“Two and a half hours,” Kire repeated. She turned to the others gathered with her. “So, till then, we have to stay well clear of the Palace hill. We’ll call a parlay with the standing army first. And if they reject our demands for surrender, we’ll begin. It’ll take us two and a half hours at least to fight our way through that standing army, breach the city defenses, and make it to the Palace hill.” 

“Are—are there people still inside?” Gavin asked. 
Kire paused, sighing softly. “We had breached from inside and outside. Prior to that, there had been word of an attack; those who could leave the city did so, but not everyone. While I was away hunting Ikegai, they made their move. During the escape, we managed to save some more, but not everyone who was left.”
“Likely, the able-bodied had been enslaved, forced to fight,” Narda put in. “In some of the battalions that had surrendered to us, there had been some who did experience this.”

Gavin thought this over. “They would have probably used the others, too. For—dolls. And blood magic. As you know.”
Kire cursed. Ed looked at the off-worlders. “There should be a tent provided for you already, not far from here. The guard outside will lead you.”