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“Let’s go to where we saw whoever it was. You never know what you might find.”

He took the lead and she followed him, making herself as small as possible in the saddle as the denuded branches of large bushes scratched and grabbed at her cloak and hair.

“This is hard going.” Deni stopped to unhook a sharp stick from his hair. “I don’t see them moving through here easily. Perhaps they thought they’d be safe to watch from here, because we wouldn’t patrol within the scrub.”

“They’d have been right.” Ava tucked her cloak tight around her, and winced when some of the threads were hooked and damaged by tree limbs.

She smoothed over some of the ripped stitches, and wondered whether the protections she’d sewn into the cloak would still work.

“Here.” Deni’s voice led her into a small clearing, and she could see the snapped twigs and branches, the churned ground. More than one person had waited here for a while, and their horses had gotten testy about it.

She looked out toward the column, and she could just see it through the foliage. “This is where they were when we spotted them.”

Deni nodded. “They’re long gone now.”

She saw the point the spy or spies had taken out of the clearing. Cocked her head in that direction in question.

“I don’t know what good it would do us.” Deni hesitated, then gave a nod, pushing her horse aside with his own so he went first through the narrow gap in the vegetation.

Ava ducked as branches whipped back, and only just glimpsed the arrow flying over her head.

Deni’s horse reared up as another arrow flew, trying to back up and finding Ava’s mount in the way.

It turned, forelegs kicking out, and panicked, Ava’s horse bolted in the only direction that was open, the narrow path ahead.

Ava swallowed a cry as branches struck her in the face, and then pain exploded in her forehead and she was flung off.

She lay still for what felt like a long time, listening to her horse’s panicked path through the underbrush, and then finally opened her eyes.

A man stood over her, and there was someone else near her feet.

“Did the other one get away?” The man above her turned his head as he asked the question.

“Yes. Could you have shot any worse, Nedar? He was right in front of you and you missed him completely.”

“My aim was true. I don’t know what happened. He moved at just the right moment.” Nedar’s voice was defensive. “It happens sometimes.”

“Well, it’s a huge fucking pity it happened now. Because he’s off to call in reinforcements and we’re not exactly able to make a run for it.” There was deep bitterness in the man’s voice.

“What do you want me to do about it, Cassak? It’s not my fault we’re hobbled. I didn’t want to come so close, if you remember.”

“Did I? We weresenthere, asshole.” The bitterness increased. “And we spent too long here looking for that fucking message. Which we didn’t find.” He made a choked sound and she heard what sounded like a boot kicking a tree trunk. “What about her horse? Do you think you could go after it?” Cassak finally came into view, looking to the left, and Ava listened for sounds of her horse in the underbrush, but there was nothing to hear over the persistent thump in her head. Every beat was like a spike driving through her brain.

With careful fingers, she touched her forehead, felt the large bump on her forehead.

Above her was the offending branch. Far thicker and sturdier than the others had been.

“You finally awake, scout?” Nedar leaned down.

She nodded her head slowly, and winced when the pain of the movement overwhelmed her.

“I know the feeling.” The other man, Cassak, touched his own forehead, and she noticed there was blood along his hairline and a dark bruise blossoming above his eyebrow.

So they’d come to grief here, too.

She curled on her side and closed her eyes, too dizzy to do anything else.

She didn’t think she’d lain there more than a minute before she was woken by someone shaking her by the shoulder.