The walk back to the ambush site is awkward. Caedi keeps trying to draw Yenna out, but the ranger just grunts in response to everything except when our buxom blonde tells her that Hypa has disappeared.

For that, Yenna turns thoughtful, asking a few pertinent questions before asking me, “You say the temple hospital was gone without a trace?”

I nod. “Yep. I’m no tracker but the foliage seemed completely undisturbed, including a few trees with trunks a couple feet in diameter. Old growth. The ground was uniform in its density. There was no sign the earth had ever been turned there for the foundation or even any posts for the frame. No hole for the latrine. No path to the pool. Nothing.”

Yenna purses her lips and smirks. “Pretty thorough for a novice.”

I drop a curtsy and say, “Thank you, milady.”

The ranger barks laughter, just a single surprised ha before she catches herself and her eyes grow troubled and she frowns, looking sadder than before.

Caedi backs off after that and we continue on in silence.

Wendy lingers and catches my eye, so I join her.

“Have you thought more about Caedi?” she asks in a low voice when the others are out of earshot.

“About making her a knight?” I say. “I don’t know. Caedi can fight but she’s more support than anything, you know? I mean, I love having her around, but if we ask her in wouldn’t that be putting her on the front line?”

“She’d be free to choose her role, if she joined,” says Wendy. “If she wants to stay in camp or in our rear line or something, that’d be up to her.”

“If this was a simple game, yes,” I say. “But there are other things going on. If we start calling ourselves the Knights of Hyparien and building our numbers, it’ll make us a target. All of us. Caedi’s so gentle and kind—.”

“Who better to represent us?” Wendy says. “A priestess of the goddess and a healer rather than some brute in plate? That’s much more us.”

It’s a good point. Why am I reluctant recruit Caedi anyway? It goes deeper than my stereotypical notions of knighthood and how they clash with her personality. It goes deeper than not wanting to see her hurt. No, I remember her face when the goddess cursed that kid for hurting that dog. Hyparien did that through her, using Caedi's body. It hurt me to see her afterward, not just upset, but in pain from harming another, even if her goddess condoned it personally. If Caedi becomes a knight it implies that we’ll be fighting. Hurting.

I think Wendy and I like combat. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to say so out loud. I’m ashamed of it. I’m not supposed to like harming others and, to be fair, that’s not the part of it I enjoy. Oh, there’s a certain satisfaction in it that sickens me, yes, but it’s more about the testing of the self, the bringing of justice, and the outcome. I’ll only fight to protect. So, if I win then somebody who would’ve been harmed has either been saved or avenged or both. That's something I can be proud of.

I’ve only seen Caedi fight when she had no choice. Where it was her life or the other person’s, and I swear I could see how each blow she landed damaged her in some fundamental way. When Caedi fights there’s no way for her to do so without hurting herself, even when she wins. I hate that. I tear up just thinking about it.

“What?” says Wendy. “What is it?”

I shake my head. “We can ask her,” is all I can say. Most of me hopes she’ll say no.

 

 

Yenna studies the bloody ground now devoid of bodies and wagons, muttering to herself. She walks to where Captain Gray died. “Fighting most intense here,” she says under her breath. “Five or six dead or badly wounded. Drag marks.”

She walks to the west edge of the road, hesitates, and then disappears into the woods without a word.

The three of us look at each other.

Wendy shrugs and moves to follow.

We take about three steps when Yenna reemerges.

“Stay here,” the ranger tells us. “They have some woodcraft and have tried to confuse the trail. You'll only add to it if you come along for now. Give me time. Wait.”

Caedi says, “Okay.”

And Yenna is gone.

Wendy smiles.

I sigh.

Caedi says, “What? Did I miss something?”

“No,” says Wendy. “Not at all. Um, did Hypa ever tell you about the mission Hyparien gave us?”

Caedi gasps, “No! A mission?”

Wendy nods. “Mark and I are to establish a secret order of knights, the Knights of Hyparien, where we right wrongs and serve love in her name. We thought that being deputies in Fort Reach would be a good start.”

Caedi says, “Oh, I agree. Fort Reach is a good place, but it has its troubles. I know that Hypa and Mabel Negark were thinking of attempting to establish the town as a haven for Pollies. I know that it’s primarily an adventure-based place, but they’ll need farmers and drovers and workers and everything else if it’s going to grow. That will draw the King’s Paladins and other trouble. They’ll need protectors and you will be excellent at that. Oh, what a good idea!” She seems so happy. Her gray-green eyes are flashing.

I decide that I’d better take part in this and say, “We were thinking you could join us.”

“Me?” says Caedi. “I’m a priestess. Priestesses aren’t knights.”

“Why not?” asks Wendy.

Caedi frowns and blinks.

“Why not?” Wendy says again. “If it’s our order we can set our own stipulations and requirements. Knights fight and defend for good reasons. So do you. It’s a good fit.”

Caedi stares at Wendy. She starts to say something and stops herself. Tries again and fails.

Wendy says, “Just think about it. We can talk later, if you want. There’s no rush.”

“Okay,” says Caedi. “I’m so flattered you asked me, Mark. Wendy. It’s just….”

“You need to think about it,” says Wendy. “Pray for guidance. We get it.”

No, there’s something else going on again. Something I’m missing. Something they know damned well I’ll piece together if they give me any more data.

I know it’s not anything bad. I know it. Look at them. There’s guilt there, yes, but it’s more along the lines of “I ate the last cookie” or “I went ahead and watched that movie we were going to watch together” or something like that. Right? Maybe a bit worse?

It’s not “I need help hiding the body” or “Remember when I said I didn’t have herpes?”

It’s not.

There’s no sadness to the guilt. Nothing dark. Instead, it’s a tension. A waiting. A confusion and complication.

And I’ve given my word not to pursue it, goddammit.

Wendy changes the subject to the various places to eat in Fort Reach, which they seem very relieved by, but I watch and listen, unable to help myself.

 

 

An hour later, Yenna reappears on the road in the exact spot where she left it.

“They’ve been trained in woodcraft,” she says. “Pretty good at it too.”

“But not better than you,” says Caedi.

Yenna nods once. “No. They threw me off a couple of times but the dead and wounded they carry?” She shakes her head. “Too difficult. Deeper tracks from added weight. Blood. Drag marks. Come.”

We follow her into the woods.

Yenna leads us. She doesn’t say anything and hisses us quiet whenever somebody says something or makes too much noise. She sometimes points meaningfully at a patch of ground, indicating part of the trail the kobolds left behind.

I don’t know about the others but I don’t see a damn thing when she does that. I mean, I nod sagely each time, sure, and try to look impressed. If it occurs to her to just randomly point at things for no reason to make me look ridiculous, I’ll make a great fool of myself.

Wendy looks like she wants to ask questions. With her high perception, I’m sure she is seeing some of the signs Yenna’s pointing out, but the big ranger doesn’t seem inclined to teach and gives us no opportunity to talk.

An hour later she holds up a hand and we come to a halt. Yenna and then Caedi both squat so we can talk quietly.

The ranger says, “Here is where they stop trying to obscure the trail and start moving with speed. My guess is they’re trying to get home before the more severely wounded bleed out. I need to know your intentions.” She looks at each of us and pulls a hank of matted hair away from her black irised eyes.

“What do you mean?” I ask.

“There are four of us and many of them,” says Yenna. “I assume you do not mean to attack.”

“No,” I say. “This is more of an observe and report type thing. We need to know who their go-between is with Fort Reach and Teeg’s people.”

“Manver Teeg?” says Yenna.

Wendy says, “Yes, we think he’s in touch with the kobolds. Do you know him?”

“By reputation,” says Yenna. “A dangerous man. So, we’re to spy on them. Difficult. If they have a den, which seems likely, they will have lookouts.”

“Training,” I say. “Everything about these bandits points to them being highly trained. But by who?”

“The woodcraft is classic Borisold Stonehand,” says Yenna.

“What?” I say.

“Borisold Stonehand,” says Yenna. “He’s good at confusing a trail. Walks backwards over his own tracks, relaying moss, false—.”

“There’s a Nelden Stonehand in Fort Reach,” says Wendy. “He works for Gorminiel as a forester. I met him.”

Yenna shrugs.

“Do not move,” comes a rough voice from above.

Yenna sighs. “He’s also famous for setting up pickets and ambushes.” She holds up her hands and her eyes flick around. “Very very good. There are too many,” she says. “Twenty. Twenty-five.”
We all hold up our hands.

We are disarmed and gathered into a line. Caedi is in front, then Wendy, then me, and last Yenna. We’re led, single-file, twenty minutes deeper into the forest. A rise appears to our right and we’re herded to its left, and down a slope. Below, a brook babbles through a deep green sward of grass. Above, is the mouth of a cavern ringed with kobold warriors.

The leader of the group who caught us is speaking with a tall kobold, maybe a foot taller than I am, with shining black armor. I’ve seen him before, leading the raid on Randon Frent’s caravan.

He sees me recognize him and steps over to us.

“How many are you?” he says in a deep voice for someone so small. “How far away?”

“There’s just us,” I say.

“Lies.”

“No,” I say. “No, we aren’t here to fight you. We need to know who you’ve been talking to in Fort Reach.”

“You were sent to find us,” he says. “We are to die.” He’s not shouting. It’s like he doesn’t want his people to hear. I remember what Sheriff Cronk told me happens to kobold dens when they’re discovered. They get burned out, he said. I feel sick that anyone would associate us with something like that.

“No, we’re not here for that,” I say. “Just tell us what we need to know and we’ll leave you be.”

He points at me. “You kill us when you find us,” he says. “That’s what you do.”

“And you are bandits,” I say.

“Because you keep your secrets!”

“What secrets?”

“You plant fields and keep animals and store food,” he says. “When we ask how, we’re slain. We’ve no choice but to raid. You leave us no choice!”

I look at Yenna and Caedi.

Yenna shrugs. She seems wildly unconcerned. It’s not difficult to understand how dangerous our situation is. If the kobolds expect us to wipe them out if they’re discovered, then killing us is their only protection. I get the feeling Yenna might be okay with that.

Caedi says, “Kobolds are seen as monsters by many. Others say that they used to be exactly that but have changed. The world sometimes is not kind in allowing change. How else are they to learn food storage and farming?”

There’s a commotion up by the cave. A crowd has gathered and now there’s just as many warriors watching us as there are preventing kobolds from getting a good look at us. I see two or three women holding children, fear in their eyes. Some of the others’ scales are more gray than green. One of them is stooped and limps. Old age?

I look back at the big kobold. “We can make a deal. Teachers in exchange for the information we need. Either way, whether we reach a deal or not, you have my word that we’ll never tell anybody where your den is. We don’t do things like that. We'll have to come up with some alternative to the raids. Those will have to stop.”

Wendy nods, looking determined.

Caedi nods.

Yenna shrugs.

Arrows start thudding into kobolds from the trees. Shouting men in heavy armor run out with swords and axes.

The big kobold’s eyes grow big and he draws a wicked sword, preparing to run me through.