The kingdom stirred beneath its golden banners.. stirred, but did not wake.
Not yet.
After the execution, tension coiled like smoke in the streets. Taverns stayed quiet longer. Eyes lingered on strangers. A spark had touched dry grass, but where it would burn next remained unknown.
Zee had chosen the military for a reason.
Of the kingdom's three pillars, the Church could absorb unrest. Mira's web could spin lies. But the Marshal's forces? They were the King's blade, his reach, his wrath. Cutting into that would make the tyrant feel it.
And if they found the Marshal in the process? All the better.
A forest bordered the garrison's north edge. Stone towers loomed above torchlit walls. Inside, drills thundered against dusk.
Two soldiers patrolled a blind corner, half alert, half bored. A perfect opening.
Zee waited until they passed, then struck. One fell in a silent choke. The other took a knife just below the ribs. No time for subtlety.
In seconds, magic shimmered over him and Sevi, armor and faces bending, becoming. Illusion complete.
They replaced the patrol.
Inside, the base moved like clockwork. Orders shouted. Boots stamped. Smoke drifted from barracks chimneys.
They split.
Zee and Sevi combed through the main buildings: archive rooms, locked drawers, deployment logs. Nothing gave the Marshal away. No trail. No hint. Like chasing a ghost through fog.
"He's hiding," Sevi muttered. "Too clean."
"Which means we're near," Zee replied.
Meanwhile, Torren slid through crawlspaces and vents, slipping past guards with ghostlike steps. He rigged the heating lines, jammed key gears, and loosened fuel caps. The base would choke before dawn.
Then—
"You two!" a guard barked. "Office. Now."
The disguise held. They followed.
Inside, the command officer sat behind his desk. A lean man with precise eyes.
"You're from the north relay?" he asked.
"Yes, sir," Zee answered in a different voice, colder, clipped.
The man pulled out a black-sealed scroll case, lacquered and locked.
"This is to be delivered. Not to courier stations. Not to aides. Directly. To Mira."
He slid it across the desk.
"She's stationed in Soleridge for the next three days. Ride fast."
Zee took the case and saluted.
The officer stared a moment too long… then dismissed them.
Outside, as they passed through the gates, magic unraveled. Their forms shimmered back to their true shapes.
"Solridge," Sevi whispered.
Torren emerged from a shadowed corridor, dirt on his sleeves, grin on his face.
"Infrastructure collapses in five hours," he said cheerfully. "Expect smoke. And screaming."
They vanished into the woods.
None of them saw the figure who lingered behind the tree line. Still. Breath measured. Face hidden beneath a dark hood.
She didn't follow.
Not yet.