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“We want to get away, and she’ll slow us down.”

She also remembered he was injured. Suddenly realizing his hand was resting on her shoulder, she tried to shrug him off.

She wasn’t sure if her working would heal him, but she didn’t want to take the chance. He was far less likely to try and take her back to the Kassian camp if he was still injured.

He put his hand back down, and she struggled even harder against him, twisting and fighting.

“What’s wrong with you?” he hissed in her ear. “Cooperate and we’ll all get out of here alive.”

“Here.” Nedar crouched on her other side with a piece of cloth in his hand and gagged her.

Then Cassak and him both held her hands in front of her and tied them together with another piece of cloth.

“Stay put, or I’ll put an arrow through your leg.” Nedar stalked away, and grabbed his bow from where he’d hooked it to his saddlebag.

“He means it,” Cassak warned her, and she gave a reluctant nod.

They stood in front of her, their attention wholly focused on Luc.

She didn’t mind, as long as they didn’t feel the need to look back and see what she was doing.

She’d dropped her needle and thread onto her lap when Nedar had tied her hands, and she picked it back up again.

It was difficult to sew with her hands bound together, but not impossible. She worked slowly and carefully, using the working she had sewn into her tent. Making her cloak impossible to see.

She wished she had her scarf with her. All she would need to do was pull it out, although she thought it only made her difficult to concentrate on, easy to overlook. She had never assumed it made her truly invisible. She would need something to cover her entire body for that.

When she was done, she lifted her hood and drew up her knees, awkwardly tucking her cloak around her with her bound hands. She bend her forehead to touch her knees, arms tucked against her body, and hoped her cloak covered her completely.

Then she kept very still.

Cassak and Nedar had moved forward a little, and she tuned back into the negotiation they were having with Luc.

She heard the sound of a horse trotting into the tiny clearing, and risked looking up. It stopped and then moved back when it saw strangers blocking its way.

“No, no, no.” Nedar leaped forward, grabbing hold of its reins, and it jerked in panic.

Cassak moved forward to help him, and they finally got the horse under control.

“You’ve got your horse, now give us our scout.” Luc’s voice was so close.

Just beyond the tangle of bushes.

“That wasn’t the deal. Stay back or we’ll hurt her.” Cassak sounded panicked.

Nedar shot him a look and made a gesture with his hand she guessed meantshut up. “We’re taking her with us,” he called out. “Give us an hour and then you can come find her.”

“If you hurt her, there isn’t a place you can hide from me.” Luc’s voice was calm now. It was a promise, not a threat.

Her two captors glanced at each other, and Ava realized they sensed something off about Luc’s very personal reaction.

“You do that for all your scouts?” Nedar asked.

“Why do you think every single Chosen turned and fought with the Commander against the Kassian two years ago?” Luc’s voice had gone soft. “It’s because we fight for each other, and have each other’s backs, no matter what.”

It was a good save on Luc’s part.

Ava saw Cassak visibly swallow.