Waiting

Roof had led Marcus and Delilah north, opting for an unconventional route through the dense forest.

Though longer and more treacherous, the path kept them well out of sight from the Iron Hearts' scouts patrolling the main roads—any of whom would have sounded the alarm if they had been spotted.

Aziz had been adamant. He'd told Roof he had a strong feeling that Lord Raven's sponsor would already have alerted him to the Queens Hand's failure.

If that were the case, Raven was likely expecting Lady Nessa to attack him directly, not expecting them but it was best to be cautious.

Lord Raven had already proved to be a tricky one. The only advantage they had now was speed and unpredictability. They needed to move fast.

It took two grueling days of constant travel to finally reach a vantage point. From the cover of the trees, they could see the Iron Hearts' encampment sprawled out before them. It was a fortress in every sense of the word.