Chapter 19 · Ash Ledger - Chapter 19: An Army With No Food

"You want us to burn our own years?" The scar-faced deserter spat into the dirt. "For what, clerk? So you can play general?"

Rowan stood in the middle of the burnt-out storehouse, the war ledger open in his hands. Twenty-three people ringed him. Most had knives. A few had crossbows still cocked from the fight an hour ago. Mara leaned against the far wall, her shoulder wrapped in rough linen where the bolt had gone through. She didn't say anything, but her eyes tracked every face.

"Not for me," Rowan said. "For the fort. You saw what happened when Ilan locked the grain stores. We're fighting each other for scraps while he sits on enough food to last the winter."

"So we starve slower," a woman near the door said. Her name was Jess. She'd been a cook before the siege. "That's your pitch?"

"No." Rowan turned the ledger so they could see the blank page. The fire in the corner threw shadows across the parchment. "I'm saying we pool what we've got. Every oath goes into this. Every year you can spare. The ledger makes it real. Makes us real.