Raquelle knew what was potentially in store for her sarcastic little tent-mate -- and so she smiled, her back to Sam, and didn't bother responding or acknowledging the other woman's existence. Sam would get what's coming to her. Raquelle waited until Sam had left the tent, and she shifted her skirts and rolled onto her back, able to sleep soundly. Her dress would be completely ruined -- but she'd brought enough of them that it didn't matter. She must look her best if they happened to be attacked, after all.

---

August took a slow breath, his expression unchanged and passive, and for a moment he pretended he hadn't heard the voice in his pocket. Finally he set his jaw, glanced back at the fire (where he saw that Sam had reignited the embers, unable to sleep as he'd expected) and moved silently out of Sam's line of vision before he withdrew the mirror. He'd been waiting for a message from Narissa -- but her voice still made his blood run cold.

"She's Samantha Shea, a Verinian," he replied crisply, all business. "The bandits that blew down your door had previously taken her hostage. She is no friend of Eldonia. She has expressed to me her desire to see Eldonia burn. She is an exceptional liar: she has lied her way into the princess' trust, and Samantha in turn trusts me. I believe she could be useful to you, my queen."

He thought he heard movement in the forest, but he dared not look away from the queen until she gave him leave.

And there was, indeed, movement at the edge of the forest: three very short, masked bandits crept between the shadows with sure footing, each with a hatchet held ready above his head.