Page 91 of The Threadbare Queen

“What are you going to do?” Rafe lifted an eyebrow.

“I’m going into the camp to see where the healers are being held. If I can get them out while I’m down there, I will, otherwise I’ll come back and let you know where we need the distraction in order to get them to safety.”

“Why are you going, why not someone else?” Revek asked.

“Because I said that’s how it’s going to be.” Luc turned his head and held Rev’s gaze, and his friend gave a deep sigh and nodded his head.

“Don’t take too long.” Rafe’s words were a warning that he wouldn’t be able to hold back the rage and thirst for revenge that had been building in the unit throughout the day.

He acknowledged the comment with a nod, and disappeared into the darkness.

As soon as he was far enough away, he sent a thank you to Ava, hopefully sleeping peacefully in their rooms in Fernwell Palace, as he pulled out the scarf that let him go unseen and wound it around his neck.

Time was once again not on their side, so Luc did not bother to creep into the camp, he walked in boldly.

Soldiers lay asleep on the ground, curled up two to a pallet, and only three tents had been set up.

The horses had been corralled to one side, and there was a guard on duty watching them.

Luc moved toward them, getting close enough to see better. It would be useful to get the horses free and take them back to Versai, but first he needed to find the healers, Dagar and Calintha.

He heard the faint murmur of voices and headed in that direction.

The only light in the camp came from a fire at the far end, and he could see a few people sitting beside it.

“I need rilla powder,” a woman said.

“You’ll have to make do with what we have available.” The answer was short.

“We could get some later in this big town of theirs,” a man said.

“You think you can just ride into Ta-lin and take it?” A man Luc guessed was Dagar looked up from his place crouched beside an injured soldier.

The Jatan guard gave a derisive snort. “That’s what we’ve done in every village we’ve come across.”

“Ta-lin isn’t a village,” Dagar answered, but Luc could hear the fear and distress in his voice.

Calintha hunched her shoulders and then lifted a cloth to wipe away blood on a woman’s stomach.

Two men watched over them from the fireside, their manner relaxed as they perched on rocks placed next to the fire pit, their swords lying on the ground beside them.

One of them stood, stretching and yawning. He turned and looked straight at Luc, moving his shoulders as if they were stiff.

“Can you fetch more water to boil?” Calintha asked. She wrung out the bloody cloth in her hand and then held out a small pot.

Grumbling, the guard took it and ambled off to the side, where Luc could hear the faint trickle of water.

Luc stared after him, then turned and looked back at the rest of the camp site.

It was still and quiet.

If these guards were eliminated, he could lead the healers straight out. It would be quick and quiet, and time was of the essence.

He considered killing the guard at the stream first, but both Calintha and Dagar had their backs to the second guard by the fire.

There wouldn’t be a better time to strike while still using Ava’s scarf.

The only alternative was to use one of Ava’s worked squares, but he couldn’t do that with the healers in earshot.

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