08 Blood War-Blood Destiny by Connie Suttle Page B

with slightly graying brown hair and green eyes. He was straight and fit, though, and I figured he'd earned his rank.
    "This tastes like mud," I grimaced again. I don't know what kind of tea the General liked—they'd served me the same thing and expected me to like it. Solis liked his tea lighter and it was palatable, at least.
    "The stronger the better," the General smiled wider and sipped his tea.
    "Whatever you say, sir," I shuddered and set my cup down with a thump. He laughed. Solis, Desmun and Captain Nord came in to sit with us and they were served better tea, I just knew it. Warn was with Solis, Desmun's bodyguard, Maks, was right behind him, and Nord's bodyguard, Ander, was at his elbow.
    "I think you grew two heads and four arms after last night," Desmun said, looking at me. I was trying to chew the bacon I'd been served—I think the pig was at least a hundred years old before he died and then they didn't butcher him for days after that. It was the toughest bacon I'd ever had.
    "I don't think my blades would cut this stuff," I set the slice of bacon on my wooden plate with a sigh.
    "You'll get terrible food for a few days; I had to send the cooks back to the castle in chains last night," Cordus came over and sat down, his bodyguard, Gus, with him. "They'd been paid off by Red Hand spies."
    I wondered what Red Hand had paid them to do, other than listen to the General's conversations with his Captains over breakfast, but like the other bodyguards, I kept my mouth shut. All the bodyguards were kept out of the General's tent later while he had a private conference with the Captains. The other two Captains, Blade and Grip, had shown up, finally. They could be excused for being late, though—they'd been up part of the night with the Sergeants, quelling a disturbance or two among the Regulars.
    "I hope I don't have to tell you not to let him down," Warn was in front of me suddenly while I was watching The Red Hand troops, who were camped just north of us. The High Commander was sending a couple of men away on horseback. That made me frown. "Look at me when I'm talking to you," Warn demanded, jabbing a finger in my chest.
    "I don't have any argument with you," I pushed his hand away. "And whatever the General wants, he'll probably get unless he asks for sex. Why is the High Commander sending two men toward Phergis?" Phergis was the capital city of Farus, where Rindle's castle stood. It was also the nearest city to Seaport, where the Pelipu's troops had landed on Farus.
    "He's sending two back?" Warn whirled to look. The two racing horses were all that could be seen, now. That caused him to snort. "Fucking spies," he muttered.
    "Probably on their way to deliver a message to the Pelipu," Gus said. "It'll take a day and a half to ride back to Seaport, and then another two days to cross the channel, and a day beyond that to get the message to The Red Hand himself."
    "So, we have ten days or so, before a message comes back?"
    "Sounds about right," Ander agreed. "And who knows what was in that message to begin with? Could just be that the commander didn't like his breakfast this morning." The others laughed. If I were free to go and wasn't worried over my discovery, I'd go right then, place compulsion on the High Commander and find out things for myself. Meanwhile, I was forcing myself to play by the rules.
    The Captains came out after a while, ordered everybody to saddle up and we were on our way half an hour later, after the General's tent was taken down and packed away.
    We were still traveling over wet ground—the wagons got stuck as usual, which held everything up and we went about half as far as the General wanted to go. He was frustrated by our lack of progress and grumbled when we were forced by darkness to camp for the night. The High Commander was giving us the cold shoulder, too, choosing to show up for meals only.
    "This bread is disgusting," Desmun tossed the dry lump onto his plate. "Is it too much to ask to get