Page 79 of Beds and Blades

Concern tightened the line between Skip’s brows.

“Who else has crossed?” he asked.

“There have been many women from Earth in Mytharo’s history,” I said. “Women from Earth were involved in defeating Zhor. One helped Newardia understand what Morvanna had become. Another helped break the Sovarith Imperium’s rule over the humans of Traxzis.”

I drew a breath. “There are probably others no one knows about. The mages at Sanctumspire want more of this. They believe more women from Earth can help Mytharo.”

“And Morvanna knows they are coming,” Skip said.

“Yes,” I said. “Which means she has known about the barrier work. Which means every woman who crosses is a target before she arrives.”

“Killing you was never the objective,” Skip said. The tactical clarity arrived in his voice as he worked through it. “If she wanted you dead, Mira could have killed you in that corridor. She did not try to kill you. She tried to recruit you.”

“Into the dark bond,” I said.

Skip nodded.

“A woman from your world, inside the dark bond, connected to Morvanna directly. Mytharo’s advantage becomes Morvanna’s advantage. Every Earth woman who crosses and joins the dark bond is not just neutralized as a threat. She becomes an asset. Her knowledge, her capabilities, whatever made her cross-worthy in the first place—all of it feeding directly to Morvanna.”

I sat with this.

“So, the recruitment speech wasn’t desperation,” I said. “It was strategy.”

“It has always been strategy,” Skip said. “Morvanna does not act from desperation.”

Skip looked at me.

“You understand quickly,” he said.

“I study military strategy for a living,” I said. “Or I did. The principle is the same. You don’t always destroy the enemy’s asset. You capture it if it has useful knowledge.”

“Yes,” Skip said. “Which is why what happened in the corridor cannot happen again.”

I felt the weight of what he meant. The grief underneath it.

“The crypt will be sealed differently,” he said. The High Commander’s voice was fully present now. “The perimeter rotation will change before nightfall. Caen will need to review the theological defenses. What Morvanna sent through that crypt was not a standard incursion. It was targeted. Which means she knows this outpost in a way that she should not.”

He did not say Mira’s name. He did not need to.

“The dark bond,” I said quietly.

“Yes.” A pause. “Two years of knowledge. The layout. The rotations. My habits. She knew where your rooms were.”

The cold clarity of that landed. Mira had come directly to the corridor outside Skip’s quarters.

“As long as you remain within this fortress, you are under my protection. I will not…”

He stopped. He said the next part with the directness he reserved for true things.

“I will not allow another breach. Not while you are here.”

“She will try again,” I said.

“Yes,” Skip said. “She will try again.”

“With something else.”

He did not disagree.