Read Online The Silent Army by James A. Moore - Free Book Online

below, she tapped a finger on the thick paper and shook her head. There was simply no way around it: the mountains were fast approaching and they would be a problem.
    Merros Dulver entered her throne room and stopped long enough to bow formally. She had told him not to stand on ceremony when there was no one around, but he seemed incapable of obeying that simple request. He’d already told her once that she had bodyguards around at all times. He considered them people. She had flushed with embarrassment and he’d chuckled at her discomfort.
    Sometimes, she wanted to gut punch him just for the look on his face. Sometimes, she wanted to aim lower. Her self-control was one of the things no one understood about her. They’d have given her a second empire if they did. She chuckled at the notion, as that would be a fitting punishment for any who truly believed themselves free of all sin. She knew better and her self-control, while impressive, had not stopped her throwing a few things and screaming more times than she cared to think about.
    That was before the coronation. Now she waited until she was truly alone before she had her tantrums. One must keep up appearances.
    Merros eyed her cautiously. “You’re studying the maps again?”
    “Well, I suppose I could dress up in my finery and stalk the Mid Wall, but it seems someone else has already taken that task, and besides, I should hate to have people thinking I wanted to start a trend.”
    “Better stalking walls than Pathra’s hideous curled hair.” Desh’s voice came from behind her and she resisted the urge to jump out of her seat and scream. She supposed she had that coming, as she liked using the same hidden passages.
    “Honestly, Desh. That hair should have been a lesson.”
    “That hair should have seen his hairdresser executed for starting one of the worst trends in the history of your family.”
    “There’s always the chance she died with Tyrne.” She kept her voice low, as the sorcerer had before her. Only Merros heard both of them and he was properly appalled.
    “If you’re both quite done mocking the dead–”
    “Only their hair, dear boy.”
    “–we should discuss the latest intelligence.” As Merros spoke he moved the ring she had been using to mark Canhoon on the map and replaced it with a crest of the Empire that was a bit larger and had more weight.
    “So, tell us what has happened, General Dulver.” Nachia crossed her hands over her chest and stared archly at him. He did not wither. Had he been the sort to wither under that sort of expression he would have never been a successful general.
    “The scryers have done their best and it’s quite astonishing what they can learn. The armies of the Tuskandru and Tarag Paedori are still behind us, but they’ve sent a few small bands to get ahead of us and to find out what lies ahead and on the ground below.”
    “Really? Have we actually seen any of these scouts?” Nachia leaned back in her seat, the better to look at Merros’s face.
    “We have. There are a few of them almost directly under us, moving in the shadow of our city.”
    “And can we do anything about them?”
    Merros smiled. “Possibly. We are working on ways to surprise them from above.”
    Desh stared at the map and nodded his head. “I might be able to help with that. It’s something we can discuss.”
    He leaned over the map, studied it carefully and then pushed the crest three inches further along the river’s line. “We continue to follow the river. I’ve checked and there are slight variations in our course to compensate. Also, we’re moving a little faster than we thought initially. I have made adjustments.”
    “Still no luck in finding out what to do about the Silent Army?”
    “There’s nothing we have found so far. They did not work this way before.” Desh crossed his arms. “We summoned them and they only did certain things, like defend the city. This is new. They could not speak before and they did not