Page 103

“You were in the camps with them both?” Deni asked.

Oscar nodded but didn’t say any more, and Ava gave his arm an extra squeeze.

“What made you two come looking for me?”

“I wondered why Revek couldn’t come find you himself,” Oscar said. “Seemed strange to me. Deni and I decided we might as well take a stroll.”

“It would have been fine, but thank you.” She had managed to diffuse Revek’s anger, but Ava was grateful to them anyway.

“So what are you planning, Avasu?” Deni asked.

She tilted her head to look up at him.

“Don’t bat your eyelids innocently at me, I know you better than most, and I’ve watched you every time we talk about strategy, about the Kassian ambush, and you’re planning something.”

“Maybe,” she admitted. “I’m still thinking through all the moving parts.”

“If you think it’ll work, we’re in,” Oscar said.

They walked her back to Luc’s quarters, and then went to sit beside the campfire nearby.

Watching over her.

She ducked through the flaps and stood for a moment, fighting with the thought that she’d changed them, despite the evidence from Revek that she hadn’t done so with him.

Or maybe they were just protective, and liked her. Wanted to keep her safe.

Or maybe it was complex, and she would learn over time what effect her workings had on those who wore her creations.

“That was a heavy sigh.”

Luc stepped out from behind the curtain to their private space and she lifted a shoulder as she walked toward him, and slid her arms around his waist.

“You finally sick of strategizing?” she asked.

He chuckled. “The general is a believer in considering all the options, and I can’t disagree.”

“Did you sense that they were in the hills when we passed by around midday?” She hadn’t had a chance to ask him until now.

He nodded. “They were watching us.”

“So even if they left to go back to wherever the Kassian forces are based just after we passed through, how long do we have until the army arrives to hide there?”

“Not long.” Luc drew her behind the curtain and she stepped away to remove her cloak and jacket. “Since you and Deni had that confrontation with the scouts, they haven’t watched the columns as closely, but they’ll know how fast we’re moving and the Kassian generals will need to mobilize their own soldiers.”

“How long will it take us to reach there, going at this pace?”

“We’ll leave the slow moving parts of the column behind the day after tomorrow,” Luc said. “We’ll need to travel fast and light to get into place.”

“The Kassian scouts watching us will report that.”

He nodded. “We’re going to pretend to try to take Bartolo. That’ll make sense to them after our excursion to the river. But we’ll split up, and only a small force will go to the town.” He sat down and began to pull off his boots. “The rest of us will—”

“I should go to the hills before that. While you’re drawing attention to Bartolo.”

He let the first boot drop to the ground, and looked up at her.

She shrugged. “I can seed the area with some surprises. It will make things safer. Make the win more certain.”