When Commander Crayn came to claim his monarch, Third Father took her place. With a gentleness like reverence, he cupped the old woman’s hand between his as if his touch might comfort her passing.

Holding Estie upright, Crayn murmured for her alone, “We must not linger here, Majesty. Where there are two such men, there must be more. There may be many more.”

He was not trying to frighten her. It was his task to guard her. To take care of her. He did what he could.

Nevertheless his warning reached her. The killers cooling in death on the grass were only the first of their kind. There might be hundreds. Or thousands. An army of the Great God’s men might already be in Amika, hidden to avoid the notice of spies and scouts.

“How—?” Estie had to swallow several times before she could make a sound. “How did they get here?”

“Across the lands of the Nuuri?” suggested Crayn. “I have no other answer, Majesty.”

Still kneeling at Magister Facile’s side, the monk said gently, “It can be done. If they traveled in small groups, or alone, and did nothing to molest the herds, the Nuuri might let them pass.” After a pause, he added, “I have done it.”

With a hand on her arm, the Commander directed Estie toward the carriage. “We must go, Majesty. We can protect you better when we are mounted and moving.”

She nodded; but she stayed where she was. The suddenness of violence and blood numbed her. She could not simply walk away from Magister Facile’s murder.

She felt sure that the priest was killed to silence him. She wanted to know what he might have told her. More lies and deflections? No. It would have been the truth.

Now she would never know. But she believed that nothing less than an attack on Amika and the bridges would justify his murder.

When Crayn’s touch became a gentle tug, she forced herself to respond. “Yes, Commander. We must go.

“Leave these dead to the wolves.” Queen Estie grimaced as she indicated Father Knout and his guards. Were there wolves in this region of Amika? She hoped so. “But I will not allow Magister Facile to become carrion. She has already given too much of herself. She will not give her flesh.” As hungry as a vulture, sorrow beat its wings around Estie’s head. “We will take her with us. Treat her gently. Wrap her well. We will build a cairn for her when we reach more rocky terrain.”

Commander Crayn bowed. “As you say, Majesty.” In a moment, he began shouting orders at his men.

As they scrambled to obey, the Queen added, “The messengers, Crayn. Send one to Maloresse. The others must reach King Bifalt and General Klamath. They need to know what has happened here. They need to know what we fear.”

Again, the Commander promised, “As you say, Majesty.”