Telari's Arc

Chapter 13 of 11

Telari knelt by the dead scout. Blood soaked the dirt beneath him. Below the ridge, the walled camp turned like a slow machine. Someone would notice the scout gone. When they did, they would climb the path and find him, and then they would know an enemy watched from the high ground. She had killed him fast. Now the body would betray her if she left it. "He'll be missed," she said. "They send scouts up and back. When he doesn't return, they'll come." Katt crouched beside her. Bladestorm stayed at his hip, but he drew his short sword instead, the twist-marked blade catching the light. He didn't ask why. He looked at the corpse, then swept his eyes across the ridge. He was quieter than usual, the way he went when the work mattered. "Ground's open here," he said. "No cover." Telari scanned the slope. To the side, a stand of thick bushes grew against the rocks. Their branches hung low and tangled. "There," she said. "The bushes. Deep enough to swallow him." They moved fast. Telari took the scout's shoulders. Katt lifted the legs. The man was heavier than he looked, dead weight dragging at her arms. They carried him low, backs bent, staying below the line of the ridge. Grey Leia paced ahead, ears flat, listening toward the camp. The white lion held the rear, watching the path they'd climbed. At the bushes Telari parted the branches. Katt swung the body in. It rolled into the dark tangle and stopped. She pushed the branches back into place. From two steps away, nothing showed. Then Katt pointed his short sword at the satchel still hanging from the horse. The scout's mount stood at the path edge, reins loose. "Horse," he said. "They'll see it." He was right. A riderless horse would draw eyes faster than a missing man. Telari caught the reins and led the animal into the trees below the ridge. She tied it deep, out of sight from the slope. Its breath steamed in the cold. When she came back, Katt had wiped his blade clean and sheathed it. He crouched by the bushes, eyes on the camp again. "Done," he said. "For now." Telari looked down at the seams she'd smoothed over the body. No blood in the open. No horse. No sign an arrow had ever flown up here. She let out a slow breath. The camp still moved below, blind to her. But the scout had ridden up with a purpose. He had carried her own forged order back. That meant the mastermind expected an answer. When no scout returned to give one, the doubt in that marked page would harden into certainty. She had bought hours, not safety. "He'll wait for word," she said. "And we just made sure word never comes." Katt met her eyes. "Then we don't wait either."