Page 188 of The Infernal Battalion

Cyte, still in just her uniform shirt, gave a quick nod, arms folded over her chest. Her face was tight.

“Be careful,” she said. “Please.”

“I’m not the only one who’s going to be in danger, you know.”

Winter leaned close and kissed her. Cyte hesitated at first, and then her lips parted, returning the kiss with desperate urgency.

“I’m serious,” Winter said when she pulled away. “I’m coming back, and so are you.”

Cyte nodded, blinking rapidly. Winter wanted to kiss her again, put her arms around her, crawl back into bed and never come out. Instead she slipped out of the tent, shivering at the sudden chill. The sun was only a suggestion of brightness at the horizon, and fall was slipping away quickly.

She walked up the hill, following the paths cut by companies of enthusiastic axmen the night before. At the back of the ridge, behind the artillery, a small copse of trees had been left untouched. Their leaves were fading to brown, but they still effectively concealed the small clearing at their center from prying eyes, and Winter had picked the spot for a meeting place. She pushed through bushes until she broke into the open, and she waited for the others to arrive.

In the center of the clearing, they’d made a pyre, a bed of firewood built on a layer of small sticks and kindling. Winter looked down at it and shivered, but not from the cold.

Alex and Abraham arrived next. Alex had trimmed her hair and traded her ragged traveling clothes for a tighter, darker outfit of leather and silk. Winter raised an eyebrow at her, and she shrugged, blushing slightly.

“I had this stashed in the city from the last time we came through,” she said, looking down at herself. “I thought it was an appropriate costume for the world’s greatest thief. This seemed like as good a time to pull it out as any.”

“Having a fancy costume seems to defeat the purpose of being a thief,” Abraham said, pulling his gray robe away from the bushes with some effort. “You’re not supposed to let people see you.”

“You clearly don’t understand what it takes to be the world’s greatest thief,” Alex said. “You have to show off a little to build your reputation.”

She grinned, but her smile was shaky. Winter did her best to project reassurance.

Sothe didn’t so much arrive as materialize out of the shadows. She shot Alex a pointed look, then nodded to Winter.

“You’re ready?” Winter said.

“Feor assures me the ritual was successful.” Sothe looked down at herself. “I didn’t feel different, at first. But I tested a cut on my arm last night.” She held out her wrist. In a line across her old, fading scars, there was a stripe of flesh that had turned the color of marble. “It is... a strange sensation.”

Winter blinked back a moment’s tears, remembering Bobby coming to her when she’d first noticed the change Feor’s magic was working. How long could she have lived, if she hadn’t followed me? Another year? Longer? They’d never know now.

“If you’d like,” Abraham said quietly, “I can send you into a deep sleep. I thought that might make the prospect... easier. Only with your permission, of course.”

Sothe gave a small smile. “I consider myself as capable of bearing pain as anyone, but I must admit the prospect of being burned alive was unappealing. I think your way sounds better.”

“Wait,” Winter said. “What am I supposed to tell Raesinia? Assuming... things work out.”

“She knows I intend to go with you,” Sothe said. “Just not the details. Tell her I gave my life to stop the Beast.”

The assassin nodded again politely. She dropped a small pack at Winter’s feet, then lowered herself onto the pyre, taking care not to disturb the logs. Winter watched with a quiet awe at her self-​control. She’s not even trembling. When she was comfortable, Abraham stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder.

“I don’t blame you,” Winter said abruptly. “For... what you did. And I think... maybe you can balance the scales.”

Sothe only smiled. A moment later her eyes closed and her breaths became slow and deep.

Abraham stood up. “I should get back to the cutter’s station,” he said, looking from Alex to Winter. “If you need my help, you’ll know where to find me.”

“Thanks,” Alex said. “Don’t forget to keep your own head down.”

He nodded gravely and left the clearing. Alex looked down at Sothe nervously, then raised her eyebrows at Winter. “So, now we just... light her on fire?”

“Not yet.” The Steel Ghost’s voice rang from nowhere. For a few seconds the air was full of flying sand, and then the robed, masked figure stood beside the pyre, looking down at Sothe. “This is a brave woman,” he murmured.

“You have no idea,” Winter said.

“I will start looking for the core,” he said, straightening up. “Once I find it and the battle has begun, I will return here. The transformation will not take long.”