Chapter 30 · A Map That Bites Back

"Touch that map and I'll break your fingers."

Aldric didn't even look up. He was already leaning over the table, one hand braced on the scarred wood, the other reaching for the parchment I'd dragged out of the ruins two days ago. The one that had cost me three good scouts and a night I couldn't sleep through.

"Then break them," he said. "I'm looking anyway."

I moved fast. My knife was out and pressed to his throat before he could straighten. The edge bit just enough to make him freeze.

"Try me," I said.

His eyes flicked down to the blade, then back to my face. No fear. Just that same cold calculation he always wore, like he was weighing whether killing me now was worth the mess it would make.

"You need me," he said. His voice was low, steady. "Or you wouldn't have sent Virrak to my camp last night."

I hated that he was right.

I hated it more that Virrak had agreed with him when I'd argued against it. The old man had looked at me across the fire, his face carved in shadow and scar tissue, and said: "Pride doesn't hold supply lines, girl.