"Quiet," Nyraxa breathed in his ear, "and you might live.Scream, and I'll open you from groin to gullet and leave your entrails for the crows."
The scout nodded frantically.
She dragged him into the darkness.
Yelena's target was a sergeant; he was older and more experienced, sleeping alone in a tent at the edge of the perimeter.She slipped through the tent flap, crouched beside his cot, and pressed her knife to the soft flesh beneath his jaw.
He woke with a start, his eyes going wide in the darkness.
"Not a sound," Yelena whispered."Not if you want to keep breathing."
The sergeant's hands rose slowly, palms out.
Amara took three.
The youngest of Nyraxa's inner circle found a cluster of scouts playing dice outside their tent, their voices loud, their attention fixed on the fall of the bones.She watched them, learning their patterns, their gaits, their injuries, and their weaknesses.
Then she stepped out of the shadows, and before any of them could react, she had a blade to the nearest throat and a smile on her face.
"Evening, gentlemen," she said sweetly."I need a word with your commanding officer.Anyone want to volunteer as tribute?"
The scouts stared at her, frozen.
One of them stupidly reached for his sword.
Amara's other hand moved, and a knife sprouted from his shoulder.He went down with a strangled cry, and the others decided, very wisely, to stay perfectly still.
"Anyone else?"Amara asked.
No one moved.
"Get up.Let's go."
They met in the darkness beyond the camp; an hour later, their prizes were bound and gagged and terribly frightened.
Nyraxa counted.Four scouts, one sergeant, and the young fool with Amara's knife still in his shoulder.More than enough.
"Separate them," she ordered."I want each of them questioned alone.Cross-reference everything.If their stories don't match, we'll kill whoever's lying."
Her girls nodded and dispersed, dragging their captives to different locations.
Nyraxa kept the sergeant for herself.
She sat him down against a tree, removed his gag, and crouched before him with a smile that held no warmth.
"Here's how this works," she said."I ask questions.You answer.If I like your answers, you might live.If I don't..."She drew her knife, letting the moonlight catch the blade."Well.Let's not think about that."
The sergeant seemed unfazed, looking up at her."What do you want to know?"
"When does Orda plan to move?"
"Three days.Maybe four.They're waiting for—" He stopped.
Nyraxa's eyes narrowed."Waiting for what?"
His mouth clamped shut, unwilling to open.
"I can make this very unpleasant," Nyraxa said softly."Or you can tell me what I want to know, and I'll let you walk away.Your choice."
