The south-facing face of the camp's earthworks had been bare for several days, the frost retreating to the shaded north edges and holding there while the rest of the earth ran dark with thaw.
The horses on the morning line were shedding their winter coats in uneven patches, the handlers pulling long clumps loose when they worked the brush through. The light came at a lower angle than it had through the deep cold weeks, and it carried more in it.
Batu had been at the training ground's northern edge since before the first rotation started.
Torghul was beside him.
Three groups of riders were running.
Two jaghun formations on the near ground, each running the relay drill protocol that Penk's coordination system now carried as a standard requirement. The third was a mingan exercise further out, the larger body spread across the flat in screening intervals, its spacing visible from the edge as the ordered pattern it was supposed to be.
