Contents
Chapter 20
Overview
A starving corvid company receives meager rations; the quartermaster bluntly advises Nouva to act audaciously and seize credit or be sidelined. Morale briefly lifts as Galva dances with Pol’s guards and resists a flirtation with Carlota. Galva then seeks Pol’s writ to procure food independently for the birds on the march.
Summary
The quartermaster’s cart finally arrives, but the provisions are inadequate for Nouva’s eighty-eight corvids. Nouva confronts the driver about missing livestock. He explains their experimental unit ranks low for supply priority and urges them to do something audacious, kill goblins, and seize credit before others reassign their birds. Nouva, instead of fighting, kisses him and sends the cart on.
Galva, inspired by the ox’s swat, conceives a way to feed the corvids and seeks permission from her brother, General Pol. At his camp, while waiting, she joins Pol’s soldiers around a fire, singing and dancing a fast southern tune. The moment lifts spirits, and Galva revels in the attention and her Calar Bajat prowess.
During the revelry, Carlota, a formidable guard, flirts and invites Galva to a field. Galva, mindful of her duty to meet Pol and uncertain where she stands with Inocenta, gently declines, reflecting on desire, restraint, and self-forgiveness amid war.
Pol returns exhausted. After confirming the extra food arrived but isn’t enough for marching, Galva requests a formal writ allowing her unit to obtain provisions on their own initiative. Pol asks what precisely it should say, and Galva lays out her plan, positioning the unit to act independently to feed the corvids.
Who Appears
- GalvaNarrator; grapples with shortages, boosts morale by dancing, resists Carlota’s advance, and asks Pol for a writ to secure food.
- NouvaCorvid captain; confronts the quartermaster over missing livestock, then pointedly defuses the exchange with a kiss.
- Quartermaster (driver)Pragmatic supplier; admits the unit ranks low, urges audacity and seizing credit, suggests feeding birds off local beasts.
- PolGalva’s brother and general; returns tired from meetings; hears Galva’s request for a writ to procure provisions.
- CarlotaPol’s guard; dances and flirts with Galva, who declines, prompting Galva’s reflection on desire and restraint.
- InocentaComrade; banters during ration arrival, her possible feelings shape Galva’s choice to decline Carlota.
- LenaCorvid handler from the capital; jokes about the quartermaster’s looks as rations arrive.
- SolmónPol’s servant; informs Galva the general is away and invites her to wait in the tent.