Winter Be My Shield by Jo Spurrier

no doubt that’s what the Akharians are doing. They seemed to think the Slavers are looking for something.’
    Cam fixed his gaze on her. ‘You managed to overhear the king’s counsel? Just who did you escape from, Kasimi? We won’t sell you back to them, I swear it by the Twin Suns.’
    She stammered then, and blanched, winding her fingers into a knot within her too-long sleeves. ‘It’s not important. As soon as my eyes are better, I’ll ride on. But if you are where I think you are, it’s not safe to stay here long. The Slavers are heading this way.’
    â€˜It doesn’t make any sense. If it’s slaves they’re after, they’ll have richer pickings near the coast and better loot, too …’ Villages were scattered in the north, where the winter lasted longer and mountains and forest seemed to battle for control of the land. The longer growing season andbetter farmland in the south supported far more people. The Akharians would probably try their luck anyway  — they’d investigate the tribal lands eventually, but Cam couldn’t believe they would split their forces until the king’s men had been beaten back.
    â€˜Do the clans know any of this?’ Kasimi said. ‘Or the local people? Maybe I’m wrong — I hope I am — but if I’m not, the Slavers will rip through the village folk like a hot knife through fat. Our people won’t stand a chance against their mages.’
    Winter was the time for warfare in the north, when packed snow and frozen rivers let men move more quickly than the bogs and sucking mud of summer. Fighting was a matter of strike and retreat, of ambush and traps set for men instead of beasts. The northern people were masters of it, but were the Akharian mages enough to tip the scales back? Ricalan had battled mages before and won, but it had come at a high price. And besides, it had happened a century earlier — all those who knew how to fight sorcerers were long dead.
    If the rumours were true, the Wolf Clan would send men to help defend the region — but did they have any to spare after meeting the king’s demand for warriors? As a last resort, the village folk could flee into the forests, scattering the stock and burning the houses behind them. They’d done it in the past, in the old days of war between the clans, but folk would suffer from cold and hunger, the old and the young in particular, and if the fighting lasted into the brief summer there could be famine to follow.
    â€˜I don’t know,’ Cam said. ‘But when we reach the village I’ll see what I can find out. When we get back, we can try a short journey to see how Issey fares. We ought to move on anyway; we’re too close for comfort as it is. Is there anything else you can tell me?’
    She bit her lip and shook her head, but she was still so tense that Cam had no doubt she was hiding something. Well, whatever it was would have to wait. Right now, keeping Isidro alive and his tiny band safe and fed was more important.
    â€˜Cam?’ Rhia looked up from her tablet and beckoned him over. ‘I want to be sure you know all these names.’
    The list she had written in the soot-stained wax was alarmingly long, and Rhia switched to Mesentreian, her preferred language, to make sure he understood it. ‘These ones are most important,’ she said, markingperhaps half a dozen out of a list twice that length. ‘But get a little of the others too if you can.’
    â€˜Rhia, tell me —’ A movement caught his eye and Cam looked up. Brekan hadn’t left with the others — he was still sitting in his place, scraping up the last of his porridge with exaggerated care. When he saw Cam’s gaze upon him Brekan slipped out of the tent with a pointed sniff, leaving his dirty bowl on the spruce behind him.
    Cam just shook his head. Markhan had been a good man and a