The Trail of Ashes

The thought that her smile looked innocent drew a quiet snort of laughter from Carion. Innocent. As if such a thing even existed in this world.

His cynical outlook hadn't changed in the slightest, and yet it struck him as strange — this urge to believe her when she'd spoken of being on the same side.

A faint rustle.

They sensed someone's presence at almost the same instant. Carion was faster. He caught her arm and pulled them both swiftly into a blind corner.

A moment later, three men emerged cautiously into the inner courtyard, and Carion's eyes narrowed to slits. They were clearly not garrison soldiers. There was no chance the troops would wander into the residence at this hour. The only strangers currently staying here were the Governor of Poema and his entourage, who had barged in earlier that evening.

The men glanced around, then one of them pointed, and they moved quietly in that direction. The path they took led toward a back door that opened out of the residence — a door almost never used, tucked away somewhere so unremarkable that no one would know it existed unless they had been told.

He lowered his voice to a whisper.

"Go back to your room."

He was about to follow the men when he stopped short. Rhea had caught hold of his sleeve.

"I'm coming too."

"...What?"

Carion stared at her, incredulous. "Does this look like a game to you?"

"If you're going after them, I can help."

"Princess."

"If you follow too closely, they might notice. I can track them from a distance without them ever knowing I'm there."

Carion looked at her for a long moment. This was the woman who had come looking for him all the way to a forest village in the middle of a fire. Even if he left her behind, she would follow. He was certain of it.

He exhaled. Why was this woman so reckless? So utterly without fear?

He wasn't even armed — he had no weapon at all. He was confident he could handle three men on his own, but it was a different matter entirely if he had a woman to protect.

"If it gets dangerous, I'll abandon Your Highness and run. I'm very good at running away."

That was more reassuring than any promise to fight alongside him. The smile on her face was bright, but the look in her eyes made it plain she had no intention of backing down. When it came to stubbornness, Carion was confident he could match anyone — and yet he raked a hand through his hair and gave a short laugh. It seemed he had met his match.

He let out a wry chuckle, the sound edged with resignation.

"Fine. Let's go."

Please.

Rhea spoke to her spirit, giving her hand a slight wave. The wind would follow the men and show her the way.

The two of them slipped out through the residence's back door and followed a secluded path along the garrison's rear. Before long, Rhea had taken the lead. She moved with such confidence that Carion simply followed in silence.

He wasn't particularly anxious. The circumstances made it obvious these suspicious men belonged to the governor. If they lost them, they could simply wait for their return and catch them then. Whatever purpose had drawn them out in the dead of night, a skilled interrogator could extract that information later.

He thought this was a good opportunity to resolve his questions about her. How she had gotten into the residence when she first appeared, how she had known to come all the way to the forest village last night — those mysteries remained unsolved.

Everything around them was dark, and their quarry had already vanished from sight. And yet she moved without hesitation, as if she could see them perfectly. Every so often she would stop and wait, then gesture to indicate the direction. Now and then he caught a glimpse of the men's coattails ahead, confirming they were on the right trail.

How?

Had she somehow stuck invisible eyes to their backs? He watched her closely, but he couldn't begin to fathom what trick she was using.

There's a problem.

Even as he marveled at her mysterious ability, his mind went cold. There were far too few guards within the garrison. The direction the men were heading had no facilities that required careful management, so it was a relatively poorly guarded area — but for there to be no guards visible at all meant someone had arranged it.

The Governor of Poema would have no trouble bribing soldiers. No matter how feared the Commander-in-Chief might be, he would be leaving soon, and the governor was as good as a king in this region. Carion had started following them in a relatively light mood, but his suspicions were growing.

Thanks to six years of iron-fisted discipline, it was widely known that the Commander-in-Chief of the Northeast was a man of unbending principle. Bribing soldiers at a garrison where the Commander-in-Chief was staying — tampering with the security system itself? If caught, the governor would be staking his entire position. What could he be plotting that was worth taking such a risk?

Rhea stopped and spoke.

"They're heading into the forest."

In pursuing the men, the two of them had nearly left the garrison behind. Carion stared into the forest, swallowed by darkness.

"If I told you to go back now, Princess—" he said, turning to look at her.

"After coming this far?"

He hadn't expected her to obey in the first place.

"Can you keep from losing them even once we're in the forest?"

"Not just in the forest. Anywhere."

"If it gets dangerous, don't you dare step in—"

"I told you, you really don't need to worry."

Carion felt a pang of sympathy for the attendants tasked with serving this walking disaster of a princess.

The men moving in secret on the governor's orders numbered three in total. The guide began to wander once they reached the vicinity of their destination. The fire had changed the shape of the forest, erasing the landmarks he had relied on.

Blackened trees stood like skeletal pillars, and the ground, buried under a layer of dark ash, sank with every step. A heavy, damp smell of char hung in the air, pushing stale, acrid breath into their nostrils with every inhale. The midnight forest, utterly silent of even insect sounds, was eerie.

"Hey, how much farther?"

"This is the right area, but I don't know the exact spot. There used to be a large boulder nearby..."

"A boulder? Over there — isn't that it?"

The guide went in the direction the man pointed and looked around. Another man picked up a long, half-burned branch and jabbed it into the ground here and there, more out of restlessness than purpose.

"Hey! There's something here!"

The other two hurried over. The guide dropped to his knees and clawed at the ground with both hands. Soon an object buried in the ash heap came into view — a grain sack, charred black, packed full of darkened wheat. All three of them grimaced.

"Aigoo, what a waste."

Once they found the exact location, traces of scattered contraband kept turning up nearby. This smuggling operation had been considerable in scale. The quantity of weapons they were supposed to hand over had been substantial, and the food and medicinal supplies they were to receive in return had been equally plentiful. All of it had been reduced to ash in a single instant.

With only three of them, it was impossible to clear away or bury what remained of the burned goods. One of the men pulled an oil can from the bag he'd been carrying.

"Thought I was gonna die lugging this thing."

He uncorked the can and splashed oil all around the area where traces of the smuggled goods remained.

The orders they had received from the governor were specifically two. Go to the smuggling site and burn the evidence again. But they couldn't burn metal — weapons, for instance. Set fires elsewhere as well, start a forest fire to divert attention, and recover the remaining scrap metal later.

Just as the man tossed aside the empty oil can and reached for his flint to light the fire—

"Ugh!"

Something flew through the air and struck him square in the head. There was a dull thud, and the man staggered and collapsed where he stood. The other two whirled around in alarm, scanning their surroundings. Moments later, they too were struck precisely in the head by flying stones and went down. One was knocked unconscious on the spot; the other two were too dazed from concussion to collect themselves.

A moment later, Carion appeared, tossing a stone in his hand and catching it again. He hadn't managed to grab a weapon, but it didn't matter. Even a pebble could be an excellent weapon in his hands.

Watching from a short distance away, Rhea was impressed. His aim with a stone is incredible. One shot, one man, in this darkness. She quietly drew closer. It doesn't seem dangerous anymore.

Carion scraped the ash aside with the toe of his boot, revealing the spearhead of a shaftless spear. He grabbed a groaning man by the collar and hauled him upright.

"Ugh... W-who..."

"The Comman—"

Focus snapped back into the man's glazed eyes, and he sucked in a sharp, terrified breath.

"Stealing imperial weapons right under my nose. You lot must have a death wish."

"Food and weapons, then."

Carion turned his head. At some point she had picked up a branch and was already poking through the burned remains.