I frown. “Is that not the armorer’s job?”
“Armorer’s dead,” the blacksmith grumbles, spitting onto the ground. “The buffoon tried to desert his post. You can see him, if you’d like. They have him strung up by his neck near the latrines.”
I swallow hard, unable to dislodge the sticky lump at the back of my throat. I make a note to ask fewer questions.
“Have him fitted and ready within the hour,” the captain says before turning on his heel to leave.
Without anywhere else to go, I remain rooted in place as theblacksmith trudges forward. He scrutinizes me, clearly unimpressed. “Tall, but scrawny,” he mutters to himself. “You’re a Xue boy, yes?”
“That I am, sir.”
“Why do you smell like vomit?”
My mouth has gone dry. I don’t feel like answering. I haven’t stopped thinking about Doctor Qi’s gruesome execution since I left Jiaoshan.
The blacksmith harrumphs, stomping away toward a rack of lamellar armor. He grabs a set and all but throws it at me to catch. I’m no military expert, but I can tell that it was hastily made. Some of the plates don’t fit quite right, and the stitching is sloppy and rushed, at risk of falling apart if placed under too much strain. Upon closer inspection, I realize that sections of the breastplate are scuffed and scratched.
“This has been used before,” I point out.
“Waste not, want not,” he answers indifferently.
“What happened to its owner?”
“Trampled to death beneath his horse, the poor bastard.”
I chew on the inside of my cheek, my stomach churning at the thought of wearing a dead man’s armor.
Sensing my unease, the blacksmith scoffs. “Would you rather go without?”
As with the emperor earlier, his question doesn’t require an answer.
I frown as I slip the breastplate on. The armor doesn’t sit quite right, just shy of too tight around the neck, but much too spacious around the belly. I’m also provided with a set of pauldrons bearing the sigil of the Imperial Family, along with boots that are a tad too small, resulting in an uncomfortable pinching of my toes.
The blacksmith holds out a finished sword, too. I take itawkwardly, holding my newly assigned weapon out to the side like a rake. I have no idea how to use the blasted thing, let alone draw it from its scabbard.
I take my leave stiffly, shifting uncomfortably beneath my repurposed uniform. I feel ridiculous, merely a child playing dress-up. The more I take in of the encampment, the more I realize I’m not the only one feeling uneasy. Most of these soldiers are no older than I, likely recruited from the northernmost territories—perhaps even the ice fields, where the convicts are banished. The youngest looks no older than four and ten. He should be home playing with his siblings, not with sharpened swords.
I find the captain not even a few feet away, speaking to a fellow army officer. Their exchange is clipped and hushed, as though they are plotting a conspiracy. The other officer leaves the moment I step forth.
“I wasn’t aware that the emperor’s task required my enlistment.”
“The army moves at dawn,” Captain Tian says sternly. “We’ll slip you past the border in the ensuing chaos.”
“The ensuing chaos?” I echo, dismayed.
“Our enemy awaits just on the other side of the mountain pass. Those bastards have been using this pinch point to mow us down.”
I look around, my unease growing by the second. “Is that why we’re all gathered here?”
“The more of us there are, the more likely we’ll force our way past those Southern bastards. Rushing them at first light increases our chances of success.”
I shudder, the visualization not lost on me—five thousand men barreling down through a funnel to launch an offensive on a waiting army. The fact that I’m to go with them is preposterous. I’m more likely to be trampled underfoot by my own countrymen than make it to the other side unscathed.
“Surely there has to be another way,” I insist, attempting to keep my voice level. I can’t very well carry out my task if I’m killed before I’m able to begin my search. “Why don’t we go around?”
“It’s too long a trek. At least two weeks’ journey. Heading straight through the pass will only take us a few hours.”
“This is ridiculous.”
