Chapter 11 · Frontier Lord - Chapter 11: Walls Remember Blood

The kid under the false floor wouldn't stop shaking.

Ava knelt by the wagon, Rain already pulling back the splintered boards. The boy couldn't be older than ten. Dirt smeared across his face, eyes too wide, breath coming in short gasps like he'd been holding it for miles.

"Easy." Rain's voice went quiet, the kind of quiet he used on spooked horses. "Nobody's gonna hurt you."

The kid didn't believe him. Smart.

Sera pushed past Ava, crouched low, and held out a water skin. "You've been in there since the crossroads, haven't you?"

A tiny nod.

Ava's chest tightened. The crossroads was two days back. Two days under a false floor with no food, no water, listening to boots overhead and praying nobody checked the cargo.

"Who put you there?" Ava kept her tone level. The kid's eyes flicked to her, then away.

"My sister." His voice cracked. "She said I had to hide. Said the bad men would take me north if they found me."

North. Frostplain clans. Ava's stomach turned. She'd heard stories about what they did with kids who had no family to ransom them back.

Rain met her eyes over the boy's head.