Leisa realized she had stopped shivering. In fact, she was sweating. She wondered for a moment why that was as she packed away the fur Falan had given her. Was her blood pumping faster? Her heart seemed to want to escape her chest. She certainly was afraid, she admitted. She glanced toward the lady mage.

She’s not afraid, Leisa thought. She booted her stocky horse to keep up with the others. The terrain here was rough and trees grew close together. She had to bow her head more than once following Sorela. It would not be hard to get separated from the group in this forest and then find that you were lost. At least it wasn’t the bloody Blackwood.

They rode on, up the mountain for what seemed like hours. Leisa put on the fur cloak again after her initial fear died down. Why did fear make you forget about the cold?

The outrider, Sen, rode up beside the captain and Falan, who were riding abreast of each other. The thin man with the ice-crusted beard leaned in to speak with the captain for a moment, then wheeled his horse and rode toward the back of the column. The captain raised a hand, signaling the column to stop. He wheeled his horse around to address the lady mage. “My lady... they follow.”

Falan edged his horse a little closer as his friend Serin rode up. Sorela seemed to think for a moment. “I am a mage,” she finally said, “Not a soldier. Captain, you are in charge of the column until we have escaped this danger.”

“Yes, my lady,” the captain said with a quick glance toward Falan. Leisa had no doubt who was the better warrior, or even the better leader, but the lady mage did not seem to place as much trust in Falan as she did Lord Warfink’s captain—she only wanted the skill of his sword, and that of Serin’s. Falan did not seem to care that she chose her captain over him, though. “They know we’re avoiding them,” Caldren—or “Thalus,” rather—continued. “They are sure to think us enemy invaders. They will pursue us through these mountains until they catch us.”

Serin glanced toward Falan, his face grim. “We have to face them.”

“Captain?” Sen asked, after being called forward.

“How many men in the patrol?”

“Twenty, mayhaps thirty—I don’t know,” Sen said. “I could hardly see for the snow falling.”

Leisa looked Jasen in the eye as he shivered in his cloak, pike in hand. “Do you think it will come to another fight, like on the road?” she whispered.

He rolled his shoulders in a shrug, pulling his cloak tighter. His red cheeks had a pale look now.

The captain scratched his chin. “We could set up an ambush.”

Serin gave his friend another one of those solemn looks. Falan breathed in deeply. The lady mage took notice. “What is it, Master Falan?”

Falan glanced toward the snow for a moment as he leaned across his saddle. He gestured toward his friend. “We are not Solen,” he said.

His accent had vanished.

“I think we may be able to meet the patrol following us and have them move off.”

Lady Casen’s eyes were wide, though she said nothing.

Is she... in shock? Leisa wondered.

For once the mage actually seemed afraid. The woman shook herself, tone stiff. “Very well, Falan. Do as you must.”

“And if the captain of the patrol decides the orders from his Serafe outrank my own?” Falan asked.

Lady Casen did not answer as she wheeled her horse. “We must continue on, Captain.”

The captain glanced between Falan and Sorela. What was going on? “Yes, my lady,” Thalus said, then to the column he shouted, “Move out.”

The two Serafes—Blackwood take me, they’re Nelothan!—wheeled their horses and headed down the column.

Falan gestured toward some of the men on foot. She could not make out what he said, but it was obvious he was picking them for a skirmish. She leaned in to speak to the mage. “My lady, how did you not know he was—“

Sorela’s voice was a stifled whisper. “Shush, child! I know what I am doing.”

Leisa’s heart skipped a beat.

She glanced over her shoulder but the two Serafes were already gone, guardsmen trailing after them....

Sorela glanced over her shoulder as well, then booted her horse abreast of the captain. The two spoke in hushed, but urgent tones, the lady mage more so than the captain. After a moment the greying man finally nodded his head, wheeled his horse and trotted his horse down the length of the column.

Jasen groaned. “They’re spies...”

Leisa frowned. “I don’t think so. If they wanted to capture us, they would have snuck off to bring that patrol down on our heads. Wouldn’t they?”

Jasen’s eyes widened as if her question sparked the realization that that was exactly what was happening.

She sniffed. “Don’t be such a goose. They wouldn’t have taken some of the men with them if that’s what they were going to do.”

“Unless they want to cover themselves from any of our suspicions,” Jasen said as he gave her a sidelong glance, unconvinced.

“I don’t believe that’s what they’re doing, and neither does the Sorela. Trust her, if you trust no one else.”

He’s just paranoid, she told herself, then rode ahead to join the lady mage…