“I know.” She feathered kisses along his jaw. “And yet, you know it’s the right thing to do.”
“I can’t go with you this time. I have to lead the columns.”
“Oscar and Deni can come with me. They’ve already offered.”
He mulled it over. “You might have to reveal some of your secrets to them.”
“I know, but I said before that I’d share my secrets if it means the Rising Wave has a better chance of winning, and I meant it. Deni is my friend, and Oscar is a good man; they came looking for me tonight while I was talking to Revek—”
“What happened.” He went still, his hands running down her bare back and gripping her hips.
“Revek’s worried I’m doing to you what Haslia did to him. I don’t think he would have hurt me, but . . .”
“But?”
“But he was considering it. And Oscar and Deni made sure the feeling passed.”
“I don’t want you alone with him.” Luc sounded grim.
“I won’t make the same mistake again. I don’t think he’ll seek me out anymore. He asked his questions. I answered them.”
Luc sighed. “I don’t know what to do about him. It hurts to see someone I love as a brother so twisted up and angry.”
“Give him something less annoying to do than stocktaking.” She gave a wry smile.
“Is that what Massi has him doing? I left it to her.” Luc sounded surprised.
“So what will it be?” Ava slid her hands up to his shoulders and pressed close again. “I’ll have to leave as soon as I’ve had a chance to embroider a few things and finish your tunic.”
“My tunic?”
She nodded. “That’s what I’ve been knitting. It’ll either be useless, or even more powerful than my embroidery, I can’t decide which. But if it does work, it’ll be the best protective armor you’ve ever worn.”
He held her gaze. “You should wear it, not me.”
She shook her head. “I made it specifically for you. I don’t think it’ll work for me. But anyway, I’m planning to sneak around at night, invisible. You’re the one leading an army.”
He studied her, lifting a hand to trace down her temple and then cup her face. “Promise me you are not neglecting your own protection.”
She held his gaze. “I’ve been working on my cloak.” Not as much as she should, she knew, but there were only so many hours in the day.
“I want you back as soon as possible.”
She scoffed. “No, I was thinking of relaxing at an inn in Bartolo for a few days while you were fighting the Kassian forces.”
His lips twitched. “I want you to always take the most cautious approach. I’ll talk to Oscar and Deni myself about it.”
“I’ll be careful. I promise.” She poked his chest with her finger. “And you do the same.”
He nodded.
She left her finger in place, and traced down between his pectorals. “So we’re not fighting? Everything is resolved?”
“Not quite everything.” His gaze was locked onto her finger, and she had to swallow a squeal as he suddenly lifted her up.
“Well, let’s get to it.” She grinned at him. “We wouldn’t want to leave anything unfinished.”
Chapter 32
“So what was that?” Oscar spoke as soon as they had the hills behind them.
Ava didn’t answer straight away. She’d been agonizing over what to say to them since they’d left the column at midday yesterday, after she’d had time to work on the traps she planned to set.
“That was spellwork,” Deni said, and it was the lack of censor in his voice that gave her the ability to heave out a big breath.
“I can spell my embroidery.” She sent a quick look at Oscar. “Your vest is spelled to protect you against arrows and swords, and to help you react to attack, that’s all.”
“My . . . vest?” He looked down at himself, and then rubbed the embroidery with a finger.
“You didn’t know about the vest.” She wanted to roll her eyes at herself. Why would they have even noticed? She’d specifically used the same color so it would be difficult to see.
“I knew,” Deni said and she glanced over at him. “I suspected since that day when we surprised those scouts and one of them shot an arrow directly at me. There was no way he could have missed, and yet, he did.” He fingered the scarf around his neck.
“And you’re all right with it?”
“All right? I wrapped this scarf around my waist at training yesterday morning, and no one was able to connect a single blow.”
“The Commander.” Oscar suddenly turned in his saddle. “He’s untouchable in training, as well.”
Ava shrugged. “Some of that is me. Some of that is him.”
“And what did you just leave in the hills?” Deni asked.
“I left useful things. Handkerchiefs. Scarves.”
“What will happen to the soldiers who find them?” Oscar sounded less astonished, more interested, for the first time.
“They’ll become resentful of their superiors, or even more resentful than they already are, and they’ll find the courage to disrupt the Kassian army’s plans in small ways that might not be noticed until it’s too late.”
“You’ll create saboteurs from handkerchiefs and scarves?” Oscar’s eyes went wide.
“I hope so. It is worth taking the chance, you would agree?”
“Most definitely. If it works as well as my scarf does, as well as that thin scrap of fabric you handed me the other day did, this will be a big help to the columns.” Deni shielded his gaze to look ahead. “And what are we going to do in Bartolo?”
“We’re going to encourage the people of Bartolo to feel sympathetic to the Rising Wave. And to hinder the Kassian army where they can.”
“Except we’re going to have to get through the Rising Wave to do it, aren’t we?” Oscar frowned. “They’ll already have left for the city this morning. If we come along from the same direction, we’ll be pegged as spies straight away.”
“That’s why we’re crossing the river and coming from the other direction,” Ava said. She had proposed this to Luc herself, but she wasn’t at all sure about crossing the river. It loomed large in her mind as an impenetrable barrier.
That feeling hadn’t changed by the time they reached the river bank late that afternoon, nor as Oscar and Deni helped her across the swiftly flowing water.
She stood, shivering and miserable, on the other side as the two men made a fire, and only started to relax when the flames began to thaw her out.
Tomorrow they’d make their way through the forest onto the road into Bartolo, and start their campaign.
“How far do you think the Rising Wave would have got toward Bartolo?” she asked.
“Depends how fast they were moving, but maybe halfway there is my guess.” Oscar stared down the river toward the town.
“They’ll be splitting up tonight, doubling back to go around the back of the hills.” Deni sounded a little wistful.