Karvek’s head snapped up, eyes locked on to the map she hadn’t realized she’d picked up.
Her stomach flipped.She was out of line.
“I’m sorry,” she said quickly, setting the parchment down with trembling fingers. “I wasn’t trying to pry. I should go.”
“What were you saying," he stopped her. “About the dakii.”
She hesitated, unsure. But there was no anger or annoyance on his face. Just sharp, focused interest.
“Please.” Karvek gestured at the maps. “Show me.”
Iryana hesitantly walked around the table.
“It’s a pattern, I think. The question marks... they’re where the soldiers vanish from sight, right? You’re mapping how they move when no one can see them.”
“And you see a pattern?” His eyes were so intense.
After a moment’s hesitation, she nodded.
“Show me.”
Iryana slowly circled the table. “It reminds me of something,” she mumbled, more to the map than to him. “Part of my studies included looking at protocols for various styles of defensive structures. We had to map out ideal schedules and routes, and how we would adjust them based on various external factors. Threats and sieges, but also smaller things too, like poor weather and important visitors.”
“Guardian training included all that?”
She looked down, cheeks heating slightly. “Our training was slightly specialized based on our skills and interests. But yeah, and we had a lot of books on these sorts of things. We didn’t manage to bring all of them from Klees, but we brought some.”
She didn’t mention that she had used that training to map his own guards, to find the best opportunities and paths to slip out unnoticed.
He hmm’d, distracting her for a moment as he poured something that smelled strongly of alcohol into a chipped crystal glass. The sound of the liquid sloshing against the glass was strangely soothing.
She turned away as he raised the rim to his lips. His mouth was full like Pyetar’s.
Jerking her focus back to the table, she pointed to one of the southern wall diagrams. “The guards here lessen at the same time it’s noted that cargo moved through, probably pulled to help with inspections or cover the open gate. And there’s only one of these windows where they were gone longer than half an hour, so maybe there was an issue or delay with the inspections. But there are these repeated windows, leaving certain sections vulnerable. And it’s consistent in where they pull from. The gaps are even long enough to slip through.” Her tutor would have scolded her for not accounting for that if she’d been the one to set it up.
Karvek gave a slight nod.
“And on this one, where there was an attack from the beasts, the records just cut off, so I assume whoever was watching left at that point. But the next night is here, and they sent extra patrols around that side of the wall, but there’s no reason for it. That’s the kind of thing the instructors always said to watch for. When fear lingers. When people start guarding shadows.”
Iryana glanced at Karvek, understanding dawning on her. “You’re not just trying to understand their routines. You’re looking for a way through them.”
He didn’t confirm it. But he didn’t deny it either.
She could understand not trusting someone—couldn’t blame him for it—but, oh, was she curious.
“How much do you think you can pull from this?” he asked, observing her.
She hesitated briefly, wondering what his goals were. “I can see how far I get this evening?” She didn’t want to over-promise and end up letting him down. If she let down Karvek, too, that might be it. The end of her options.
“Take your time.” He leaned back, giving her full use of the table.
A shiver of excitement ran up her spine. Not just from the promise of an interesting problem to solve, but becausethiswas it. How she could help. How she could prove herself to Karvek.
She’d been doubting for weeks that she’d be able to get anywhere, her hope slowly dwindling. But now, it felt like there might be a true possibility.
He walked across the office, shutting the door with a soft click and turning the lock. As if their work was too important to be interrupted.
Iryana bent over the maps, lining them up in order by date and time. Her brow furrowed as her fingers hovered, tracing the lines above the parchment.
