He should have been interrogating prisoners. There were four of them. As more than one lieutenant had pointed out, he was not an expert in interrogation. His training was that of a soldier, not that of a questioner, and it was important that he know the difference. That he keep himself apart from all of this. That was what found him not in the hall of the iron bars but in the hall of the creaking wood.

There were many such chambers in a castle. Long, rectangular rooms of naked stone that held banners from bygone eras. When he was a boy, and Gerbold had brought him to this place, it had been difficult not to admire the banners. There was history woven into their fabric. He'd stared long after he was meant to. Gerbold had been forced to drag him away. Now they seemed merely old. On the verge of becoming threadbare. Ulbarich had no idea what the future held for him.

( The roots he had were being cut away, little by slow, it seemed. )

The Otter and Fowl wasn't very far from the castle, but far enough away for her liking. She went there because he suggested it and because she hoped at least if he knew where they were that he might come to find them. But the hope was small because of how Ithacles had reacted, and even more so because of how she had reacted herself. The main of the inn was a Tavern, like most inns in the capitol it had too warm insides. Wood and stone keeping the heat of fireplaces inside the walls as much as they could. It was cold enough at night that you could set out water and it would be ice in the morning. Solid ice. It was those nights that Vedette enjoyed the best. But here she had Onainat to think of to a warm inn with many great big fires was the best idea. Ulbarich was still silent as he accompanied them. She wondered why he was so silent. Why he was taking them, and what exactly had happened in her absence.

( There were likely too many things to say and not enough time to say them. )

The walk into Faustben's capital was the hardest one she'd had to endure for a very long time. Those men guarding the entrance to the city itself knew her by sight but neither saluted. She didn't know if she were a Captain any longer but she felt naked without her uniform as she strode towards the castle with Onainat only a few steps behind her. It wasn't nearly as cold as the pass to get here and Onainat had shed a few of those jackets she'd been wearing. But kept the hat firmly on her head. There was only a light dusting here in the main capital. Eventually everything would be snowed in and men would push and shovel the snow around so that people could walk freely to and from places. Still everything was iced down. Icicles hung from shop signs and from rooftops. And the castle loomed in the distance with a fresh coating of snow on its higher towers.

( It looked like a picture. )

Buttoned up. That was what they used to call it, back in the old days. Ulbarich had heard more than one of the young men say something to signify that the sick, infirm and otherwise useless in a fight were secure in the bitch house. Just as the mayor had objected to the term, so did they. They seemed to think that being a soldier was something akin to being a knight. They prowled with their hands on the hilts of their swords and talked of dying honorably, of being remembered. Ulbarich was never more frightened than he was in these moments before the fight was on. Yet he knew that when the fight finally did come, hot blood would assassinate his nerves. There was no desire, nor need, for an honorable death here. In fact, the mute soldier hoped fervently that he might live. Which was strange in and of itself.

( That sensation had not come in quite some time. )

In the old days it was nothing to go on one inspection tour after another, visiting one of Faustben's villages and sharing a meal with the lord or duke or whomever before you went on to the next village. But in case Ulbarich hadn't heeded his previous reminders he had yet another. Things were different with royalty. They were ten strong, and every man in armor save Ithacles and Ulbarich. The Captain still wore his coat, complete with pauldrons that nearly covered his ears, done up against the brisk mountain air. Yet there was nothing to watch but the high gray stone which concealed a small city. That was the reason they were here, after all. There was a great deal of resettling being done by refugees from the south.

( In fact, he'd grown tired of hearing their stories. )

A sorrier lot of soldiers he'd never seen.

Ulbarich had been expecting strong-backed young morons too full of piss to think about their lack of vinegar. Instead it was a pair of old men who didn't even look up when he entered and some young, wiry fellow who looked as though he'd collapse under the weight of his uniform coat. Ulbarich had not commanded in a long enough time that he felt some slight nerve, somewhere in the back of his throat, giving him an ache that he could neither see nor address. How did you command men without a voice? How did you issue orders to be followed when you had no tongue to make those orders heard? The two old men did manage to find their feet when they realized they were not alone. Hand commands were fine for the heat of battle. But before?

( He saw no easy answers. )

When you were not on duty in the castle, you were still technically on duty. Ulbarich knew it as well as most men. If you were not soldiering, you were eating. If you were not eating, you were sleeping. And if you were not sleeping, you were practicing. Sword forms were not the most popular form of practice among the men. Today found them all stripped to the waist, wearing only the uniform trousers and boots which matched so precisely. Every man involved in the training clutched a practice sword of bundled wooden sticks. This was the fourth time they'd run through the exercise, and each time was worse than the last. Most of them were young enough to be sons of his, if he'd had any sons, except he would have taught his sons how to fight. If they were attacked by an enemy with organization, most of them would die.

( They might manage to protect their charge, but they would sitll be dead. )