"What do you mean?" Sage asked innocently.

Lily scowled and placed her hands on her hips. "I mean all that nonsense about a family heirloom and that lie about a man finding you in the woods. Silver may be blind, but I am not. Now tell me what is going on!"

Seeing her friend would not buy her performance, Sage dropped the façade. Her mouth fell into a grim line across her face and her brown shining eyes became dull.

"I did what I had to do," she responded, dusting off her dress casually.

"Why? Why did you have to do it?" Lily pleaded.

Sage sighed. It was no use lying now. "To save all of you. But especially you and the baby."

"Save us from whom?" Raising her eyebrows, Lily was not convinced. The brunette could not blame her. After the performance Sage had just put on, she might never be trusted again. Before Sage could respond, the party that had been with Silver burst onto the square.

Aiden was first to approach, followed quickly by Ethyn. Further back, Conall and Gilbert supported a completely winded Katherine between them. "I've never run so far and so hard in my life," she explained breathlessly as they urged her onward. She had done her best to keep pace as they moved along briskly.

Now Aiden tried to gauge the faces of the women before him. Lily's angry countenance was not something he had ever encountered. To him, she was quite possibly the most amiable person he had ever met. This new look made him shudder.

Aiden saw the cuts that marred Sage's lovely face, and he wondered briefly if the angered Lily had caused it. He dismissed the thought as he remembered there had been soldiers.

"Are you both safe? Where's Silver?" he asked as he closed the gap between them.

"We are fine. Sage sent Silver off on a fool's errand." Lily threw her hands into the air in exasperation.

The brunette would not meet their gaze. "He's gone to steal a mirror from Baron Monte."

"Why would he do that?" Conall was confused.

"Because Sage betrayed him! You tricked him into going." Ethyn moved past Aiden and drew his short sword. Aiden, however, was quicker than the boy and he grabbed Ethyn around the waist and lifted him off the ground.

Ethyn thrashed wildly, nearly cutting the large man with the sword several times. When his energy had been spent, he fell limp in Aiden's grip. "He promised he wouldn't steal anymore," the boy croaked.

"We've got to warn him it's a trap," Conall was already planning their next move.

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"You can't," Sage warned.

"We are done listening to you," Ethyn yelled at her, again trying to wriggle free of Aiden's grasp.

Conall held up his hand. He looked grave. "Why 'can't' we go after him, Sage?"

"Because the man warned me if I tried to go against him and stop Silver, he'd burn the town to the ground and kill all of you."

"Who would do such a thing?" Lily asked, disgusted.

Aiden and Conall exchanged a meaningful glance. "I think we know," the mayor announced cautiously.

"No one else would be so underhanded and manipulative." The former soldier spat at the ground.

"Who?" Lily placed her hand on her stomach, feeling slightly sick.

"Borit," Aiden and Conall said in unison.

From behind the inn a menacing laugh carried through the air. The Captain came from behind the building as a dozen soldiers surrounded them from the woods. "Did someone call me?"

Aiden, Gilbert and Ethyn, who was quickly placed on the ground, drew their swords, while Conall, and the ladies drew different variations of knives from their tunics. In the wilds of the border, everyone knew they needed protection, but some were more adept at wielding their weapon than others.

Katherine was the most unaccustomed to controlling her small blade and held it awkwardly as she pushed away from her masculine supports. It was easy to see the group was outnumbered. On top of this, four of the soldiers held bows aimed squarely at Aiden and Conall's chests, their biggest threats.

"Put down you weapons," Borit commanded. They had little choice and reluctantly complied.

One of Borit's men quickly collected the weapons and removed them. These men did not look like regular soldiers. Something about them seemed off; they were not clean cut and their posture lacked military presence. It was a safe guess that this new set of soldiers were not actually the King's men. Borit had hired them to ensure his success.

The cunning soldier flashed a toothy grin. "Now, get these citizens inside and out of sight. I hope you like entertaining guests, mayor. We will be joining you for the night."

---------------

It was a short time before Silver caught up with the soldiers. He counted twenty of them making a forced march through the woods.

Unlike the ragtag soldiers that were apprehending his friends, these men were the well-disciplined ranks that belonged to the Baron. Led by Ansel, they each man held a sack of loot they had collected. By their load, the troops had visited more than just their town.

It seemed that part of Ansel's story was true. Maybe he had come early in disguise to find the best things and just happened to catch Sage unaware, Silver reasoned. If so, it was very bad luck indeed.

'Why did the Baron make an extra collection this time of year? Monte is getting very greedy.'

Silver pushed away the nagging ache that he wouldn't name. In his heart he knew what it was: suspicion.

Traveling at a silent steady pace, the Guardian tracked the party of soldiers. While they couldn't hear his footsteps, he marveled at the fact that the men didn't seem concerned by their surroundings.

The rumor of the forest men had been around for years and the new myth of the demon beasts in the woods had even the most brazen hunter on high alert. Yet, these soldiers looked straight ahead calmly. 'They are too confident. So foolish.'

For a moment, Silver thought about swooping from above and retrieving the bag, saving himself a trip to the baron's manor house. While he recognized which soldier had taken the mirror, he had no way of knowing if any of the sacks had been traded or redistributed to make them more even. He only had one shot at getting the correct sack before the men were alerted, and he didn't like the one in twenty chance he was facing. Additionally, they were also still close enough to Rynnlee that an attack right now could be easily blamed on the townsfolk. Silver just couldn't risk it. No, he would have to bide his time until he was sure of the mirror's location.

The evening wore into darkness as the lengthening spring days finally gave way for night. By the time they finally reached their destination, the moon had risen and set.

Baron Monte's manor was a sprawling house with the number of rooms second only in Birle to the King's castle. The Baron had an insatiable appetite for wealth and he used the "tribute" he collected from his tenants to maintain his lavish lifestyle.

Had he lived any closer to the capital, the king would have noticed the excess, but he was far enough removed from civilized society that no one paid him too much attention.

This avarice and his mutual hatred for Silver made Monte the perfect partner for the cunning Captain.

Although Borit had been guarding the King for nearly a year, he had convinced His Majesty that he was the only man who could shore up the border between Lakyle and Birle.

In reality, Borit had wanted to gather his own intelligence, and Silver showing up while the captain was there was simply fortuitous. That was how Borit formed an alliance with the Baron. The sharp-nosed soldier would not report on the Baron's treachery, and in return the Baron ignored Borit's questionable disappearances.

Even when the captain had told Monte about part of the underhanded plan to capture Silver, the Baron had merely shrugged and waved his approval. The less he knew about it, the better.

However, Borit kept secrets even from the Baron. If Monte had known the second plot that the Captain was hatching, he never would have agreed.