To bind a broken man, by word or thread or chain, was ever a lost cause. Worse yet, how likely was the broken man to in turn break all that was given to him, including young Faror Hend? Was it not Gallan who wrote ‘On trembling floor / ashes will flow’, and would not Faror’s world tremble so in the company of Kagamandra Tulas? He will dust her, coat her from head to toe, and she will become the hue of stone, a statue blind to every garden. Gallan, you should write about this betrothal, and set it well upon a stage. I see knives in the wings.

Serap leaned close, ale-soured breath hot on Sharenas’s cheek, ‘Join us tonight, will you? See how heated it’s all become? Blood rushes close under the skin at times like these.’

‘What times would those be?’ Sharenas asked drily.

On Serap’s other side, Sevegg giggled behind her hand.

Hunn Raal’s whores. That’s all they are. He brings them and casts them out among those he would make into allies or, Abyss forbid, friends. But I’m not interested in that, dear captain. I fall in on your cause, as will my sister and cousin. Be content with that, lest you sour my regard. She stepped away from the cousins, evading a drunken paw from Risp, and strode from the main room.

In the small compound, she found Tulas saddling a horse. Six Wardens were doing the same with their own mounts, while a dozen of their comrades checked over the kits of those soon to leave the fort. Lanternlight played out yellow and filled with night insects. Sharenas found a groom standing nearby and gestured him over. ‘Ready my horse,’ she told him. ‘I will ride with them.’

The boy hurried away.

Looking up, she saw Tulas staring across at her.

Sharenas walked to him. ‘You know my skill with a spear,’ she said.

He continued studying her for a moment longer, and then turned back to his horse. ‘You are most welcome, Sharenas Ankhadu, and I thank you.’

‘There is too little love in the world to see it so endangered.’

She saw how her words made him stiffen – but slightly, as he was a man used to self-control. ‘Have you spoken to Spinnock Durav?’ she asked.

‘I did, before exhaustion took him.’

‘Then we have a trail awaiting us.’

‘Yes.’

The groom returned with her horse. She resigned herself to a long, wearying ride. But she was determined to witness this pursuit. Anyway, better the horse than the whore. If that Durav had eyes open this night, well, I might have stayed in the fort. A most handsome young warrior.

I wonder if Finarra and Faror shared him out there in the wilds?

Amused by the thought, she climbed into the saddle and took up the reins.

The others were ready. The gate was opened once more this night, and they all rode out.

* * *