The camp had a different quality in winter than it had in the weeks before the column went south.
The fires burned longer and lower. The horse lines were fuller, the animals packed tighter against the cold, the handlers working longer shifts. The outer perimeter posts ran in pairs instead of singles, the two-man rotation established for the season.
The supply depot on the camp's eastern side had been reorganized since Batu left, the stores arranged under new covers against the weather. Khulgen's work.
Batu's right arm was in a sling that the physician had fitted before the march back. The shoulder muscle moved within limits the physician had named and not beyond them.
The left forearm had healed enough that the wrap had been reduced to a single layer. Two real costs from the campaign, both present and both managed.
He had filed them in the correct part of his attention on the second day of the march north and had not taken them out again.
Khulgen set the felt on the table.
