Page 32 of The Threadbare Queen

“I heard General Daikin died on the battlefield,” Luc said.

“We heard that, too.” The leader lifted his shoulders. “Don’t care either way.”

Luc made a careful note of how many stragglers stood in the clearing. “Do you know how many more of you there might be out here?”

“Haven’t seen anyone else out here.” The leader met his gaze squarely, but Luc had the feeling he was lying.

That was okay. He didn’t expect trust or truth from men who had been his deadly enemies until two weeks ago, after which they became his conquered enemies.

“Are you really saying we won’t be imprisoned if we turn ourselves in?” One of the men in the group called.

“I’m giving you my word on it, if you hand in your weapons and make no trouble. There is plenty of work available in the rebuilding of Kassia, and every soldier who wants to sign up is accepted.”

“You’re headed for Jatan, aren’t you?” The leader spoke softly for the first time, although more from surprise than in an effort to limit who heard him.

“And if I am, do you have any advice for me?” Luc asked.

The man nodded. “I reckon I do. They’ll put up a brave front right to the bitter end, that lot. They won’t lose face for anything. They could be bleeding out, close to death, and as long as they think you don’t know it, they’ll pretend they’re the ones about to score victory.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Luc touched his horse’s flank, and it began walking, skirting around the group. “Go well.”

Rafe and Massi followed, and Luc sensed the surprise and relief from the soldiers as they realised they were really not going to have to fight.

“Seems wrong, just letting them be.” Massi spoke as soon as they were out of sight, amongst the trees.

“They couldn’t believe it, themselves. Did you see the surprise?” Rafe asked.

“That wouldn’t have been a fight, it would have been a massacre.” Luc wasn’t interested in massacres.

And he hoped the Jatan felt the same.

That if they had reached Cervantes, his people still stood, unharmed.

Or he would have to change his position.

Chapter 9

The problem with their victory was it had been easily come by.

Not that easily, Erdene Ru conceded; she’d had to take on an army on the plains, Luc and Ava had had to thwart an ambush with magical flare fire, and Raun-Tu and Massi had neutralised the soldiers hiding in Bartolo, which had been the only safe place for the Rising Wave to cross the river.

She had told Luc just before she’d left with most of the Rising Wave to take on the Kassian forces in battle that it would be a feat long remembered and spoken of.

She’d been right.

However, when they’d reached Fernwell, most of the hard work had been completed, and then the Queen’s Herald had done them the favor of attacking his aunt in the street, and the old queen had done them the even greater favor of having her guards kill her nephew in retaliation, and then proclaiming Ava her successor with her dying breath.

It meant the Rising Wave’s hands were clean of regicide.

Used to being ruled by a queen, and with no army left to insist otherwise, the citizens of Fernwell had opened the city gates on Ava’s orders and let them in.

But now that queen was missing.

Erdene looked around the table at her three lieutenants and Dak, the temporary head of the Cervantes and Funabi contingent of the Rising Wave, and crossed her arms over her chest.

“We are going to lie.”

There was no immediate reaction to that.

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