Mattox laid down his fork. “The man brought three hundred troops with him. Those men are sitting outside the front gate, hungry and tired, and waiting for their leader to return to them. Meanwhile, Edge is feeding his face, taking care of his own needs first instead of his men’s. The least he could’ve done is send one of his soldiers out to where they’re waiting and show them where they can camp. But, no. He’s going to fill his belly first, and take care of his troops later.” He didn’t try to hide his disgust for the man’s actions. He also noticed his parents’ reactions. They didn’t like what they’d heard, either.
“I met Luc on the way over here and told him about that asshole. Luc said he’d go in and give the guy the welcome spiel, and have one of our men take them over to Section Three. Three still has room, doesn’t it?” It hadn’t occurred to him before now that those grounds may already be filled. He was glad to see his father nod.
“But if he has that many troops, it may be crowded now. I’ll have Cole double-check.” Yulen took a deep breath. “Is there anyone else still unaccounted for, that you know of? If I remember correctly, there should be one more late in arriving.”
“Ashworth from Prospero,” Atty supplied.
“Yeah. That’s the one. Good. Being Mutah, I can put him over with the other Mutah, so we don’t have to worry about where to put another Normal arrival.” Swallowing the remainder of his drink, Yulen set the mug down on the table and looked to his son. “You ready to go walk the boards?”
Mattox stuffed the last bit of potato into his mouth. “Yeah. Let’s go.”
“What? No dessert?” Atty giggled.
“What is it?”
“Peach tarts. And, no, I didn’t fix them.”
“Wrap me up one, and I’ll take it with me.”
Atty got up from her seat to fetch it. “I’ll pack two,” she told him over her shoulder. “Give the other one to your father.”
Yulen leaned over to whisper in his son’s ear. “You can have them both.”
Mattox chuckled. That was another thing he shared with his father—a love of sweets. And it wouldn’t be the first time Yulen had yielded his portion to Mattox’s sweet tooth.
Getting to his feet, he accepted the wrapped tarts, bussed his mother on the cheek, grabbed his weapons belt, and followed the battle lord out the front door.
5
Warning
“Come on. I want to check out section three before we run the perimeter.”
Mattox had a feeling his father would want to check out that area first. He was just as keen to see how Edge’s men were settling in. See if there really were close to three hundred troops accompanying the guy. And maybe, if he was lucky, catch a glimpse of…
His thoughts drifted off as a face rose like the moon in his mind’s eye. Her dark brown gaze framed by darker brown hair. He’d seen identical shocked expressions on other people’s faces when they got a good look at him. Did she know he was the one she’d bumped elbows with? Did she even care?
He gave himself a hard shake.Cut that shit out. Last thing you need is someone like her distracting you when you’re supposed to be alert and on your toes.
Yulen glanced at him but didn’t comment on his son’s reaction. Instead, he pointed to the tents being erected on the other side of the wall. “Yeah, it looks like there’s around three hundred men accompanying him.” He frowned. “I don’t like the look of it.”
“What are you thinking?”
“A battle lord doesn’t travel with that many men, even when they’re on their yearly cleansing mission. No. This has all the hallmarks of a subversive tactic.”
“Are you thinking takeover?”
Yulen pointed to an area where it was too dark to see, but he knew Mattox’s extraordinary vision could. “What’s that?”
“Looks like a weapons dump.”
“Can you see what’s inside?”
“Hold on. Gimme a sec.” Mattox concentrated on the shadows being cast by the nearby fire pits. “Looks like bows and arrows. A couple of cudgels. More swords. I think I can see some lances, but the firelight is playing havoc with the shadows.”
“So he’s got more weapons than soldiers. Do you find that odd?”
“Odd enough to where I’d question him about it.”
