She eased her knife from the sheath in her boot and held it up for him to see it. He nodded and moved away, slipping out from their shelter and into the dark.
She could see their saddles and bags, the shape of the horses tied just outside their shelter. Beyond that, there was nothing—just tree trunks rising through the patches of fog. The horses shifted their feet as if they were uneasy.
She let the blanket fall from her shoulders and retreated until her back rested against the rock wall of the shallow cave.
The rain had stopped, though water still dripped from the leaves. She heard the far-off cry of an owl, and then, much closer, the definite snap of a branch. There were footsteps moving toward her.
She thought about retrieving her bow, but it was so dark. She wouldn’t be able to shoot until whatever it was entered the light, and by then it would be too late.
She crouched, hands trembling, every muscle in her body drawn taut. There was a thud and a grunt. Someone shouted, but it wasn’t the captain.
Then came the clash of metal. More voices. Someone running.
A man burst from the woods at a full run.
His feet tangled in a fallen branch as he crashed into their campsite. His eyes were wild, white all around. A thick beard obscured half his face. He seemed as surprised to see her as she was to see him.
Then he scrambled to his feet. “The horses, and I’ll leave you be. I need to get out of here.”
Before she could answer, he rushed her. She lunged up, trying to gain her feet—but the knife was still in her hand. The blade sank into his stomach. Easily. Far more easily than she’d expected. The resistance of cloth was greater than skin. His weight drove her back against the rock. His meaty hand closed around her throat and squeezed.
She couldn’t breathe, and she couldn’t fight him off without losing her knife. She tried to twist away and he grunted when the knife moved in his guts. But he didn’t let go. She could see his eyes just inches from her face, wild and round. She could smell the animal stench of him. His hair was greasy and matted like he’d been living rough for a long time.
Was this one of Casrian’s men?
Oh, God.
Had she stabbed one of his friends?
“Shouldna come,” he said on a blast of fetid air and his hand loosened enough for her to gasp in a breath. “Shouldna come.”
Then Casrian was there, no more than a shadow in the darkness. He shouted and drove his weight into her attacker. The man was dead before he hit the ground, her knife in his belly and blood all around.
Casrian looked at her. “Are you all right?”
She held her hands out, opening and closing reflexively. “I didn’t mean to. He just… And I…”
“Rowan.” The captain came to her and gripped her arm. “Are you hurt?”
Was she? Her throat ached. Her body where it had been slammed against the rock, but she didn’t think any of the blood she smelled was hers. “I’m all right.”
He looked at her hard. “Good. Where did you put the bandages? The used ones. It’s too dark to see, and I need something to burn.”
She didn’t understand why he wanted to seethis.
But she went to her bags where she’d rolled and stashed the bandages so she could wash them later and handed them to him. He grabbed one of the sticks they’d set aside and wrapped the cloth around one end before lighting it in the embers.
He bent first to the man lying beside the tree, bringing the light to his face before moving quickly off, his sword ready in his other hand.
She wasn’t staying behind with the dead man.
She took her knife, wincing at the sound it made coming free of the body and followed behind the glow of the torch. The captain walked with a swift, confident stride while she stumbled after. He reached the first body within moments. This one was on his side. The captain grabbed his shoulder and turned him onto his back. Again, he pulled the torch close and then moved on. There were two more bodies across a small clearing, next to each other. He checked them both.
“Are they… Was this your patrol?”
“No.” The torch fell to his side. A shuddering breath escaped him. She took a step closer and he swung to face her. “I thought I told you to stay at the camp.”
She couldn’t stop looking at the slumped figure at his feet. “Are they all dead?”
