Upon hearing the news, I ordered everyone to rest their horses for five minutes and then we headed back to camp as swiftly as we could. When we arrived, I had enough food supplies to last our full force for two days gathered and picked up the field campaign tents that I had ordered brought to the patrol camp with the advanced party. Once that was taken care of, we set off to the prearranged Rendezvous spot closest to where the possible bandit camp was located. The sun had set long before we arrived there but still, we rode on guided by several torches, I had lit.
When we arrived at the rendezvous, we startled the pair of sentries guarding the approaches to it but managed not to wake more than a few others. Being tired from our ride I ordered the tents set up but fell asleep well before this could be accomplished. I was one of the last to awaken the following morning and in fact, if I hadn’t awoken of my own accord, they were about to do it for me. This was due to the fact that a meeting had been arranged to take place a few minutes later by Erdal no doubt to discuss the bandit camp and what to do about it.
By the time I got to it with my bodyguards in tow, everyone else had already arrived including Erdal, Hector, Rantham, and Raja Avanti, the fellow who had discovered the possible bandit camp. Also present was Michel Mardin who had provided confirmation that it was what we thought it was after scouting it out during the night.
“So Michel what can you tell us about the camp?”
“Well milord it’s well enough hidden and Raja was I think lucky to find the tunnel entrance, but they seem to have just taken it for granted that no one will ever find it and thus security doesn’t seem to be a priority. Still, due to the terrain, I wasn’t able to get as clear a picture of the camp as I would have liked. But as far as I could ascertain there are thirty to forty bandits in the camp, that, of course, doesn’t necessarily mean that I missed some or there aren’t others either up to no good elsewhere or not yet arrived.
As far as I am aware the tunnel is the only way in or out of the camp or at least the only accessible one but again while I don’t think I did, I could have missed something. There’s no sign of any horses about but the tunnel isn’t big enough for them anyway. They can’t be thinking of operating as bandits without transport so either they have them hidden close by or somewhere slightly further away over in Kincarn. I don’t think we should make a move on the bandits until we know, either way, I can try following anyone who leaves the camp and hope they lead me to the.”
“Not even bandits are stupid enough to choose a camp with only one way in or out never mind how well hidden it might be so if you think you can do so without getting caught I want you to have another look at it. Is there anyone else skilled enough to follow anyone who leaves the camp?”
“Nara Bajbu and maybe Anwar Khey.”
“They are free to follow anyone who comes out of the camp but they are at the same time not permitted to cross the border under any circumstances.”
“Understood.”
“Alright if no one has a better idea I think for now we should wait until we have a better idea of the camp but at the same time, we need to be prepared to attack them the moment it looks like they might be heading out to attack anyone or they have caught on to our presence. That’s all for now people, we’ll reassess the situation tomorrow.”
Then though only one side was aware of the fact, the waiting game began. I had planned to already be on the way back to the castle if we hadn’t found anything but now that we had I needed to decide if I should stay or not. I knew that no matter what I decided the others could get by without me, so I needed to decide where my priorities lay.
I took my time in assessing the pros and cons of both options, looked deep into my soul, and decided to wait it out here for another few days. The dungeon could wait as could the other matters awaiting me, while I could I suppose do some things before everything was settled with the escheator I felt it better to wait until after. I also knew my presence here or lack of it wasn’t likely to change the outcome, but I felt that I owed it to the troops, and it allowed me to see how they fared. Sure, bandits were unlikely to pose that much of a challenge to them but still, something is better than nothing.
With that taken care of I decided to go out and meet the troops to try and judge their morale and if necessary, do what I could to improve it. Not that for a moment I imagined that would be needed but I had been informed that not all of them had been blooded in battle before.
The camp was located well away from that of the bandits in a small clearing in the forest that had once been used as a logging camp. The tents that I had brought with me from the patrol camp had all been erected and I joined the troops in the mess tent for my breakfast. The food was simple campaign fare but well prepared unlike some I had sampled over the years.
I managed to have a nice talk with some of them and judging by what I heard morale wouldn’t be a problem, if anything they were perhaps a bit overconfident.
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