The soldier began to back away but then halted. “Which? They are—were—both of Basilica.”
Koldo blinked at the man. “I do not care who you choose to toss where, only that my point is made. No war, not yet. If either camp comes into Ardenian territory again, we will not leave a single soldier standing.”
Orders understood, the soldier turned, running first toward Myrcell, rather than toward his camp and the Ardenian grouping he’d have to cross to get to it.
When he was gone, Koldo turned, the weight of the vial in her pocket.
The Ardenian camp was no closer to waking when she returned. Yet her second, Captain Xixi, was stationed outside the general’s tent, a mug of something steaming in her hands.
“Is everything all right, General Koldo?” the woman asked in a whisper.
“It is now, Captain.” Koldo stowed her sword. She’d clean the blood from the blade later. “I must return to Ardenia. Do not strike until you hear from me. Do not engage. Keep to the camp, except to gather water—a mile upstream into Ardenia. Do not drink here.”
The woman had been at Koldo’s side for nearly twenty years. She silently cataloged every single thing her commander said with a nod.
“Captain, you have command.”
The woman took that command with another duck of her head. “I’ll have the grooms ready your horse, General.”
Xixi left, straight to the horses, and Koldo entered her tent and swept the map of the Sand and Sky into a roll. When she blinked, her dream remained on the backs of her eyelids.
Those soldiers’ lives had bought her time. She only hoped it would be enough.
CHAPTER
41
ASthe first rays of dawn hit the military camp nestled between the Torrent and the Pyrenee border, Ula was wide awake and agitated.
She hated this assignment.
She hated that they hadn’t been paid yet and therefore couldn’t leave.
She hated that she liked Luca and even more that she liked the princess.
She hated that they couldn’t be togetherandthat she had an opinion about such matters.
Because it all added up to a queasy sensation in her stomach that made her feel as if she was on completely the wrong side of things.
The princess was still asleep in their tent, having tossed and turned for hours on end before sleep finally took her. Osana was asleep as well, cradling her sword like a lover—Osana and she were alike in that way. Ula got to her feet, strapped her sword to her back, and exited the tent.
Purple-cloaked men were up and moving, stoking a fire. She felt their eyes snap to her form as she slid out of the tent. Pyrenee did not conscript its women like Ardenia; thus, its military was completely male. Which meant this camp was made up of fifty men a hundred miles from home and the women they held dear.
“Hey there, honeypot, what will you give me for the first cup of coffee?” asked a boy no older than Dunixi as he tended to a kettle hung above revived flames.
Ula bared her teeth. “Call me ‘honeypot’ again and I’ll give you one less hand to hold your coffee cup.”
The man next to him laughed and elbowed his friend as he scowled. “Oh, I think she likes you! Anger is how they show love in the Torrent.”
Ula ignored them, spying Urtzi across camp, relieving himself against a tree. She waited for him to finish before stepping in behind him.
“We need to talk.”
He simply grunted in response—never a morning person, Urtzi.
“Grab Dunixi and meet me by my horse.”
Five minutes later, the pirates were together, standing in the cool shadow of Ula’s gray mare, Laya.
