Raucous cheers and groans came from outside. Had Ruru lost already?
Shit, shit, shit.
I kneeled next to the oil-soaked chair and laid our last fireseed on it. Nikella said the fireseed would catch on any amount of burning material. And to run when it did.
Holding my breath, I carefully dangled the smoldering wick over the fireseed.
“Wait a moment!” a rough male voice came from just outside the tent. “I’m going to grab more wine.”
I froze as a hand parted the tent flaps.
Nowhere to hide. I couldn’t cover up what I’d done. He’d know it wasn’t an accident.
“Liar!” Ruru shouted. “He’s a cheat! He stole some of my coins and is probably going to hide them in his tent.”
The hand disappeared. “What did you say, boy?”
Oh gods, Ruru, what are you doing?
I dropped the wick onto the fireseed. It ignited with a hiss and a loudcrack.A flame speared upward, and I stumbled back, tripping over a heavy bag. The fire rippled down the chair and across the floor toward me.
I tossed the heavy bag aside. A bottle rolled out onto the oil-soaked rug.The wine.
Screaming silent curses, I flung myself at the back wall of the tent and cut a long slit through the fabric with Mother’s knife.
I escaped the tent and raced around it. My eyes widened.
Two of the soldiers were holding Ruru by his arms to let a third soldier deliver punches to his face and ribs. Their makeshift table had overturned—ale, tiles, and coins spilled everywhere.
Rage burned through my veins. “Let him go!” I shouted.
The big, red-haired soldier who was hitting Ruru stopped and spun around. His eyes narrowed on Mother’s knife, which was still in my hand.
“Where did you?—”
Boom!
An explosion behind me knocked me to my knees. The soldiers’ faces paled as they stumbled back.
“Fire!” the red-haired man screamed. “Fire! Ring the alarm!”
I twisted around to see a monstrous fire eating through one tent and flicking its many tongues at the ones next to it.
More men shouted, and somewhere a bell rang.
I crawled out of the road as men rushed out of their tents. The soldiers who held Ruru flung him to the side. He rose to his feet, wincing and eyes wide, looking for me.
I scrambled over to him. “Let’s go!”
He nodded and kicked over the brazier, dumping burning wood and hot coals over the soldiers’ spilled drinks. Another fire leaped up on the spot.
I grabbed his arm, and we raced back toward the horse pen.
Soldiers jostled us from every direction as they carried buckets of water toward the fires.
One slammed against me hard enough that I lost my helmet. My braid fell down my back.
Another soldier saw, and his jaw dropped. “You’re a gods-damned woman!”
