camp but still a good distance from the perimeter guard. The moonlight she supposedly sought was nowhere to be found in the dense trees.
“It’s about the girl,” Kade said under his breath, trying to exclude Sev from the conversation, though they were walking mere feet apart.
“What girl? The one by the cabin?” Sev asked.
“What’s it to you, soldier?”
Trix sighed, coming to a stop next to a massive gnarled tree and taking a seat on a thick root. “Enough, Kade. He’s working with us now.”
“I am?” Sev asked at the exact same moment Kade said, “He is?”
“Aren’t you, soldier boy?” she asked, carefully adjusting the folds of her threadbare tunic, all dignity and polite innocence. You give me what I want, and I give you what you want. But working with them, what could that possibly mean? Did they want help with their bondservant duties?
Kade frowned between them. “I don’t have time for your little games, Thya.”
“Trix. I’d like to be called Trix.”
“The captain has left camp,” Kade practically growled, his voice rumbling. “This will be our only shot. She’s little more than a girl, and she’s in danger.”
Trix’s expression turned thoughtful. “Safer as a girl, I think, than as a woman. Besides, she’ll be in more danger if you go back there.”
“It is the girl by the cabin you’re talking about, isn’t it?” Sev asked. “The one with the—”
“Watch your mouth, soldier,” Kade hissed, glancing quickly around. After several heartbeats’ silence, he turned back to Trix. “Now is the perfect opportunity. We have to help her.”
“How can we help her, Kade? Better to leave her behind than to lead her onward . . . into peril.”
“But she’s defenseless.”
“She’s not,” Sev said quietly, thinking of her sister’s ease with a blade.
“Did she do that to your neck?” Kade asked, rounding on Sev again. When had he seen the knife wound on Sev’s throat? Surely he couldn’t see it now, when Sev could barely see the bondservant’s face. “What did you do to her after I left?”
“Kade,” Trix said sharply, and to Sev’s surprise, he backed down at once.
“I didn’t do anything to her except save her life.”
Trix smiled at this, but Kade remained stony.
“She’s fine, I swear it,” Sev added softly, but there was no reply.
“See? No need to fret,” Trix said brightly, though her voice turned severe as she continued. “I will not sacrifice our mission, and the fate of the Phoenix Riders, for one mountain girl.”
Sev felt like the ground had disappeared beneath his feet. “Phoenix Riders?” he whispered hoarsely.
While he gaped at Trix in shock, Kade was glowering at her in outrage. He obviously hadn’t taken kindly to her shutting down his idea, and Sev didn’t know what was more confusing—that she had the audacity to give him orders, or that Kade apparently followed them.
“Oh yes, soldier. Your captain would have you march up this mountain and wipe out the last remnants of the Phoenix Riders. He’s off right now, meeting with his sneak of an informant.”
Sev felt nauseated. He should have known—did know, somewhere deep inside. Maybe that was why the girl had spooked him so badly today. Maybe that was why he’d been so desperate to make his escape.
“The tree cover,” he muttered, waving over their heads, “the ‘no fire’ rule. He’s not worried about us exposing ourselves to the local villagers. . . . He’s worried about exposing us to the sky. To the Riders.”
Sev couldn’t deny that a part of his heart soared at the idea that there were still Phoenix Riders out there in hiding, but the rest of him quickly stomped down the feeling. What was there to be happy about? They didn’t stand a chance against the empire before, when there were hundreds of them and they had a fiery warrior queen to lead them. But now, with no heir in sight and their numbers reduced to the brink of extinction, what chance did they have?
Trix positively beamed at him. “Told you he was brighter than he seemed,” she said to Kade.
It appeared Sev’s reputation of mild-mannered stupidity preceded him—even if this woman had seen through the ruse. Kade was looking at him with unflattering surprise, as if he’d truly thought Sev were some kind of simpleton.
“What’s it to you if I’m smart or not? What do you want from me?” Sev asked Trix.
She twisted her lips thoughtfully. “I could make good use of a soldier.”
Sev gritted his teeth, the events of the night starting to catch up with him. “For