A Picture of the Heart

“I knew you two would like it. I plan to rotate you out around midnight, but you know how good intentions can be in the middle of these situations.”

“Don’t worry about it, Captain; we’re in it for the long haul.”

Little did Narief know just how much that meant to Laine. They were possibly on the front end of a long, difficult night. As he’d mentioned, his plans were only as good as the opportunity to implement them. Chances were, Narief and Winston would be pulling an all-nighter.

“I still need to visit the archers at the eastern tower. Do you guys have any questions before I go?”

Laine smiled. Leave it to his men to make light of the very thing that could change the entire course of battle. Unlike Nichols, who had seemingly lived for insubordination, these men meant no harm with their comments. Laine had expressed the absolute need for transparency and trust between him and those assigned to his command early on. He’d found out firsthand in the Vale just how hard it could be to follow instructions from someone who wouldn’t tolerate a question from his subordinates.

“Joran seems convinced that the arrows will turn the tide of battle in our favor, which is good enough for me,” Laine said. “Narief, why is your hand raised?”

“Just seemed like the right thing to do, Captain. Do we need to provide our own security, or will we have guards?”

“Good question; for now, plan to watch each other’s back, but I’ll see if Commander Joran will assign a couple guards for each tower. Anything else?”

“Yeah,” Winston said. “Good luck.”

Laine nodded, headed downstairs, and was midway to the eastern tower when Joran stopped him.

“You have men stationed in the towers?” Joran asked.

“Yes, sir, but I haven’t briefed the eastern tower archers yet.”

“That’ll have to wait. First, come with me.”

“We’re going to the street so you can recall your archers from the wall.”

“Okay, I don’t need to understand to follow orders, but...”

“We can’t afford to lose the archers since they’re key to our success against the second wave. Having them stationed on the wall, even in small groups, is asking for trouble. Besides, the defenders can hold off the first wave.”

“Even if all three towers touch at the same time?”

Joran hesitated. “I believe the defenders can handle the first wave. Regardless, they won’t be without archer support. We’re simply putting them in a safer location. We’re going to station them at the intersection of South Outer Court and Southgate Street. That’ll keep them from directly encountering the first wave. I’ll order the defenders to keep clear of the places where the towers touch. That’ll give your men a clear line of sight. Hopefully, they can take out a few of the beasts before they reach the defenders. Once we’ve dealt with the first wave, send them back to the wall. We can’t afford to let too many of the second wave breach.”

“Got it,” Laine said, placing two fingers in his mouth. It’d been a while since he’d tried this trick. Insufficient air passing his lips would make him sound silly, and too much would likely have the same effect. Here goes nothing. Taking a deep breath, he blew. The air passed his lips, and a high-pitched sound emitted precisely as Laine had hoped.

In response, like ants moving to attack an intruder, his archers made him look good, swiftly rallying to him from the street, wall, and towers.

“Why not use that whistle you found in the Vale?” Joran asked.

Laine had hoped he’d forget about the whistle if he kept it out of sight, but he should have known the Commander would notice.

“I like to mix it up occasionally,” Laine said, the words tasting dangerously close to a lie. “If I ever lose the whistle, I’ll need a backup plan," he amended.

Before he found the whistle, he had learned to make a loud whistle sound using only his fingers. Truth be told, staying proficient with the whistle trick could come in handy when the time came to return the whistle to its rightful owner, which would only happen if he could be sure that owner wouldn’t use it for the evil purposes he feared.