“Hey Kern,” Gadis said, sauntering over to her lover. “What a day.” It had been a long one, in more ways than she could count.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “I’m glad we’re on the move, though. We’ve been too long from home.”

“It’s been what, three months now?” She sat near him, huddling together overlooking a dwindling campfire. “The world moves without us.”

“You’d like to think that, wouldn’t you?” His arm warmed her as he pulled her close. “It does, and it doesn’t. I miss the routine of being home and knowing what each day brings.”

“Adventure doesn’t suit you, Kern,” she chuckled and kissed him on the cheek. Modius would call it a breach of protocol, but he knew what happened when he wasn’t watching. Even he had human needs. Despite that, he wouldn’t stop them. As long as their relationship didn’t burden their day to day activities, he overlooked it.

“Time moves slower here. Even just going into town seemed to make it slow further. I’ll be happier the further this place is behind us. Are you worried that home will feel different when we return? I don’t,” Kern said. “Home is home.”

He reluctantly deployed with the Cadre, more to keep a protective eye on Gadis than because of his sense of duty to the Vigil. She knew that. In part it felt romantic, but burdensome. Gadis resented how she felt about it, but enjoyed his companionship. She squeezed his arm back.

“Trynneia’s a spitfire, even after losing her home,” she said. “The girl stood up to Modius more than I thought she would. She’s strong.”

“Aye. Completely different from Ylane. That girl won’t last. She’s timid.”

“They both serve the Light in their own way,” Gadis said. “Do you know anything more about those marks?”

Kern shook his head and sighed. “No. Nothing more than I told you. Those girls may be cursed more than blessed by them. Let them be turned over to the Council so we can be done with them.”

“I don’t like any of this. It’s not what I signed up for.” Gadis nuzzled close, absently picking at the buttons on his shirt.

“It’s odd that this isn’t a Cull. We should put the shaman down before he becomes a problem.”

“I want to agree, but I don’t know. He wasn’t the target, just a victim of circumstance. But it’s more than that. When did the Vigil burn entire villages because of a shaman? Modius isn’t evil, but this was extreme. The others know it too.”

“Only he knows what we’re really here to do. I can’t pretend to understand, Gadis.”

“We can question it. It’s a blatant violation of the First Tenet. I’m sure he knows it.” She kept her voice low, recognizing the treason of her words. “Cron says the Warden ordered it put to the torch.”

“Hrmph,” Kern grunted. “He’s got his reasons.”

She pulled away from him, disgusted. “Do you really not care? As a collective, we’re not serving the Light.”

“Whether I care or not, I wasn’t there. Neither were you. What’s done is done.” Kern fastened his shirt. “Put it behind us. We’ll get these girls back to Praxen. I’m curious to see how the Council will react.”

“These girls have lost their homes and families. You know how Eilic is, too. He will torture the boy out of spite.”

“More like boredom.”

“Your apathy is showing.”

“A moment ago you were hoping my cock was.”

“How dare you,” she seethed, shoving him away. “I thought you hated what we’ve done here.”

Kern looked at her and shrugged, disinterested. “We’re both tired and cranky, Gadis. Sit down.” He patted the spot she had just vacated. “I’m sorry.”

She refused the apology. “No. Not right now,” she said. “We need to be on the right side of things, and right now we don’t see eye to eye.”

“You’re not wrong,” he admitted. She heard the sincerity in his voice, but mistrusted it. “I don’t like it. I just don’t know what to do about it. The Warden has made his decision. What would you have us do? Rebuild the town?”

“For a start,” Gadis said, not quite placated. She couldn’t foresee an easy solution. “But we can’t stay.”

“I knew there was something logical in that mind of yours, Gadis,” he teased hesitantly. She let it pass. “Besides, the crates have been transferred and loaded. There’s no reason to rebuild now.”

She looked at their own wagon sadly. Her lover didn’t lie about that. “It was Eilic’s Cadre that burned everything, wasn’t it?”

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Kern nodded. “Eilic’s wrecked a lot of trust with the Warden of late. Modius took his Cadre into town for the trial and left him behind. Cron fares scarcely better as a leader in Eilic’s absence. I’m sure they were ruthless and efficient, as trained. I’ve no doubt Eilic was disappointed to be left out of a Harvest.”

Gadis had attended Trynneia and did not help loading the contents. “Will they keep?” Just thinking about the Harvest made her grateful she’d been elsewhere. It disappointed her to know the Vigil required Harvests to serve the Red.

“The Red consecrated them until the ceremony. The spoils of war belong to the victors.”

She revised her estimation. Kern still remained nonchalant. “You’re not looking forward to it, are you? This wasn’t a victory.”

“No more than any other time. It’s just a thing that we do.” He wrapped his arms around her waist. She felt him begin to unbuckle her sword belt. Gadis pushed his hands away.

“Hrm rm,” she murmured disapprovingly. “It’s not been that kind of day,” she said. Perhaps she’d been in the mood when she sat down, but the conversation had changed her mind. Too much and too often she thought about how very little Kern said or did appealed to her anymore. She refastened her belt and grabbed her cloak.

“Where are you going?” Kern asked.

“I’m not as tired as I thought. I think I’ll go stand someone’s watch for a bit. Keep busy. I need to think.” She smirked wanly at the disappointment on his face. Just because they shared a cot didn’t mean she owed him anything.

They had circled their wagon with five others near the rear of the caravan. The smell of smoke had dwindled with the distance, remaining mostly on those that had been present at Lidoria’s burning. They drifted back during the day, choosing to remain behind the wagons carrying the girls.

Gadis chafed under the stress of this trip. Eilic got handsy whenever Kern patrolled elsewhere. Too much secrecy surrounded the mission, something she normally knew the purpose of. Instead, they’d gone the long way around, loitered in town, sussed out an unexpected shaman, killed another, and found the girls.

The Warden seemed oddly disobedient. Instead of opting for another Cull, he instead kept the goblin tightly warded in the Grimcell. She knew Modius wanted to make use of it one way or another, but she couldn’t guess why the boy meant so much to him. It wasn’t her role to question him, but she did.

She felt increasingly isolated. The others seemed to follow orders and go along with everything the Warden asked. Gadis knew the importance of the chain of command, but in this case it seemed that she alone questioned anything, even if just to herself. Bringing it up with Kern only returned his brusque responses and pushed her away even further from him.

Only the Light knew her dissatisfaction and did nothing to assuage it. She wandered far past the last of the wagons where the rear watch should be. No one was visible, but she expected that. They trained to be unobtrusive. She whistled to signal her intent. Someone stood up, nodded, and passed her by, returning to the caravan.

Crouching low, she pulled her cloak tight and hid behind low-lying scrubs near the road. Gadis wanted to speak to the other girl now that she’d spent time with Trynneia. Those two served the Light, beyond any doubt. She’d only seen Ylane from afar, and she didn’t have the pale gray skin that Trynneia did. Whether or not that meant anything, she did not know.

Their runes fascinated her. She’d never seen the like; only the wards of the Grimcell came close, scattering the powers of a shaman in captivity during the few times a Cull was neither warranted nor required. Absently, she rubbed her hands, feeling the Price she’d paid for the Culls done by her hand. Everything had its mark, she supposed.

The road remained clear. No one traveled much at night, especially without light. If anyone had survived Lidoria, they might have come this way, but she knew Modius would have been thorough. Gadis knew her leader. By choosing to take Eilic’s Cadre, she knew he meant to leave no survivors.

Informally known as “The Cleanup Crew” by the Eluvan Vigil, Gadis tried to avoid them whenever possible. Lady Desdemona recruited criminals to train for that Cadre, men and women willing to do anything to serve the Light. Gadis detested their existence, since their actions aligned only with the motives of the Regency and Council, not with the directives of Elerion. The other Cadres seemed to have no issue with it since it kept their reputations clean, acting as a Shadow Cadre of ill deeds and malformed intent.

“There you are,” Eilic whispered, cupping his hand over her mouth and gripping her tight with his arm so she couldn’t respond. Something cut deep into her wrist as he did so. “You should know better than to stand watch alone after what you said to me.”

She’d forgotten him while she lost herself in thought. Gadis had been so intent on the road she’d ignored anything else. Stupid, she knew now. She flung her head back, catching him on the nose. He released her in surprise.

“What are you doing here, Eilic?” She asked, breathless. Her sword drawn at the ready, she stared at him in the gloom.

“I heard you rejected Kern’s advances. I figured you were lonely,” he said. “I wanted to taste you again.” He also had drawn his sword while holding his bloody nose.

“Enjoy that instead,” she muttered. “Go back, or I’ll scream.”

“Do you think anyone would get here in time to save you? You’re already bleeding out. There’s only one way this will go from here,” he said. “Only the Red can save you from that wound, and she’s nowhere close.”

“Your mother can rot,” Gadis said. Her head grew woozy as she felt the warmth of her blood gushing over her hand. She dropped her sword and staggered, falling to her hands and knees..

“Eventually she will, but not before you,” Eilic said. “The girl is mine, you know. You cannot even protect yourself. What made you think you could protect her?” He wiped blood from her wrist and licked it from his finger. “It’s okay to be afraid. It’s the last emotion you’ll feel.”

Gadis knew terror as her lightheadedness became overwhelming. His words, cold and blunt, belied the malice she knew he masked, and the vengeance he sought. It should not have been so simple for him to catch her off guard, but he had. Her life drained into the soil only a short distance from aid, and already she hadn’t the strength to summon it. Above her, he gloated.

“Once you have passed, I will satisfy myself,” he whispered. “It won’t be just you, but Trynneia as well. I know you have a soft spot for her. Then I’ll go for Ylane. All because you raised your voice to me. I wanted you to know that, before you died. Your suicide will be mourned,” Eilic said as he dipped her sword into the puddle of blood. “Or maybe Kern will find you out here, violated and abandoned.”

Her sight faded and her body grew chill and numb as she struggled through her last few gasps. She worried for Kern. She felt sorrow for the girls. When Eilic lowered himself on top of her, she turned her mind to the Light, hoping she would be avenged as thought ended and mercifully spared her further torment.