Page 22 of Salt Between the Wolves

“No.”

The answer left him so quickly that a brief silence followed.

One of Kael’s eyebrows rose.

“No?”

Soren tightened his grip on the parchment.

“The route isn't appropriate.”

“It's a patrol.”

“The weather is turning.”

“The weather is always turning.”

Soren finally looked up.

Kael remained perfectly calm, which only made the conversation more irritating.

“The western pass isn't a training exercise,” Soren said. “The terrain is unstable, visibility is poor, and half the route runs through exposed ground.”

Kael listened without interrupting. When Soren finished, he waited a moment before asking quietly,

“Since when has that stopped anyone from learning?”

The question landed harder than it should have.

Because it wasn't really about the route, and they both knew it.

Soren set the roster down.

“She lacks experience.”

“She'll gain it.”

“Not there.”

“Then where?”

Silence settled between them.

Beyond the narrow window, snow drifted past in slow white currents.

Kael watched him for another moment before speaking again.

“She already received approval.”

That gave Soren pause, not because the information itself mattered, but because he had forgotten that permission wasn't his alone to grant.

The request had already passed through training leaders, patrol captains, and quartermasters before reaching him. No one had objected.

No one except him.

And for reasons he could hardly explain without sounding irrational.

“She volunteered,” Kael continued. “No one pushed her into it.”