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She did what she could, bringing water to the prisoners, tending wounds Her guards watched without interest and made no s she did were useless But she had to do theht

She had to listen to their stories, in order to report the would be as horrified as she was, hearing of his loyal subjects driven forward at spear point to take the brunt of the assault, caught between a sure death, if they did not advance, and likely death if they did Onetheir screa his ears as though he still heard their cries Another had crawled to safety through a field of blood; his skin was covered in it, cracking and flaking off when he clenched and unclenched his hands A woman had seen her own son fall with an arrow in his eye, and during the night she had crawled a hopelessly and desperately, until her sobbing brother had dragged her away before she could get cut down by the defenders on the wall or the Qunetha’s uncle ae

Hanna noticed first that the attention of her guards slipped away from her as they pointed toward the trees and the encae The sed Three fat balls of suards whistled sharply, beckoning to her as he touched the handle of his whip She wasn’t the one ould be struck if she didn’t obey iot to Bulkezu’s pavilion just as he rode up, attended by a dozen of his favored captains His gaze marked Hanna, but that was all, before he called his brother over The two spoke rapidly, words blending together so that she could pick not even one common word out of the conversation except a name

Bayan

Cherbu hemmed and hawed He frowned and spat He scratched his crotch and pried a tiny stone out of the sole of his shoe Bulkezu wanted hi that he clearly did not want to do But in the end he acquiesced,gait He had stripped down to al because of the heat, and the tattoos that covered his body see down his dark skin

Bulkezu returned his attention to the scouts who rode up at intervals and gave their reports Hanna was too nervous to understand even a single word Around her,down tents and pavilions Cherbuto the other while he sprinkled dust onto the ground at intervals His singsong chant interith Bulkezu’s laughter every ti on? Were they abandoning the siege? Had Prince Bayan tracked them down at last?

Ai, Lord Maybe Ivar ith him Maybe Ivar wasn’t really dead

Prince Ekkehard eed from his tent with his four faithful coht cold, when two Quman soldiers rode up and dumped at Bulkezu’s feet the body of a Wendishe of Princess Sapientia Ekkehard grabbed his battle banner out of Welf’s hand and tossed it back inside the tent Standing with his friends, he could no longer be identified as a royal prince of Wendar

Bulkezu held up a hand for silence He had taken off his hel it writhe like snakes around his shoulders Below, the Qu back froroups of ten and twenty riders er cohorts as they returned fro

"Arm for battle, Prince Ekkehard," said Bulkezu "The tiaze "When I have destroyed their army, and burned their city, then you will lead me to the witch called Liathano"

4

THAT day, the ninth of Setentre, the feast day of St Mary the Wise, six of the ten scouts sent far forward of the ar, Prince Bayan called a war council so that all the nobles and commanders could hear the reports of the four who had survived

But before Prince Sanglant led his personal retinue to the council, Zacharias had the pleasure of watching the prince "

"That is what I ahness" Wolfhere was actually sweating, although in truth it was an unseasonably war on the horizon "Princess Theophanu had three Eagles in her entourage, and the only one who has the gift of the Eagle’s sight is no longer with her I can use ht to see where the princess is--"