Chapter 5Word of the invasion came while Yerna sat in the dining hall that evening with the two other female guards in Haz’s entourage. One was her roommate, although they saw little of each other. The other was a non-commissioned officer, holding a post under the obercinque. Both were several years her senior and clearly partners.
She was grateful they’d widened their circle enough to include her on its fringes because most of the male guards either ignored her or made it clear they did not welcome her into anything but their official duties, and even that was grudging. Without the other women’s token acceptance, she would have been very much alone. While that was not new to her, she decided at least a modicum of companionship was better.
A late arrival had apparently heard the news on
