Page 50 of Truth's Blade

She wondered if this was a coincidence, or if they had some news to share about Viviane, and where she was.

A soldier came to take her mount to the river to drink, and she murmured a word of thanks and then stepped forward so she was shoulder to shoulder with Luc, eager to find out why they were here.

“My queen.” One of the riders obviously recognized her and bowed his head and put a fist to his heart, and the other three followed suit, shock at the sight of her etched on their faces.

This salute was something Luc had told her to stop fighting against. He had started it, so she blamed him for its entrenchment. Way back when the Rising Wave had first taken Fernwell and established control of Kassia, she had plannedto divest herself of the title and move the country to a parliamentary system, like Grimwalt.

That had been harder than she’d thought it would be, and when it was discovered that Grimwalt’s parliament had been corrupted by a spell worker, it had become even more difficult to shift the old ways.

Eventually, she had settled on a compromise. She wasn’t exactly a figurehead, her word still carried weight, but she was no longer the only decision-maker in Kassia and Cervantes. The people had some say in their own fate.

“We were hoping to meet you on the road,” one of the soldiers said.

“You’re based in Illoa, aren’t you, Tiano?” Gunnar, one of the older soldiers, asked, and the woman nodded.

“We were sent by our captain to help General Bardet if he needed assistance on his way to Ta-lin, and to bring news about developments.”

“Theo was at your barracks?” Rafe asked.

Ava realized that was the only way they could know Rafe would be traveling this way.

Her breath hitched as she realized these soldiers had actual news.

Luc reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezed it gently, and she wondered if he was warning her not to expect too much.

“He was in Illoa, sir.” Tiano turned to Rafe respectfully. “He rode into Grimwalt, following after the abductor, and Captain Draper gave him four soldiers to accompany him.”

“Listen up.” Luc raised his voice, cutting off the rising murmurs. “Everyone eat, drink, rest for a bit.”

There were interested gazes that told Ava the other soldiers knew they were being excluded from a more in-depth debrief, but they also knew they’d find out eventually, so suddenly theunit of thirty scattered, the noise level increased, and the tension seemed to lessen.

“Let’s talk,” Luc said to Tiano. His gaze swept over the other three. “All of you.”

He led them to the side, and Rafe and Lineka came with them.

Lineka’s son Jonquil was one of the other abductees, and Ava shared a quick, hopeful look with him as they gathered around.

“Give us everything, Tiano. Including impressions. And if anyone has something different to say, you say it.” Luc’s order was implacable.

“Sir.” Tiano stiffened at the order, face earnest. “Two nights ago, Lieutenant Hallan came into the barracks. He had no weapons and he looked terrible. He asked for the captain, and then after the captain finished speaking with him, she called us in. She said when we met up with you, you would want to know everything, and so she gave us information that we would not usually be high enough in rank to know.”

“She was right,” Luc said. “Keep going, soldier.”

Tiano cleared her throat. “Lieutenant Hallan said he followed the abductor in the direction of Grimwalt, and found his camp. He saw the children, alive but bound, lying around the fire, and he circled them, looking for the abductor or abductors. Suddenly, a man was behind him, and the lieutenant told Captain Draper he thought perhaps he had been wearing something to make himself invisible, because he would have seen him earlier, otherwise.”

Ava felt a shiver down her arms. She had worn something that made her invisible many times.

“He and the magic user fought, and as the lieutenant struck a blow, he said something was done to him. He was on the ground, unable to breathe. The man told him he was too much to handle,given he had the children as well, and then he remembered nothing more.”

“So he escaped later?” Ava asked, and the shiver turned into a chill. The description of the children bound up had her hoping there was no magic rope involved in this. She felt nauseous at the thought of someone who was holding her precious baby, or any child, having something like what had been used on her long ago. Sucking away her life and her spirit.

“He . . .” Tiano looked at the other three, as if nervous about what she was going to say next.

“It doesn’t matter what it is,” Luc told her, voice gentle. “We need to hear it.”

“It’s just . . .” Tiano shrugged and blew out a breath. “Lieutenant Hallan says he was turned into a goat sometime after he was made unconscious.” She hesitated, then plowed on. “But the lieutenant had hurt the abductor in the struggle and he thinks the man was unconscious or badly hurt. He was found by another trader on the road who was headed to the Illoa market on the Grimwalt side. For some reason, instead of keeping him, though, he tied him to the bridge, as a tribute to Malin.”

Luc looked over at Ava, face slack with surprise. As if asking her if it was even possible.

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