Jade placed the dinner tray on Mikiva’s table, then she sat down on the edge of the bed.

“It’s time,” she told the spy. “The communications left this morning. We need to go tonight.”

“I am not sure we should leave so quickly. I was hoping to intercept more orders,” Mikiva hesitated.

“You have enough,” Jade replied. “Besides, staying any longer won’t be useful. They’re suspicious of you already, and if they catch on your boss won’t be getting any information at all.”

“I know,” Mikiva conceded. “I may not like it, but you are right. Better to get out while the getting is good. If I am too late getting back to K’ivin, he won’t be able to benefit from this, anyway.”

“We can leave after dark,” Jade continued. “But there is something I need you to do for me, now.”

“Oh Gods, I’d almost forgotten about that. Are you sure you’ll be ok to travel right after?”

“I’ll be fine. It’s not in that deep. I’ll put a bandage on it, and we’ll be good to go. Let’s just get it over with.”

“Alright, but I warn you, I am no surgeon. Do you have first aid supplies?”

“I have bandages and some gauze.”

“Here, this might help, too,” Mikiva handed her a jar. “It’s medicinal herbs, with some magical investment. It will keep the wound from becoming infected. Avrinly gave it to me for my head wound, but I didn’t really need it.”

“Thank you.”

“Ok, let’s do it.”

Mikiva raised a dagger and held it over the flame of a nearby candle, letting the heat sterilize the blade. Turning to Jade, she asked,

“Are you ready?”

“One second,” Jade said, reaching into her pocket, she withdrew a short wooden branch, about an inch thick.

“What’s that for?” Mikiva queried.

“To bite down on,” Jade replied, placing the hunk of wood between her teeth. “Now I’m ready.”

“Ok, you are sure you want me to do this?” Mikiva hesitated, blade poised over her skin.

Jade removed the branch from her teeth, chuckling softly to herself,

“I keep forgetting that Maaskalans don’t keep slaves, you look at me as an actual human being.”

“And that’s funny, is it?”

“A little. And yes, I am sure. This isn’t even the worst thing that I’ve had done to me lately. And more will come if I stay. Cut it out,” she smiled wanly.

Mikiva said nothing more, what could you really say to that? Jade placed the branch back in her mouth, closed her eyes and clenched her fists. She couldn’t afford to cry out, someone might hear. Mikiva stood behind her, reaching out with her left hand, she spread the skin around the disc taught. With her right hand, she took her blade and pieced the flesh; Jade flinched and bit down hard, the blood welled immediately and trickled down her back. Mikiva twisted her knife in deftly, until it struck the stone plate, she cut sideways quickly, so that now she had 2 sides of a square cut around the area. Pushing the flap of skin and disc up with the tip of the dagger she reached in with her left hand and tugged out a stone the size of a gold coin, though slightly thicker. She placed it down on the table, satisfied with her work. Jade took a deep breath and opened her eyes, handing Mikiva a piece of gauze to staunch the bleeding.

“That was very neatly done,” Jade removed the branch, spitting woodchips onto the floor. “Not nearly as bad as I’d thought it would be. Are you sure you aren’t a surgeon?”

Now it was Mikiva’s turn to chuckle,

“No, but I was an assassin, once.”

“Of course,” Jade smiled. “Deft hands.”

“Exactly. Though you are much more talkative after the fact than the people I used my knives on back then.”

“Let’s try to keep it that way. Could you wrap this bandage around the wound, please?”

Mikiva stood and wrapped the thick cloth bandage around Jade’s shoulder and torso, securing the gauze in place.

“How does it feel?” she asked.

“Not bad. As I said, it is just a little cut. I barely notice it,” she stretched her shoulder and winced, sucking her breath in through her teeth.

Mikiva shook her head, but didn’t press the matter.

“So, what now?” she asked.

“Pack up whatever you need. I’ll meet you back here at midnight,” Jade picked up the disc from the table and slipped it into her pocket. “Until then, lay low. It’s better if no one suspects that anything is amiss.”

“I’ll be ready,” Mikiva wiped the blood from her blade with an almost tender hand.

Jade left silently. She had preparations to make.

**

K’ivin was growing concerned. The reports he had just received suggested that things in Esrasea were progressing more rapidly than he had anticipated, and he still hadn’t heard anything from Mikiva. He was flying blind, and that was one thing he just couldn’t stand. He got up and began pacing the floor. The emperor had taken his advice; he’d locked down the borders and begun intensive training of the army. They were also having some luck with recruiting; most of the young men and women in the country had never seen or experienced a war, so they didn’t fear the prospect as much as they should. In fact, many of them were excited, even eager to experience the ‘glory’. They were naïve, they didn’t understand the harsh realities of battle; K’ivin knew that they were in for a rude awakening, one that he wished he could spare them. But he was slowly coming to believe his own doomsaying: they would need a miracle to survive this. Nothing that they had done would be enough.

K’ivin spread a map out on his desk and started marking down enemy positions with red pins. If Mikiva had been able to do what he’d asked, then he would know exactly where each army was positioned very soon. That knowledge would allow him to prepare in advance for their arrival. He would be able to tell C’ekat how to cut their supply lines and maybe where to collapse a mountain pass or two, to slow the progress of the enemy troops. If Mikiva had come through, it could buy him an extra couple of weeks, while they repositioned. Also, depending on what she told him, C’ekat might even be able to meet a few of those armies while they were short on supplies and unprepared, bloody a few noses. But that might be too much to hope for. C’ekat’s armies were far from ready for that type of engagement, and there were no guarantees that Mikiva had even been able to enter Lord T’emlin’s estate, let alone intercept any of his orders. He had faith in the girl, but he knew he had asked a lot of her, maybe too much. His reverie was interrupted by a faint knock at the door.

“Come in,” K’ivin called, settling himself into a chair.

The door opened and C’ekat entered, as if summoned by his thoughts.

“You wanted to see me, Advisor?” he asked.

“Yes, Commander,” K’ivin motioned to the map. “Come over here.”

C’ekat joined K’ivin at the table.

“What are the red pins?” the military man asked, leaning in.

“Estimations,” K’ivin replied, declining to elaborate further, at least not yet.

C’ekat tossed him an inquiring glance but said nothing more.

“Where are we? With the army?” K’ivin asked.

“As well as can be expected, under the circumstances. Training is proceeding at an acceptable pace, and we’ve clamped down on the borders. It’s too early to tell where we should be concentrating our forces, though, so we have them spread out. That way, we’ll be able to strategically move to any of several positions if the need arises.”

“Good,” K’ivin murmured, stifling a yawn. “What if I could tell you where your focus should be?”

“That would certainly be an advantage,” C’ekat laughed. “But unless you have found someone with precognitive abilities…”

“No, commander, nothing like that,” K’ivin shook his head. Were such a thing possible he would likely find himself out of the job. “Just for arguments’ sake, humour me. Take here, for instance,” he indicated one of the red pins. “What would you do, if you knew enemy forces would be in this location?”

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

“Well, first I would place a few bets, because with that kind of luck, I could get rich,” C’ekat muttered sarcastically. “But in all seriousness, it would be strange for them to attempt to cross the mountains in that location, so near some of our fortifications. There are many other locations I would choose, before…”

“But if they did invade at that location?” K’ivin prompted.

“Well,” C’ekat mused. “As I said, we have a fort in that section of the mountains that we could use as a base. From there, we could send teams to collapse a part of the pass, take out some of their divisions, and block the routes behind them. Done right, they would be cut off from supply lines, escape routes and reinforcements. With a fortified position and them short on supplies… We could likely hold them off for an extended time. If you are wondering if we could defeat them outright, well that would depend on their numbers and on how long it took any reinforcements to clear the way behind them and reestablish support. But it is certainly possible.”

C’ekat paused, thinking, then he shook his head,

“But this is all wishful thinking, nothing more. We would pretty much have to know where they would be before they even marched, so that we could set up our mages and concentrate our forces at that fort. Even with advanced scouting, we wouldn’t have enough time to get our people into position before they arrived. There are dozens of other passes they could take, most much more viable than the one you indicated.”

“I make no promises yet, but just… have your people ready to move. I will send you a map with the rest of my ‘predictions’ marked out. Don’t commit to anything yet, just consider what your plans would be, were such a situation to arise.”

The younger man raised an eyebrow,

“Care to share your plan, advisor?”

“Not just yet. But you’ll be the first to know if anything comes of it.”

“Very well,” C’ekat sighed, brow furrowed with concern. “Perhaps you should get some sleep, K’ivin. You are under a lot of stress, and we need you at your best.”

“You are right, C’ekat,” he smiled, faintly. “I think I might turn in now.”

“An excellent idea. I will leave you to your rest,” C’ekat rose quickly and headed for the door.

“Goodnight, commander.”

C’ekat shut the door quietly behind him as he departed. K’ivin couldn’t fault the man for thinking he was losing his grip on reality; he was even beginning to doubt his own sanity. Time would tell which of them was correct. In the meantime, he knew he should sleep, but he still couldn’t bring himself to do so. There was too much that needed his attention. So instead, he opened a large, leather-bound book. It was a history text, containing reports of the military procedures and strategies that Esrasea had used in the past. He found his bookmark and continued where he had left off last evening.

**

Jade pulled the bag from under her mattress and checked the contents. It didn’t take long, there wasn’t much to check. She owned nothing and there was little else here that she wanted to take with her. Jade didn’t feel the need for any reminders of this place. The only thing she regretted was leaving J’arrin behind. If he had agreed to it, she would have brought him with her, but every time they had spoken of such a thing, he had refused her. He said that he was too old and too ill to leave on such a journey, now. And perhaps he was right, the path ahead would not be any easy one. But it didn’t make her feel any better about it. Still, she couldn’t force him; all she could do was try to ensure that her departure didn’t affect him adversely. The only way to keep him safe was to ensure that no one connected the two of them.

Jade hadn’t dared to see J’arrin since the day of her punishment, afraid it could only bring him trouble. But now that she was about to leave forever, she wavered. She at least needed to thank him for everything he had done for her. She at least needed to say goodbye. So, she had risked a small detour down to his room, just long enough to slip a note under the door. But afterwards Jade hesitated, wondering if she could risk just a short visit, in person. She knew she shouldn’t. Lingering near his room, especially on this day, would only bring scrutiny down on him. No, it was better that she leave quickly. Still, she was tempted to go inside, to see him one last time.

Just as she reached a tentative hand for the handle, her decision was made for her when C’arren suddenly emerged from a doorway on her left. Jade resisted the instinct to flinch, instead dropping her hand and walking away calmly, as if she had just been passing through. As she approached the guard, she dropped her eyes deferently to the floor, hoping he hadn’t noticed anything unusual. She had been good, since he punished her, behaved properly around him, but it was clear that he still wasn’t entirely convinced, and he took every opportunity to provoke her. Today, evidently, would be no different. C’arren smirked as neared her, adjusting his course at the last moment so that his shoulder slammed into her, shoving Jade roughly aside. The affront would have been easily ignored, under normal circumstances, but the fresh wound on her shoulder caused Jade to reflexively suck her breath in through her teeth with a pained hiss. C’arren paused at that and turned back, a quizzical expression on his face.

“My apologies,” he sneered. “I clearly don’t know my own strength.”

“The fault is mine, sir,” Jade lowered her head further. “I should not have obstructed you.”

“Are you injured?” he asked. “You seemed to wince.”

“No, sir. I was merely… afraid I might have offended you.”

Jade held her breath, willing him to just leave it at that.

“Good. That is the appropriate response. I will forgive the transgression, just this one,” C’arren waved a hand, dismissing her.

Jade did not need any further encouragement. She quickly ducked down the closest hallway and broke into a sprint as soon as he lost sight of her. There was no point fighting with him, after today she would never have to deal with him again.

Once she was sure she had lost the guard, Jade headed to her intended destination. Knocking softly, she entered Mikiva’s room to find the dark-haired assassin finishing her own packing. She had changed out of Avrinly’s hand-me-downs and into her own black leathers. They were torn in a few places, where she had simulated her riding injuries, but still better for travelling then the high-born garb she had been lent.

“Almost ready?” Jade asked.

“Yeah, just a minute,” Mikiva jammed one dagger into her boot and one into a sheath on her shoulder.

Satisfied, she stowed the last of her papers in her bag and flung it over her back.

“Now, let’s get out of this Void-taken place,” she muttered.

“With pleasure,” Jade opened the bedside window and dropped out to the ground below.

Mikiva followed after her, hitting the grass with barely a sound.

“I won’t be sorry to sleep somewhere far from here tonight,” Mikiva remarked.

“How far is it to Maaskal?” Jade asked, leading the way towards the stables.

“I suppose you wouldn’t know, would you?” Mikiva mused. “It’s a little over a day’s ride to reach the border. Then another 2 or 3 to reach the capital, Telvanar.”

“Well, the better the time we can make, the better off we’ll be. I want to be long gone before Avrinly notices we are missing.”

“Agreed.”

Jade reached for the stable door but paused. Something felt…wrong.

“What’s the matter?” Mikiva asked.

“Nothing,” Jade shook her head. “Just nerves.”

She swung the stable door open and strode inside, reaching for the light crystals on the wall to illuminate their path.

“And just what do you think you’re doing?” the voice caused the two women to turn.

Jade saw Mikiva’s hands go to her knives as the light illuminated the man in the guard’s uniform leaning casually against the wall at the back, toying with the sword in his hands.

“C’arren” Jade gasped.

“Making a run for it, are we?” the guard sneered. “Well, you should know that I am empowered to use any force necessary to prevent escape attempts.”

“Escape attempts?” Jade feigned confusion. “I have no idea what you are talking about. You seem to be growing increasingly paranoid, C’arren.”

“Oh? Then what are you doing here?” the guard raised an eyebrow.

“The lady asked if I would show here her where the stable was,” Jade gestured to Mikiva. “We have been instructed to honour her requests; I was simply doing my duty, as a servant of this house.”

“Oh, really?” C’arren replied. “Then why are you carrying a bag?”

“It’s hers, of course. Come on C’arren,” Jade scoffed. “You know as well as I do that I couldn’t leave the property, even if I wanted to.”

“Ordinarily that would be true, wouldn’t it?” C’arren sneered, then glanced pointedly at her shoulder.

Jade reached back and felt the sticky, dampness caking the back of her shirt. Her bandage had soaked through. C’arren stepped forward, grabbing her arm and yanking her shirt up, exposing the bandage, which he then tore from her shoulder. C’arren may not have been the most intelligent person in the world, but even he knew what he was looking at. What he had first seen when they had passed in the hall. Jade cursed; she should have realized he let her slip away too easily.

“I knew it,” C’arren’s face twisted into a sneer. “You cut the void-touched thing out, didn’t you?”

“I don’t know what you…” Jade began.

“Shut up,” he backhanded her across the face. “I really should thank you. You’ve finally given me the perfect excuse. It is well within my authority to kill an escaping slave, you know. And with that wound no one can deny what you were attempting.”

Jade tried to pull away, but C’arren shoved her to the ground, placing a foot on her chest. He raised his sword, and Jade threw up her arm, hoping to at least prevent the blow from being fatal, but as she braced herself, a knife suddenly appeared in C’arren’s throat. A look of surprise flickered across his face for just a moment, before he swayed and the sword dropped harmlessly from his hands. He clawed helplessly at his throat for a moment, before he crumpled to the ground, blood streaming into the sand. Mikiva offered Jade a hand and she took it, rising to her feet. She had forgotten that the other woman was there. Luckily, so had C’arren.

“I’m sorry… I just, didn’t see another way,” Mikiva retrieved her knife and wiped the blade.

She seemed shaken. Odd, for an assassin. But then again, she had said she was a former assassin. There was probably a story there, Jade thought, but now wasn’t the time for it.

“Don’t be. He would have killed me. I owe you.”

“And don’t think I won’t collect,” Mikiva smiled wanly.

“Good. I hate leaving a debt unpaid. Now let’s get out of here. Even if C’arren didn’t tell anyone his suspicions, they will notice him missing soon enough. We need to move.”

“I’m right behind you.”

They worked in silence to prepare their horses. Only when they were safely on their way did Jade finally dare speak again.

“So, there is a war starting, correct?” she asked.

“Hopefully not for a while,” Mikiva responded.

“Right. But still, won’t they have locked down the border?”

“Probably,” Mikiva considered this for a moment. “But it won’t be a problem.”

Jade cast a curious glance her way.

“The main roads aren’t the only way into Maaskal,” Mikiva smiled mischievously.

“And how would you know that?”

“They are mostly old smuggler routes, you know, to bypass border checks.”

“Ah, trade secrets then.”

“Exactly. Now, may I ask you a question?”

“Shoot.”

“I didn’t think slaves were allowed to ride horses, in Esrasea. When did you learn?”

Jade froze in the saddle, suddenly perplexed.

“I… I don’t know,” she murmured.

She hadn’t thought about it before, but now that she did Jade realized that she had no memory of ever riding a horse or even putting a saddle on one. She had just done it, without even thinking.

“Perhaps it just comes naturally to me,” Jade shrugged.

Mikiva eyes her suspiciously for a moment but apparently decided not to press the matter.

“Well, whatever it is, I guess we should consider ourselves lucky, because we never could have made it out of here fast enough on foot.”

Mikiva slowed her horse for a moment, she glanced around, trying to decide on a path. Looking at where they were, Jade suddenly realized something: she had passed the boundary. She was now officially outside the confines of Avrinly’s estate for the first time since she had arrived. Jade glanced back and saw the house that had been both her home and her prison for the past 2 years. She could already feel the weight lift from her shoulders. The smell of the night air, the feel of the horse, even the pain in her shoulder reminded her that she was finally free.

“Can you handle going faster?” Mikiva called back, gesturing to the east.

“Try and stop me,” Jade grinned.

Mikiva spurred her own horse, and they raced for the cover of the treeline.