have been deadly if she’d managed to pull the blade free, but instead it glanced off his mailed shoulder. He whirled to face her, but his eyes were clearly still adjusting to the darkness. Pressing that advantage, Senya batted at his sword with the basket hilt of her blade, trying to knock it from his hand for her own use.
He kept his grip on his sword and used that moment of connection to swing Senya around until the light from the hall fell full on her face, reversing her initial advantage. Only then did he wrench his sword free, sending Senya’s sword skittering across the floor.
Blinking into the light, Senya put her hands up in a gesture of surrender as she tried to size up her opponent. He was not a tall man, but his body was strong. He looked to be about Gaven’s age, but he was human, which probably meant he was considerably younger than Gaven’s sixty-odd years-certainly younger than Haldren, though his hair was lightly dusted with gray. His armor was gleaming mail, and he wore the black surcoat of the Sentinel Marshals.
Behind this man, an armored halfling in the gold and green of House Jorasco held an everbright lantern-the source of the light shining into her eyes. His other hand was on the hilt of his sword, still in its sheath.
“Senya,” the Sentinel Marshal said, “I am Sentinel Marshal Arrakas d’Deneith. You are under arrest. Stop trying to fight.”
“Why?” Senya demanded. “So you can give me a quick and painless death?”
“The murder of a Sentinel Marshal is serious business, Senya. But frankly, I’m more interested in finding Gaven and Haldren than in punishing you for your part in it. If you cooperate, I can make sure your sentence is light.”
“Hm. A very considerate offer.” She shifted almost imperceptibly closer to where her sword lay on the floor, but Arrakas raised his sword as he stepped between Senya and the blade.
He jerked his head toward the halfling in the doorway, without taking his eyes off Senya. “Pick up the lady’s sword, will you?”
The halfling scurried into the room and snatched Senya’s sword off the floor, clutching it to his chest as if he were afraid she might leap at him and try to wrest it from his grip.
Senya smiled and started toying with the top of her bodice. She might not have her sword, but she’d found in the past that her body was often a more powerful weapon. “Well, Arrakas,” she said, her voice low and breathy, “it seems you’ve bested me. Now I’m yours.”
She saw the blood rise to his face, and noticed that even the halfling seemed to be having some trouble swallowing. She stepped closer to Arrakas, letting her coat fall to the ground and trail behind her. His eyes locked onto hers, which was not where she wanted them. She reached up to brush her hair back from her face, and slowly trailed her hand down the side of her face to her neck, her bare shoulder, her collarbone. To her satisfaction, his eyes followed her hand downward, and she stepped closer again, close enough to feel the warmth of his body.
She cupped his face in her hand, felt the flush in his cheek. Men were so easy to manipulate. She let her fingers slip softly down his chin, tracing the thin line of his beard, then down his neck, and she smiled slightly as his eyes closed. She ran her fingers along his shoulder, which he probably couldn’t feel through his armor, and squeezed his upper arm to make sure his attention stayed on her hand.
The halfling watched her with undisguised excitement in his eyes, which made her slightly sick, but suited her purposes. She dropped her hand to stroke the back of his, and saw him shiver slightly from the light touch.
This is it, she thought. Last chance.
She stepped forward again, pressing the softness of her body against his armored chest and letting her breath brush his neck. At the same moment, she deftly slipped the sword out of his hand and started bringing it up to strike.
Arrakas’s other hand was behind her, though. Before she could bring the sword to bear, something hard came down on her head, and she crumpled to the floor.
CHAPTER 29
What do we do now?” Jenns looked at Caura with wide eyes and bit his lip as he waited for her answer. He might be nervous, but so far he’d proven more than willing to follow Caura’s lead.
“Act like sentries,” Caura said. “We’ll walk the perimeter, insert ourselves between two real patrols.”
“Then what?”
“Did you have a plan at all before I found you? Or were you just going to make a break for it?”
“I hadn’t really thought it through,” Jenns admitted with a smile.
“Good thing I found you, then.” Caura returned the smile. He might have been young and naive, but he was endearing. “At the right spot, we’ll alter our course and slip out. I think I know a place where we’ll be out of sight and mostly avoid the dragons.”
“Can I ask you something, Caura?”
“You can ask, but I won’t promise you an answer.”
“How do you know so much about the camp and things?”
“I pay attention.”
“Sure, but they keep us on a pretty tight leash. Like they want to make sure we don’t figure out too much.”
“I’d say that’s a pretty accurate assessment.” Caura had heard Haldren give instructions to the commanders who followed him, a long list of rules to make sure that the rank and file didn’t learn too much.
“You’re not really just a private, are you?”
Caura smiled at him again, chastising herself. She shouldn’t have answered the innocent questions-her answers clearly led right up to a question she didn’t want to answer.
They walked in silence for a moment, then Caura guided Jenns into an excellent imitation of a sentry patrol around the perimeter.
“Want to hear my crazy thought?” Jenns said.
“Can I stop you?”
“I think you’re the spy that sentry was talking about.”
“What on earth makes you say that?” Caura carefully modulated the tone of her voice, making sure that her face did not flush. A perfect lie.
He shrugged. “I told you it was a crazy thought.”
“How do I know you’re not the spy? Why are you running out of here?”
“Me?” Jenns chuckled. “You saw me back there. I’d be a pretty pathetic spy.”
True, Caura thought. But you’ll do for now.
“So why the daring escape?” she said.
“Do I have to answer that?”
“I guess not. Fair is fair.”
Caura entertained herself trying to imagine the reason this innocent young soldier would desert his post and flee the camp. A romantic entanglement struck her as the most likely reason, although abject terror seemed like another strong possibility. She wouldn’t ask again, mostly because she didn’t want to put herself in a position of feeling obligated to reveal anything more to him.
The western side of the camp was bounded by cliffs overlooking the stormy Eldeen Bay. Their path took them alongside the cliffs briefly, and Jenns gasped when he saw the dragons wheeling in the air over the water and perching on the cliffs. He walked in silence, wide-eyed, until they turned their backs on the bay and the dragons, heading along the northern perimeter.
The sun appeared over the horizon, shining in their eyes as they walked, and the camp was coming alive. Bugle calls roused soldiers from their tents, and the shouts of sergeants assembled them into formations for inspection.
“You’ll be missed soon,” Caura observed.
Jenns raised an eyebrow. “What about you?”
“Me too,” she said. “We’d better get moving.” She pointed to the line of trees in front of them, blocking part of the rising sun. “That’s the Whisper Woods up ahead. Our best chance of getting out of here.” Alive, she added
