A hand on Zu’s shoulder shook away Zadria’s Realm and, with it, any chance of sweet dreams. He lamented the disappearance of Yona and her sparkling smile, replaced by Yechvan’s sweaty face and toothy grin. Shame.

  “Wake up, Zu. Ulula, wake up.” Yechvan shook them in turn. “Wake up. We must leave, Zu. It cannot wait.”

  “Korzha’s toes,” Ulula swore. Shivering through a yawn, she grudgingly threw off her blanket and sat up in her cot. “It’s still dark. Are we under attack?”

  “Not imminently,” Yechvan replied.

  “Then why are you waking us?”

  “Because we must ride.”

  “Ride where?” Zu asked.

  Yechvan’s pupils were wide, crazed. His thick charcoal hair was slicked back with old sweat. Wisps of frizz escaped, curling around his head in the humid night air. In the torchlight, his forest green skin shone a sickly, pale orange. Ten days of black growth sprawled across his face like creeping vines. He scratched at the stubble and wiped perspiration from the crook of his nose.

  “When did you last sleep?” Concern snuck into Zu’s voice unbidden.

  “What? Of what importance is that?” Satisfied that Zu and Ulula were sufficiently roused, Yechvan returned to the table. He downed his mead and pointed at the map. “I’ve found it. I’ve found the tree in the forest.”

  “You’re not making sense,” Ulula said, equal amounts of concern and frustration edging her words. “What are you saying?”

  “I told you both yesterday. During the parley, the Perysh inadvertently revealed I was missing something. I’ve found it. I’ve discovered their motive.”

  Ulula stared at Yechvan, awaiting an explanation. Oblivious as always, he didn’t elaborate. She huffed. “And?”

  “You see how they’ve maneuvered us back and back? They are pushing us north with the goal of gaining access to the mountains.”

  “But it has been your strategy all along to let them push us back.” Little Grask yawned, rubbing his eyes.

  “Yes, in the east, but not in the west,” Yechvan said.

  Stomach growling, Zu snatched up Little Grask’s discarded porridge from supper, scooped a spoonful into his mouth. The goop was sour and gummy. He lost his appetite and set down the bowl with a disgusted clatter. “Don’t you think it’s more likely that Gorse couldn’t hold back the tide because we are fewer and less well equipped?”

  “That is part of it, but I believe Telu Myrrh has shifted her focus to the west. Our victory here was too easy.”

  “Too easy?” Little Grask sputtered. Dumbfounded, he looked to Ulula, who rolled her eyes, and then Zu, who shrugged.

  Yechvan wiped his sweaty brow with the neck of his shirt. “Telu Myrrh has not been foolish enough to fall for our plan, so why now? What has changed? She would not overextend Peryn’s supply lines without devising a plan of her own, which she intends to carry out to devastating effect. She sussed out our tactics and adjusted hers to match. She has held the advantage all along, so why hasn’t she overwhelmed the western flank? Or Grusk’s forces in the middle? We are too spread out in the east to chase us all down, but she could have pushed us to Usao by now with a more concerted effort. Yet she’s not pursued any of these options. She has been waiting for something that will give her the upper hand, uncontested.”

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  “You think they’ll find that in the mountains? They’ve had access to them this whole time,” Little Grask argued.

  “Only through Sasko Peak, here.” Yechvan pointed again to the map. His gaze swept from Zu to Ulula to the boy as he waited for them to join him. The companions heaved themselves out of bed and shuffled to the table to humor him. Yechvan continued, “But it is notoriously difficult to climb. Their wily general has come up with a new plan.” He traced his finger north along the mountains. “To gain access to Gard Pass. Don’t you see?”

  “How would they know about Gard Pass?” Zu asked, though he had an unsettling suspicion that Sinza’s band may have played the part of the betrayer.

  Ulula shrugged. “What of it? Gard Pass is in Banxian territory. They would have to squeeze an army past Gorse’s western flank. He isn’t a great general, but he isn’t incompetent.”

  “Yog, the gates to the pass are guarded,” Zu added. “What makes you believe they are susceptible to attack?”

  Yechvan pressed on, undeterred. “They are guarded by a meager force, easily overrun by two or three hundred Perysh, which could certainly slip past Gorse unseen under the cover of night or in favorable weather.”

  “So strengthen the guard and let us go back to sleep,” Ulula grumbled.

  “If I’m right, it may already be too late for that.”

  Zu exchanged a worried glance with Ulula. “How sure are you?”

  “Relatively,” Yechvan said. “Listen, if I’m wrong, the worst-case scenario is we waste a couple days riding west. Then we can gather better intelligence from Gorse and redouble the guard on the pass.”

  “I would say the worst-case scenario would be you’re right,” Zu mused, his gaze once again landing on the map. “Nearly all our soldiers are here on the southern border. If two or three hundred horse slipped past, they would have a direct path into the heart of Banx, leaving them free to wreak havoc on farms, supply lines, small towns. It could take us a turn or more to track them down.”

  “Exactly,” Yechvan said. “How many resources would we be forced to divert from the front lines, should this reality come about? The war would be over. We’d be crushed into fine dust by Telu Myrrh’s hammer and anvil tactics.”

  Ulula asked, “If you are headed west, who is to look after our forces here?” She stopped short. “Me. Of course. It’s always the two of you who get to go gallivanting about.”

  “We are better when we two are together.” Zu wrapped an arm around Yechvan’s shoulder.

  “Great,” Ulula grumbled. “Meanwhile, I’m stuck babysitting the army.”

  “We still have a few days of Dür Grasca. And you said yourself, it’s implausible they will attack immediately after,” Zu said with a chuckle.

  “I said that before Yechvan spoke to Rogal the egl,” Ulula muttered.

  “Egl-gra,” Yechvan corrected.

  “Whatever,” Ulula scoffed. “Now that you’ve insulted him, I’m not so sure he won’t ride into our camp at first light three days hence. You know, if the pair of you go, either a battle will find you or—”

  “Or we will find a battle.” Zu grinned, pleased at the prospect. “How many soldiers do you suggest we take?”

  “Fifty or a hundred,” Yechvan said. “We’ll need horses to get there quicker and we can’t take more than that without impacting us too heavily here.”

  “I can do without fifty,” Ulula said. “But not without Zu.”

  “Bah.” Zu reached over the table and ruffled Little Grask’s hair. “I’m flattered. But you can bring Little Grask here in my stead.”

  Ulula glanced at the boy with skepticism.

  “Are you really going?” Little Grask asked, ignoring Ulula’s insult.

  “There is no other choice,” Zu replied.

  “There comes a point in your life, young one, when your loyalties will be tested,” Ulula said. “Zu and I have spent far too much time with Yechvan to dismiss his ideas, crazy as they might seem. So we must choose: believe in him or not, just as your followers will have to choose whether to believe in you when you become qish. You must never give them reason to doubt. Yechvan is right about the Perysh strategy, you will see.”

  “Well said.” Zu nodded. “When do we leave?”