Steven Brust - Dragon

"We've been talking it over for some time," said Morrolan. "And we cannot leave him in possession of the artifact, so we must take it. Once we've taken it, we cannot leave him unbloodied, or he'll try to take it back. So we have to get it from him and, at the same time, bloody his nose."

"And you want me to do the getting."

"If you'd like."

"I'd like. How do you suggest I go about it? I suspect sneaking into his tent at night is going to be trickier than the other stuff I've been doing, and, really, I'm not a thief by profession or training."

"No," said Morrolan. "And that wouldn't do what we want anyway. We need it removed from him during the battle."

"Excuse me? Why?"

"Because I don't know any way to get it after the battle. He isn't going to leave himself vulnerable; he'll retreat, probably return home, and at that point we would have to hire a thief to get it."

"That may not be a bad idea," I said.

"I don't employ thieves," said Morrolan.

"Didn't you just ask me to steal something?"

"To remove it from him in the middle of a battle, yes. We do not countenance assassination either, but making targets of senior officers while in combat is not only proper but recommended."

"Too nice a distinction for me, Morrolan. I'm just a hardworking Jhereg. But what about before the battle?"

"If you do that, there won't be a battle, Vlad. He'll pull back, re-form, and launch his own campaign to get it back from me, maybe years from now."

I shook my head. "How am I supposed to go after the thing while we're fighting? How will I even find him, much less the whole question of getting to him."

Sethra spoke up. "For one thing, we're going to position your company in such a way that you'll be as close as possible to his command center."

I wondered how Virt would feel if she knew how her general was deciding on the order of battle. I resolved not to tell her.

I said, "I still don't see how I'm supposed to get out of a pitched battle, all the way to their command post, find Fornia, and extract the weapon from him."

Aliera said, "I don't either. I think the whole idea is idiotic."

"As for getting the weapon from him," said Morrolan. "As I said a moment ago, making targets of senior officers is an accepted tactic."

"Oh. So now you want me to kill him?"

"If necessary."

I shook my head. "If I'd wanted to kill him, Morrolan, I would simply have done so. Days ago. It isn't clear to me—"

"You won't be alone," he put in.

"I won't?"

"If you require assistance, we can supply you with as many subordinates as you wish."

"That," I said, "may make a difference."

"Boss, are you nuts?"

"Some people think so, Loiosh."

"Add me to the list. You can't—"

"Maybe I can, Loiosh." Aloud I said, "How much time do I have to think it over?"

"I don't know," said Sethra. "Fornia is bringing up troops all the time. Of course, so are we, and faster. Right now, delay works in our favor, so I would expect them to begin the attack soon."

"What does 'soon' mean?"

"Probably tomorrow morning."

"Yeah, that's soon."

"Tell me your decision through Captain Cropper," said Morrolan. "Just give him the message to give to me, don't reach me psychically; I want this going through proper channels."

"Why, for the love of the Gods?"

"Because that's how it's done."

"All right," I said. I stood up. "Have a good council."

"Do you need a guide back?" said Morrolan.

"No, thanks."

I left the tent. It had become dark and cold; I should have brought a cloak. Loiosh guided me back, and I was glad to find the fire; it felt like home.

"Well," said Virt. "Did you see her?"

"Sethra? Yes."

"And?"

"There will most likely be a battle tomorrow. A big one."

"Did you get another mission?" said Napper.

"An interesting question," I said. "I'm not certain."

"Well, if you need anyone—"

"Noted. Thanks."

Virt said, "Battle tomorrow, hm?"

"So it seems."

"We don't have any bulwarks built up."

"Yes."

"So either we're spearheading an attack or we're bait."

"Or both," I said. "I suspect both."

Virt shook her head. Aelburr sat there stirring the fire and not talking.

Virt said, "So, what's she like?"

"I don't know," I said. "I've never met any other vampires to compare her to. Excuse me, I'm going to take a walk."

"Don't go too far," said Virt. "We're in imminent, and up for picket duty in half an hour."

"Half an hour," I repeated. "I'll be there."

I stayed within the pickets and walked around the perimeter of the camp. I tried to focus on the decision I had to make, but the fact is I've never been good at just thinking about things, so I didn't get anywhere except around in a circle; my thoughts kept drifting over my recent experiences: fights, and marches, and sitting around fires. I didn't come to any conclusions about those, either, and then half an hour was up and I returned to our tent, where I collected Aelburr, Napper, and my heavy cloak, and we went off to picket duty, where we were not allowed to speak, which pleased me.

Picket duty passed without incident, and I passed the time without reaching any conclusions. Then I went to bed and got a few hours of sleep. The next day we were woken up appallingly early, even for the army, and ordered to move our camp a hundred yards closer to the Wall and a little north to the top of a small hill. Virt said, "The other option, of course, was that there was no point in having us erect defenses for a position we weren't expected to hold."

She seemed much cheered by the idea until Aelburr said, "Then why aren't we putting up defenses here?"

"Maybe we'll move again," she said, straining her eyes to the north, where we could make out plenty of activity but couldn't identify it yet.

Virt pointed to the hollow to our left and said, "Two spear phalanxes."

"Which means?"

"It means we aren't defending a flank. That's good, if you value a long life."

"Then I'm glad."

"On the other hand, if we're attacking, we may be sent against their flank."

So we finally got breakfast. I chewed a couple of biscuits, washed them down with water, and followed the company colors until I found the Captain, staring at the enemy through a telescope and talking to Crown. He looked at me when I approached and said, "Yes?"

"Morrolan asked me a question last night. He said I was to give you the answer to relay back to him."

He stared down at me and scowled, evidently not entirely pleased with being a messenger for a Jhereg. "Very well," he said. "What is it?"

"Tell him I said yes."

The Captain opened his mouth, closed it, nodded abruptly, turned to Crown, and said, "See to it the Lord Morrolan gets the message."

"Yes, sir," said Crown. He saluted and set off to find a messenger. The Captain returned his attention to the enemy. Just because I felt like it, I saluted before returning to my squadron.

I kept thinking that I could put it all together if I were smarter. Whatever Fornia was up to should have been subject to deduction, but I couldn't figure it out. Of course, I was aware that figuring it out might not turn out to be useful; just because you know what someone is doing doesn't necessarily mean you can stop him. That was Sethra's attitude; her approach to this battle was straightforward, and fundamentally without deception, and it seemed to be working—at least to judge by the fact that a press of Morrolan's troops, including himself and Aliera, were pushing their way toward Fornia's command position.

On the other hand, the Eastern mercenaries, though retreating, had not yet broken. Nothing was yet decided, except that a large number of people had died here, and more were going to.