The column was forming on the northern edge of camp when the morning screen went out.
Batu watched from Torghul's position on the left. The pack horses moved in line, each one loaded and checked before it passed the count point. The handler on each animal walked alongside it through the gate check, then stepped back for the next.
Penk's relay riders moved between the forming sections, carrying the departure timing to each unit. The sequence moved without visible direction.
Kirsa's screen had already gone. Three pairs, different men from the day before, moving south and east at the standard intervals. One of them had been on the eastern approach circuit since before the engagement.
A compact rider Batu had noticed for the consistency of it, always the last back, always the first to check his animal's footing before anything else. That morning he came back early at a steady pace and delivered his report to Kirsa directly.
