I guess Derren finally croaked, Tybalt thought.

  Either that, or his undead had joined the beastfolk in throwing projectiles and killing squad members—feeding Tybalt enough experience to advance him to the next stage. Probably a combination of both. Derren had definitely been close to death when Tybalt stepped away from him, and the necromancer could also feel the aggregate strength of his undead had grown a little bit in the last few minutes.

  He wondered if he received extra experience from killing someone helpless. Did a mercy killing like that count as an “evil” act in Lord Mudo’s moral framework, because it was dishonorable? Or did it qualify as a “good” act in the eyes of the gods, because Derren had been silently begging for the sweet release of death?

  Regardless of the underlying calculation, Tybalt enjoyed the pleasant surge of power and slight healing from gaining a level but tried not to let it show on his face. He wasn’t sure he succeeded. Mariella watched him carefully, if not suspiciously.

  Then he realized that she had just asked him something.

  “Right, what do we do,” Tybalt echoed.

  “I should know, but—” Sperry let out a frustrated breath—“well, I can’t reach that high up with my flames.” She pointed far up the cliff side, where the beastfolk continued to use their height advantage to rain stony death down onto the squad. They were barely visible, as high up the cliff as they were, though Tybalt thought he saw a few preparing ropes to descend.

  But Mariella wouldn’t have noticed that. Tybalt only thought he saw that because Baldwin and Hieron had reported what they saw, from better vantage points.

  “Come with me,” Tybalt said. He grabbed her hand decisively.

  “What are we going to—”

  “Just trust me,” he replied.

  He pulled, relying on nothing but force of personality to move her. If Mariella wanted to, there was nothing Tybalt could do to stop her from staying put. For that matter, there was nothing he could do if she decided to keep hold of him too. She was that much stronger than him.

  There was a moment of hesitation. He felt it in the slight stiffness of her hand. Part of her wanted to do the “right” thing and stick with their squad, to fight the beastfolk. But another part of her had to be wrestling with everything she had learned about the squad over the last few days. Did she really want to possibly die fighting alongside those animals?

  Then she went with him. The two stepped out from cover, and the rain of missiles began to divert a small share of its downpour toward them again.

  “I hope you have a plan!” Mariella shouted.

  Tybalt pulled on her hand a little more urgently, and the two broke into a sprint.

  My plan is to run away, he thought. Wasn’t that obvious?

  They ran together for several minutes along the uneven ground of the valley, until they were a full mile away from where they had started.

  Finally Tybalt let himself stop running and bent slightly at the waist, panting, half-leaning on his spear. Even Mariella was breathing heavily, though not nearly as hard as him.

  I’m still nowhere near her equal in speed or stamina, Tybalt thought. And judging from the climb earlier, those gaps will be easier to close than the strength gap…

  “We ran,” Mariella said numbly. “I didn’t even think…”

  “So we could survive,” Tybalt replied, cutting into her thoughts.

  “I—we didn’t even try to help our squad.” She sounded ashamed.

  “Do you even care if any of them live through this?” he asked. “The only one on the squad I was actually trying to keep alive was you.”

  “I wanted justice for the squad,” she said slowly. “Mainly for the Commander. Most of those men have just been following orders…”

  “Volusia never ordered anyone to rape or mutilate bodies,” Tybalt said bluntly. “He never had to. He never ordered anyone to take trophies. The men did it because they liked doing it. They deserve this—”

  “It’s so easy for you to hand down judgment, isn’t it?!” Mariella exclaimed, almost yelling at Tybalt. She pulled away from him—he hadn’t even realized he was still holding her hand—and her face darkened. “You see so much more clearly than everyone else. You don’t need a court-martial to decide things… You just—we just left those people to die! Can’t you take a minute to just think about that? How would you look if you pointed those harsh eyes on yourself? Would you be allowed to live if you judged yourself?”

  That silenced him for a few seconds. He tried to choose his next words carefully.

  “I wouldn’t judge myself,” Tybalt said slowly. He met her eyes. “I don’t have the right. I know that. My hands are far from clean. I would leave it up to you. Yeah. I think you’re the only one who’s in a position to judge me right now. If and when you know all the facts.”

  The two of them stared at each other for a moment, and some of the tension went out of the air.

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  “Well, I’m responsible for my own actions,” Mariella said. “Maybe I ran with you because I’m secretly a bit of a coward inside and didn’t know it until now. Maybe it’s that I’m starting to—”

  Her eyes widened. Then she stopped mid-sentence and tackled Tybalt into the nearby cliff face. He reflexively held her around the waist with both hands, but he wasn’t quick or strong enough to resist her even if he had wanted to.

  “What’s going on?” he whispered.

  “I thought I saw something,” she whispered back. “Up on the cliff.”

  I guess we were talking for long enough that someone could have caught up, Tybalt thought. Especially if some group of the enemy split off from the main body just to chase us. How high level are these beastfolk, anyway? Can’t have done much killing in their lives before this, right?

  “Maybe I was a little loud when I yelled at you earlier,” Mariella said nervously. “I should’ve thought—”

  “Let’s try to negotiate,” Tybalt said. “If it turns out that they saw us down here.”

  “How—what would we even say?” she asked dubiously.

  “Tell them we’ll help them apprehend the rest of the squad,” he replied.

  “Betray the Kingdom?” Her tone became one of alarm.

  “It’s the lesser of two evils. We have to choose between either supporting the squad in mass murder and other, worse crimes, or helping the beastfolk defend themselves. Those are the only two options that we have in front of us. Volusia isn’t going to give you middle ground options, and you know it.”

  She swallowed and grew silent as she thought it over. The quiet stretched out over a minute or so. Then they heard a scrape of footsteps somewhere perhaps a hundred feet overhead. The murmur of distant voices came with it.

  “—sure?”

  “—saw them, yes—”

  “Someone definitely went…”

  Scraps of dialogue were carried by the wind, with significant context clearly missing.

  “—about Andric?”

  “Fuck him, thinks he’s so—”

  “—come on… decent guy…”

  There were at least three distinct voices.

  “You truly believe negotiation is the best option, Tybalt?” Mariella asked in a low voice. “Based on your years of experience with the squad and with the beastfolk?”

  Why do you care so much about what I think? he wondered. Mariella Sperry was not like other officers or senior enlisted personnel he had interacted with, he was slowly coming to realize. He had noticed differences before, but this was particularly unusual. Even when she was alone with an enlisted man, she had little urge to command. Alone with Tybalt, it was almost as if she wanted to be commanded.

  But that couldn’t be right.

  Don’t make me sound like I’ve been here forever, he almost said. It was a bit under three years he’d served. But he held that in. It would undermine his credibility to point that out.

  “We should at least try. I think it’s the right thing to do.”

  Mariella nodded, and with that body language, Tybalt felt the closeness of her that he had hardly noticed before. Her chest was pressed close against his, and his hands had been holding her hips rather aggressively for the last minute or so. Her hair was almost touching his chin. The perfect symmetry of her face stood out as she looked up at him.

  He felt his lower body stirring as he noticed and appreciated her.

  She colored slightly under his slightly more intense gaze.

  “Don’t look at me that way, Tybalt,” she whispered, lowering her eyes to look at his neck instead of his eyes. Her voice trembled slightly as she spoke. “Remember our positions.”

  She feels something, too… Hey, it’s not like I’m trying to have this reaction…

  “I’m just realizing I’ve started to like you, Mariella,” he said, tilting his chin down to whisper in her ear. His lips almost brushed the tip of her ear as he spoke. He smelled that familiar scent of rosemary or pine from her hair. “It snuck up on me.”

  “Could you let go of me?” she asked with a flicker of a smile. “I want to look and see if they’ve moved on.”

  Tybalt hadn’t heard the voices for a minute or so. He supposed it was possible the beastfolk had just missed them. He released his grip on her hips.

  Mariella took a step back. He instantly missed the pleasant pressure of her body against his. He shook his head.

  Focus on the mission. Tell the other head to keep quiet…

  She tilted her craned her neck and looked up, then faced back toward Tybalt.

  “I think the coast is clear,” she mouthed.

  Tybalt picked up his spear, which he’d dropped when he was tackled. Then he stepped out from beside the cliff and took his place beside Mariella. He looked up and couldn’t see anything sticking out of the cliffside in that spot but sheer rock and some trees near the top. The beastfolk must have kept searching.

  “I’m glad,” he said. “We just have to keep fairly quiet, and hopefully they won’t come back.” He made eye contact with Mariella. “I hope you won’t read too much into any of, uh, what—” He gestured back at the cliff where she’d had him pressed against the stone.

  “The way you were looking at me?” she asked, the corner of her lip quirking as if she was resisting the urge to smile. “Or the way you were squeezing my hips?”

  “Forgive me, it’s been a tense week. I was just on edge from thinking how close I came to dying—yet again.”

  Mariella’s almost-smile vanished for a moment, then reappeared.

  “Yeah, I bet you grabbed Baldwin just the same way when he saved your life!”

  Hey, you… It was an odd time for her to have chosen to start teasing him, though he certainly didn’t mind it.

  Tybalt heard a small noise overhead. Not waiting for any other sign, he lunged forward and pulled Mariella back, clasping his hand over her mouth.

  She made a little noise of protest against his palm for a split second, then stilled at the sound of voices above them. The noises were much closer this time, or perhaps the wind had calmed.

  “Are you sure?” asked one of the familiar voices in a deeper, more distinct tone.

  “I’m telling you, I just heard something,” the other said, slightly breathless. “I wouldn’t make you run back for nothing. Let’s just drop down and investigate; we can’t see anything from up here.”

  The Lieutenant looked Tybalt in the eyes.

  What now? Mariella’s eyes seemed to ask.

  “Now we negotiate,” Tybalt said in a low voice. Even quieter, he added, “Be prepared to fight.”

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