Five Weeks Till Nightfall

by DualThrone


Four And Two: Barren, Part 3

“It’s getting dark out,” Astra noted as they trotted away from the train. “What was going to be our plan when we arrived at the hive? Stay the night?”

“Just because it’s abandoned, it isn’t uncomfortable,” Chrysalis told her. “I imagine that as soldiers, you’ve bedded down in places much less dry and secure than some old caves.”

“Shouldn’t we examine the switch to see what damaged it?” Night asked. “It might give us advanced warning if something untoward is waiting at the hives.”

“Yes, thank you for reminding me.” Chrysalis turned and began trotting back along the tracks, seeming to be entirely unhindered by the fading light. “Truth be told, it would be somewhat unusual for even soldiers to carry the sort of explosives they’d need to smash the switch. They’re typically enclosed in armored boxes to protect against heavy wind-blown debris and even balefire… wouldn’t…”

Chrysalis came to a halt, staring, and Verde quickly cast her magelight cantrip to see what the changeling was staring at. The switch was gone. In its place was a gaping crater that still smelled strongly of conventional high explosives despite the fact that it was clearly hours old.

“That… looks like a mortar shell hole,” she finally managed. “But how? No mortar is nearly this accurate.”

“Maybe because it wasn’t fired,” Astra offered. “The explosion pattern of the casing is too perfect. It looks like the improvised jobs we saw in the Colthav rail yards. Remember? The zebra sappers ran out of shaped explosives and…”

“…used heavy brass bowls and rigged artillery shells to crater the switches.” Verde nodded grimly. “I remember that too.”

Chrysalis sighed. “Of course it would be here… Droso’s been telling me for years that if invasion came, it would be here… didn’t listen, too nostalgic…”

“Is there any way to get word to your forces, Your Majesty?” Night inquired. “I know that in Equestria, there’s a fairly comprehensive tapping station network in case of dire need but I’ve not been briefed on your system.”

“Point-to-point wireless transmission system,” Chrysalis said. “The only part of it that can be accessed is each terminus.”

“How’d you manage that?”

“The towers are suspended… from…” Chrysalis chuckled ruefully as Night grinned and extended her wings. “…and we have a pegasus accompanying us. We still have the problem of you being able to access the system, though.”

“They don’t just let anypony put on the armor, Your Majesty,” Night assured her. “I’ll take care of it. What do you plan to do in the meantime?”

“The best thing I can do for my people, especially since my folly is partly responsible, is to see this invasion for myself,” Chrysalis replied. “Hopefully, we won’t encounter anything larger than a scouting force, saboteurs sent on ahead to survey the site and cripple our ability to quickly shift soldiers here.”

“I’ll be sure to relay that message, milady Queen,” Night inclined her head and extended her wings to their full impressive span before launching herself into the air with a single sweep. “Be safe, Your Highness, Verde, Astra.”

“Good luck, Night!” Astra called after her as the Guard vanished into the dimness.

“Well, this attack is very much their style,” Verde offered. “Frankly, we’re still surprised that they would spend forces so lavishly as to try a siege and investment of Stalliongrad.”

“I’m not,” Chrysalis said, turning and trotting briskly down the tracks away from the shattered switch.

Verde and Astra looked at each other before cantering after the swiftly-moving queen. “Why aren’t you?” Astra asked as they caught up.

“Because a battle for possession of a city fits perfectly with their tactical strengths,” Chrysalis replied. “Very close quarters, a relatively tiny force can hold it and bleed out an enemy, and the kind of extremely stealthy but extremely deadly zebras that are a terror in an open battlefield are practically invulnerable where they can ply their trade without needing to worry about the air. Moreover, the rush towards Colthav uncovered Stalliongrad; they would have been fools not to seize the day.”

“The salient was the perfect target,” Verde snorted with disgust. “Damn fluke that we spotted the sabotage of the switches and rails before trying to rush the armored trains in; it could have been an utter disaster. As it was, Ruby Pommel’s armored divisions are out of play until Solar Forge can finish a refit.”

“Hard to believe that a gangly little unicorn mare like that would end up being so scarily good at putting tactical armored theory into practice,” Astra smiled. “Did I hear right about her taking personal command of the Fifteenth Light during the attack on the main supply area?”

“It’s a damn miracle she didn’t get herself killed.” Verde snorted but with a little grin. “Still, it really shows what a skilled general can do with extremely inferior equipment. Thrashed those automatons like they were made of paper and would have pinned and annihilated all zebra forces in the area if they hadn’t gotten across the river and blown the bridges behind them.”

“Were you two at the battle?” Chrysalis looked curiously between them.

“Yeah,” Astra nodded. “We prevailed on the commanding general to let us try to develop battlefield intelligence before he moved in. Idiot started moving before we got back; we got the trains stopped just barely in time. After the preliminaries were sorted out, he needed sharpshooters and Verde needed a spotter so we both got to watch the fireworks. It was a sobering experience and a really neat one; hard to really describe what it’s like to see the moment where the battle is suddenly over while it’s still going on.”

“At Colthav, it was the moment when the Fifteenth crashed into the rear of the advancing zebras and wiped out their headquarters,” Verde related with a touch of nostalgia. “The zebras had advanced so rapidly towards the primary supply dump for the Colthav offensive that they couldn’t distinguish between their own dust clouds and the dust clouds of full-bore pursuit. Pommel made exclusive use of the light, third-tier vehicles of Fifteenth Light to achieve the advantage of velocity and crashed into their rear at the precise instant that the heavy cannon batteries she’d ordered to be dug into a slight defile shielding the supply depot opened fire with balefire proximity burst rounds. The surprise of the cannons stunned them and the unfolding massacre of their headquarters and support divisions triggered a total rout. And so it was, with vehicles that were ordinarily incapable of even denting the heavy combat automatons that the zebras have been deploying, Ruby Pommel reduced the zebra forces waiting in ambush at Colthav to a hollow, burnt-out wreck of a command.”

“But General Pommel’s forces were still put out of action?”

“A full-bore pursuit, especially through rough terrain and heavy dust, destroys machines as effectively as heavy cannon fire,” Verde replied. “And remember that the Fifteenth was a third-tier force using outdated machines since it was expected to be on light garrison duty far away from the battle. Besides, after that performance, they’re giving Ruby the firepower to match her ability and manufacturing top-tier machines takes time.”

“Of course.” There was a few more minutes of silence before Chrysalis looked back at them. “Is there any other news of the eastern front?”

“Stalemate along the Dneighper, ghastly siege at Sanctus Petriburg.” Astra said, grimacing. “The stalemate isn’t so bad—both are so well dug-in that neither side is suffering real casualties—but it’s still locking a whole battalion in place that could be used elsewhere. Sanctus is… if there were two words that could explain why zebras have megaspells, ‘Sanctus Petriburg’ would be them. We can’t route reinforcements to the siege without stripping vital soldiers from other fronts. We can’t disengage because the zebras are still in solid fighting dispositions and could turn the disengagement into a slaughter. So we’re left smashing a beautiful monument to the warm relationship that once existed between us and the zebras in the hopes that we can eventually coerce surrender. It’s pointless, senseless, horribly bloodletting for absolutely no gain but circumstances are forcing us to contest an obsolete objective just to keep a solid front with campaigns that are actually important.”

“It’d almost be better if the entire city was just… wiped away,” Verde sighed. “Murdering each other over a useless pile of rubble… this isn’t war anymore, it’s just murder. Hopefully, the combination of a field demonstration of the upcoming Mark Twelve and the widespread use of the Alishield Mark Two will be enough to end the war. If not, perhaps Mare Sparkle’s potion experiments will yield something.”

“I’ve heard about those experiments.” Chrysalis looked back at them. “Is it true that she’s attempting to make alicorns?”

Verde blinked. “Make alicorns?”

“Is that even… possible?” Astra blinked as well.

“If the Ministry of Peace hadn’t developed megaspells, I’d wonder if they were possible,” Chrysalis pointed out. “And, speaking from personal experience, I’d be very wary of underestimating Twilight Sparkle. If it’s possible to use arcane scientific means to empower a pony to even half the power of one of the Sisters or anything close to the ability of a winged unicorn like Princess Cadence, Mare Sparkle would be the one to find it.”

“She was the primary developer of the Crusader maneframes…” Verde compressed her lips thoughtfully. “It’s a really interesting thought and would be a devastating psychological blow to the zebras but it seems sort of… impractical.”

“Says somepony who’s never flown on her own wings,” Chrysalis returned. “Or, more to the point, a unicorn who’s probably always existed in a state of relative power. Few unicorns have your combination of power and precision, Verde; most are what we term ‘glass cannons’, immensely powerful at a distance but at a severe disadvantage against extremely deadly zebra hoof techniques. If Twilight Sparkle’s potion was to do what it’s rumored it will do, you would have soldiers with the raw power to fight at a distance and the ability to remain permanently out of range of melee. It would be the alchemical enhancement most zebra soldiers undergo taken to its logical conclusion: achieving the optimum soldier with a swig of potion.”

“Wait, alchemical enhancement?” Astra said. “You mean they’re not just… skilled?”

Chrysalis chuckled. “Astra, do you honestly think that zebras are composed of nothing but lithe, strong, healthy young fillies and colts with a natural liquid agility? Zebra alchemistry has always been very advanced; we rely on loyal zebra herbalists to develop healing aids and I have no doubt that Twilight Sparkle is consulting heavily with zebras to develop her induced transformation potion.”

“Heh… well what do you know? Stripes are good for something,” Astra smirked. “I would never have guessed.”

Verde sighed as the comment made Chrysalis stop again and turn to stare at Astra in blank surprise. “Forgive me, but have you seen a mirror lately?”

Astra stopped as well and returned the stare evenly. “Your Majesty, despite outward appearances, I’m a pony, not a zebra. The parent that showed me love and support is a pony. All of my friends are ponies. The two aunts who’ve always welcomed me into their homes, remembered my birthday, and treated me like family are ponies. My fillyfriend is a pony. The hoof techniques for self-defense that I was taught were pony creations. Nothing in my life, from family to friends to the regents I’m honored to be ruled by, are zebras. I only speak with a strong zebra accent because my fillyfriend insists that it makes my voice sound pleasant and sexy. For me, as with many other Equestrians, zebras are an enemy that seeks to harm a deeply beloved Princess of Equestria.”

Chrysalis looked steadily at her for several moments before turning and continuing down the tracks. “I’m very sorry to hear that, Astraylzenika,” she commented. “Where we come from is very much a part of who we are. I wouldn’t be the changeling that is trusted and warmly welcomed by the Dual Thrones without having been a changeling of a very different sort before.”

“I come from the womb of a very industrious and brave pony mare who loves me like a daughter, sired by a proud zebra soldier who was retired early in his life due to a crippling injury and who shows no signs of loving me at all,” Astra retorted. “I am who I am because I was loved by my pony family and my zebra family doesn’t care.”

“I’m certain that’s not true.”

“I’ve never seen any indication otherwise, Chrysalis,” Verde told her. “Uncle Zoast has always been very cold towards everypony but his wife and especially cold towards Astra; I don’t think I’ve even heard him call her by name once.”

“And your extended zebra family?”

“What extended zebra family?” Astra snorted. “If they exist, they’ve never once been mentioned in my hearing. Just one more thing Daddy’s little filly isn’t allowed to know about. I get the impression from the fact that Mother never speaks of them that she regards them with distaste, which says quite a bit if you know my mother.”

“I know of her, certainly, and would be delighted to know her more personally if our paths were to cross,” Chrysalis asserted. “Director of armament research and development, as I recall, and the leading advocate of giving our forces maximum mechanical mobility to supplement the armored trains and pegasus-drawn skywagons. It paid off quite handsomely at Colthav and if the war keeps going beyond Ministry attempts to force an early conclusion, I can see her initiatives being very decisive. I admit to being slightly dubious about her ‘dreadnaught’ ironclad initiative… major resource expenditure just to change a few features of an ironclad battleship.”

“It’s well worth the expense and effort,” Verde assured her. “The new turret configuration will give the new model a greatly enhanced field of fire and frees up deck space for quad-mounts that can accommodate gun directors when R&D is complete. Adjusting the angling of the hull armor and using spacing on the deck armor will give them greater resistance to fire, especially against dangerous plunging fire. Those are the really big pieces of the refit but experimentation with a pair of older vessels being used as testbeds…”

“Day, is there an engineering blueprint in the entire MWT you haven’t memorized?” Astra’s voice was full of fond exasperation. “You need a life, cousin.”

Verde treated her cousin to a cheeky grin. “What are you talking about? I go on dates all the time!”

“Those aren’t dates; they’re shooting drills disguised as dates.” Astra snorted. “When we get a breather, I swear I’m going to make you go to the Carrot Bay Spa if I have to bash you crosseyed with a frying pan and drag you there by the tail.”

“Where would you get a frying pan?”

“I keep Mother’s old cast-iron one on hoof and don’t change the subject.”

“Yes, dear,” Verde replied sweetly. “By the way, since we’re speaking of family Chrysalis, did you have any?”

“Two sisters, Cocoon and Pupa, and my parents,” Chrysalis replied. “My parents are hardly worth mentioning—parents and spawn rarely developed any sort of connection—but my sisters were nice enough, considering that we were all in bloody competition for the throne. Ultimately, I won only because Pupa was killed in an accident and Cocoon killed trying to save her.” She frowned. “Sometimes I contemplate what things may have been like under a Queen Pupa or Queen Cocoon; both were kinder than I was and Cocoon was the clear heir apparent because she was clever enough to being kinder and gentler without being weaker. As family goes, especially changeling family, they were the best sisters I could wish for.”

“Do you miss them?”

“From time to time, mainly when I’m visiting the Hives,” she admitted. “Which is why I rarely visit: it’s pleasant to remember family that’s passed on but very painful to miss them.”

“Is there a reason your parents inflicted bug names on you?” Astra asked. “I’m hardly one to talk, seeing as how I’ve got a really strange name myself, but ‘Chrysalis’, ‘Cocoon’, and ‘Pupa’ has all the creativity and charm of ‘One’, ‘Two’, and ‘Three’.”

Chrysalis snorted amusedly. “As I said, changeling parents had no particular connection to their spawn, to the point where they literally named children according to birth order, which was very…” She suddenly stopped and looked around. “…very…” She frowned and stuck her tongue, oddly forked like that of a reptile, out tentatively. “…um, very confusing.”

Verde looked sideways at Astra and then at the perplexed-looking changeling. “Is something wrong, Your Highness?”

“I’m not sure,” she replied, looking around again. “There’s a slight taste of emotion in the air that I’ve never encountered before. It’s like… love mixed with… I don’t know.”

Astra eyed Chrysalis. “Mixed with… devotion? Hate? Like, what you’d imagine religious fanaticism would taste like?”

Chrysalis blinked and turned to look at her. “Actually yes. Which means,” she grimaced, “we’re about to meet someone unfriendly and all we can do is vaguely sense their nearness.”

“Not necessarily,” Verde corrected her. “Normally this gadget isn’t much use because you normally don’t know a zebra is there until they’re killing you but with enough warning…” A monocle with a small laser light hooked to it floated out of her saddle bag and she slipped it on, the strap holding it on over her eye. “…you can see through their ponypies.”

“So you can see through zebra stealth cloaks by… looking absurd.” Chrysalis paused to consider this. “It’s creative, at least.”

Astra snickered, earning a gimlet eye from Verde. “Yes, it does look a little strange but the principle is solid. Stealth is achieved by bending light around the wearer and stilling the air so they move soundlessly. The eyepiece is enchanted to allow a wearer to see the movement of specific light, the laser in this case, and since the laser will be bent around the zebra…”

“…you can see where they are based on the bending of the laser.”

Verde smiled. “Yes, and the fact that the air directly around them is unnaturally still makes the laser unusually clear as well, which makes it easier to see them. Now then, Chrysalis, do you have an idea of which direction the taste is coming from?”

Chrysalis flicked her tongue in and out of her muzzle in a strangely snakelike way. “Fifty lengths that way,” she replied, gesturing with her head.

Verde blinked at her. “And you didn’t notice before now?”

“Still air, remember?”

Verde immediately felt sheepish. “Oh, yes, well… uh, sorry.”

“Do you think they’ll be amenable to talking it out?”

“Worth a try.” Verde trotted passed Chrysalis and turned the switch on the device with a quick spark of magic. The vision in her right eye immediately went black except for a glowing red line shooting out into the distance, her left laying the visible terrain over the blackness. She barely had to move her head before the beam visibly hopped over something about the height of a small pony. A quick back-and-forth revealed eight more of the obstacles gathered near the first and she grimaced, weighing her options. Nine zebras, at the bare minimum augmented and trained with the extremely deadly hoof techniques that zebras were well-known for, were a grave threat and it didn’t surprise Verde at all that the first plan that came to her was retreat. The nine shapes picking up the pace of their approach and spreading out to surround the three-person party pretty much eliminated that option. She was considering whether she could aim at and shoot nine targets rapidly enough to stop them from closing the distance when she became aware of Chrysalis trotting passed her towards the zebras.

“You might as well give up the pretense,” she told the hidden zebras with a tone of casual authority that abruptly reminded Verde that the friendly changeling was a monarch in her own right. “You outnumber us three to one and the element of surprise is no longer yours. There’s no further need to cling to your invisibility when all nine of you are perfectly visible to us.”

A quick survey revealed that the nine scouts had halted their progress, turning as one towards Chrysalis, their stances vague broadcasting surprise and confusion. Chrysalis, of course, didn’t have a special eyepiece so she couldn’t see it. “I suppose it doesn’t matter either way. You’re trespassing in my kingdom and you are soldiers of a nation with which Equestria is at war. You’ve already destroyed the train tracks leading to the cave network so technically, you struck the first blow.” She paused. “All of that said, I’m not keen on killing anyone, even a zebra, just to entertain myself. Get the hay out of my kingdom and I see no reason to pursue and harm you.”

If anything, this seemed to confuse the zebras more. After several moments, the one in the center threw their head back and an aged-looking stallion, the black stripes in his closely-cropped mane turned nearly white, materialized out of thin air, wearing a wary expression.

“Your kingdom, you say?” He inquired in an accent so thick that Verde could barely work out what he said. “What, have the Princesses gone wholly away?”

“They have not,” Chrysalis replied, sounding slightly contemptuous. “I am queen of my people, serving at the leave of the Dual Thrones. The Barrens are my kingdom and you are trespassing thereon.”

“It is changeling, and could easily lie,” another of the zebras commented, not bothering to keep his voice down.

“Her people are known to be cunning and sly,” a third offered.

“And yet, this one seems true,” the older replied, never taking his eyes off Chrysalis. “For it’s typical of changelings to hide from plain view.”

“You realize ‘that one’ is standing right here,” Chrysalis pointed out in a slightly irritated tone. “But all of this is immaterial. I say again, get the hay off my lands and out of my kingdom.”

“It speaks like the nightmare would,” the second zebra said, looking hard at Chrysalis. “It claims more land than a noble under Princesses should.”

Verde quietly slipped her sidearm out of its holster concealed in one of her saddlebags as she noticed a subtle shift in Chrysalis’ posture. “Excuse me?”

“The nightmare takes many shapes to trick and deceive,” the zebra retorted. “And to strike before she reveals herself is oft a vital need.”

“You plotholes wouldn’t be threatening to attack Queen Chrysalis because you’re developing the notion that she’s Princess Nyx in disguise, would you?” Astra growled.

In one of the most bizarre displays Verde had ever seen, all nine of the zebras turned as one and looked at Astra, their expressions going immediately from surprised to dumbfounded. “You are with these and unbound,” their leader said after a long moment. “And your well-being is perfectly sound.”

“Yeah, imagine that.” Astra responded dryly. “An Equestrian is welcomed in part of Equestria.”

“One of the nightmare’s…”

“Her name is Nyx,” Astra interrupted icily.

“Nightmare Moon isn’t her name?” Verde had to crane her neck a bit to see the young-looking zebra mare towards the back of their formation, where she would be protected by the rest. She was the only female that Verde could see and the only one of such a small stature, which made Verde immediately suspicious of her. The sole mare in a group of stallions and obviously less physically capable than her companions practically screamed ‘intelligence officer’.

“Like any other pony or zebra, griffin or dragon, or even diamond dog,” Chrysalis answered. “Surely your people are not so benighted that they imagined that ‘Nightmare’ is her given name.”

“It’s not too difficult to believe that a filly might be given the name ‘Night Moon’ and add ‘mare’ when she grew older,” the zebra replied calmly in a voice with only the lightest hint of a zebra accent, nudging a couple of stallions aside as she trotted up to stand beside the commander. “However, on to business. There are nine of us and three of you. Even visible, none of you are specialists in this particular situation. Queen Chrysalis offers us our lives if we leave but that is clearly a bluff; it is more appropriate that we offer you your lives if you stand aside and make no attempt to hinder us.”

“What makes you think it’s a bluff?” Chrysalis inquired with a positively vulpine smile.

The mare looked curiously at her. “Respectfully, Your Majesty, operational habits indicate that your suitability for conflict in this situation is adverse in the extreme. We have no more desire to kill you for pleasure than you do and there is no need for blood to be spilt over some train tracks and a minor intrusion. Certainly, you appreciate that bloody conflict is not germane to the much more vital business of collecting and using information for operational purposes.”

“And the vital operational need to draw our attention away from the aftermath of Stalliongrad has nothing to do with your appearance in my lands, sabotaging my people’s means for rapid deployment in response to invasion?”

The mare smiled very slightly. “Astute. Unfortunately, this creates a problem. The previous offer was predicated on the assumption of a certain degree of ignorance, an assumption that is clearly not justified by circumstances as they have developed.”

“We would have rejected it in any case,” Chrysalis said diffidently.

“Regrettable.” The officer turned away and started trotting. “Relatively undamaged, legate, if you please. The changeling queen could prove to be an invaluable source of intelligence.”

“Yes, praetus” the elderly-looking zebra acknowledged, looking away as Verde raised her scoped revolver and lined up a shot, partly shielded from view by the larger Chrysalis. She saw that Astra had turned her head to get a grip on her own sidearm to draw it quickly. In contrast, Chrysalis seemed curiously unconcerned and unprepared despite the odd-looking weapon Night had called “Clockwork” still gripped casually in her telekinetic field. The legate turned to look at them, smirking slightly. “A zebra, a unicorn, and a royal; a shame we can’t assist you in shuffling off this mortal coil.”

“That is a shame,” Chrysalis agreed. “It’s much easier to kill somepony who wants to kill me than to kill somepony who doesn’t intend to do me much harm.” She began to bring Clockwork down into firing position. “Of course with this weapon…”

The zebra reacted instantly and with the speed of a vastly younger stallion. Verde gave him points for intelligence: he didn’t bother trying to knock the gun away, going directly for Chrysalis instead. Of course, not even zebra hooves are faster than thought; by the time he’d closed the gap to strike the changeling, Chrysalis had rotated the gun’s muzzle downwards in midair and with a kerblam, the legate dropped, the bullet careening through his shoulder and side.

Partly shielded from view by Chrysalis, both Verde and Astra had been lining up their shots and at the sound of a gunshot, dropped the two zebras on either flank, shifted fire slightly, and hit the next two. The remaining three went carefully still as three gun muzzles shifted to them.

“Hey, check it out: three of us and three of them,” Astra grinned as she and Verde moved up to either side of Chrysalis. “Question is, what happens now?”

“Now, I extend the previous offer on better terms.” Chrysalis looked sternly at the three zebras. “Get the hay out of my kingdom. Now.”

The three zebras looked at one another before one of them, who Verde realized to her surprise was a mare, met Chrysalis’ stern gaze. “We… we would gather the bodies of our wounded and dead… that… that…” She bit her lip and gave up the attempt to compose a rhyme. “…will you permit us to carry away our dead, Your Highness?”

“If they didn’t want to be interred in my land, they shouldn’t have trespassed on it.” But Chrysalis look softened marginally. “However, if one of you will stay, we can make arrangements to inter them according to whatever rituals and traditions you desire.”

Another look was exchanged and the mare trotted forward. “I will stay, Your Highness, and be your prisoner.”

“Then your fellows may go.” Chrysalis’s expression turned stern again. “This is a one-time offer. Next time, I will neither take captives nor offer amnesty.”

The two stallions nodded and pulled the hoods of their stealth cloaks over their heads, vanishing and, as Verde watched with her eyepiece, trotted away quickly. The mare that was left behind pulled her stealth cloak off completely then, before any of them could react, stomped the gem with the stealth enchantment, shattering it. “I am your prisoner but I will not betray my own.” She said quietly.

“I appreciate that,” Verde replied, gesturing for Astra not to say anything. “But it was a pointless gesture; we’ve already captured one of the gems intact.”

The mare nodded. “But you didn’t capture mine.”

Verde smiled. “True.”

The smile brought forth a tiny, shy smile in reply before the zebra turned to Chrysalis. “Thank you, Your Majesty.”

“I’m certain that your people would do the same,” Chrysalis nodded to her. “Now, if you’ll direct us, this seems as good of place as any to take care of your dead before we proceed.”