years."

Agnus waited.

"This is the first time he has ever written to me."

The knight’s expression changed slightly.

Zuri continued.

"Do you know what he wrote?"

"No, my lady."

"He did not write anything about him."

She picked up the letter and folded it again."

"He has written that he might not get another chance to write to me."

Agnus was quiet.

"He said something is coming for the North," Zuri continued, "and they might not be able to stop it."

She stood.

Then she crossed to the tent flap.

"The Fifth Order of the White Griffin moves under my command."

Agnus watched her.

"That is not a courtesy, and it is not a custom. It is written into the order’s own charter. My father signed it himself when he gave them to me."

She turned back.

"They go where I take them."

"And the Duke?"

"My father will do whatever he decides to do."

Zuri opened the letter once more.

"I am not going to spend four days waiting to find out what that is."

Agnus studied her for several seconds.

"You believe the letter is a warning."

"No."

Zuri shook her head.

"I believe the things he did not write are the warning."

Agnus said nothing.

Zuri looked at the man who had taught her to hold a sword, taught her to ride, and had stood beside her through every important moment of her life.

"I am not going to order anybody to come with me."

Agnus raised an eyebrow.

"Tell them that plainly, Sir Agnus. Make certain they understand it. Any man who stays will not be marked for it by me, or by anyone who answers to me."

"And if half of them stay?"

"Then I will go north with the other half."

"And if all of them stay?"

Zuri pushed open the tent flap.

"Then I will go north on my own."

✦ ✦ ✦