She hesitated, then said, "Very well, but it comes off before we reach my father's camp."

They rode in silence through the fields, fallow in late autumn, Jorani constantly scanning the countryside, alert for an ambush. At the edge of the forest road, he reined in his horse and gave three loud whistles. A handful of soldiers rode toward them. As they did, Ilsabet untied the brown robe, turning the front flaps back over her shoulders to reveal the beauty and wealth of her gown. In spite of her plain appearance, she looked regal, and Jorani, noticing this, gave a quick nod of agreement. With Ilsabet at his side, they led the soldiers through the forest to the baron's encampment.

The smell of death was thick as they approached the camp. Ilsabet looked upwind and saw bodies stacked in a single huge pile, their pale limbs tangled together like some weathered deadfall. Farther on, they passed a second site where bodies were arranged carefully on the ground, respectfully covered and guarded until they could be returned to their families for burial.

"The difference between victors and defeated extends even to death," Jorani commented.

Ilsabet covered her face with her hand, inhaling the scent of the perfume she had applied that morning, and quickened her pace.

Baron Janosk's soldiers lounged in front of their cooking fires. Many of them were wounded, and the rest looked far too weary to fight. On the ride in, Ilsabet had been told that their rest was well earned. The clash had ended in a complete rout of the enemy. Their leader and three of his henchmen had been captured as they fled toward the border, undoubtedly trying to reach the protection of Baron Peto's lands. Ilsabet passed three of the prisoners chained to a post. They looked dirty and starving, as if they had been in hiding a long time.

The rebel general had been separated from his men and put in an iron cage near the center of the camp. Though his hands and feet were shackled and a dirty rag was tied around his mouth, he was heavily guarded. Ilsabet dismounted and walked toward his cage, Jorani at her side. "Note him well," Jorani whispered to her. "This is what an enemy looks like."