"Oh, we see their reason clearly enough, Harland," Vale cut in. "They're just doing it to unsettle us. We would have been most prepared last night, or on the first night. But they don't want us to be at our most prepared. They want to force us to relax, and then surprise us."
"They do have all the initiative," Batinkog seconded, weighing in when he usually would have remained quiet.
"I suppose that's the problem, the fact of their initiative," Harland said. "Perhaps they suppose that if they wait long enough, we'll take the attack to them."
He said that with a smile of amusement, as if pleased to be revealing the foolishness that the enemy had no doubt dreamed up, but the look he saw on Vol's face wasn't exactly a reassuring one. It was an expression of the utmost consideration, and it made it quite clear to all that had seen it that such a plan wasn't exactly far from Vol's mind.
