This is the thirty-seventh chapter of Wealthgiver, an alternate history serial romance about nationalism and cave-Thracians. For the back-of-the-book description and an index of chapters, click here. For the beginning, click here. For the previous chapter, click here.
Night came quickly in the valley south of Peshtera. Shadows rose up the cliffs like floodwater, squeezing the light on the mountainside into an ever thinner, ever more golden line.
"Why did you offer them food?" Zülfü demanded. "There won't be anything in Peshtera for a bunch of refugees to eat!"
The burly captain stood closer to Andrei than he'd ever come before, very nearly shouting, but careful not to step on the map. "There's barely enough stored grain in Pazardjik to keep the other half of our army supplied. Now, instead of marching with reinforcements, we're bringing them more mouths to feed. Babies and camp followers and loud old women." He tossed his head in the direction of Batak's sole surviving Good, who sat next…
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to DAPPER ZMEY to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.