I'd no sooner recovered to a semblance of normal than I was ushered out at the crack of dawn onto a campground in disarray. Blond, slanted-eye bodies moved everywhere, taking down tents, loading carts, and strapping on weapons.
Bara, nursemaid and healer to the first and third prince, pushed me through the mayhem with practiced ease. The feel of the air and sun on my naked scalp distracted me from the odd looks my burlap robe and black mask got. I only remembered I had a hood when a leaf from a nearby tree tickled over my skin.
Then it was a mad 'Where's Waldo?' game, where Gus was Waldo. But I hadn't had a clue just how massive this army was. I'd never even seen an army before. It put the densest crowd I'd ever witness to shame--and it smelled too. Of body odor, grease, smoke, and dust.