That was the end of their conversation, so Will followed the young apprentice. The man stopped along one wall and pointed to a large selection of mail that was hanging there. The pieces were of varying sizes and shapes. “We’re up day and night making those. For a shirt like yours we take the sections already done and piece them together, adding just enough to fit your measurements. The gambesons are different, of course—we don’t do those, but there are several seamstresses that work with us to make sure they fit the customer properly.”
Will held up his arm and examined the armor. It was coated in oil that was already leaving gray stains on the linen underneath. Each ring was linked through four others, and there were tiny rivets holding them closed. “It must take forever to make this,” he murmured.
The apprentice laughed. “You have no idea. I see those little rivets even in my sleep.” He held a large leather bag out to Will.
“What’s this for?”
“When you take it off,” said the other man. “The leather is heavily oiled. It will help keep the mail from rusting.”
“What if it rusts anyway?”
The apprentice smiled. “It will. Just put it in the bag and shake it. Or you can rub the mail against itself. Make sure to add oil to it now and then, including the bag. If something happens and it gets really bad, bring it back to us. We have a big sand tumbler we use for exceptionally rusty armor.”
Will returned to camp feeling as though he had grown several feet taller. He definitely got a few extra looks from the camp guards, for not many of the soldiers wore mail aside from the sergeants and officers. Some of the veteran corporals had managed to save up enough for it, but they were few and far between.
When he rejoined his squad at lunchtime, Dave whistled. “Damn, that looks good! I’d kiss a lot of ass if I could get armor like that right now.”
Will frowned. “Why?”
Corporal Taylor leaned in. “The orders came down just before noon. We move in two days.”
“That soon?” asked Will. “I figured we had a few more weeks.”
Sven broke in, “They don’t pay us to think.”
“They probably want to make sure we command the pass before Darrow tries to cross. There’s been a rumor that the Patriarch might have a lot more men in Barrowden than we thought they did. If so, we might not be able to take Barrowden back. It might be all we can do to keep them out of Branscombe,” explained the corporal.
“Easier to hold the pass than defend the town,” agreed Tiny.
Unhappy with what he was hearing, Will protested, “We have to take Barrowden back. Won’t the king be sending the rest of the army here?”
Corporal Taylor glanced around and lowered his voice. “They’d have been here already, which means they’ve probably been sent somewhere else, Cerria or Thornton maybe.”
“Then someone screwed up!” swore Will, “Because Darrow is sending most of their army through Barrowden.” The others stared at him while Tiny closed his eyes and shook his head as if to say, ‘idiot.’ Hastily, Will added, “That’s what I heard, anyway.”
“You know something, don’t you?” said the corporal with interest.
Will shook his head. “That’s just what I heard the officers talking about when they arrested me last time,” he improvised.
“Keep your voice down then,” advised Corporal Taylor. “Or you’ll be getting arrested again.”
“Won’t matter,” snickered Dave. “He’s better at getting arrested than I am.”
They spent the next day packing wagons and double-checking lists while supply sergeants hurried back and forth, yelling at seemingly everyone. That evening the captain, Sir Kyle Barrentine, addressed the company personally, explaining that they would have the ‘honor’ of leading the vanguard.
That made little sense to Will, and he said as much as they gathered in the evening before lights out. Sven merely chuckled. “You’ll see.”
“What’s that mean?” demanded Dave angrily. The ex-thief was no happier about being told they would be in the lead element than Will was. “Our company has the most inexperienced soldiers. Shouldn’t they put the company with the most veterans up front?”
Sven shook his head. “First, this is just while we march, but I have no doubt they’ll put us up front in the first battle as well. They put the green soldiers up front for a reason. If we get an easy fight and win, we build morale. If we don’t, we soften up the enemy for the veterans to clean up after us. The veterans are less likely to run if things go ass-up too, and we can’t run if they’re behind us.”
“Balls!” exclaimed Dave. “How do I get put in a veteran company? This sucks.”
Tiny laughed. “That’s easy. Live through the first few battles. After enough of us die, they’ll probably reorganize us into different companies.”
“Bullshit,” said Dave. “We haven’t had a real war in over fifty years. Who are they to say who’s experienced and who isn’t?”
“At least the veterans have fought bandits and whatnot before,” said Sven. “That’s more than we can say.”
Something occurred to Will then. “Sven, you served a full contract before. Why didn’t they put you in one of the veteran companies?”
“I’m a conscript now,” replied the older man, “so I don’t really count. More importantly, they don’t make new companies out of nothing but green soldiers. They always mix in a few old timers to help the boys grow into soldiers.”
“Who are you calling a boy?” asked Dave belligerently.
“You,” said Sven pointedly. “You can’t even have a drink without starting a fight or trying to steal something.”
It seemed as though a fight was imminent, but Dave relaxed after a tense moment, then he replied, “I never drink when I’m stealing.”
Maybe he’s maturing, thought Will.
***
They woke up well before dawn on the day they left, and even as they were beginning to take down the tents, Will saw several groups of horsemen leave the camp. “Where are they going?” he asked Sven.
“Scouts,” said the veteran. “They have to make sure the engineers don’t get ambushed.”
“Engineers?”
Sven laughed. “The ones who check the route and clear obstructions. The column can only march as wide as the narrowest point, otherwise everything goes to shit.”
“I never thought it would be so complicated,” observed Will.
“You haven’t seen the half of it yet,” said the old soldier. “First scouts, then engineers, then they’ll send us. They’ll send the companies out in intervals with some space between us in case there’s an obstruction, so we don’t all pile up. Behind the main body the wagons will follow, and then behind them the rearguard. We’ll stop at the new camp before the rearguard even leaves this place.”
“Huh? How does that make sense?” asked Will.
“You’ll see,” said Sven. “We’ll be preparing the camp for a couple of hours before they reach us. We probably won’t march more than five hours. And this is a small army. It gets even worse with a larger force.”