“… listening?” Ari’s annoyed tone cut through his daydreams. “I said you’ll want to recruit a helper to watch Rye at night. I’ll check Valek’s files, I’m sure he has one of his intelligence operatives assigned to listen for any trouble in the barracks.”

“Why don’t we just use him the whole time?”

Maren huffed. “Brain Boy can’t figure it out. It’s called sleep. Everyone has to do it sometime.”

He drew a breath to retort, but Ari silenced him with a warning look. Grumbling, he trudged back to the castle to bathe, change clothes and eat dinner. It would take Ari a while to ferret out the operative’s name, so Janco headed to the barracks to baby-sit the greenie overnight.

Doing inventory would be high entertainment compared to watching a man sleep. Rows of bunk beds lined the entire first floor of the wooden barracks. The officer’s bedrooms were located on the second floor, but since Ari and Janco’s promotion to Valek’s seconds, they had rather extensive rooms in the castle.

Aside from the snores, coughs and creaks of floorboards from soldiers either leaving for or coming back from guard duty, the night remained uneventful.

Upon reflection, the early morning hours had been too quiet. There had been a lack of… substance. It was the best word to describe those hours, but he knew Ari wouldn’t understand. Ari would be too busy berating him.

Because when the substance returned, Rye was gone.

CHAPTER THREE

Ari searched through Valek’s files. He muttered under his breath about his boss’ total disregard for alphabetical order. Although the files were probably organized in a secret way only Valek could decipher, knowing there was a method to the madness didn’t help Ari. Since Valek wouldn’t be back for a few weeks, it was up to him to comb through the piles, looking for information about Rye .

Maren’s review of the garrison’s commanding officer records failed to produce any details on the greenie besides his home Military District.

Why did trouble always come from MD-5? Ari wondered. The district had a bad reputation since General Brazell was caught trying to overthrow the Commander. And now Rye had transferred in from MD-5 last season.

A knock interrupted Ari’s musings. “Come in.”

Maren entered Valek’s office. “Have you been here all night?”

He glanced out the window in surprise. The sun hung a few inches over the horizon. “Guess so.”

“Find anything?”

“No.”

“Want help?”

“Sure. I’ve looked through all the piles on the floor and the left side of the conference table. Why don’t you search his desk?”

She wove her way through the heaps of books and stacks of papers with an athletic grace. Gray-colored rocks weighed down every pile. Valek was a classic pack rat. Ari shook his head. Trained as a soldier and scout, Ari learned to keep his minimal possessions packed in a small rucksack in case he needed to leave in a hurry.

The rustling of paper and tangy scent of ink filled the room. Ari and Maren worked for an hour in companionable silence—a rare and soothing break from Janco’s constant chatter.

“Found it,” Maren said. She hefted a thick dossier.

“Good.” Ari eyed the size of the file. “How old is he?” He joined her at Valek’s desk.

She flipped it open and scanned a few pages. “Twenty. But Valek has been keeping tabs on him since he reached puberty.”

“Is he a magician?”

“No evidence found.” Maren sorted through the papers. “Although Valek suspects Rye ’s father is originally from Sitia’s Moon Clan and he might have been spying for Sitia.”

“Have been?”

“He disappeared four years ago while on patrol. Rye ’s family lives near the Sitian border and his father was a border patrolman.”

The man could have been involved in illegal border crossings. “Anything else?”

“ Rye ’s father has either returned to Sitia or was a victim of foul play. No evidence to suggest either one. Rye is an only child. Valek assigned one of his men to keep an eye on him and his mother. No suspicious activities in the last four years. And when Rye enlisted, Valek had him transferred to the Commander’s garrison.”

Ari considered the information. Perhaps the greenie’s father was a smuggler and stole the scimitar from Sitia. It’s possible the Sitians discovered it missing, waited for the father to return to Sitia, and killed him. “Did Valek interview the mother and son?”

Maren gave him a grim smile. “Of course. They knew nothing.”

Ari felt a twinge in his heart for Rye . Valek’s interview methods were brutal and reliable. Interesting the boy would enlist after suffering through an interview session.

A loud bang jolted Ari from his thoughts. Janco stood in the doorway. By the wrinkled uniform, wild hair and hang-dog look on his partner’s face, Ari knew the news would be bad.

“I’ve lost him,” Janco said.

“Figures,” Maren said.

“Wasn’t my fault. I had my eyes on him the whole time!”

“While your brain slept? Oh, I forgot – you don’t have a brain.”

Before they could launch into an argument, Ari asked Janco what had happened. His partner rambled on about some kind of substance or lack of substance. Either way the end result was the same. “Did you find any tracks?”

“The dirt around the barracks is too hard packed, and none of the gate’s guards reported seeing anyone.” Janco pulled at his goatee. “The outer walls are too sheer to climb. No one has seen him, and he didn’t report for duty.”