Kevlin and Ceren crept along the side of the wall, where bark still clung to the wood and the stubs of branches jabbed at their fingers. A moment later, a sentry approached along the top. The flickering light of his torch revealed that the wall reared a dozen feet into the air and curved away in a gentle arc.

They dropped to the wet ground and Kevlin whispered, “Keep your face hidden under your slicker.”

Despite the temptation to look up and see if the sentry noticed them, Kevlin kept his gaze locked on the muddy soil in front of his face. The dark slickers would be difficult to spot, but light reflecting off their faces, particularly their eyes, would give them away.

The guard passed on, his footsteps never slowing, and the light faded. Kevlin got to his feet and helped Ceren up.

“We need to get out of here,” she said.

They moved away from the wall for about a hundred yards before breaking into a careful jog. When they reached the trees, Ceren asked, “Which way?”

Kevlin took her hand and turned left, along the edge of the trees, searching for the trail. They followed the curving edge of the clearing for about a hundred yards until his hand touched stone.

With his fingers, he explored the obstacle in the darkness. It was the bluff. So the enemy had indeed led them all the way to its base.

They turned back and eventually found the trail a hundred and fifty yards from the cliff. Once they retreated well into the trees, Kevlin risked lighting the lantern. They crouched beside its welcome light.

“They have a fort,” Ceren said.

“They don’t need a fort to grab Tia Khoa and run,” Kevlin said. Then he had another thought. “You know, I’ve been thinking how difficult it’d be for them to get the shadeleech across the empire just in time to intercept Antigonus. They didn’t do it that way.”

“They were already here.”

“Aye.”

“So, it isn’t just about stealing Tia Khoa,” Ceren said. “Something else is going on.”

“What?”

She shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine.”

So much for being Cunning. Of course, she hadn’t been a soldier for years either.

“There’s more of them,” Kevlin said, and his hopes for saving Antigonus fell.

“How do you know?”

“We saw a small force. That's not enough to build or defend a fort. It only makes sense if you have a larger force.”

Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

“How is that possible?”

“I don’t know. I was impressed they could smuggle a dozen makrasha across the empire. I can’t imagine how they managed more.”

“Maybe they’re using mercenaries.”

Kevlin shrugged. If only he could believe that. He knew how mercenaries thought. They’d have a chance if the fort was full of soldiers for hire, but he doubted it.

He hadn’t been able to figure out how to save Antigonus from the original war party. Add a hidden fort and some unknown number of additional enemy forces, and conventional wisdom dictated he run screaming in the other direction.

“There’s only a few reasons someone builds a fort in enemy territory.”

“This makes less and less sense,” Ceren said. “Even if they had ten thousand troops hidden in the forest, once the empire discovers them, they’ll marshal the legions and wipe them out.”

“I know.”

They crouched together in the trail, huddling in their slickers, with only a single tiny beam of light from the lantern holding back the darkness.

Kevlin was starting to feel depressed. He really needed to hit someone.

After a few minutes, Ceren bowed her head. “It’s not supposed to be like this.”

That was one of the first rules new recruits learned.

Shuffling closer, he placed an arm around her shoulder. She leaned against him, her body quivering with suppressed sobs.

“It’s not supposed to be like this,” she repeated. “He said I was Cunning. I should know what to do, but I don’t.”

Kevlin tipped her chin up until he could look her in the eye. She wiped rain and perhaps a tear from her face. “No one could’ve expected this. No one would have answers.”

She took a deep breath. “We need to decide what to do.”

“We need help.”

“Who?”

“I don’t know.” He tried to come up with a plan, but his mind remained as dark as the night. He kept seeing the image of himself on a horse, galloping fast in any other direction. The situation had spiraled beyond their ability to deal with it.

Then he remembered.

“Harafin. Harafin is coming! If anyone can handle this situation, it’s him.”

“Of course. We need to find him and bring him back.”

Kevlin shook his head. “We can’t do that.”

“What do you mean?”

“They might leave. It’ll take a few days to find Harafin and return. Rhea, and whoever else is in that fort, could be anywhere by then.”

Kevlin squeezed her shoulder. “You have to go. Get Harafin and come back as fast as you can.”

Her face paled. “Kevlin, that’s not a good idea.”

“No, it’s not. But it’s the only idea we have, so it’s what we have to do.”

“No,” she repeated. “I’m not good in the woods. I grew up in a city. I’ll get lost.”

“You won’t,” he reassured her. “I’m not a great woodsman either. All you have to do is follow that trail back the way we came.”

“There’s got to be a better way.”

“I can’t think of one. Can you?” He waited.

She studied the ground, biting her lip. After a minute she grimaced and whispered, “No.”

“You can do it.” Time for coddling her was over. “You’re stronger than you think.”

She smiled a little, and pushed a sodden length of hair back from her face. “I’ll do it.”

Then she leaned forward and kissed him full on the lips.

He was surprised, but not stupid. When a lovely young woman with warm, soft lips, decided to kiss a man, it wasn’t time to think. It was time to act.

So he kissed her back.

When she pulled back a moment later he asked, “What was that for?”

She smiled and stood. “I’d better go.”

He really liked how she said good-bye.

Kevlin handed her the lantern and fished one of Bajaran’s heavy purses from his burglar pack. She hugged him, turned, and marched up the path. Darkness swallowed her in seconds, but he stared after her for several minutes, struggling to understand the complex young woman.

What a waste of time. He’d proven he couldn’t understand women.

The kiss had been nice, but he wasn't a complete fool. Forget the fact that she seemed to have been falling for Terach just yesterday. She was still a noblewoman and he was not noble.

He turned and headed back toward the clearing.

With Ceren safely away, he could act.