Behind them, a cheer arose as a Pelmaran foot-soldier passing in the ranks jabbed at the ridge of Calandor’s tail with the butt-end of his spear. It set a trend. Sick at heart, Lilias twisted in the saddle to watch as each passing man ventured a thrust or a kick, bits of stone crumbling under their blows. One of them spat.

“Darden.” Blaise beckoned to one of the dun-cloaked Borderguardsmen. “Tell them to stop.”

The man nodded, turning his horse’s head and riding back down the line. The order was received with grumbling, but it was obeyed. After the battle, few of Haomane’s Allies would venture to disobey one of the Borderguard.

“Thank you.” Lilias spoke the words without looking at him.

Blaise shrugged, shifting his grip on the twin sets of reins. “He was one of the Eldest. If nothing else, that is worthy of a measure of respect.”

The train continued, passing over the well-trodden ground of its own encampment. The vast city of tents had been struck and folded, but the ravages of their occupation remained. Trees had been clear-cut for siege-engines and battering rams, leaving raw stumps and scattered debris. Ashes and bones littered the sites of a hundred campfires. Gazing at it, Lilias shook her head. “He was only trying to protect his home,” she said. “To protect me.”

Blaise gave her a hard look. “Tell that to the mothers and widows of the men he roasted alive in their armor.”

In the forefront of the vanguard, their column narrowed as Aracus Altorus entered the verge of the forest. The pine shadows muted his red-gold hair and gave a watery green tint to the silver armor of the Rivenlost who surrounded him.

“You could have withdrawn,” Lilias said quietly. “It would have been enough.”

“And you could have surrendered!” A muscle worked in Blaise’s jaw. “What do you want from me, Sorceress? Pity? You chose to take part in the Sunderer’s scheme. You could have surrendered when it failed, and pleaded for honest clemency.”

She laughed mirthlessly. “Would my fate be different, Borderguardsman?”

“Yours?” He raised his brows. “No.”

“So.” She rubbed her cheeks, stiff with the salt of drying tears. “It doesn’t matter, does it? Nothing matters, in the end. Let us leave it at that, Borderguardsman. If you would speak, speak of something else.”

He shrugged as they entered the shadow of the pines. “Aracus entrusted me with the task of warding you. I have no need to speak.”