The report came before sunrise.
Hector listened as the watch captain described movement beyond the Greek camp: wagons heading east, men carrying timber, and a small force disappearing behind the ridge beyond the eastern approach.
"How many?" Hector asked.
"Too few for a full assault, my king. Too many for an ordinary supply party."
"Did they bring their siege engines?"
"None that we could see."
Hector dismissed him and bent over the map again.
The northern outer wall was in Greek hands. The inner defenses still held, but every day the Greeks spent pressing against them cost Troy men, arrows, and sleep. Now the enemy was moving east, toward a stretch of wall where the ground made a large assault difficult.
Lysander arrived while Hector was studying the eastern approach.
"You've seen the report," Hector said.
"I have."
"And?"
"They could be preparing a second attack. Or they could be making certain we believe they are."
