The moon was high, casting long, skeletal shadows through the pine trees. The camp was quiet, save for the crackle of the fire and the snoring of the men.
Ser Kegan, the scar-faced spy, sat apart from the others, guarding his saddlebags like a jealous lover. He took a swig from a waterskin, his eyes scanning the darkness.
Lena smoothed her apron. She unbuttoned the top button of her maid's dress—just enough to suggest vulnerability, not promiscuity. She picked up a heavy clay jug.
"Showtime," she whispered.
She walked into the firelight, deliberately scuffing her shoe to make a sound. Kegan's hand flew to his sword hilt.
"Who goes there?"
"It's... it's just me, Ser," Lena said, her voice trembling perfectly. "The maid."
Kegan relaxed, his hand leaving the sword. He looked her up and down with a predatory sneer. "Lost, little bird? The Duke's wagon is that way."
"The Duke is... he is cold," Lena said, hugging the jug to her chest. "He speaks to the fat woman about numbers. He ignores me. And... I'm scared of the dark."
She took a step closer. "I stole a jug of the Prince's sweet wine. To help me sleep. But I... I shouldn't drink alone."
Kegan's eyes lit up. A scared girl and stolen royal wine. It was the perfect trap for an arrogant man.
"Come here then," he patted the log beside him. "I'll keep the ghosts away."
Lena sat. She poured two cups. She handed him the larger one.
"To the North?" she asked innocently.
"To the North," Kegan smirked, "and what comes after."
He drained the cup. It was a heavy, fortified vintage—18% alcohol content. Lena refilled it immediately. She let him talk. She giggled at his crude jokes. She leaned in when he whispered lies about how rich he would be.
By the fourth cup, his eyes were losing focus. The alcohol, combined with the fatigue of the road, hit him like a hammer.
"You're... a good girl," he slurred, his hand pawing clumsily at her knee. "When... when the accident happens... I'll keep you."
"Accident?" Lena asked softly, pouring more wine.
"Shhh," Kegan put a finger to his lips, then his head lolled forward. "Secret."
He slumped against the saddlebag, snoring within seconds.
Lena didn't hesitate. She didn't panic. She moved with the efficiency Valian had praised. She gently lifted his arm, unbuckled the leather flap of the bag, and slid her hand inside. Her fingers brushed cold steel, coins, and then... parchment.
She felt the heavy wax seal.
She pulled it out. A single letter.
She tucked it into her bodice, stood up, and vanished into the shadows before Kegan could even drool.
Inside the Royal Wagon, the atmosphere was surgical.
I had cleared a flat space on a crate. A single lantern burned low. Tessa held a thin iron needle in a pair of tongs. Elara stood by the door, watching the outside.
Lena burst in, breathless. "I got it."
She handed me the letter.
I inspected it under the light. The seal was red wax, stamped with the Advisor's crest—a viper coiled around a staff.
"Standard beeswax compound," I muttered. "Melting point approximately 62 degrees Celsius. If we break it, he knows. If we melt it, the image distorts."
"How do we read it?" Elara whispered.
"We don't break the seal," I said. "We delaminate it."
I turned to Tessa. "Heat the needle. Not red hot—just dull orange. Steady hands."
Tessa nodded. She concentrated, her magnetic field vibrating the iron molecules in the needle until it glowed faintly.
"Elara, hold the paper flat."
Elara's massive hands pinned the corners of the envelope with delicate precision.
I took the needle. I didn't cut the wax. I slid the heated wire underneath the wax seal, right where it bonded with the paper.
Sizzle.
The heat liquefied the bottom layer of the wax instantly. I moved the wire in a sawing motion, slicing the seal away from the paper without cracking the top image.
"Tweezers," I commanded.
Lena handed them to me. I lifted the intact wax seal off the paper like a pepperoni off a pizza.
I unfolded the letter.
The handwriting was jagged and hasty.
Kegan,
Execute order at the 'Needle's Eye' pass. Bridge supports are wooden. Cut the primary ropes when the heavy wagon is midway. Blame the weight of the Princess and the rusted iron.Ensure the Engineer dies in the fall. Secure the assets (Maid/Smith).Burn this.
I read it twice. My blood ran cold, but my mind ran hot.
"The Needle's Eye," I said. "That's three days from here. A suspension bridge over a gorge."
"They plan to drop us," Elara said, her voice low and furious. "They want to use my weight as the excuse."
"It's a structurally sound plan," I admitted objectively. "Stress failure due to excessive load. No one would question it."
"I'll kill him," Elara growled, reaching for her dagger. "I'll go out there and slit his throat right now."
"No," I grabbed her wrist. "If Kegan dies, the other spy panics. He might try to poison the water or stab us in our sleep. We need them to think the plan is still active."
I refolded the letter.
"Tessa, heat the back of the wax seal. Just a touch."
She did. The wax grew tacky. I pressed it back onto the paper in the exact same spot. It re-bonded instantly. To the naked eye, it had never been touched.
"Lena," I handed the letter back. "Put it back. exactly how you found it."
Lena nodded, swallowed hard, and slipped back out into the night.
Ten minutes later, Lena returned. "Done. He didn't move."
I leaned back against the wagon wall, looking at my team.
"So," I said, a dark smile forming on my lips. "They want to cut the ropes at the Needle's Eye."
"What do we do?" Tessa asked nervously. "Go around?"
"No," I said. "We cross."
I pulled out my charcoal stick and began drawing on the wagon floor.
"A bridge is a system of tension and compression. Kegan plans to sever the tension cables. But he assumes we are passive cargo."
I looked at Tessa. "Can you magnetize a grappling hook? Strong enough to hold a ton?"
Tessa nodded. "Yes."
I looked at Elara. "Can you move silently across a bridge, ahead of the wagons, without being seen?"
"I am a shadow," she said.
"Good."
I drew a diagram of the bridge.
"We aren't going to let them cut the ropes," I said. "We're going to let them try. And when they step out of the shadows to cut the line..."
I drew a jagged line connecting the bridge cable to the nearby trees where the ambushers would hide.
"Tessa," I said. "We're going to turn the bridge cables into the world's largest bug zapper."
Elara grinned. It was a terrifying sight.
"Voltage," I said. "Lots of it. Let's see how they like the engineering."