It feels like I just stepped deeper into it.
CHAPTER 4
HRASK
The problem with people who think they’re hiding something is that they never stop moving like they are, no matter how hard they try to convince themselves otherwise. The tells are never obvious unless someone has already broken under pressure, and that rarely happens in a place like this where everyone has learned to survive by keeping their mouths shut. Instead, the truth leaks out through smaller things, through the way someone hesitates before answering, or how their eyes shift just slightly away from yours before they force them back again. It shows in posture, in breath, in the rhythm of a conversation that doesn’t quite land where it should.
I notice those things without trying.
I always have.
The Coalition side of the border feels different once I step away from the open patrol line and into the corridors beneath it, where the air loses its bite of dust and picks up the weight of machinery. The scent of oil clings to everything down here, layered with recycled air and trapped heat that has nowhere to go. Overhead vents hum steadily, pushing stale warmth through the passage in slow waves that settle into my skin. My boots strike metal instead of dirt, each step echoing forward andreturning just enough to remind me I am not alone, even when it looks like I am.
Two Grolgath soldiers stand at a junction where the corridor splits, their silhouettes outlined by dim lighting that catches along the edges of their scales. They do not snap to attention when they see me, but their posture adjusts all the same, tightening just enough to acknowledge that I am not someone they can ignore.
“Vardo,” one of them says, his voice neutral in a way that feels practiced.
I incline my head in return and let my pace slow as I approach, angling my body so I can lean one shoulder against the wall. My posture stays loose, deliberately unthreatening, even as my attention sharpens.
“Rotation’s been messy,” I say, letting my claws tap lightly against my gauntlet as I glance between them. “People getting moved around without much warning.”
“Command does what it wants,” the other one replies, folding his arms across his chest.
There is nothing wrong with the answer, and that is exactly why it tells me nothing.
“Yeah,” I say, allowing a faint grin to settle across my face. “Still feels off.”
Neither of them responds to that. Their silence stretches just long enough to confirm that they understand the direction of the conversation and have already decided how much they are willing to give.
I tilt my head slightly, letting the casual edge of my posture sharpen just enough to make it clear that I am no longer asking out of idle curiosity.
“You know the one I replaced?” I ask, watching their faces closely. “Tury.”
The reaction is small, but it is there. One of them glances at the other, a quick flick of the eyes that would be easy to miss if I were not looking for it. The second soldier alters his stance, a subtle adjustment that tightens his stance without making it obvious.
“Never heard of him,” the first one says.
The lie is not clean.
“That’s interesting,” I reply, pushing off the wall and stepping closer. My height fills the space more fully now, narrowing the corridor around us. “Because I took his post.”
“Then he’s not your problem anymore,” the second one says, his tone edging tighter.
“That’s not what I asked,” I say, my voice lowering just enough to pull their focus inward.
The air between us thickens, the ease gone from the exchange. They hold their ground, but their breathing has shifted, just enough to tell me I am getting close to something they would rather leave alone.
“Orders came down,” the second one adds after a moment. “Reassignment.”
“Where to?” I ask.
“Didn’t say.”
I let that answer sit in the space between us, turning it over in my head while I watch them. Neither one elaborates, and neither one meets my eyes for more than a second at a time.
“Didn’t say,” I repeat slowly, letting the weight of the words settle.
Of course it was not written down. Of course it was not passed through channels that could be tracked. That is not how things disappear.
