The males slid their attention to me, and my cheeks flamed. It was so instinctual to help with tasks like these, having grown up on a farm. I’d had these same conversations with my mother and father while we tended to our own equipment. I knew none of these males, and they did not know me other than as the Kormánzó of the vidék they’d just conscripted from. But this bossy behavior was in Vagach’s nature, so I held my ground rather than shrink from speaking out of turn, as I normally would have done.

The one with the metal in his hands spoke first. “Really? That explains why we’ve had to replace so many wheels entirely.”

I tried not to blink as I processed his words. With the Kral’s financial backing, I understood why they might toss a perfectly good wheel rather than learn the proper techniques to repair it. My family didn’t have such privileges. “I can show you if you’d like.”

“By all means,” he said, scooting back. While doing the work himself was not something Vagach would have done, a sense of pride and purpose swelled in me. As I worked on the wheel and explained the logic behind the repair, I felt more like Assyria than I had in weeks.

I miss this. I miss me.

Dusting myself off once the metal was properly secured, I found Izgath watching me once again, head cocked ever so slightly to the side and muscled arms crossed over his chest. “Did you learn something new?” I asked.

He offered me a slow grin. “I think I did.”

The driver hitched the horses again, and soon, the males were removing the blocks beneath the wagon, preparing to test the strengthened wheel. Holding my breath, I waited for the first few revolutions to pass, hoping that it would hold. After the horses hauled the load a dozen feet and no problems arose, I relaxed. Our journey would continue without issue.

Hopefully.

“Well done,” I told them as we walked alongside the wagon, steering it toward the others that waited in the field beyond. As we rolled out of the tree line, Jaku spotted us, saying something to the group training in front of him before jogging in our direction.

“All is well?” he asked, glancing amongst us.

“Indeed, and it should hold up longer than usual now,” I offered.

Jaku nodded, giving the wagon a once over. “Good. Dromak and Uzadaan are almost finished with them, and then we can continue on to the main road.”

“No time to waste,” Izgath and I pronounced together, at the exact same time as Jaku. We laughed, and he scowled.

“I am not that predictable,” he protested, crossing his arms over his chest, the metal cuffs around his forearms catching in the sunlight.

“I hate to tell you, Százados, but you are,” Izgath chuckled.

Jaku ran a hand over his short hair, then wiped the sweat collected there on his pants. “I’ll admit that my greatest concern is returning to Uzhhorod.”

With Jaku facing us, he couldn’t see Dromak and Uzadaan approaching. The former realized this, and I pressed my lips together and returned my attention to the Százados, lest I give away what was about to happen. “Don’t you mean your only concern,” Dromak said, grabbing Jaku by the shoulders from behind.

On reflex, Jaku shot an elbow up toward Dromak’s face, but he dodged it at the last second, shoving Jaku to the side and grinning like a cat that caught a mouse. “You’re getting sloppy in your situational awareness, Százados,” he drawled.

“Don’t think I won’t punish you for that,” Jaku threatened, but there was no real bite to his tone. We shared a chuckle, then turned our attention to the recruits in various stages of finishing their training—some pulling their tunics on, others searching for their packs.

Jaku stepped out of our little circle and brought his fingers to his lips, releasing a sharp whistle. “Listen up! Once you’re in formation, we’ll march for another hour, then take a nice long break tonight. You all deserve it for your hard work.” A series of excited whoops filled the air.

Thank the Fates.

With so much free time, I might be able to rest enough to refill my magic. Every evening after our training, it had been dangerously low, and any bolster I could garner would be to my benefit.

By the time I settled in Blaeze’s saddle again, the males had taken up their respective positions around the caravan, and we were ready to set off on a short jaunt, because, of course, we had no time to waste.

As the hour drew to a close, I spotted a small stream in the distance, with large, voluminous plants lining the shores and a copse of trees surrounding it. “Jaku, we should stop there for the night. It’s calm and protected from the elements with the trees around it too.”

“I agree. Good eye, Vagach,” he replied, steering his stallion toward them. Dromak and I turned with him, and I glanced behind us, ensuring the squad saw our slight change in direction. A gentle curve formed in the line until we came to a stop among the shady trees.

The spot was serene, with the wind whispering through the lush branches and birds chirping overhead. Late summer flowers bloomed at their bases, and I nearly leaped from Blaeze when my attention landed on a moon lotus vine wrapping around one of the river birches. Gardening and plants were a female’s pastime, and not something Vagach would have any interest in.

Maybe when everyone is occupied with something else…

Dromak interrupted my longing, and I loathed having to tear my gaze away from the rare flowers that bloomed only at night. “Are you sure we aren’t training this afternoon?” he asked Jaku.

The cherry-eyed Százados turned in his saddle, surveying the group as they trickled in. “Not tonight. I promised them a rest, and a rest they shall receive. Perhaps after everyone’s had a chance to bathe, we’ll break out some of the ale.”

“Fuck yes,” Dromak cheered, pumping his fist.

At that moment, Izgath and Uzadaan rode up. “What are you celebrating, Dromak? Remembering how to spell your name?”

“I know how to spell my name,” he protested, and Izgath and Uzadaan laughed.

“Our great Százados has offered to open up the casks of ale this evening,” I commented, grinning.

“Please don’t tell me that’s what was in the broken wagon,” Izgath groaned, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Why? Would you have left the ale behind in the river?” Dromak snorted, raising an eyebrow.

Izgath rolled his eyes. “I would have made you help and sat on my horse and watched. What are those,” he looked pointedly at Dromak’s muscled arms, “for if not for lifting? We should have made you take the place of the wheel.”

“There’s no way I could have held it all by myself,” he shot back, mouth curving into a frown.

“Then it sounds like you need to work on getting stronger,” Izgath teased, eyes crinkling at the corners as he smothered a grin.

Their squabbling pulled a smile from Uzadaan and me. Jaku, on the other hand, shot them both a playfully irritated look. It was amazing, really, how unlike Vagach they were. My father had been a kind, albeit quiet male, much like Olrus, and yet outside of the two of them, I’d only experienced abuse. Perhaps this was the evidence I needed to soothe that fear that a male would harm me, if given the chance.

“If you two are quite finished, I’d like to start setting up camp for the night,” Jaku grumbled, though his lips twitched into a grin.

“Aye, of course.” Dromak slid from his horse, and we followed suit. By then, most of the squad had made their way among the trees, the wagons settling between trunks and males unsaddling horses, pitching tents, and building fires.

After weeks of practice, the camp came together faster and faster, until the thousand males worked like we’d been made for this dance. Within half an hour, everything was arranged and the various groups split apart, some lounging around fires, others resting in their tents, and still more making their way to the reedy stream, bags in hand. I stopped at the male handing out bars of soap and collected one for myself to use.