"Is this what Bone Baldy has accomplished all this time?"
Amid a vast marching column, Heshima held a parchment scroll and addressed the man kneeling before him.
The kneeling man was a messenger Bone Baldy had sent to report on the fighting. Heshima's question left him at a loss.
Heshima's expression betrayed neither pleasure nor anger. The messenger could not tell whether he was satisfied with the results or disappointed, and had no idea how to answer.
Keledu, standing beside Heshima, took the scroll from him and read it carefully.
After skimming it, he said, "Great Chieftain, these results are quite good. Lord Bone Baldy has clearly put a great deal of thought into this.
"And with so many losses among his own troops, he's paid a heavy price."
Heshima could tell Keledu wanted to put in a good word for Bone Baldy.
He gave no sign of it, but he too thought Bone Baldy had performed well, at least according to the report.
Bone Baldy had polished the report before sending it to the Great Chieftain. Besides, Heshima's orders had focused on wearing the enemy down, so Bone Baldy had no reason to conceal his own casualties. He could even exaggerate the enemy's losses.
Bone Baldy's embellished account said that although his probing attack had failed to take the walls, his troops had fought a bloody battle and inflicted heavy casualties on the defenders. They had only been driven back because enemy reinforcements kept pouring in and he lacked the men to hold on.
As Bone Baldy saw it, Great Chieftain Heshima had no way to obtain intelligence from inside Two Rivers County. He could boast as much as he liked.
Heshima, for his part, had never expected much from Bone Baldy. What outstanding results could a minor commander