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‘It worked out quite well, Gunda, and when soe it’

As always, Narasan’s arht the following , and ian the e line could hardly be described as aof relatively gentle hills rising up out of the flat plain of the southern reaches of the Empire The soil appeared to be quite rocky, and the local nobility had evidently decided that trying to farm it would just be a waste of time and effort, so the hills were covered with fairly dense brush and clumps of stubby trees

Narasan’s nephew Astalthe are As was customary, the bearer of the ar officer The army’s reputation tended to make potential enemy armies a bit nervous, so Narasan alwaysthe banner to ward off anybeside Co to the front

‘Just exactly how narrow is that pass up there?’ Narasan asked Gunda

‘It’s pretty skimpy, Narasan,’ Gunda replied ‘I’d sayserious about this little outing, I’d probably recoht in a situation like this Astal’s going to have to break forh I hate these narrow places It’s probably going to take us until long past h to the other side’

‘Does the road widen out at all after it goes through the pass?’

‘Not enough tothat the Duke of Tashan doesn’t havetroops with any kind of experience, that pass up there could give us a lot of trouble’

Narasan shaded his eyes from the newly-risen sun and squinted up toward the pass Thesky was clear blue, untarnished by any clouds, and the thick brush on the steep side of the ridge lay alreen carpet It was one of those very pretty days

Astal called the ninth cohort to a halt near the pass and issued the order to re-form in a crisply military tone His soldiers assembled in a narrow ten-man-wide column, and then Astal took his place at the head of the coluave the order to march

Narasan felt a certain fas exactly as they should be handled, and his old arht to get on through to flat ground, Narasan,’ Gunda advised ‘That pass isn’t really very steep, but that narrow section’s definitely going to slow us down’ He vigorously rubbed at his receding hairline

‘It’s not like we had some kind of appointet there e get there’

‘I know that,’ Gunda replied ‘I just don’t like the idea of being all strung out like this If somebody happened to jump us, we could be in a lot of trouble I hate o up there and order them to lie down, then? I don’t think they’ll listen to you, but it’ll give you so about every little burowled ‘Ha Ha Ha’