35

After another day’s march across the cool, damp meadows, the imperial battalion reached the Kantesian town of Kleiner. From a distance, Sebastian thought the cluster of squat structures looked similar to one of the larger peasant towns of Izmoroz, like Kamen. But there was one key difference. The homes and buildings of this town used a surprising amount of stone, iron, and tin in their construction.

“Ore must be plentiful in Kante, if even peasants use it,” he said to Marcello as they neared the town.

“Well, we didn’t come here for the swamps,” said his friend.

It was an offhanded remark, but it stuck with Sebastian because it was something to which he hadn’t given much thought. Why was the empire invading Kante? He’d heard it described before as a “border dispute,” but Sebastian wondered if a conflict more than a day’s ride into sovereign enemy territory could still be considered that. Was the empress’s interest in Kante primarily for its natural resources? It was true that while Aureum had rich and fertile farmland, they had very few mines or direct access to metals. That was why keeping the peace at Bledney Mines back in Izmoroz had been so important. And perhaps now that such a supply had been cut off, at least temporarily, the push to claim other sources was even more urgent.

General Barone called for the army to halt. Then he led a small group into the town that included Sebastian, Marcello, and the captains of the engineer corps, apothecary company, and Viajero troupe.

The engineer, Captain Branca, was a squat, grim-faced man with sharp, calculating eyes. By contrast, the apothecary, Captain Dandolo, was a jolly-looking bearded fellow who never seemed entirely sober. The Viajero, Captain Reyes, was a tall, slim man. Sebastian hadn’t had a lot of contact with Raízians, so he couldn’t say if Reyes was typical of his people, but there was something striking about him that inevitably drew the eye. He was not particularly handsome, so perhaps it was his movements. Even the slightest twist of his hand on the reins of his horse, or the nod of his head, seemed to capture a grace and care that reminded Sebastian of the astonishing performances given by the traveling Viajero troupe he’d seen as a boy. It was as if the man danced through life.

As they rode into the town, Sebastian noticed many of the buildings were damaged. Wooden roofs had collapsed or were half-burned. Even some of the brick walls had been smashed through. Imperial soldiers stood at attention before the entrance to each of the intact buildings. Their posture remained as erect as any he had seen in Aureum, but their faces were haggard and weary. It was the dull look of those who had recently seen battle that Sebastian remembered all too well from Gogoleth.

Finally a man came hurrying out of one of the intact buildings. He was a solidly built Aureumian dressed in an officer’s uniform. His arm was tied up in a sling, and he had a bandage wrapped across his head, covering one eye. Despite these injuries, he moved crisply to stand at attention before Barone.

“Colonel Totti reporting, sir!” said the officer as he gave a sharp salute.

Barone nodded calmly. “At ease, Colonel. Where is General Benniti?”

“Died of his wounds a week ago, sir,” said Totti.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Barone said gravely. “He was a good man.”

“Thank you, sir.”

“I take it you’ve been in command, then?”

“Yes, sir,” said Totti.

“What is our current status?”

“Roughly two thousand capable infantry, and a little over three hundred gravely wounded, sir.”

Barone’s bushy white eyebrows rose. “Only three hundred?”

Totti nodded. “We’ve had little in the way of medical supplies, so the recovery rate has been low.”

“I see,” said Barone. “What about the local population?”

“A hundred or so noncombatants. A large portion of them are wounded as well.”

“Structural damage to the town?”

“About forty percent of the structures have some damage, with roughly fifteen percent deemed dangerous and uninhabitable.”

“Supplies?” asked Barone.

“Food and water are sufficient, but as I said, medical supplies are severely depleted.”

“Any activity from the enemy?”

“No sign of them, sir. We took heavy losses, but we gave them a good thrashing.”

“Let us hope they remain licking their wounds until we are prepared to give them a proper reception, then.”

“Yes, sir!”

Sebastian looked around, wondering where the Kantesians were. If they were noncombatants, why were so many of them injured? And only a hundred people for such a large town? He examined the nearby building tops more carefully. Scorch marks suggested the town had been assaulted with flaming pitch launched from catapults. Such a sweeping attack would have made it difficult to reduce civilian casualties. He supposed the ferocity of the conflict must have made it necessary for them to take such extreme measures. Otherwise their actions would have been little better than what he had done to Les…

Well, there was nothing he could do about it now. What he could do was repair and rebuild. And it was important to remember that once the empire succeeded in taking Kante, these people would become new citizens of the empire. Therefore, he would need to build trust with them even as he built their homes. It would not be easy, he knew. But he had not come all this way for an easy mission. He had come to finally use his talents to do some good in this world. He would help these people, even if they never expressed gratitude, even if they spat in his face. He would help them even if they hated him.

Because perhaps then he might hate himself a little less.