Part 2, Chapter 38

Sneak attack!

Ch 38

“What else will you need?” Leng Zai asked Xun as they chose supplies for the refugee camp from the military surplus. 

“The healers from the camp are setting up the medical tent?”

“Yes, you don’t need to worry about everything, just the kitchen supplies,” he reassured her.

She glared at him, “The kitchen feeds everyone, of course I need to know what all the other groups are doing.”

Leng Zai smiled at her and tucked her arm into his elbow as he started to discuss the more detailed aspects of the camp. People bustled around them, mostly soldiers going about their everyday tasks, chatting and calling out to each other. Xun and Leng Zai walked past several groups of refugees, distinct in their more tribal clothing.

“Is it usual to have so many outsiders in the camp?” Xun asked.

Leng Zai shook his head, “No, but there have been many injured coming from the north along with those who are just looking to escape the raids of the desert tribes. They come to the camp for healing before continuing into the town.”

Xun nodded her understanding and let the matter drop.

“Have you spoken to the God of War about repelling the Emperor’s troops?”

“The God of War is waiting to see what his plans are. He hesitates to commit to attacking the Emperor when he is uncertain what the desert tribes are planning. They are invisible as long as they stay in their lands, so the God of War is reluctant to engage the Emperor in case of a flank attack from the east.”

“So we wait.”

“It’s not so bad is it,” Leng Zai asked, his voice warm. “There is useful work we can do together.”

Xun held his arm a little more tightly. Leng Zai had been different since the night of the fight. The depth of his emotions didn’t feel any different to her, he still left her side easily and returned as the whim took him, but he no longer seemed as childlike as he had been. Xun liked the change in most ways, but she sometimes missed the open cheerfulness that had been such a part of him. These days it felt as if he were hiding something important from her, although she never asked what. She didn’t really want to know the answer. As Leng Zai had said, there was useful work and they were together.

The two strolled in companionable silence, each lost in their own thoughts as they approached the entrance to the army camp. A large group of refugees was staggering through the gates, escorted by several soldiers. It took Xun a moment to realize why the soldiers looked wrong to her.

“Enemies!” Leng Zai cried out, grabbing a spear from a weapons rack. 

The soldiers who had just entered the camp snarled almost as one and tossed the extra weapons they had been hiding under their cloaks to the refugees they had been escorting, who caught them easily. The group fell into a tight formation and began attacking the unprepared soldiers around them.