He jerked his head toward her, and there was anger in his eyes. “Like betraying my people by giving information to defeat them to the Society?”

“Like betraying the Society and giving information to the House of Shadows.”

“I would never do that,” he snapped. “Society before tribe.”

“In the abstract, yes. In reality, they’re still your people.”

He didn’t say anything, just crossed his arms and stared into the endless flames. Finally, when she didn’t speak again, he asked, “Did you take the wall down?”

“I don’t know. Maybe? I was still connected to the wall through Mei.” Kerrigan looked down and then met his mercurial gaze. “She was one of you, you know?”

“One of what?”

“She was from Charbonnet. She was the ambassador.”

Fordham looked back at her, all defiance in his expression. “No, she wasn’t. I would have known that. Our people wouldn’t have done that to us.”

“The Society was going to bring down the mountain and kill everyone inside,” Kerrigan told him. “Men, women, and children.”

He stilled. “They were going to destroy Ravinia Mountain?”

“Yes. Mei believed the only way to save you was to make the Society forget where the House of Shadows was. There were unintended consequences, and truly, I believe it lasted longer than she’d thought it would.”

“It was done as protection… and not punishment,” he said, as if tasting that for the first time.

“Yes. And when I learned that, I was connected to the wall, to her memories.”

Fordham nodded solemnly. “It’s good that it’s down. People should have a choice.”

“They should,” she agreed. “I wish it hadn’t come to this.”

He nodded, and then without a word, he stepped into his tent and shut the flap. She closed her eyes with a sigh. She’d tried. He knew everything she did now. What he did with it was another thing.

Kerrigan wasn’t sure what woke her up.

The camp was alive at all hours of the night. Everyone was on a rotating watch. Scouts were moving in and out. Not to mention, the rustling, groaning, and snoring that made up a war camp. It was dirty, smelly, and loud.

But something was different, and it wasn’t the camp that had woken her in the middle of the night. Well before dawn—when they would convene for their opening attack. She grabbed her cloak and scrambled out of the tent. She stepped silently to the next tent. As gently as she could, she pushed the flap open to nothing but air.

Fordham wasn’t here.

She knew it.