She made a small noise of surprise when I stepped clear of the trees. Peering through the gloom, she studied the blood on my shirt. The wet material clung to my skin. When she saw I was unharmed, her sharp nose jerked her head around, searching for her goon.
“He’s dead,” I said.
The color drained from her face. “We can work this out.” A pleading note entered her voice.
“No, we can’t. If I let you walk away, you’ll only return with more men. If I take you to the Commander, I’d have to answer for killing your thugs. I’m out of options.” I stepped toward her, my body frozen with dread. The others I had killed in self-defense during the heat of battle; this would be difficult—this would be premeditated.
“Yelena, stop!” someone called from behind me. I spun. One of the Commander’s soldiers stood with a sword in his hand. As he moved closer, I judged the distance between us.
He must have recognized my battle stance because he stopped and sheathed his sword. Pulling the wool cap off his head, he let his black curls spring free.
“I thought you had orders to stay at the castle,” I said to Valek. “Won’t you be court-martialed?”
“And I thought your killing days were over,” he replied as he examined the prone form of Star’s thug. His crushed windpipe had suffocated him. “Tell you what. If you don’t tell, I won’t. That way we can both avoid the noose. Deal?”
I jerked my head at Star. “What about her?”
“There’s an arrest warrant out for her. Did you even consider taking her to the Commander?”
“No.”
“Why not?” Valek didn’t try to hide his disbelief. “Killing isn’t the only solution to a problem. Or has that been your formula?”
“My formula! Excuse me, Mr. Assassin, while I laugh as I remember my history lessons on how to deal with a tyrannical monarch by killing him and his family.”
Valek flashed me a dangerous look.
I was on the edge. Changing tactics, I said, “My actions were based on what I thought you would do if you were ambushed.”
He considered my words in silence for an uncomfortable length of time.
Star seemed horrified by our discussion. She glanced around as if planning her escape.
“You really don’t know me at all,” Valek said.
“Think about it, Valek, if I took her to the Commander and explained the details, what would happen to me?”
The sad knowledge in his face said it all. I would be arrested for killing Star’s men, the food taster’s job would pass on to the next prisoner awaiting execution and I would spend my last few days in a dank dungeon.
“Well, then, it was fortunate for both of you that I arrived,” Valek said. He whistled a strange birdcall just as Star made her escape.
She dashed down the trail. I moved to follow, but Valek told me to wait. Two gray forms materialized from the dark forest on either side of the road. They grabbed Star. She yelped in surprise and anger.
“Take her back to the castle,” Valek ordered. “I’ll deal with her when I get back. Oh, and send a cleanup crew. I don’t want anyone stumbling onto this mess.”
They began to pull Star away.
“Wait,” she said. “I have information. If you release me, I’ll tell you who plotted to ruin the Sitian treaty.”
“Don’t worry.” Valek’s blue eyes held an icy glare. “You’ll tell me.” He was about to walk past her, when he paused. “However, if you want to reveal your patron now, then we can skip a painful interrogation later.”
Star’s nose twitched as she considered his offer. Even in this situation, she was still the shrewd businesswoman.
“Lying would only worsen your predicament,” Valek warned.
“Kangom,” she said through clenched teeth. “He wore a basic soldier’s uniform with MD–8 colors.”
“General Dinno,” Valek said without surprise.
“Describe Kangom,” I ordered, knowing that Kangom was another name for Adviser Mogkan, but unable to tell Valek how I had come by this information.
“Tall. Long black hair in a soldier’s braid. An arrogant bastard. I almost kicked him out, but he showed me a pile of gold I couldn’t refuse,” Star said.
“Anything else?” Valek asked.
Star shook her head. Valek snapped his fingers. As the camouflaged men escorted Star back toward the castle, I said, “Could it be Mogkan?”
“Mogkan?” Valek looked at me as if I had sprouted antennae. “No. Brazell was far too happy about the delegation. Why would he jeopardize the treaty? That doesn’t make sense. Dinno on the other hand was furious with the Commander. He probably sent one of his men to hire Star.”
I tried to fathom the reason why Mogkan would endanger the treaty negotiations when trade with Sitia was to Brazell’s benefit. Unable to deduce a logical answer, I wondered how I could convince Valek that Mogkan had hired Star.
I began to shiver. Blood soaked my uniform shirt and stained my hands. I wiped the blood on my ripped pants. Retracing my steps, I found my cloak, but before I could swing it over my shoulders, Valek said, “You better leave your clothes here. There would be quite a fuss if you showed up for dinner soaked with blood.”
I retrieved my pack from behind the tree. Valek turned his back while I changed into a clean uniform. I wondered if he had any more sneaks in the woods as I wrapped my cloak around me.
We set out for the camp.
“By the way, nice work,” Valek said as we passed the second dead body. “I saw the fight. I wasn’t close enough to help. You held your own. Who gave you the knife?”
“I bought it with Star’s money.” A stretch of the truth, but I wasn’t about to get Janco into trouble.
Valek snorted. “Fitting.”
When we arrived, Valek melted into a group of soldiers while I rushed to the Co
mmander’s tent to taste his dinner. The entire Star episode had taken only an hour and a half, but my battered body felt as if I’d been gone for days.
As I sat by the campfire that night, my muscles trembled in reaction to the fight. Grief for Rand surprised me as melancholy thoughts filled my mind. The flames of the fire wiggled accusing red fingers at me. What do you think you’re doing? they asked. Three men are dead because of you. How are you going to help anyone? Pure conceit, the flames admonished. Go south. Let Valek worry about the Commander and what Brazell’s up to, you silly girl. The fire pulsed, making shooing motions at me.
I pulled my gaze away, blinking into the darkness. Was it my imagination or was someone trying to influence me? Summoning the mental image of my protective brick wall cooled some of the doubts, but not all of them.
Rand’s disappearance wasn’t noticed until the next morning. Thinking he had run away, Major Granten sent out a small search party, while the others continued deeper into Brazell’s district.
The rest of the journey was uneventful except for the disturbing fact that the closer we drew to Brazell’s manor house, the blanker the look grew on the Commander’s face. He had ceased to give orders or to take an interest in the events surrounding him. The intelligent, piercing glint that had made his gaze lethal faded with each step, leaving only a vacant, dull expression in its place.
In contrast to the Commander, I was beginning to feel rather warm. My hands left slick prints on my bow as we neared Brazell’s. I scanned the woods for an ambush as dread hovered behind me like a pair of hands waiting to wrap around my neck. The ground felt soft and sucked at my boots so that each step required an extra effort. Big mistake, big mistake, coming to Brazell’s, I thought as my mind whirled on the edge of panic. To calm myself I imagined my brick wall, and focused my thoughts on survival.
An hour away from Brazell’s, the rich aroma of Criollo hung heavy in the air. As a precaution, I slipped into the forest off the main trail and stashed my backpack in the crook of a tree, hiding my bow nearby. Taking only my picks from the bag, I pulled my hair into a bun, using the thin metal tools to hold it in place.