The next several days were a whirlwind of activity, and most of the Legionnaires had a sense that something big was happening. Arrows and other supplies were pouring into their section of the encampment, and they were stockpiling those supplies into wagons for each company. No one knew what the hustle and bustle were all about. Each company was brought back up to full strength with new recruits, mostly from the northern refugees they had helped rescue. The Legion had lost about ten percent of their number to deaths and injuries that couldn’t be quickly healed by the monks who traveled with them. The new people were all hardy frontier folk much like most of them were, so they fit right in except for their accents and the different cut of their clothes. Read more…

Cori and Shelby escorted their charges through the forest to the west. The Legionnaires knew that if they continued west they would reach the road on which the rest of their company were camped. The challenge they faced was keeping the two noblemen from bickering like two fishmongers about every aspect of the journey. Cori rolled her eyes as they argued about who should hold brambles out of the way for the other to pass without getting scratched. Read more…

Cori and the rest of the platoon were told to pack up their gear but to pack light. Leave their tents and packs, taking just their weapons and necessities for a two-day march east and back. Many of the farmers they had rescued stayed on and helped maintain the camp, and they would keep an eye on things while the legionnaires were gone. Their goal was to lay an ambush for the Imperial column with the combined company platoons from Panther and Stag Companies. They started off just after noon and marched long into the night until they reached the north-south mountain road they had been shadowing for weeks now. Read more…

They followed the trail south through the late afternoon before Declan came back to the lead element of the platoon. They halted on the trail as he gave his report. Lissa and Shelby were still to the south, hidden and watching the enemy force. The scouts had counted forty-two of the Imperial regulars. They wore the standard splinted mail armor and hob-nailed boots they had been described as wearing. They were setting up an ambush along the side of a rutted forest road to the south. It looked like they were waiting for something to happen. Read more…

After dinner with her brothers, Cori joined Logan and Jonathan on their trip back to the Legion camp. Jonathan had been quiet during dinner. He had always been so, his nose usually in a book rather than a conversation. She asked him his thoughts on the war. He had read extensively about history and might have insights. Read more…

The boats were standard three-masted merchantmen who’s holds had been emptied of their cargo to carry troops and supplies across the Southron Sea to the open ports in Verona. The Kingdom of Rhodes was taking advantage of the shorter travel time across the water rather than take the month and a half to march by the land route. The same trip by sea could be made in just three days if the winds were right. The Legion loaded up their companies and all their gear into four of the merchant ships. Read more…

The next few weeks were a blur for Cori and the rest of the members of second platoon of Stag Company. It seemed that they never stopped running, drilling, or shooting. The were the first legionnaires up each morning, before dawn, and the last to return to camp, well after dark, if they returned to their tents at all. More often than not, the entire platoon spent the nights on the cold ground huddled inside their cloaks. Read more…

The rest of the company was sent off to set up their camp on the eastern edge of the Legion’s encampment. Cori did not join them. Her father beckoned to her to follow him, and he and Lady Elena returned to the command tent’s interior. Logan and Jonathan followed her inside. Her brothers walked around her to stand on either side of her parents while they sat in folding camp chairs set up next to a pair of bunks. Cori knew that her brother Logan liked to camp with the troops so clearly this tent set up was for her parents, signifying to her they had been here for a few days. Read more…

Stag Company of the Legion of Solon stayed in camp for two more days before they disembarked for the full Legion mustering point just north of Rhodes City, the Kingdom’s capital. During those two days, the second platoon, with whom Cori had arrived, was integrated into the company. Captain McAffrey, Sergeant Verell, and the other platoon leaders kept Cori’s secret for the time being. She was relieved because they all needed to focus on the continued training. Read more…

It was another week of travel through the woods paralleling the southern road to the capital before they met up with Captain McAffrey and other two platoons of Stag Company. Along the way, the platoon became better at navigating the forest quietly and in addition to what the scouts were able to shoot along the march, Sergeant Verell sent out advance hunting parties an hour or so ahead of their route of march to scare up bigger game. Read more…