Page 49 of Stars May Burn

I dispatched two more soldiers, another soulless and an ordinary guard, my detector giving me plenty of warning and my freisk knife making short work of monsters that were considered notoriously difficult to kill.

I wondered how long I would have survived these battles without Callum. Not very long at all, probably.

I’d told the king about the advantages of equipping each Fenland soldier with a simple yadum knife before, but he had shrugged the idea away, saying they were too expensive and difficult to use for standard issue. The metal was soft, so you had to slash and avoid parrying it against a more standard metal.

So Callum equipped my regiment and they survived while others died. Although, when Callum made so many that most of the people of Kasomere had a ceremonial one, I suspected it was his own gesture of defiance against the king.

We didn’t have enough of Callum’s illegal devices for everyone in the regiment, but the least we could give them was simple yadum. The soulless were difficult to kill without it.

I made it to the room above the commander’s room and flicked the switch on my fansifold knife to activate it. Once it was glowing red, I burned a small hole through the floorboards. My detector rang with dozens of high-pitched tones, all moving below me. That wasn’t a good sign. Soulless couldn’t command, so it suggested the room below was packed with unchanged soldiers and their soulless guards.

I lay on my stomach and looked through the hole. Sure enough, soldiers were gathered around a map spread on a gigantic table. Others looked out the huge windows into the darkness. I counted ten soulless and fourteen soldiers. Despite my calm focus, my heart rate elevated. One wore a red cloak and was clearly in command. They spoke in Kollen, and I listened to the words, translating what I could in my head. Something about needing supply lines and reinforcements before they could go farther.

They were planning to secure Whitehill as their base and advance into Fenland.

I rubbed my chin. We had to get them out before more soldiers could arrive to fortify this place, or we’d never manage it—not without the king suffering loses across all his armies.

The door opened, and a woman dressed in dark leathers hurried in. I guessed from her lightweight clothing and slight figure that she was a scout. She did the sharp half-bow that was customary to their commander and spoke in a hurried tone.

Immediately, all eyes were on her as the room quieted. I heard the Kollen words for ‘enemy’ and ‘camp’ and ‘beyond the hills.’

My blood ran cold. She grabbed a stone painted blue from a pile and placed it on the giant map exactly where our camp was…no longer hidden.

This was too soon. We had hoped to avoid detection until morning at the earliest so we could assess the situation and move first. If our men were surprised now, late in the night and tired from the ride, we’d be overrun in moments. The soulless had far better vision in the dark.

I had to disrupt their leadership, and I had to do it now.

I made a wide hole with the fansifold knife, pushing hard and fast enough for the wood to become smoke and embers to flicker, then I dropped into the room full of enemies.

Sophie

Miss Claris strode up to me and shoved the tonics into my arms. I took a step back from the force.

“Why haven’t you been taking them? Do you know the effort your father went through to procure such high-quality tonics? Or are you pregnant already?”

I could only blink at her.

Meena took the box from me and set it on the ground before angling herself between me and Miss Claris. Her voice was hard. “Is that how you speak to the lady of this house? I thought you were her maid.”

Meena’s retort shook me out of my stunned shock. I licked my lips and looked between the two women. It would be easy to hide behind Meena and let her deal with the situation, but it wasn’t just fear of disobeying Kasten’s previous orders for Miss Claris to not be in his house that made my heart pound. I didn’t want Miss Claris here. I didn’t want to see her ever again.

Did that make me a terrible person? She had devoted over twenty years to serving and guiding me. I owed her a lot.

But I didn’t need her anymore. I didn’t want her or this sickening, tightening feeling in my chest when I saw her. I didn’t want to worry about how thin my waist was or how tidy my hairstyle or how long I should stay out in the sun in case it darkened my skin. And most of all, I didn’t want to tell her about how Kasten had shown no interest in spending the night with me.

I reached out and touched Meena’s arm and motioned for her to move to one side. I focused on my former maid. When I stood straight, I was an inch taller than Miss Claris. How strange that I had never noticed that before.

“Miss Claris, you are completely out of turn.”

Her eyes widened in surprise. “Forgive me, my lady. I didn’t watch my tone. But I was so surprised you had not…”

“Did you come with George?”

She opened and closed her mouth before nodding.

“He’s returning back to Adenburg straightaway. Since you’re not under my employ, I suggest you ensure you don’t miss his carriage. I am grateful for your concern and how you’ve looked after me for many years, but I am no longer your charge.”

Miss Claris’s fists tightened and red bloomed on her cheeks. “I have just ridden in that stuffy, hot carriage for eight hours to see you once I heard your husband was away.” She threw a distrusting look at Meena. “He’s not here to object to my presence, so there’s no need for you to act like this. I’ve been so worried about you. You didn’t even bother to reply to my letter. Will you really receive me in such a cold manner after everything I’ve done for you?” The corners of her eyes tightened with hurt.

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