The voice came from the far side of the remaining group. Taller than the others, standing a little ahead of them, the bearing of someone who was used to people listening to him in rooms like this. His hands were raised and his eyes were fixed on her and the expression on his face had gone past regular frustration into the specific place that people reach when they are being coached during a fight."Shut your mouth and FIGHT!"Mira looked at him.She stood completely still for a moment.Then she closed her eyes.She breathed in through her nose. Held it #!£ then breathed out.When her eyes opened, she stepped sideways.And kept stepping.Except the original Mira stopped.And the one that kept walking didn't.The clone separated from her cleanly, same height, same build, same twin sabers burning steady at its sides, same posture, same expression and stepped forward into the space between Mira and the remaining group, coming to a stop directly in front of the tall man who had been yelli

The man looked up. "We had fifteen children in the basket. Moving through the east canopy, fifty percent speed, quiet. One of the children got the gag off, I don't know how, someone must have loosened it during the carrying and called out. Loud enough to carry."He shook his head."Before we could cover it again, someone was already in the trees. Moving up from below, fast, I mean genuinely fast, not trained-fast, something-else-fast. He was in the canopy before the sound had finished travelling." He looked at his hands. "He cut the basket seal open while we were moving. In the air. Moving at speed himself, he cut it while it was moving." A pause. "And then the other one,on the ground,caught it from underneath before it dropped. Made a shield that took the whole basket and brought it down steadily." He looked at Web. "They had talked about that. They had a plan for exactly that scenario before they even moved. That kind of coordination doesn't happen by accident.""How many?"

He looked at the man for a long moment, at the wet hair, the bound wrists, the wide grin that was still sitting on his face. He didn't respond to the question. He didn't react to the tone.He just looked at him.And then he said, quietly and directly… "Who are you working for? Why are you taking children from these villages? And where are you keeping them?"The man stared at him.Then he let out a short laugh, leaned forward as far as the binding allowed, and said, low and clear and completely relaxed… "I am not saying a single word."Wabash's jaw shifted.It was small. Just a small movement at the back of his jaw, like something tightening. His hands, at his sides, closed and slowly, the fingers curling in until his knuckles had some pressure behind them.Then he smiled.Not warm. Not the easy smile he usually had. This one was forced up from something underneath it, thin and deliberate, the smile of a man keeping a lid on something that wants to come off."You said you won't comp