Zander stiffened slightly. “You speak as if you’ve seen it.”

The man smiled, faint but knowing. “I have heard enough.”

Gavriel crossed his arms. “And what makes you think we’d allow a stranger to walk with us?”

The old man met his gaze without hesitation. “Because this journey is not only about war,” he said. “And you know it.”

That landed heavier than any accusation.

“You carry a woman between life and death,” the man went on, nodding toward the carriage where ...