Camp preparation.

Julieanna walked around the camp from the mouth of the pass to the rear areas and was satisfied with the progress. She came upon the first line of defence which was a six-foot-deep trench that ran the whole length of the pass. The next line was a wooden wall fifteen feet high covered with metal shields that ran from the floor of the pass to the top. Spaced along the wall at regular intervals were slits for the archers with crossbows to fire close in at the enemy. The main archers were positioned on the heights overlooking the valley and had a clean line of sight which was uninterrupted down the length of the valley. Behind the wall came several deep filled with straw and wood which should the wall fail could be set on fire to slow down the enemy and to counter horse's three rows of pikes had been dug into the ground. As she headed further back Kriss approached her and informed her that her spy had reported that Arerto was no longer in the city.

Julieanna thanked her as she contemplated what she could do. Maybe Arerto would escape and return then she would have to relieve her of command and place her under arrest. She came to the ballistas each already preloaded with six-foot arrows which would be used on the war elephants to bring them down. The last line of defence had the trebuchets also preloaded and ready to rain down either rocks or burning tar and beyond them were the tents and wagons. Satisfied that the camp was in good shape she found Kriss and told her that her spy should try to find out where Arerto had gone, whether she had escaped or taken elsewhere. She figured herself that she would not have escaped otherwise she would have returned to camp by now. She visited the mess tent and sat with the senior commanders and had some dinner which today was roasted pig with vegetables and some red wine which was down the pig meat.

As evening dawned and the sun was setting Kriss reported back that her spy had returned and she had found out that Arerto had been imprisoned with a woman named Cheytelle. Cheytelle had been sent to a prison mine and Arerto had been taken east to a private residence in the ownership of a woman named Isabella. This ISabella happened to be the second in command of the city and overseer of the prison responsible for new slaves and their punishment. Julieanna asked Kriss if she and her unit could trail Arerto to this residence and she said that they could but could not guarantee a safe return. Julieanna issued the order to Kriss to go find Arerto and return her to camp. Lastly, she told Kriss that Arerto had been relieved of command and that she was to arrest her. Kriss asked her to repeat the last part and she did and Kriss acknowledge the order and left the tent and headed to her unit to get them ready to begin their new mission.