Chapter 561 - Drinks and Loose Tongues

Several days later, back at the outpost of the empire at the borders between them and the Kingdom of the Sands, a group of people were spotted marching toward the fortress. The mirage bands along the horizon bent and unbent around them, turning figures into wavering smudges that hardened only when the wind paused long enough to let sight catch up. From the watch line you could hear the layered murmur that always belongs to returning columns, the scrape of leather, the tired metal rattle that says a buckle has slipped and no one cares, the uneven footfall of men who learned again that sand steals more than it gives.