I frown, but say nothing. I don’t know if that’s about Sephran’s feelings toward Tycho— or about the growing conflict between him and Malin. Either way, I’ve spent enough time around the soldiers to know when they’re obeying an order— and enough time to know when they’re not.
“Seriously, Seph.” Malin draws closer. “Knock it off.”
“I’m not doing anything.”
“Yeah.” The captain stops on the riverbanks, until they’re staring at each other from a few feet apart. “You are.”
Sephran stares back at him and says nothing. A muscle in his jaw twitches.
Seconds tick by, until Leo glances between them, and eventually glances at me. I give a tight shake of my head, because I’m notentirelysure what this standoff is about.
No, that’s not true. The coiling pit of tension in my gut says it has nothing to do with the ranks between Sephran and Malin, and everything to do with me and Tycho.
But Sephran sneers and says, “Stay out of it. This has nothing to do with you,Captain.”
Then again, maybesomeof it’s about rank.
Malin sighs. “Look, Seph—”
Sephran scoffs again and turns away.
Malin draws himself up. “Lieutenant.”
Beside me, Leo gasps. His eyes are as big as saucers. Sephran jerks to a stop, because Malin’s voice was sharp. A clear order. Until this moment, his tone’s been a little lazy, a little ironic. An annoyed friend.
Right now, he’s an officer.
Sephran hears the change, because his gaze ices over. “Captain.”
“I said, that’senough.”
The air crackles between them, and for a moment, it’s brittle, as if one wrong word will cause a fracture that can’t be repaired.
Sephran snaps his reins over his horse’s neck. This time, he gives a sharp salute. His eyes are focused on nothing, and his tone could cut steel. “Yes, sir.”
My heart is thumping, and I expect Malin to say something to ease the tension, but he doesn’t say anything. Maybe he wanted this grudging obedience. I don’t know him well enough to have any idea. Instead, he turns away from the water, looking out across the field. We all watch as Tycho pulls Mercy to a halt, then dismounts. He seems to study something on the ground— but only for a minute. Then he swings aboard Mercy and canters toward us. When he’s fifty yards out, he whistles and makes a loop motion with his hand.
“Mount up,” says Malin, his voice as tight and sharp as before. “We’re riding out now.” He already has a boot in the stirrup. The others shut up and obey.
Ifthey’rerushing, that means I need to do the same. I swing onto Teddy, glad I didn’t loosen my armor. We’re all on horseback by the time Tycho reaches us, and his expression is grim.
“It’s a body,” he says. “A royal courier sent by the queen, based on her livery.” He repeats this in Syssalah without even waiting to see if I need him to.
“Scravers?” I say.
He shakes his head and looks back at Malin. “She took an arrow through the neck.”
A chill goes through me, and my pulse jumps. With all the tension and bickering, I completely forgot that there’s a risk here— that there’s areasonTycho is traveling with soldiers.
“Does it look recent?” says Malin.
Tycho frowns. “Within a day, probably. Whoever did it stole her weapons and armor. And whatever she was carrying, obviously.”
“Aren’tyouthe royal courier?” says Sephran.
I hate that his voice is so sour, but if Tycho notices, he ignores it. “Not for Syhl Shallow,” he says. “Not anymore.” He sounds a little hollow when he says that. He looks out and around the fields. “We’re too exposed.” He glances at Malin. “We need a plan, Captain.”
Malin’s eyes widen a bit at that, but he squares his shoulders and looks at Sephran. “Lieutenant, take point. We’ll head for the tree line and ride in the shadows. We’re less than five miles from the Twinwatch Outpost.” He nods at Tycho. “You and Jax ride abreast. Leo and I will take the back.”
