Free Every Battle Lord's Nightmare by Linda Mooney

serious enough to concern him.” Thrasher nodded at Atty. “I told him what you said about the man smelling sick, and he said he'd get right on it today.”
                “Thank you,” Yulen said.
                The doctor gave the battle lord a little salute, turned his horse around, and returned to center of the ranks.
                “I need to run a quick inspection. Try to stay out of trouble,” Yulen told her.
                She mimicked Thrasher's salute, making her husband chuckle as he whirled the palomino about and left her. His spot was immediately filled by Renken. She noticed the partial grin creasing one side of his face.
                “Okay. Give.”
                “Give what?” he answered.
                “What did you steal this time?”
                He gave her an innocent look. “Who, me? Steal something? Madam, I'm crushed that you would think—”
                “Stuff it, Garet.” She chuckled. “If it's not Berta's jellies, it's Amelia's cookies, or muffins, or those little sugar plum confections Diksie was making around the holidays.”
                “What? Wait a minute! What sugar plums?” He narrowed his eyes at her in an accusing manner, making her laugh aloud. “ Aha! So who's the little thief now?”
                “All right.” She raised a hand in surrender. “I confess, but I'm blaming my pregnancy on my weakness. What's your excuse? And what did you get into?”
                “Me?”
                “Come on. Tit for tat.”
                His cheeks reddened slightly. “A couple of lemons.”
                Atty gasped. “No! Oh, please tell me you didn't take some lemons off those trees! Diad protects that grove for the verbossa!”
                “I just took two.”
                She glared at him.
                “All right. Three. I like them with salt. What can I say?”
                Atty rolled her eyes. “If you'd been caught, they would have flayed you alive, Garet Renken. Well, not really. But, trust me, you don't want a taste of Mutah justice.”
                “Noted and filed for future reference.”
                They continued along the road in silence. Behind them Atty could hear the muffled conversation of the men as they told stories and jokes to help pass the time. A quick glimpse to the rear revealed both seconds in deep discussion. Paas rode ahead and to the side, separate from them to give them privacy.
                “What caught your eye?” Renken asked.
                “Paas. She's the only other female here besides me.”
                “Being an outsider like you once were,” he remarked. “Maybe you should dawdle a bit to let her catch up. Talk over female stuff, and all that.”
                Atty leaned over and playfully backhanded him on the knee. “Our female stuff includes hunting methods, including gutting and trapping. Don't put me in a box, Mr. Renken. You should know better by n—”
                She froze, her hands automatically pulling up on the reins. Almost immediately, the whole brigade came to a grinding standstill. She was vaguely aware of Yulen galloping to the head of the line to check out why the sudden stop, but she couldn't answer. A red haze continued to roll across her vision like an advancing fog. Warning her. Forcing her Mutah instincts into sending her alarm signals.
                Somewhere in the distance, Yulen called out to her.
                “It's no good. She seems to be in some sort of trance.” It was Renken.
                “Sir!” It was Mastin. His voice was urgent. “Sir, Fortune and Twoson have frozen in their tracks!”
                “So has Atty. Everyone! Sound the alarm! Abandon the