Checkmate

Sacrifice

Xent

"My Lord."

I glanced up, realising that I'd been silent for a good five minutes and the others were waiting for my response. 

"Thank you, Gise." I nodded at the Intelligence agent who had just reported in. "You've done well. Get some rest."

"My Lord." She bowed to me, inclining her head at my companions before exiting the chamber. I watched as she closed the door behind her, only then turning to the others.

"Well. What do you make of that?"

Chief Guard Tetis exchanged a long look with Ayaan, my Head of Intelligence, before both of them looked at me. 

"It's clear. The Rogues are back." Tetis didn't look happy.

I knew exactly how she felt. 

It had been quite some time since our last Rogue incident. I wasn't sure whether that was because they'd focused their attention elsewhere or because we'd tightened our security to almost war levels. 

Movement between settlements was closely watched, we'd increased Guard presence at every border and we'd closed our only outer border at Galae. No OutClan visitors were allowed in without an invitation or authorisation directly from the Council. Not even a ferret could have gotten in undetected.

It had worked, or so we'd thought.

Until now.

The Border Guard had spotted some OutClan males in the forests just outside the Wall at Galae. When questioned, they'd made a run for it. Our Guard had given chase and had chased hard, running them close, but despite every effort, they'd managed to evade capture, disappearing without a trace into Clenlevin. 

There was no knowing for certain whether these were the same Rogues from before, but I thought it unlikely that this wasn't linked in some way. 

But that wasn't the problem.

No, the problem was that one of the Guard who gave chase had managed to grab onto a fleeing male for a brief moment before the latter broke free. It was long enough to catch sight of his Clanmark. 

The Clanmark of Lichor. 

"I take it your Guard is a reliable witness." Ayaan said, raising an eyebrow at Tetis, who nodded.

Ayaan exhaled and then looked at me.

"It's not enough to call them on." I said quietly. 

He exhaled again, his brow furrowing. 

"If it is Lichor..." He said slowly.

"If it is Lichor, then these aren't random Rogues." Tetis said flatly. "And we've got a big problem."

"They're not random." Ayaan said, frowning. "Our agents found no trace of them in Clenlevin, not for a thirty mile radius. That takes training, skills. Not to mention their evasive tactics. They've got to be Intelligence, I'd bet on it."

"Lichorian Intelligence wandering around near Galae." Tetis shook her head.

"We need to be sure that the forest outside the Wall is as far as they got." I met their gazes.

There was a long silence. We all knew what the implications were.

I stood up, heading for the table of refreshments, pouring myself a glass of chilled spring water and sipping from it, before bringing the jug back to the table.

"The Guard patrol inside Galae and around the Wall has been doubled." Tetis said, holding her glass out as I neared her.

"Change up the patrol timings as well." I said as I poured, glancing at her. "We don't want to be too predictable. Let's make it harder for them." She inclined her head as I circled behind her to Ayaan.