Page 84 of Truth's Blade

Marchant’s compound was behind them, and they had negotiated the woods below his house and gone through the clearing with the bell, so far without anyone falling into a pit or dying some terrible, magic-induced death.

She knew her nerves were near snapping point, and the way Gallain and Ivan attacked the fence, she guessed she wasn’t the only one.

The horses hadn’t liked the narrow path and were happier to be out in the open, but Melodie and Theo had stressed there was a trap along the track that ran beside the fence, and the horses weren’t going to jump over it, so it had to come down.

“Hey! Hey, what are you doing?” A woman walked across a barren field toward them with a lantern lifted over her head. She appeared to be unarmed, but Viviane could see a man just behind her, keeping a little back so he was almost invisible in the shadows.

This must be Nena, the woman who owned the land that Theo had told them about. Viviane couldn’t blame her for being alarmed at her fence being destroyed.

Caro and Jacinta moved forward, both with knives in their hands, leaving Gallain and Ivan to finish flattening the fence.

Marchant hadn’t returned their swords, but all four of them had obviously had knives in their packs because they’d each found at least one as they’d moved through the forest, and now wore them at their belts.

“Soldiers?” Nena stopped in surprise.

“You steal children from Kassia and Cervantes, you get soldiers,” Caro said. Her voice was soft, but even Viviane shivered at the tone.

“No, I didn’t steal . . .” Nena’s gaze went to Vivi and the others, holding the horses’ reins on the track. “Marchant.” She said his name bitterly. “But why not use the track?” she asked, the heat gone completely from her voice.

“There’s a trap on the track,” Jacinta told her. “It warns Marchant who’s coming and going.”

“What do you mean, a trap?” The man finally got closer to Nena, so he was visible in the light from her lantern.

“A magical spiderweb built across the track. Every time you walk through it, Marchant knows.” Caro’s body shifted slightly, keeping the man directly in front of her.

He swore, the sound low and angry. “Did you know?” He turned to the woman.

She reared back and took a step away from him. “Did Iknow?” Her voice dripped with disdain. “I have barely been capable of tying my own boots for the last few years, and given how clear my mind is now, I’m betting you and Marchant had something to do with it.”

“Sorry.” He half-lifted a shoulder in a defensive move. “Of course you didn’t know.”

“You’re Gus?” Ivan joined Caro and Jacinta, while Gallain moved toward Vivi and the others, gesturing for them to walk the horses over the fallen fence.

The man flinched, and Vivi, carefully and slowly guiding a horse over the wooden planks, guessed from his reaction that he was.

He lifted both hands, and she saw he was holding a knife in one of them. “Gus?” he asked, trying for casual.

“He’s Gus,” Nena said. “Marchant’s faithful servant.”

“That’s a problem,” Caro said. “We understand you’re very likely to scurry off and let Marchant know we came this way. We aren’t going to let that happen.”

Gus spun, and bolted across the field.

Caro lifted her knife, her movements smooth and unhurried, and threw it.

With a strange half cry, half shout, Gus went down.

Ivan and Caro looked at each other, then jogged over to him.

Jacinta stood where she was, watching Nena.

But Nena had turned, and slowly walked after them, Jacinta shadowing her.

Caro pulled her knife out of Gus’s back, and he made another sound.

So he was obviously still alive.

“Theo and Melodie said you were probably no friend of Marchant.” Caro turned to Nena as she stood beside them, looking down.

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