“What about his men, which I’m sure he’ll have?” Lorna contests. “Am I to try and distract them all? By myself?”

“That’s a death sentence if things go awry,” Lin cracks.

Torrent scratches his head. “So, when Lorna distracts all the men, that’s when I assist you? Or do I wait?”

“Torrent could help me distract while you and Lin do the plundering,” Lorna suggests.

Braizen rubs his eyes. “I need someone to be the lookout. We can’t afford things to go sour and not have someone on higher ground. Besides, Lin isn’t good at stealing. We know this.”

“Well, I can’t afford for things to go sour when I’m distracting an entire fleet of men all by myself with only my hatchet. Better Lin proves himself a pitiful thief than me becoming a dead one,” she bites out. Even from my vantage point, I see her brows slant towards the bridge of her nose.

“I should do the stealing, Braze should be the lookout, Lin and Lorna do the distracting,” Torrent says. He rests his hands on his hips and smiles.

“You idiot,” Lin snaps. “The lookout must remain by the Princess! Braizen can’t be that close to her. It must be one of us, and I say it should be Lorna. Then, I’ll do the distracting, and you two can do the stealing.”

“How would you distract them? You think that if things go bad, you’ll clean them all out with your big crossbow?” Torr snickers. “We all know that I’m the only one who could take them all on and live to tell the tale.”

I almost cough, trying to stifle the scathing words that threaten to spill off my tongue. What an absolute mess they are. I wonder if I’m the first kidnapping they’ve managed to pull off, and I’m instantly filled with shame. Gods, I hope not. I can’t stomach the thought of all those Verdanian soldiers dying at the hands of these feeble first-time kidnappers.

They break their circle and pace in different directions while shouting at each other. They no longer try to hide their plan. Or lack thereof.

“We don’t even know if he has men with him!” Lin huffs, poking Torrent’s chest.

The giant grabs hold of his smaller colleague’s wrist. “We don’t know that he doesn’t!”

Lorna slaps her palms to her cheeks and lowers herself to rest on her haunches with a groan. “We need more people,” she says. “The four of us will kill each other before any nobleman gets the chance.” They continue to shout over each other.

“Look, Lorna can be on the lookout. I’ll leave her my bow, and she’ll give me her hatchet. Then—” Braizen is immediately cut off.

“What? I’m not giving you Nedson!”

“Nedson? Oh gods, Lorna, don’t tell me you named your weapon!”

“Why shouldn’t she? I’ve named my sword! Brazard!” Torrent bellows.

“Brazard? What in the four hells—”

“Okay, what if Torrent is the lookout, Lin is the distraction, and Lorna and I…”