The General turned away. Halli and Bel-Heshti traded anxious looks. Early in the war, the King’s inspectors had arrived in long chariot trains, with outriders and standards flying, and plenty of warning. Now all that had changed. Now the Baru of Shamash at Nineveh, a man with the ear of the King himself, had appeared in the very midst of camp before anyone could even get himself into a state of grace. Bel-Heshti and Halli would have to appear with their imps and sins hanging all over them, with their hearts all thickly greased with misbehavior.