of the day. The arriving reinforcements thus constituted more than half the infantry present in the whole of Bushtabhar. The citadel could accommodate them, but it would take some time.
The commotion did not go unnoticed by the governor either, who, at the same time as receiving news of the army’s arrival, learnt of the detention of his mercenaries at the northern entrance to the enclave. The enraged chamberlain Burtch appeared shortly after the return of the messenger whom the lieutenant had sent to Murphy’s palace. The halfling did not find Al-Satar, as the officer had gone from the port to meet the battalion commander and the investigator sent from Alexandria as soon as possible. No one wanted to speak to the cursing official either, which infuriated him even more. Fortunately, the chamberlain quickly took offence and returned to Murphy, snarling his farewells.
The only people who didn’t seem to care much about the current events were the Guards. It seemed everyone assumed that the arriving reinforcements would relieve them of the extra workload, or at least allow them to focus on their own tasks rather than putting out the fires constantly breaking out all around.
‘I wonder who they’ve sent.’ Rex lost interest in the panorama of the silent city and scanned the sandy horizon.
‘Aphalis is no joke.’ Darius watched the officer riding at the head of the column, though he was still too far away to make out his rank. ‘They’ve probably chosen someone with experience in such matters. I wouldn’t be surprised if it were a diplomat, given Murphy’s approach to everything that’s going on here.’
‘Someone's going to have a tough nut to crack.’ The corporal gave a wry smile. ‘I wouldn’t want to be in his shoes.’
‘Don't jinx it at the wrong moment.’ Bleist shot a sidelong glance at his deputy. ‘Nothing here has been straightforward from the start, so I won't believe it'll suddenly become so.’
‘I prefer to be an optimist.’ Rex shifted his gaze to the approaching column. ‘The colonel should be too.’
‘Uh… Maybe it really will…’ Darius trailed
