"They're difficult," Aragon said.
"Not impassable. High ground, narrow, cold. The Arakenys won't expect movement through them because their instruments don't read terrain the way a man reads terrain," he paused.
"They read heat. Movement. Metal."
He looked up. "A battalion on foot, in passes they haven't bothered to survey — we're noise to them. Background. By the time they resolve what we are, we're already inside their perimeter."
"And Elivira?" Malaica asked. Her voice was measured, practical.
"Flies ahead. Scout only."
He looked at Malaica directly. "I don't bring her into engagement until the enclave itself. When I do—"
He didn't finish the sentence. He didn't need to. The split table was right there.
Rosaryn's quill had been moving steadily. She looked up now. "Supply lines through the Varekk. You can't carry what a battalion needs for a sustained push."
"No. We cache on the way."
