Page 127 of Beds and Blades

Cato glanced at me.

“A battle from my world. Earth.”

“Go on.”

“More than two thousand years ago, a commander named Scipio attacked a fortified city. He pressed the gates and walls hard enough to draw the defenders toward the obvious threat.”

Cato studied me more closely. “Another Scipio?”

I smiled. “This one came from my world.”

“And what did he do while the city watched the main assault?”

“He sent a smaller force across a lagoon behind the city. The water dropped at low tide, and the northern wall was barely defended because no one believed an attack could come from that direction.”

Understanding settled across Cato’s face.

“You want me to attack Nema.”

“I want you to give Morvanna exactly what she expects. Hit the perimeter hard enough that she has to reinforce it. Make her pull soldiers from the interior to hold the walls. Keep every eye facing outward.”

“And while they’re fighting us, you enter from somewhere they aren’t watching.”

“I find Skip and bring him out. The bond won’t give me a map, but I can feel his direction. Once I’m inside, that should be enough.”

Cato stared into the darkness ahead.

“You’re asking me to commit the garrison as a diversion.”

“No. I’m asking you to fight the battle Morvanna prepared for so I can fight the one she didn’t.”

The horses thundered through the snow.

“Your riders strike the perimeter,” I continued. “Full assault. Torches, noise, pressure from every direction. Her commanders will respond because they have no choice.”

“And while they are committed?”

“Two riders and I enter through the eastern treeline. We avoid the main engagement, reach Skip, and get out.”

“Two riders?”

“Two highly capable riders.”

“I need people who can move quietly, fight in close quarters, and remember that their job is extraction, not glory.”

From behind us came a voice, steady and already decided.

“I will go.”

Gaius.

He had ridden three horses behind us since the gate. I turned in the saddle.

“I will go,” he repeated.

Of course he would. Gaius had already saved my life once and had apparently decided to make a habit of it.

From his left came another voice.