Everyone involved was out on the practice field training, even Gendry took a break from hammering out new black swords to train with his fire sword. He paid Thomas and the younger Mangana to help him, and even enlisted attendants to manage the quenching barrels. He had completed 15 of the swords in the 5 days since the commission, three a day, and he needed the break. Tomorrow he would finish the last 5.
Arya, Elanor, and her war captain were on a wagon that the minister came on. They took Dirk, Bronn, Jiemba, and Drena along with them. The minister was taking them to review some of the troops that would be joining the assault teams. The first stop was the farthest away. It was halfway up a small mountain and was the icekin's camp. 10 huge, burly axe-men stood in a line with 4 shamans behind them. The axe-men were woolly with short white fur all over them, and they swung their axes with both hands. The shamans stepped forward and blasted 4 targets with ice magic over and over again. These blasts would freeze an enemy quickly and silently. The reviewers nodded happily at this ice team and moved on to the next camp.
The next camp was of the sandkin assassins. The minister explained they were from a far western country that was mostly desert. This group had gained the ire of a satrap and was marked for death. They had come east with all their people to save their lives. 20 of the assassins lined up, demonstrating their skills. Targets at about 40 yards away were filled with the 10 small blades each carried, the blades lined up side by side in the center of each target as they were thrown. They would be the silent troops to make first contact with the enemy, quickly and silently dispatching them. They could scale walls in a moment and would be instrumental in freeing the captives quickly and seeing to their escape. The review team was amazed by these assassins and clapped when they finished their demonstration.
The next stop was at the mountain near the border with Zon. They didn't go up; they went into the mountains. Small humanoids were everywhere inside. These were the rockkin, and 15 of them lined up armed with axes, pickaxes, and very large hammers. These were shock troops to bring down any walls that needed to be brought down. They demonstrated by smashing large stones into dust with a single hammer blow, then wielding their axes to fight. The reviewers nodded thoughtfully, and they moved to the last place.
It was in the city, in a slightly run-down neighborhood, and the team began to look around them suspiciously. The minister told them not to worry because even the underbelly of their kingdom understood what was at stake in this fight. In a dark, cool building, a man sat at a table and nodded to them when they came in. He motioned to the back of the room, and four large men with broadswords stepped forward. Bronn whistled and said, "These are my kind of people. Will you let me test them?" When it was translated, the man smiled and nodded yes. Bronn circled the men and then attacked. When he thought them slow, they were quicker; when he thought them weak, they were stronger. One of them disarmed him, and he laughed and bowed. He went to gather his weapon as six more stepped forward. These were smaller and lighter; they fought with wicked-looking knives. They charged Bronn without question and swarmed over his defenses. Within seconds, he was down on a knee, laughing. Bronn turned to the minister, saying, "That's just 10. I thought there were to be 11 here." The man at the table didn't wait for translation; he waved off the six and pulled his sword, advancing on Bronn, saying, "What kind of leader would I be if I wouldn't risk my own skin in this gamble to thwart the Zon? You wanted the best, that is me." The attack he brought to Bronn was vicious; he used dirty tricks Bronn had never heard of, and his sword play was the equal, or better than, Bronn's. Drena jumped down and entered the fight, and the tall man laughed, taking both on with glee. The two pressed him, but he held against them with brilliant footwork and deceptions. Finally, as he began to press the two fighters together, Bronn laughed and raised his weapon. Bronn turned to Jiemba and said, "These really are my kind of people, with a team like this, I could cut a swath through any enemy." He turned to the tall man and bowed deeply to him with a flourish. The tall man who had begun sweating jumped forward and hugged both Bronn and Drena. His laughter was both scary and thrilling at once. He bowed to them both... with a flourish as well. These 60 and 60 of the king's crack guards and archers all came to the estate. The plans and timings were gone over again and again. The extra 120 joined the teams on the battle training field and worked hard. Some 300 troops and specialists were going to assault a castle and a city with some 1500 troops in it. This was not going to be an easy task, and they all trained with that understanding.