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“Who?” He looked around with a grim expression, and then his gaze snagged on the rope still dangling from the general’s knife.

“Enspelled,” the general said and Luc bent closer.

“What did it do?”

“Made me weak.” Ava put her hands in her pockets, unwilling to touch it again. “They were trying to abduct me, not kill me.”

“Who is they?” he asked again.

“The Grimwaldian spies.” She heard the sound of Catja and the others calling up ahead.

“They’d have had everything ready to go,” Ava said. “They were planning to grab me and run. They’ll be long gone. And using magic to hide themselves, if what I saw in the attack is any indication.”

“Why now?” The general asked.

“My guess is they learned we’d found the missives from the Speaker of Grimwalt, and that we knew they were in the column.” Ava lifted her shoulders. “They probably had some magical means of finding that out. I don’t think anyone is a traitor.”

“Hmm.” The general eyed the rope. “What you say is likely.”

“I don’t want them getting away and running back to tell the Speaker his plans have been spoiled.” Luc was suddenly gone, and Ava peered into the darkness to try and see his silhouette.

“There is something almost otherworldly about the way he moves.” The general’s voice was soft.

“I have always thought so, too,” Ava agreed, and then found the general looking at her with interest.

She turned and walked away.

“Don’t forget to mention your assignment for tomorrow,” the general called after her, and Ava winced as she waved in acknowledgment.

It was going to be a lot harder to convince Luc to let her go now than it had been before this attack.

Chapter 29

This time, Luc found Ava in his bed.

He was not at all unhappy about that.

Except she was fast asleep, holding a piece of cotton in her hand. She’d been embroidering it, and even in sleep her fingers were gripping the needle.

“Ava.” He whispered her name and she stirred, then opened her eyes with a snap.

“Did you get them?” Her voice came out husky and something within him stirred.

“We shot one in the back, and he’s dead. The other one got away.” The spy hadn’t ridden in the direction of Grimwalt though. That didn’t mean he wasn’t going to double back, but Luc wondered if he hadn't decided he would have better luck and a warmer welcome on the heels of the missives to the queen at Fernwell than to his scheming master in Grimwalt. Especially as he wasn’t bringing a captured Ava back with him.

And Luc found he wasn’t unhappy about that outcome. Especially not with the subtle changes to the letters that Ava had made.

The Grimwaldian was in for a cooler reception than he thought.

He looked Ava over, but she seemed unharmed by her clash with the two men.

“What were you doing?” He noticed two other strips of cloth beside the bed.

“This is for the Venyatux who will be part of the scout party. I can’t ask to embroider their vests without letting the general know I don’t need to use black thread, so I’m going to give these to them privately. Tell them it’s for good luck, like I did for Deni yesterday.”

“They’ll be lucky to have your work protecting them on their scouting trip.”

She sighed, and set her work aside. Then pulled him down beside her.