them to camp early for the night, deep in the trees. Then they’d push hard the next day and hit the farms the following evening.
When some of his soldiers argued, he shut them down with one final bit of information even Sev had lost track of.
“Tomorrow’s a festival day,” he explained. “They won’t be in the fields; they’ll be off celebrating the end of the Blood War.”
There was some laughter and jeering at that. Given what they were doing—trying to draw the Riders into a battle to start a second war—celebrating the end of the first one seemed a bit ironic.
“There’ll be drinking,” Captain Dill continued, “and food and music. It will be loud and they’ll be distracted. They won’t see or hear us coming.”
Sev’s stomach twisted. Those poor people, celebrating the return of their livelihoods, many still recovering from all that they’d lost… only to lose it all over again. He prayed to Teyke for luck and to Nors, the fair north wind, for friendly skies; he even prayed to Eo, an obscure goddess favored among traders and messengers, for the safe delivery of the pigeon’s warning.
“And what about us?” asked another of the soldiers as the mutters and laughter died down.
Captain Dill smiled. “We’ll celebrate tonight. Bring out the ale!”
Whatever further resistance he might have gotten was squashed then and there as barrels of ale were hoisted from the backs of the horses and stacked outside Dill’s command tent.
The anniversary of the end of the Blood War was celebrated in the empire with all the usual trappings of a festival: food, drink, and entertainment. As a group of soldiers on the march in enemy territory, there wasn’t much room for a true party, but the alcohol flowed as they gathered around the campfires.
Sev thought again about his first time traveling Pyra as a soldier, how Captain Belden had forbidden fires at night because he didn’t want them to be spotted by Phoenix Rider patrols in the sky. Now they were trying to lure the Riders out.
Despite what loomed the next day, Sev was almost giddy with relief that he’d managed one more night—to delay their arrival and for the Riders to evacuate the villagers.
Lining up with the others, Sev filled two mugs with ale and went in search of Kade.
The bondservants weren’t invited to help themselves from the captain’s stores, but they’d likely be having a celebration of their own, apart from the soldiers.
Sev found them at the edge of camp, sitting around a roaring fire. The horses were snoozing in a makeshift paddock nearby, next to the tents that held their burdens for the night. These were sturdy packhorses, gentle and steady of temperament, and their soft sounds of sleep filled Sev’s ears and his magic, calming him.
Until he neared the bondservant fire. The people sitting there were clustered in a group—all except for two, sitting off to the side, heads bowed together. It was Kade, and next to him was a pretty animage girl Sev had seen before, with golden hair and a bright, carefree smile. She smiled now, laughing at something Kade had said and leaning in close to whisper some response. They both held cups of their own, which one of the other bondservants came over to refill for them.
Kade was smiling, and as he leaned back to make room for the man to pour, he spotted Sev.
Sev felt utterly foolish, standing there alone with two cups in hand. He did the only thing he could think of, which was to turn around and walk away, quickly, before anyone else saw him.
Captain Dill wasn’t nearly as strict as Belden had been—and far drunker besides—but all the same, it wasn’t wise to be seen spending time with the bondservants. It was just too out of character for most of the soldiers and would draw unwanted attention. Sev had risked it only because it was a festival day and everyone was already so deep into their cups they probably wouldn’t notice or remember.
The darkness swallowed Sev, providing some measure of relief, but then he slowed, realizing he had nowhere else to go. No friends among the soldiers and no desire to pretend otherwise.
It was lonely work, being a spy. Sev was lucky to have Kade at all—to have a true friend in all of this—and it struck him in that moment how rare that must be. Sev was, unfortunately, quite used to being alone… or at least he had been. All his life with no one