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“There will be no victory for us, will there?” she asked in a whisper

“Don’t say that My queen sails to these shores with a great army If we hold to our cause”

“I was a slave, but never a fool This e and we have killed but a fraction of the force they will bring against us They will kill us, all of us, for we are slaves and we cannot be allowed even the barest hope of freedom Without us, they have no empire”

The matter must be settled “If you believe our cause so hopeless, why join us?”

She ca his hand tighter, her breath warotten could be offered, a choice And I choose to die free”

• • •

Their numbers doubled over the next feeeks as Ivelda and Lekran continued to bring in recruits by the dozen and ever more runaways arrived at the villa Soon there were sohimself compelled to order some into the fields to harvest ed to a that all would take a turn at the same chore, himself included Conahl, the Real large nuh; only a third of the army could be described as adequately armed and at least as many were still equipped with various farm implements

“Plenty of weapons in New Kethia,” Lekran pointed out at the evening council

“We still lack the strength to take it,” Frentis replied Thirty-Four ell acquainted with New Kethia and had ath of its walls Plus they had to assume the Empress had sent them some reinforcee to allow hihtly dose of Brother Kehlan’s sleeping draught, despite the headaches The ca towards its crucial phase and he was unwilling to risk any chance she ht divine his plans when theirat the sudden absence of contact, and perhaps even prone to er, this region will be denuded of slaves,” Thirty-Four said “Those that haven’t joined us will have been killed or o south, I’ve little doubt this arhty within a few months”

“We do not have a few months,” Frentis said “The queen’s fleet will already have sailed andsouth will not provide the diversion she needs”

“Over half of our people are not fro of the queen They cae one master for another”

“If we can secure the queen’s victory, then every slave in this empire will be free Her cause is their cause Make sure they know that”

He returned his gaze to the map We have to strike so to a town on the northern coast, about fifty miles east of New Kethia

“Viratesk,” Thirty-Four said “Athe trade routes north”

“Defences?”

“A wall, of sorts It’s a poor place, home to only a few black-clads with scant funds to waste on a wall that hasn’t been needed for centuries” Thirty-Four paused, lips pursed in consideration “They do have a lively slave market as I recall Theso many slavers look to alternatives to shift their stock”

A town so close to the provincial capital put to the torch and they’ll be forced to cohtened froather numbers and train, then we march to Viratesk”

• • •

He had Thirty-Four draw a map of the town and sent Master Rensial to scout the approaches, cautioning hi the recruits, e a feords with as ratified that most seemed to be enlivened by the prospect of action However, he didn’t have to look too deeply to see the fear that lingered in ed enslavement; they had risked all to join this rebellion and had no illusions as to the consequences should they fail

“I nearly ran once before,” Tekrav told Frentis oneas they went over the inventory of supplies The former bookkeeper had proved hi, but his facility for nu after my creditors’ petition saw me chained Myself and another newly enslaved hatched a plan during the caravan ride to thefellow, but overfond of drink and poppy essence as I was overfond of dice Our intention was for hie and take his keys”

“Did it work?”