“Wouldn’t it make more sense to have hers at the center there?” Slade put in.
Sure enough, in the center of the camp stood a massive tent with guards posted. Same as the tent on the outskirts.
“We need to get closer,” Aurelia said. “To know for sure.”
“I’m not sure that’s wise,” Eirnan warned.
She turned to him. “How close can we get before exiting the caves?”
“See that lower ridge?” He pointed to a spot far below us. It was a lot closer to the edge of the camp, but not on the sameside as the tent in question. “We’ll exit there. Any further and the tunnels are blocked from rock slides.”
“That’s where we’ll have to reach when we leave,” Keres pointed out.
I mentally clocked the time it would take to get in, gauging the difference between the Aine prisoner being in the outer tent versus the one in the center. We’d likely have to split up to search them both. A doable strategy for infiltration. Getting out would be a different story. It might not have been impossible if there weren’t five thousand Obsidians between us and a safe retreat.
Aurelia didn’t answer, just kept watching the valley, jaw tight.
I knew that look. The calm before her power tore something apart.
We retreated deeper into the cave, far enough that the light dimmed to nothing but what our torches allowed. Eirnan found a sharpened stone and used it to draw a crude map into the dirt.
“This is the valley,” he said, drawing a boundary. “Their command tents are set here, near the ridge.”
“How do you know that?” Aurelia asked.
“More soldiers in and out of there than anywhere else,” he said with a shrug. “That’s likely where the prisoners are kept. They’d want her within reach of any orders received from their masters.”
Aurelia’s throat worked once before she nodded. “Then that’s where we’ll strike.” She looked at me. “Right?”
I looked down at the map, considering all options. “We want to disrupt their organization, especially for our retreat, so yes, it’s the best place to strike.”
She leaned over the map, her hair falling forward in loose strands. I watched the flicker of torchlight paint herfeatures—focused, resolute, beautiful. My chest tightened at what I could never have.
Eirnan looked at me. “Your shadows could cover the approach.”
I forced myself to focus. “Yes. But they won’t mask sound. We’ll need to move in small groups. Slade, how many do you think you could take with you on a jump?”
“Two, maybe three,” he said.
“All the way to the center?” I asked.
“Sure. But not out again. Not if I’m bringing friends.”
“We’ll help you get out,” Aurelia told him.
“Three teams then,” Thorne said. “One to breach the prison and extract the captive. One to hit their communications. And one to check the center tent.”
“No,” Aurelia said.
“We need to hit their supply lines. Burn everything that slows them down.”
“Thorne and I can take the supplies,” Keres said. “We’re quieter.”
Slade smirked. “You? Quiet? That’ll be the day.”
Her dagger hit the dirt beside his boot with a solidthunk.
“I’m seeing it now,” he said cheerfully. “Very stealthy.”
