more quickly, deep into the wilderness, praying to Teyke that no other soldier parties were descending on the camp tonight.
Judging by what Sev had gathered from their attack plans, in order to find the Rider lair, they needed to travel northeast. Hopefully they’d find it—or be spotted by Rider scouts—and be able to warn them before the soldiers regrouped.
“You, mageslave!” a voice called out, stopping them in their tracks.
Kade was walking just to the side of Sev, but his size—and the chain on his neck—made him stand out. Sev bristled, his patience with that word all but evaporated. Then a warm hand gripped his arm, as if Kade could sense that Sev meant to do something stupid. He flashed a warning look, and with a shaky breath, Sev nodded and turned to face the coming soldiers.
“Is there a problem?” he asked, his voice taut with suppressed anger. He angled his body in front of Kade’s, hoping to take the brunt of their attention. Luckily, these soldiers were strangers from the newly arrived group and not people who knew him as a meek idiot.
“Yeah, there’s a problem. You not seen the campsite?”
There were two of them, the glow from the cook fires behind casting their faces into shadow.
“ ’Course,” Sev said, shrugging dismissively. “That’s why I’m taking this one upstream for fresh water. Captain’s orders.”
“What’s wrong with the water here?” asked the smaller of the two, jerking a thumb at the stream directly behind Sev and Kade.
“Yeah, and where’s your bucket?” added the other.
“Have you seen what those soldiers back there are doing near the water?” Sev asked, going for affability, though his throat was dry. “The captain didn’t want to risk it, so we’re going farther upstream. And what d’you think’s in the bag?” he asked, giving Kade a dismissive nod, and hating himself for it. “Rocks?”
The soldiers chuckled, loosening their stances.
“We best be off,” Sev said, knowing that the longer they remained speaking to these soldiers, the worse their chances would be of getting away. “Don’t want to keep the captain waiting.”
He turned, not allowing them a chance to argue, and with a nudge to Kade, began to walk back the way they’d come. Once the soldiers had moved on, they’d have to figure out another way to cross the river.
“Wait,” the taller one called, and Sev turned, his hand clenching against Kade’s tunic. “Which captain?”
Sev swallowed. “Captain Belden,” he said—what else could he say? He didn’t know who was in charge of the arriving party.
“Captain Belden?” the man repeated, his voice sharp. The short one’s hand dropped to his belt. “Captain Belden is indisposed. When did he give you this order?”
Sev’s heart skipped a beat, and he sensed Kade’s muscles tense under his hand.
As Sev searched for what to say, a breath of air slipped across his neck, carrying Kade’s voice with it. He felt the words before he heard them, the world slowing around him, all his senses hyperaware.
He felt the heavy thump of Kade’s satchel hitting the earth, heard the intake of breath and crunch of gravel underfoot as he tore off, and smelled the last dregs of him disappear in the gust of wind he left in his wake.
Though Sev seemed to experience it all in some frozen, crystalline moment, the soldiers bolted after Kade at top speed. They forgot Sev entirely, seeing the running bondservant as the only threat, and leaving Sev standing alone in the middle of the forest.
Kade ran like a Stellan horse, an agile blur as he leapt obstacles and slipped between trees. His pursuers shouted, their voices swallowed in the swish and snap of the undergrowth.
Sev became aware of his body, poised to run after Kade, to help him as he ran for his life. But then Kade’s words came back to him, rattling around his head like precious, forgotten gems inside an empty jar.
“You know what you have to do,” he’d said, before dropping the bag and running off.
Sev looked down at the satchel at his feet.
You know what you have to do.
Kade had sacrificed himself, leading them away from Sev and away from the precious phoenix eggs. Sev had to warn the Riders that the soldiers were coming; he had to get the eggs there safely.
He squeezed his eyes shut, barely daring to breathe as he listened for a grunt of pain or a shout of triumph that would tell him Kade had been taken down. But the campsite was too loud, and his blood rushed in his ears,