Eirian's forces had set up their camp next to a fork in the Blue River. The sprawling camp took up three square miles of space, with hundreds of tents and shacks to store supplies and let the soldiers sleep safely from the elements.
Eirian was surprised at the level of luxury, not that it was anywhere near her rooms at the Camelia or the capital, but it was far more than she'd expected for temporary housing. And far above what they'd taken on the trip to Tira-Lian.
She had a cot the size of a full bed, with a mattress that was almost as comfortable as the one in her room and a comfortable reading chair. There was a separate meeting room that was filled with chairs and a large table, and a miniature version of the Atlas at the Camelia. Marian had commissioned an entirely new wardrobe for the campaign and sent it along, and with it, the stack of Histories that Eirian was still working her way through.
The main body of the camp was situated in a small valley nestled among seven rolling hills, on which they'd built temporary watch towers that were manned without break, but so far they'd seen no sign of the tribes.
Instead of being comforting, it had put them all on edge. The enemy you couldn't see was far more dangerous than the one in front of you.
Eirian had sent daily updates to Chenzhou and Mingzhe and received the same. They'd known from the beginning that they needed to be in near constant contact to successfully carry out the three-pronged attack campaign across such a large area. All three forces were in the main encampments now and would start sending out patrols in the days that followed. None of them had reported contact with any of the tribes, and Mingzhe's last remaining outpost had joined Chenzhou's forces in the north, after only a few skirmishes with the tribes. Their morale was low after what had happened to their fellow outposts, and they'd requested to spearhead the first attack against the tribes, as a matter of honor and revenge.
Vitali and Wen Chunhan were chomping at the bit to fight, but Wayland wanted to take a more cautious approach, and Tanning cared less about when and where they fought than he did about making sure they had the correct amount of supplies ready to move.
Ardain had been singing ever since they reached the campsite, and that morning she'd been even louder than before.
Something was coming that had Eirian on edge. The central tribes had been deemed the least likely to attack first by the court and Yuze's agents, and while Eirian only trusted one of those sources, she also knew that people were, at their core, unpredictable.
With the river to one side and seven hills around them, the camp was in a relatively strong defensive position, but it wasn't impenetrable. If the tribes mustered a large enough force to surround them, it wasn't the end, but it would be incredibly difficult to break out, and it would cost them a significant number of lives.
Eirian wanted to start sending out patrols as soon as possible, using them to ensure they engaged the tribes somewhere away from the camp and gave themselves more maneuverability and options, but the soldiers had needed a few days of rest after the march and setting up camp.
"We have six patrols ready to head out tomorrow," Wayland looked over the Atlas, "Starting at first light."
Eirian's hand rested on Ardain's hilt. "Still no communication from the scouts?"
Vitali shook her head. "No. It's unrealistic to assume they've all been compromised, but it's possible they needed to lie low because the tribes were closer than anticipated to the villages."
Or someone was stirring something up.
At least three of the dozen scouts she'd sent out were specifically looking for Snake, though they'd all been warned to keep an eye out. The villages in the central plains were heavily connected, so it was entirely possible Snake had her own network through most of them, and the scouts were struggling to stay under her radar. The scouts, trained to be as stealthy as possible, weren't spies and rarely went up against anyone more skilled than they were since they mostly spied on military forces that couldn't manage the same level of stealth as an individual person.
Ardain vibrated under her hand. "Something is wrong." But she didn't know what.
To her surprise, Vitali and Wayland nodded in agreement.
"We should have seen signs of the tribes by now," Wayland said. "There's no logical reason they would have known our choice of location before we arrived unless our own communication lines are compromised."
"Or the security of the Camelia." Wen Chunhan sneered. "Why are you assuming we are the leak?"
"No one is assuming anything of the sort," Wayland argued, mouth tight with annoyance. "But it's more likely that the security of a moving force as large as ours would be more easily compromised than the established defense of an estate the age of the Camelia."
Except it wasn't, Eirian thought. Because the Bandri had made it inside the walls of the Camelia. Chenzhou, Mingzhe, and Eirian had been assuming the Bandri had sources inside the Camelia while they'd made this plan, and they'd taken great pains to ensure its secrecy. If the tribes had somehow discovered or predicted their chosen locations, they had a much bigger issue on their hands. Not even Eirian's sub commanders had known their location until they'd bedded down on the first night of the march.
And none of the soldiers below them had been aware until they'd arrived at the sight and been told to set up camp.
Eirian's grip on Ardain tightened.
No one had known their locations, but somehow the tribes had completely avoided them thus far.
There's smoke, Eirian thought. And where there's smoke, there's fire. No one knew that better than her.
Was it possible they'd taken such great lengths to avoid another ambush by Beng Shai that they'd actually walked into another trap?
Smoke.
Eirian froze.
She smelled smoke.
~ tbc