Page 43 of Heart of Defiance

It’s Landric—looking for me, apparently. His tone sounds concerned.

Iko grumbles a curse, and I snatch at my clothes. Jostein yanks up his trousers.

We emerge from the tent probably looking like people who were doing exactly what we were doing. I’m still straightening my tunic, vaguely aware of my well-rumpled hair. Iko’s shirt hangs partly open, and Jostein is simply carrying his rather than pulling it back on. As if hewantsour recent activities to be obvious.

When the squad leader folds his arms over his chest, staring through the forest, I get the impression he’s staking a claim, even if it doesn’t exclude his friend.

Landric has passed us by, wandering between the tents. I clear my throat, my cheeks prickling with a sudden heat. “I’m over here.”

He spins on his heel and then simply stops, taking in the three of us. The heat in my face flares, but I keep my chin high and my gaze steady.

A hint of a flush creeps over Landric’s face in turn, but to give him credit, he doesn’t avert his gaze or go storming off. “I didn’t mean to interrupt anything.”

“That’s all right,” Iko says, draping his arm across my shoulders in a possessive gesture of his own. “This lovely woman has been well taken care of. You wanted to talk to her?”

Landric fumbles with his words. “I—yes—there—” He pauses, swallows, and seems to gather himself. “I wanted to speak with you before going to the officers, since this is really your rebellion. I had an idea for the next time we confront the Darium army.”

A hint of a smile touches his lips. “You could say your trick with the lissweld pollen inspired me.”

Chapter Sixteen

Signy

Captain Amalia grimaces as she smears the yellowish green algae over her dark skin. “You’re sure this part is absolutely necessary?”

Landric’s mouth twists apologetically. “Unless you like the idea of getting stung by a horde of wasps.”

“No, I suppose I’d prefer to avoid that outcome.” She shakes her head. “Well, even if the stings don’t do the job well enough, the stink should keep the Darium soldiers far enough away they won’t be able to murder us.”

Her dry tone and the ridiculousness of the situation shock a laugh from my throat despite the tension balled tight inside me.

I restrain a grimace of my own as I dip my hand into the murky pond. The odor that rises off the water makes me think of rotting fish. A shudder runs through me as I slather more algae across my arms and onto my cheeks.

But it’ll be worth it if it means we can carve a bigger holein the Darium army. At least the summer day is warm enough that the dampness isn’t unpleasant too.

Iko uses a stick to swirl the film that coats the surface of the water, his own tan skin already yellowed by drying algae. “Hard to believe anything else can live in this mess.”

“I don’t think much does,” Landric says, straightening up. He’s streaked the slimy stuff even through his coppery hair, but somehow he’s still handsome with his eagerness to share his knowledge brightening his expression. “The harvesters cultivate these ponds around the marl tree forests so they have easy access to the algae when they need it. I don’t think they care about much else.”

As we step back from the pond to give more of our allies a chance to slather themselves in the protective vegetation, Jostein shakes his head. “I wonder how the nobles on their estates would feel if they knew how much of a stink surrounds their fine furniture.”

Landric chuckles. “That’s why marlwood is so expensive—dealing with the damned wasps. But I don’t think the people who buy the products made from it give it much thought beyond knowing that type of wood is a valuable commodity.”

He knows because of the work his family does—because of how he’s helped his merchant parents with their business. When he presented his plan to me and then the officers last night, he explained that it’d occurred to him there was a marlwood forest within a few hours’ march of our current camp.

I examine my limbs for any patches of bare skin I might have missed. “What happens if the algae doesn’t ward the wasps off enough and they sting us too?”

Landric’s voice softens. “That shouldn’t happen. Not when they’ll have plenty of other targets to take out their annoyance on. But just a few stings will only hurt a lot andslow down your reactions. It takes several for full paralysis to set in. The only deaths I’ve ever heard of were unprepared folk stumbling into a stretch of marl trees and stirring up an awful lot of the wasps. They don’t even come out from their tunnels unless they’re disturbed.”

Of course, we’re going to be purposefully provoking the insects from their preferred home just beneath the bark of the trees. But I guess marlwood wouldn’t be a commodity at all if the harvesters couldn’t cut down trees to harvest it without being stung to death.

I’m not sure how well-known marlwood is in our neighboring realms, let alone all the way to Dariu. It’s possible someone in the Darium force is aware of its unique relationship with the wasps. But it seems unlikely they’d also be aware of exactly where the local supply happens to come from.

As we tramp around the edge of the forest, I breathe through my mouth to avoid the worst of the stench. At least we’re all in this smelly situation together.

Over where the woodland comes up on the nearby road, there’s a stretch with about a quarter mile of more peaceful trees—cultivated purposefully so that travelers through this area don’t accidentally set off a wasp attack. We’ve removed the signs warning of the marl trees beyond. Several of our soldiers are setting up tents and scattering equipment so it looks as if we were using this part of the forest as a camp rather than an ambush.

The Darium army won’t be quite as quick to charge after us now that we’ve played one trick on them. We need them to think they’ve caught us rather than that we welcomed the fight.

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