2026-09-03 04:37:51
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The Discipline of Standing Still
By the time the sun began to slowly rise toward midday, Bran was starting to lose patience with the drill. Cole had Bran execute the same activity for nearly two hours: maintain posture, react only to cues, and resist the want to enter danger before being given instructions. When the wardiron's leather hilt touched Bran's palm, he gasped. "This is the fourth time," he said. Sweat stung his eyes, but he kept his boots firmly planted on the specified dirt ring in the training yard. "And you broke position twice," Cole said, leaning against a wooden quarterstaff. This implies that we repeat the procedure five or six times till it doesn't feel like the most difficult task I've ever given you. With his blade lowered an inch, Bran shouted, "People could be in danger while I'm standing here holding a mark." Cole answered, "I'm useless if I'm just waiting for permission." "People are in less danger when you hold your position than when you don't," he said, lowering his voice to an unquesti
Eleven More Mouths
Shortly after morning, Yara discovered Bran in the courtyard, her boots covered in the pale mud of the lower terraces, a new ledger tucked under her arm. The relief he had anticipated following the success of the rescue was not evident in her demeanor.“We need to talk about the numbers," she added without preface, moving a brass-bound stool forward a stone worktable near the grain bins."I thought the rescue was a victory," Bran remarked, leaning a shoulder against the aged timber frame. "It was. It’s also eleven more people who need to eat, at exactly the moment our reserves can least afford it." Yara opened the ledger and ran a nail stained with ink down a column of freshly computed numbers. "I'm not arguing that we ought to have kept them in Darrow's cages. I'm arguing that our food issue was not resolved by saving them. It quickened it. Examine these ledgers.With the fragrance of fresh iron gall ink rising from the sheets, Bran leaned across the table. "How much worse?" he said
What the Rescue Cost
When the rescue party returned, the valley exploded into cautious celebration, but Bran was unable to completely participate. He saw the eleven released inmates being led past the inner courtyard toward heated soup and medical attention as he stood close to the western gatehouse. Every face surrounding him was a battleground between relief and sheer tiredness. Wrapped in thick woollen blankets, the men and women who had held Ashcourt's colours in Darrow's wet holding cells now stood motionless, their eyes wide with the confusion of unexpected liberation. However, Bran's attention was still fixed on the chilly weight by his side.Rathorn stepped up next to him and stated, "You disobeyed direct orders back there." His dark eyes had an unwavering clarity, yet his voice was more weary acknowledgement than actual rage.Before the perimeter was secured, you left your designated support post and went to the inmates' building.""I know," Bran whispered, his throat constricted. He kept his eyes
The Staging Post
Under the cover of complete darkness, forty of Ashcourt's soldiers followed Talia's cautious path over territory that Darrow's patrols had never really charted, with Bran riding close to the column's center in spite of Cole's repeated protests that he ought to have stayed safely within the valley's walls. The column proceeded through the darkness like something half-real, forms rather than people, until Bran's own breathing became too loud in his ears. The horses' hooves had been covered with cloth to conceal the sound.Bran had told him, "I'm not staying behind while people risk their lives because of me," and Cole, realizing that he had already lost the argument twice, had just positioned himself close enough to step in if something went wrong.Precisely before midnight, the staging post appeared. It was a renovated trade post, precisely as Talia had described, with torchlight flickering behind closed windows and guard figures apparent around its tiny perimeter. In the same anxious
What Talia Found
On the third day, Talia showed up as promised, but even before she said a word, Bran could tell everything about her and her two companions: they were worn out, scraped, and one of them had a leg wound that was hastily covered with ripped fabric. Unable to focus on anything else, Bran had spent the better part of the morning outside the gate. His relief at seeing her standing and walking on her own two feet almost overshadowed his anxiety over the news she could bring. Despite his cautious demeanor, Rathorn was clearly relieved to meet them at the gate.”You're early”Talia accepted water from a waiting guard and added, "We found what we needed faster than expected," before moving on. "A single staging post, about a day's ride northeast, is where Darrow's supply line passes. He replenished his men on a set schedule from a renovated trading post that was lightly guarded."How lightly guarded?" Cole asked, already making his way toward the war room with the others in behind. His pace was
What the Rations Costs
Over the past two days, there had been a noticeable decrease in the sound of the valley's typical morning activities outside. There were fewer children's footsteps on the stone paths, fewer voices calling across the terraces, and a quiet that felt more like people saving their own energy for what lay ahead than peace.Two mornings later, Bran discovered Yara by herself in the archive room with the ledger of remaining supplies spread out in front of her. Her countenance carried the unique tiredness of someone who has computed the same bleak statistics more times than she dared to acknowledge. "How bad?" he inquired, taking a seat across from her.Without taking her eyes off her job, Yara remarked, "We've cut the evening meal by a third." "Adults are already observing that the children's portions remain full for the time being. This morning, without being asked, I witnessed two guardsmen offer half of their bread to a family with three small children.The weight of this fell on Bran in
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