I wished I could have said that the night's sleep left me well rested but that wasn't the case. Not really anyway. My sleep was disrupted several times as various noises from around our impromptu camp roused me halfway. It probably was to be expected but it still was not a pleasant experience. The feverish dreams that plagued me whenever I fell asleep long enough were not exactly pleasant either but I took them as a sign that my body was fighting to heal at least. It was either that or maybe I had had too much bitterleaf as the healer treated my wound.

Either way I still felt terrible when someone woke me for good the next morning. At first I was tempted to ignore the attempt altogether to get a little more sleep however little restful it might be. In the end the mercenary shaking my shoulder was insistent enough to trigger my sense of duty and rouse me though. Just as I started to stir the cat that had been sleeping curled up against the arm I had in a sling, jumped off my belly to curl up against her still sleeping mistress instead. I blinked several times before focusing on the man that had shaken my shoulder. It was a dark elf, one of Arngard's infantrymen.

He waited until he had my full attention before pointing somewhere to my far right. “A messenger from the king's war host arrived. Captain Tora'pheer is entertaining them right now but it probably would be for the best if you see them in person, my lady.”

I nodded, slowly processing what he had said. A messenger from the king's host probably meant that the battle went well enough on that end as well. I got to my feet to stretch and work out some of the kinks plaguing me. Except I didn't get very far with one arm still in a sling. Curses! I looked down at my sister but decided against waking her. Instead I turned towards the man who woke me once more. “Is one of the healers awake and available?” Even as I asked I grabbed my glaive, which had been leaning properly sheathed against the lean-to under which I had been sleeping.

The mercenary looked around for a moment before spotting what he had been looking for. “This way, my lady.”

The lad wasn't a man of many words and that was just as well. I didn't feel like talking anyway. Not yet at least. Our way wasn't long. Only moments and two dozen steps later we arrived at the healer who was on duty right now. It wasn't the same one as the one who had initially taken care of my wound but I didn't care. They had all been carefully chosen by their respective company's officers after all. I was pretty certain that all of them were competent. No mercenary company would keep a healer who didn't know their trade around for long after all.

The old man looked up at me only after he finished with his last patient, one of Tora'pheer's lancers, who had come for a check up as well. He gestured for me to sit down on the only recently vacated tree stump in front of him. “A quick check up on your wound, my lady?”

I only nodded and he started undoing first the sling and then the bandages with practiced ease. He handed the used materials off to a much younger assistant, quite possibly his daughter or even grand daughter by the looks, after checking them briefly before looking at both the entry and the exit wound from different angles to make the best of the still scarce daylight. “Hmm, doesn't look too bad.”

Then he checked my temperature by putting the back of his hand against my forehead. It was a crude measure but we had to make do. He checked my eyes and my tongue next and poked around the wound for good measure as well, probably to see if it would start leaking puss or something similarly unpleasant. “A light fever but no serious infection as far as I can tell.”

He turned towards his assistant who had already been waiting with fresh bandages moments after she had put the used ones in a small steaming and bubbling cauldron. “Una, dear, please cast the cleansing spell on the wound.” She nodded, handed the bandages to the old man and did just that. He in turn smiled at me apologetically. “Sorry my lady, but I was never much of a mage. I leave that to those who are better suited to the task, like my little Una.”

The girl rolled he eyes at being called little and I chuckled at the little exchange while the tingling sensation of the cleansing spell washed over me once more. As far as I could tell the young lady put a lot more power into it than the healer who had initially treated my wound. Maybe I should tell Kaele? Una might just be a pretty decent mage in the making and could probably benefit from a little additional tutoring from a more experienced spell caster. Maybe I should even sponsor her, once things had calmed down a little, so she could attend a school at the capital?

I nodded and smiled gratefully as the two finished up with my new bandages and put my arm back in a sling. “Thank you.”

Only moments after I had gotten up the next patient took my place. I couldn't dwell on that though. At least my men and women were well looked after. Right now I had to deal with that messenger. I turned towards the man that had guided me here. “That messenger from the king's host?” He nodded and I continued. “Lead the way please.”

This time it took us a little longer to reach our destination since we had to cross half the camp. I had no trouble spotting our destination from quite a way away though. Someone had started a number of cooking fires and a small crowd had gathered around those. The cauldrons bubbling over those fires probably weren't any larger than the ones the healers used but even watered down gruel or stew sounded absolutely mouthwatering right now. Even my traitorous belly seemed to agree, as it grumbled quite audibly.

The prospects of fresh food weren't the only things drawing people there though. Tora had picked that spot as her command post of sorts as well. I could only quietly agree with that choice. That way she was in a prime position to make sure that food, which would be a priority for just about everyone, would be handed out in a quiet and orderly fashion. And as a result this was the place where she was entertaining the royal messengers as well. And she entertained them with a boisterous retelling of the battle we had fought here just yesterday while the field, maybe a hundred paces away, was still littered with the bodies of our enemies.

I paused briefly to listen in on her account of our glorious actions. I wasn't quite sure if I should laugh or grimace. Of course she was embellishing things but did she have to overdo it like that? As she finished a hearty cheer rose from the gathered men and women and that made up my mind. Yes, she was telling it just right. I shook my head smiling. Had she spent some time traveling as a bard or something like that?

My guide shooed some of the mercenaries out of the way, so we could reach the center of the circle where my captain of cavalry and the royal messenger were waiting. The messenger was, as it turned out, a harpy and she wore more ornaments in her feathers, some of which were obviously colored, than I had ever seen any other harpy wear. She rose from where she had been sitting with Tora'pheer and so did the two warriors of the king's guard who must have accompanied her.

The two men in their heavily enchanted black plate armor towered over everyone present, except me, since none of the trolls or giants from the Wall Breakers were here right now. The harpy was not intimidated in the slightest though. Quite the opposite. She bowed slightly and spread out her feathers in a dazzling display of colors.

“Keza, Slayer of Wyverns and Bane of Ogres, their Doom, Chosen of the Maidens, their Beloved, Lady of Caer'zoth, Ruler of the Domain, King's Daughter, his Beloved.” That hushed up everyone around but the harpy obviously was not yet done. “I come bearing congratulations and salutations from our great king. The battle of the gap has been won and decisively so in no small part thanks to your efforts and those of your brave men and women. A single battle does however rarely end any war. Thus our great king would request your presence at the war council that is to take place today after noon.”