In fact, under normal circumstances, she never would have chosen to turn right at the crossroads instead of left. Perhaps Elyon had taken advantage of one tragedy to fix another in the making.

  Sábria knelt on one knee in front of Xyda and crossed her arms over her raised thigh. “Before you were a Hunter, you lived in White Castle Temple. Because of the time you spent patrolling as a Blade, you know that very little happens without everyone who lives within the Temple finding out. How has this been happening right under our noses?”

  “I wondered that myself, My Lady. I can at least give you a couple of examples that might help you understand. In fact, I’ll tell you what happened to me. I was hunting a Blade and found her about half a day’s ride outside of Nerane. We were in the middle of a forest, and, well, it was a freak accident, really, but when the Blade saw me, she spun and pulled her belt knife, intending to attack me. Instead, when she jumped onto a downed log, her boots slipped. She fell and hit her head, knocking herself unconscious.”

  “I remember that. In her report, the High Priestess said that the Blade was adamant that she’d been the one to cause her injuries and not you.”

  “Yes, I have to give her credit for that. But, because she had a head injury, I wanted to get her to the Temple healers as soon as possible. We didn’t arrive until one candlemark past Deadnight. As you’d expect, there were very few Blades around at that time of the night. In fact, I had to go and wake the healer. I was tired and not as alert or vigilant as I should have been. When I left the Healer Hall, several people, I can’t even say they were Blades, threw a hood over my head and wrapped a rope around my arms, strapping them to my sides.”

  Listening intently, Sábria settled in next to her again, hoping to understand what her Hunters were going through.

  “My captors were whispering to one another, telling each other to hurry. I shouted once before someone reached beneath the hood and forced a gag into my mouth and around the back of my head. They tied it so tightly it bit into the edges of my mouth.” She fingered a light scar radiating out from her lips. “When they grabbed me, but before they gagged me, I whistled for my horse and pack mule to turn and gallop out of the gate. I taught them to run on command. All of the Hunters have taught our horses that.”

  Sábria considered all of the ramifications inherent in having the horse leave on its own. “That may not have been such a good thing. If someone had found your horse still in the Temple the next morning, or if whoever captured you had taken the horse and put it in the stables, questions might have been raised. As it was, the gate guards may have been curious about your horse running away without you, but nothing more. It’s more probable they were simply amused at your misfortune. But I doubt they would have been concerned about your well-being especially if they didn’t know that people were attacking the Hunters. I refuse to believe all the Blades knew what was happening. There’s no way my people are so callous. It’s impossible if for no other reason than you’re all women, and we’re sworn to protect the women of the Empire.”

  The vehemence in Sábria’s tone had Xyda thinking that perhaps not all Blades were aware of the beatings or held such callous animosity towards the Hunters. “You think it’s only a small group of people doing this at each Temple? And you say ‘the people’ who captured me, not ‘the Blades’ who attacked me. I happen to know, My Lady, that several incidences involved Blades beating and kicking Hunters.”

  When she recalled the day she was attacked, a shudder ran up her spine. “At Narane, one held me beneath my arms while a second grabbed my legs. They carried me up about twenty steps—I counted them because I needed to know where they were taking me. I was terrified they’d fling me off the wall, and I’d end up in a broken heap on the cobblestones below. I don’t know whether that’s what they intended. I don’t think it was, though, because there was a river running past the wall where they took me, and I landed in the water. That part was fortunate, but what hurt the most was when I landed on the stick that punctured my side. It was all done quietly, so, in that instance, you can understand why the High Priestess and other Blades wouldn’t have known what had happened.”

  “And the other instances?”

  “Most of the time, it happens at night. Quite often, we find a runner at night because they’ll kindle a fire or they’ll settle down for the evening, which gives us a chance to catch up. Most don’t understand tracking or hunting, so they don’t know that they should travel at night and settle in during the day if they can. Many times, the Blade or shiv has been wounded, and the Hunter needs to get them to medical care right away. That means they take the injured Blade to the healers at night because they can’t wait until the morning. On the other hand, if they’re transporting a dead body, you know as well as I do, the faster we can get them to a Temple, the less decomposition there’ll be. If we find them at night, we transport them at night.”

  Both women were so deep into the conversation that neither had been aware of Ailith, who was just then spitting the final fish over the fire. She knew enough not to interrupt the conversation, but when she stood to join Jenx, Sábria caught the movement and stopped her. “Ailith.”

  “Aye, Milady?”

  “I didn’t realize you were close enough to overhear our conversation. You’ll speak to no one about what you heard.” She raised her brows. “That’s an order.”

  Ailith chanced a quick glance at Xyda before returning her gaze to Sábria. “Aye, Milady.”

  Sábria recognized the anger that flitted across Ailith’s face and wanted to head off any problems before they began. “What’s bothering you, Ailith? Get it out in the open now before it festers. I know how you sometimes misunderstand my intentions and don’t feel you need to come talk to me about it.”

  When she’d heard the details about what was happening with the Hunters, about what had happened to Xyda, whom she’d come to consider a friend, Ailith wanted to find her way to that Narane Temple so she could find out who hurt her and beat them into the ground. Her anger flared when she answered. “Ya want me to keep it a secret, Milady? Seems to me secrets is what’s made it a problem in th’ first place. I think we need to go find what fowkers did that to her and throw their sorry carcass over the fowkin’ wall. Don’t you?”

  Sábria jammed her thumb and forefinger into her eyes and let out a frustrated growl.

  Xyda, on the other hand, stared at the shiv with a kind of surprised pride. “I knew there was a reason I liked this shiv.”

  Sábria glared at her. “Don’t encourage her.” She stood, rested her fists on her hips, and leaned into Ailith. “Ailith, I absolutely forbid you to do anything about the information you heard here tonight. You will not speak about it to anyone, and you’ll do nothing about it.”

  Ailith hated being the subject of Sábria’s ire. “Aye, Milady.”

  “Look at me when I’m talking to you.” When Ailith did, Sábria continued, “I fully intend to rectify the situation. This is my problem, not yours. Your job is to learn everything you can from Jenx, so one day, you’ll take your place as a full Blade. It is not your job to defend the Hunters or retaliate on their behalf.”

  Ailith scratched her head. “I don’t ken what a couple of those words mean, but I get that ye’ll pound me into th’ ground if I do what needs doin’.” She looked at Xyda. “Us two, we’re friends, aye? And I give ya me word, if ya need me⁠—”

  Sábria shocked Ailith by slamming her palms into her chest and pushing her backward. As serious as a Dreyuthan peasant was about honoring their word, there was no way she could allow Ailith to finish that sentence. She followed up by grabbing Ailith by the collar and pulling her up on her toes.

  Jenx saw and hurried over to see what her shiv had done this time.

  Sábria pulled Ailith close enough that their toes touched. “If Xyda or any other Hunter asks for your help, you’ll tell Jenx or another senior Blade, and they’ll come to me. Do not, I repeat, do not make any promises you won’t be able to keep. In fact, give me your word, right now, that you won’t go haring off on some quest to help the Hunters.”

  Ailith had grabbed Sábria’s forearms when she’d lifted her onto her toes, and she marveled at how rock-hard those muscles were. “Well, maybe not me word, Milady.”

  Sábria tightened her grip on Ailith’s tunic, effectively choking her.

  Ailith got the message loud and clear. Her voice was tight when she croaked, “Okay, okay. I’ll no do nothing with th’ Hunters, or for ‘em, neither, without letting Jenx or somebody else in th’ Blades know. Ya have me word.”

  She glanced apologetically at Xyda, who smiled her understanding. “It’s okay, Ailith. Don’t worry. If I couldn’t stop what was happening, you wouldn’t be able to either. I should have known that the only person who could help was Lady Sábria, so what do you say we leave it to her, shall we?”

  Ailith’s face was turning red because Sábria’s knuckles were digging into either side of her neck. She dipped her chin as far as she could and left it at that.

  Sábria released her with a half-shove toward Jenx. “You two finish what you’re doing, and if Commander Shirin and Geller return, tell them that Xyda and I need our privacy.” She turned and motioned for the Hunter to follow. “Over here.”

  Xyda rose, but instead of immediately following Sábria, she stepped over to Ailith, grabbed her head in the crook of her arm, and rubbed her knuckles in her hair. “You need to listen to the Lady Sábria, Ailith. She and your handler are the people who’ll keep you safe and alive. Ya ken?”

  Jenx glared at the Hunter, biting her tongue to keep from telling the woman that her shiv didn’t need any advice from her. Even though she knew she was being ridiculous, when Xyda released Ailith, Jenx grabbed her shiv’s upper arm and dragged her away.

  Xyda didn’t notice the gesture and followed Sábria to where she’d taken a seat on a large rock overlooking the stream. She sat down beside her, brought her knees up to her chest, and rested her arms across them. “I wondered whether you’d seen that look in her eyes. I’ve seen it before when a shiv takes an idea into their head and decides they’re going to handle something on their own.”

  “I saw it, and yes, I learned very quickly not to ignore it when I see it in that particular shiv’s eyes. But that’s neither here nor there. Back to what you were saying before Ailith got it into her head to be your avenging angel. Obviously, you don’t always return the ones you catch in the middle of the night. You brought Girta to us midmorning. I’m still trying to figure out how this can be happening without word getting back to me.”

  “Let me give you another example, then. The Healer Hall in Frayham opens up onto a courtyard that’s hidden from the rest of the Temple. As you know, you pass through an archway and then go around a corner to get to the inner bailey. From there, you have access to the portcullis and can leave the Temple. Hunter Torda delivered a young shiv to the Healer’s Hall because she’d broken her ankle as she’d tried to get away. Torda brought her back in the middle of the day, but when she left the Healer’s Hall and stepped into the back courtyard, people were waiting for her on either side of the door.”

  Xyda lowered her legs and leaned back onto her hands. “They did the same to her as they’d done to me. They gagged her and shoved a bag over her head. They dragged her through the side gate and then beat the crap out of her in the alleyway. Luckily, some of the people who were watching the Temple for me managed to scare them away before they did too much harm. They ran back inside, and before long, Torda’s horse was shoved out through the gate.”

  “Where was the gate guard?”

  “I don’t know and neither did Torda. She just thanked the men and women who’d come to her defense and managed to climb onto her horse and ride out of town.”

  “Did anyone interview the people who came to the rescue? Did they see whether it was Blades or civilians who gave her a beating?”

  “I don’t think so. We’re not an investigating branch of the Blades, and it isn’t our job to question people. Frayham’s several days ride away from White Cliffs Temple, and I only heard about it through other Hunters who talked to Torda. That type of thing doesn’t surprise us anymore, though, and we just try to operate in a way that mitigates the threat.”

  Sábria was sitting to Xyda’s left, and the Hunter turned her head and looked into her eyes. “We continue to hunt because of our devotion to duty and our love for the Goddess, but what I said before still stands. There are a lot of Hunters who’ve had enough. None of them will ever intentionally harm a Blade, but I do believe they’ll run if given half the chance. And quite honestly, I’m not sure I’d hunt them even if you ordered me to. It’s gotten that bad.”

  Shirin walked out of the forest and spoke to Jenx.

  When Sábria noticed her looking their way, she motioned her over before turning her attention back to Xyda. “Hopefully, none of the Hunters will run before I can talk with them. I need your help finding them, Xyda, because I doubt Shirin and I could ever find them on our own.”

  Xyda loosened a piece of shale from the rock she was sitting on and threw it into the stream. “Of course, I’ll help. But I’d ask for your help in return. Would you consider releasing my wife from custody when we return to Sarlogne? I know she can be a bit… bull-headed at times. But I also know she’d never flame the Temple if for no other reason than she knows what I’d do to her if she did. You have to believe me when I say that she loves Elyon, and until the beatings started, she loved the Blades as well.”

  Xyda picked up another stone and tossed it in the air before catching it and slinging it out into the stream. “And maybe, while you’re at it, you could release all of the men and women who came to help? They’re all good people. We wouldn’t hire thugs to help because we didn’t want any Blades getting hurt. Most of them just needed some ready cash, and at least here in Sarlogne, they haven’t had to work for their money until last night.”

  “We’ll have to go in front of Master Fiyori. She’s the Chief Magistrate at the Goddess’s Court. I’ll have a word with her when we return tomorrow. If they’ve all behaved themselves, and your wife’s mouth hasn’t gotten the best of her, then I think we can rescind the charges. By the way, do you want me to continue to call her your wife or Quariss, or would you prefer to tell me her name?”

  “I think that’s her place to tell you that, My Lady and she’ll only do that if she trusts you. Her father really is an evil bastard. He has no idea we’re married, and we heard rumors that he has people out searching for her. We know that two of her three sisters are married to decent, hard-working noblemen. She continues to worry about the youngest one, though, and until she’s safely wed, I doubt my wife will tell anyone her real name.”

  When Shirin reached them, she leaned into the boulder they were sitting on and rested on her forearms. “One of the groups we passed, the furthest one from us, is Lord Ashden and what looks like a hunting party. They have an excellent little camp set up. We won’t have any problems with them. The second bunch are definitely bandits. There are seven men, and from the looks of them, if they do decide to attack, whoever happens to be on guard duty at the time should be able to hold them off long enough for the rest of us to respond.”

  Sábria stood and hopped down from the rock. “Would you go and see how Ty’s doing with the horses?”

  “Sure.” Since they’d picketed the horses a short distance away, Shirin picked up her pace and jogged to where Ty was standing next to the grey as it drank from the stream.

  Several aspects of the whole Hunter debacle still puzzled Sábria, but one, in particular, worried her the most if she hoped to find the remaining fourteen and bring them back to Sarlogne. Xyda had remained perched on the rock with her legs drawn up and her arms wrapped around her knees. Sábria turned back to her with a questioning look in her eyes. “If the Hunters aren’t staying in the Temples and only go in when they return a Blade who’s run, how do the High Priestesses contact them when someone does run?”

  The Hunter absently ran her fingers across an old scar beneath her chin. “Over time, each one has developed their own methods of contacting the Hunter assigned to their region. Resart, for example⁠—”

  A long, piercing whistle sounded off to the left, followed immediately by one directly in front of their position and then another off to the right. Xyda jumped to her feet. “No, no, no!” In one swift movement, she leapt from the rock, fell on Sábria, and pulled her to the ground.

  Sábria was well-versed in hand-to-hand combat, and though she landed on her back, she immediately rolled onto her stomach and pushed to her hands and knees, ready to stand.

  Xyda swept her arms out from under her and held her down. “Stay down, My Lady.” She frantically let off a series of three whistles, paused, and then repeated the same three whistles.

  In response, a short retort—a quick low note followed by an abrupt rising one—sounded off to the left and was repeated straight ahead. A third acknowledged Xyda’s orders from the right.

  Xyda shouted at Shirin, who was pounding toward them. “Surround and protect!”

  As each arrived at the run, Jenx, Shirin, and Geller formed a protective half-circle around Sábria, with Ailith facing the river and protecting her back.

  Not understanding what was happening, Ty ran over and knelt next to Sábria, unsure if she needed to protect her from the woman holding her down. Taking her cue from the others, she waited, ready to act if necessary to safeguard her mother.

  Sábria snarled. “Let me up, now, Xyda, or I swear I’ll break both your arms before I’m through with you.”

  Xyda’s reaction had been instinctual, and she sheepishly removed her knee from the middle of Sábria’s back. When Sábria pushed to her knees, intending to stand, Xyda put her palm out so it hovered near Sábria’s chest and shook her head. “Please, My Lady, you don’t understand. The whistle coming from over there,” she pointed to her left, “that was Maida. She can shoot the wing off a fly from the back of a galloping horse with her bow and arrow, reload, and shoot off the other wing before the fly falls to the ground.”