She settled back against the ice wall. "Our job right now is to not make things worse. The best thing we can do for them is stay hidden and be there when they get back."
Marek exhaled slowly and nodded, though the worry didn't fully leave his face.
"…You're right. I just don't like sitting here while they're out there."
"Nobody does," Vela said quietly, her own eyes drifting back toward the north. "But trusting your team means trusting them to survive without you hovering over them. Let them do their part. They'll be back."
She didn't add the other half of the thought, the part she kept to herself.
That if she was wrong, there was nothing the four of them could do about it now anyway.
***
Moon had finished placing the last of the explosive runes when he saw them.
At the far end of the chamber, past the throne, past the gallery of hides and mounted heads, stood a display he hadn't noticed until now.
