Aric returned to camp hours later, only to find Mira alone. The fire was cold, their supplies scattered.
"Mira? Where's Edran?"
Her face was pale, eyes wide with something between fear and guilt. "He's gone. They took him."
"Took him? Who?"
She swallowed hard. "The Serpent's men. They… they came while you were gone. He told me to run, but I couldn't…" Her voice broke.
Aric's blood went cold. The old man—the only one who could teach him—gone.
But something in Mira's tone made his chest tighten. He studied her face in the dim light, noticing for the first time the smear of ash on her hands, the way her eyes wouldn't quite meet his.
"Mira," he said slowly. "Tell me the truth. Did you let them take him?"
She flinched.
And Aric knew the answer before she spoke.