“Doesn’t she trust your word?”

“No.” He smiled. “And she shouldn’t.”

“I’m not going to ask.” Pushing from the table, I stood. “I’ll report back when I’m leaving.”

Ryne stopped me when I reached the flaps.

“There’s a fourth possibility,” he called.

Turning, I waited.

He stared at the wall of the tent as if he could see through the fabric.

“And?”

“That Tohon learns of Belen’s mission and launches his attack before we have a chance to find a way to stop his dead.”

* * *

I found Thea conferring with another lieutenant outside Major Granvil’s tent. When she finished, she gestured for me to join her as she headed to the training area.

“Problem?” she asked.

“Do you know the true nature of Ursan and Belen’s mission?” I asked.

She gave me a slight nod, looking not at all surprised by my question. “Sergeant Ursan has kept me informed.”

“About everything?”

Keeping her voice pitched low, she said, “Yes, Avry. About everything.”

Suddenly a few things made sense. Estrid had known about the assassination attempt beforehand. But her failure to warn Ryne meant she either didn’t want to tip her hand to Jael, or she didn’t trust Ryne. Or both.

I decided it would be best for me to stay out of the political intrigue and focus on my own tasks. At least I didn’t have to explain as much to Thea. Taking a deep breath, I made my request.

She remained quiet for so long, I worried she hadn’t understood how important this mission was.

“I know you don’t believe they exist, but—”

“That’s not it,” she said. “Wynn and Liv are too chatty. They can’t be trusted to keep such juicy gossip to themselves. I think it should be me, you and Sergeant Saul.”

“Saul? But he hardly says a word.”

“Exactly.” She paused when we reached the training area. “When do you want to leave?”

“Tomorrow morning.”

“What about the silent training?”

“Sergeant Odd can cover for me.”

“Have you cleared this with Major Granvil?”

Oops. I’d forgotten he needed to be informed. “Uh... Not yet.”

“I’ll take care of it. Find Saul, explain to him what we plan to do. Then both of you meet me in my tent right after supper. We’ll finalize the details of our mission.”

Thea hadn’t wasted any time in taking charge.

“Lieutenant, I’m happy to follow orders while we’re en route, but once we find the Lilys—”

“Then they’re all yours, Sergeant.” She waved me off.

I waited until Saul and his squad had finished with their hand-to-hand-combat drills before approaching him. While his soldiers returned to their tents, he stood next to the water barrel. Removing his shirt, he poured water over his head and upper body, washing away the sweat and dirt. His long lean muscles were the source of his wiry strength. He also had the fastest reflexes of all the sergeants in Thea’s platoon, even though he was the oldest at—my guess—close to forty.

Toweling off, he met my gaze. His light blue eyes studied me with mild curiosity. He gestured, prompting me to explain. I filled him in about the search for Peace Lilys. If he found the task strange or odd, he didn’t show it.

“We’re to meet with the LT after supper,” I said.

“All right,” Saul said.

I couldn’t resist asking, “Aren’t you curious why we’re going?”

“I’m to protect you. Correct?”

“Basically.”

“That’s all I need.” He smiled.

* * *

Later in the lieutenant’s tent, Saul surprised us both by unfolding a map of the area. Despite his apparent lack of interest, he had brought the locations of all the Lilys surrounding Estrid’s army and Zabin.

“This is a classified document. Did you steal this from Major Piran?” Thea asked Saul.

“I borrowed it, sir.”

“Isn’t this vital information?” I asked.

“The location of the ones in Vyg are the most important,” Thea said. “And every one of our patrols has memorized them all by now.”

I examined the map. “This will speed things up considerably.”

“We had to make a series of maps as we marched across Pomyt. We lost too many scouts to the Death Lilys,” Thea said. She tapped one of the red marks. “Although this doesn’t tell us if it’s a Peace or Death Lily or how many of them are there.”

“That’s fine. We’ll figure it out once we get there.”

“We?” Saul asked.

Both he and Thea looked at me as if I’d gone crazy. “I’ll figure it out. Okay?”

“Better,” Thea agreed.

After we finalized our plans, Saul and I left. He headed to our fire.

When I didn’t follow him, he stopped. “Coming?”

“I’ll be there in a bit. I’ve a few things to do.”

He nodded and continued. Saul was going to be an easy traveling companion. Ursan would have questioned me, demanding to know what things, or just following me. In this case, it wasn’t any of his business. I’d put if off too long. I needed to finally do what I’d come here to do.