The nine days passed without incident.
The enrollment document reached Mahmud's ledgers on the third morning. The grain reserve took its first entry when a Tergesh autumn report came in above the levy limit. The craftsman materials credit went out through the Ayas dispatch before the fifth day ended.
Sarai moved in the direction it had been pointed. It did not require Batu at its center to keep moving, and that was what the past year had been built for.
On the morning of the ninth day, he was at the horse lines before the sun cleared the eastern channel.
Daichin was saddled and standing. The animal had the patience of something large and well-managed in cold autumn air, its breath coming white. It stood a full hand taller at the withers than every horse around it.
Batu took the reins, mounted from the left, and looked north.
The army was dressed and waiting across the full width of the camp.
