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Gavin hated poets He and Ironfist had gathered food and weapons and taken a scull out into open waters

"You going to suit up?" Gavin asked, pulling on armor

"I’ve skimmed with you before," Ironfist said

"And?"

"I prefer not to strap on weights when I may have to swim"

Ah yes, not everyone could swih weather today," Ironfist said

That was all he said, but Gavin could tell he wasn’t looking forward to going at extree waves No wonder he didn’t want his armor

But in another minute, they were off across the waves As before, Ironfist made an excellent partner on the skih that Gavin was able to use the foils to lift the skiood, because the chop was rough today, up to two paces high With the skiht, Gavin was able to keep the boat ht on the surface, it would have been a horrendous trip, impossible, really

After a few hours, though, they escaped the poor weather

They found the Atashian coast, and Gavin skinized Between the incredible speed at which they’d traveled and the is while in the ues off course That much error for a normal ship could mean an extra day at sea Not for the too far south Ironfist drafted a binocle, and they saw several Ilytian ships Traders, supplying the aruns and powder that would wreak havoc on the peaceful innocents of Ru

Gavin looked at Ironfist Ironfist shook his head

He was right Scout first Fight later

They ski it a wide berth People in toith spyglasses with fine lenses would see theence They passedthe arood A few Ilytian ships could si traders who knew they could alleys froless because many merchants owned those), and caravels fro ar its best to support the invasion That n of trouble is when those cities you’ve subdued stop sending you supplies If Garriston had been turned into a city that could export goods in only a fewa better job governing it when he wasn’t there than the rapacious Ruthgari governor had done when he was there Not good news

They spent the rest of the day scouting, not daring to head too near Ruic Head, where the fort would doubtless have good spotters, but taking note of exactly how ht havethey learned simply froht The army was perhaps six days’to help from the Chromeria would arrive only a day before the Color Prince’s arh time It took men tie It took theles were, and to train to reles in the heat and panic of battle It took time for ical places, and to determine which units would hich, and for officers to figure out which of their ally’s officers were points, which places must be defended at all costs and which could be yielded and retaken at grievous cost to the eneh to put a few thousand men in a city, and that hat Gavin was afraid his father was going to do

Andross Guile, for all his intelligence, was a politician and a drafter, not a general Gavin couldn’t hate him for it It was how he saw hiths, and Gavin had learned to trust hie, he’d seen a platoon, cut down to half strength, isolated and hard pressed on his army’s left flank If they’d crumpled, the line would have shattered, and they’d been outnue he’d been planning, in order to go reinforce them

General Danavis had stopped hio"