We tethered the horses in the trail where someone would find them if we didn’t make it back. We took off our mail and anything else that would clatter, and darkened our faces with the readily available mud before starting out in the darkness.

Travel by stealth at night is slow. By the time we smelled their campfire, it was already second watch. I sent Axiel, with his dwarven eyesight, out to scout the camp and hunkered down with the others under the shelter of a small fir tree.

Something cold and wet touched my forearm. I glanced down and saw it was Tisala’s hand. I tucked it against my side, warming it.

Axiel came back too soon with a report. “I make out twelve of them,” he said. “At least there’s a dozen horses with riding saddles. There are four tents that could hold as many as five men each. He’s got three people on watch, two armsmen dressed in the colors of Jakoven’s own guard and someone in dark clothing who stinks of foul magic.”

“Can you tell which tent Jakoven’s in?” I asked. We had to get to Jakoven first, so he couldn’t use the Bane.

Axiel shook his head. “They’re all alike.”

“He’ll be in a tent alone,” said Garranon with certainty. “He doesn’t trust Jade Eyes enough to sleep with him. All the wizards will be by themselves in another tent. The guardsmen will share the other two. If there’s a way to do it, his tent will be surrounded by the others.”

Axiel grabbed a handful of stones and wordlessly laid out the camp as he’d seen it. Garranon hesitated over the two central tents.

“One of these will be the wizards’ and the other Jakoven’s,” he said.

“Right,” I said. “We all will go in at the same time as quietly as possible. Oreg will take this tent.” I pointed at one of the tents Garranon held suspect. “I’ll take the tent here. Hopefully, that’ll give the two of us the mages. Axiel, Garranon, Tisala, and Tosten stay together and stop here.” I set my hand between the tents that held the guards, so that any of the guards had to fight their way through my fighters to get to the wizards. “Wait to strike until the attacks on the mages start or until the sentries call alert. If we can kill the mages before they think to do anything nasty, it’ll be the better for us.”

“Kill them all,” said Garranon. “It’ll look bad for Kellen’s cause—an assassination rather than justice. But we don’t want word of the Bane to make anyone else greedy for it.”

“Fine,” I said, having come to the same conclusion myself. “Any better suggestions? Any questions or objections? Once we leave this tree, we need to be silent until we reach the camp.”