'Tell me,' she said.
Jhoqo smiled a little at her boldness and stood straight again. 'Wait a moment, Terir. Maybe this is premature. Did you see her during the battle with the intruders?'
Loraica thought back to the fight and shook her head.
'Now a mission that she led to find the invaders failed,' he said. 'And she was very eager to speak with the formian prisoners. And she took that halfling prisoner with her on her mission.' He stepped away from the wall, looking stern. 'And she seems too friendly with our durir, doesn't she?'
Loraica could see the thought process on his face and knew his mind was working furiously through a puzzle. 'Sir… collusion with the enemies? Leading her troops into a trap? Trying to divide our command?'
Jhoqo patted his hands in the air. 'I just don't know what to make of any of it, and I want to be sure of her and her soldiers. Maybe I am being too cautious, but I'd rather be too careful than not careful enough.'
Loraica fell silent for a while in the darkness. 'Didn't Khatib examine her troops when we first met up? I thought he found them to be acceptable. Did he study her as well?'
Jhoqo shook his head. 'It would have been an insult to examine her. Khatib may have secretly checked her out, but he's no longer around to ask,' the commander said ruefully.
Loraica considered for a few moments. She didn't know Adeenya and had no reason to trust her, but spying still felt wrong. She looked into Jhoqo's face and thought about how many times his clever thinking had saved her life. Her decision was made.
'Aye, sir. I'll watch her.'
Jhoqo smiled, clapping Loraica on the shoulders before turning to leave the wall. She resumed her patrol and spotted the rodent on the plains again. Whom did it trust? Whom did it doubt? Probably no one, she thought and envied the furry creature.
'You will free us,' the formian said.
Taennen turned back and faced Guk. His strange, alien face, somewhat obscured in the dimness, was devoid of curiosity or hope. Taennen thought about what to say and decided on the truth. 'I don't know.'
'You will free us,' Guk said, again with no question in his voice.
Of course Taennen would free them. They didn't need to be held any longer. Taennen nodded and began to speak. His mouth opened but no words came out. He could feel his mouth moving, trying to form the word 'yes,' but something was stopping him. He reached for the cell door to release Guk, his mouth still moving without sound.
His hand stopped shy of the door, his fingers trembling. He couldn't remember why he was going to release the formian. He was sure he was going to do so, but why? He turned and faced Guk, who cocked his head to one side with a twitch of his neck.
Thoughts of why he was doing what he was doing flitted across his mind. Taennen tried hard to grab those fleeting thoughts, but they felt slippery and flew away each time he reached out for them. He closed his eyes and took several deep breaths.
Images of the formians free in the courtyard played themselves out before his mind's eye, but beyond those images he couldn't seem to find the explanation. Reason and sense seemed to be images of their own, sharp- beaked birds pecking away at those scenes of the freed creatures. Suddenly the formian images shattered in his mind, and Taennen's eyes popped open and he stared at Guk.
'What did you…' he said. 'How?'
Guk's antennae twitched and his head straightened, but the formian did not speak or otherwise move. Taennen realized that the thoughts and images had not come from his mind but from Guk's. Somehow the formian had attempted to convince Taennen to free him and his comrades. Taennen felt in control of himself again but knew he had come close to freeing the creatures.
'You're loose,' Taennen said, seeing that Guk had broken the bindings on his hands and had partially removed the blindfold. When had that happened? How long had he been under Guk's influence?
'We'll double the bindings this time,' he said. Taennen turned for the jail door, wanting nothing more than to leave, when Guk spoke again and stopped him in his tracks.
'You want the one that killed the wizard,' the formian said, his voice softening from its usual vibrato.
Taennen focused his mind against further intrusion. 'How do you know about that?'
'We hear. We see. We are prisoners, but we are not stupid.'
'What about the wizard, then?' he asked, uncertain why he bothered. He strained to search his mind again, making sure the thoughts were his own.
'We know who killed him. It was not the invaders.' 'What?' Taennen said. The statement could not have caught him more off guard.
'We saw the one who killed the wizard,' Guk said. 'Who then?' Taennen asked.
'When we are freed, we will tell you,' the formian replied.
Taennen turned for the door again. To his surprise, Guk did not scramble for him to remain. Either the formian was telling the truth, or he was a far better gambler than one might think. His bluff called, Taennen faced Guk again.
'How do you know who did it?'
'We saw someone enter the tower.'
Taennen cast his eyes around the room as the other formians watched him intently. There were many eyes between them. Maybe some of them had been watching the battle. And maybe one of them had seen something. The windows in the structure were small and high, but it wasn't impossible.
'Tell me, and I'll speak to my commander about freeing you.'
'Free us first.'
'You know I can't agree to that,' he said, deciding that sometimes in a bluffing contest only the man telling the truth could win. It sounded like one of his father's adages.
Guk's mouth appendages clacked together as Taennen stared at the creature. The other prisoners stared at him with similarly stolid expressions on their faces. Taennen would have given a finger for a hint of insight into the minds of these strange formians. With no response forthcoming, Taennen decided that his only choice was to fold his hand. He shrugged and headed for the door.
'We do not lie,' Guk said behind him.
Taennen continued through the door, not looking back. Even if the formian knew who killed Khatib, that did not change his position. He could not promise the ant creatures freedom even if they could grant his fondest wishes; it simply was not within his power.
He emerged into the courtyard and grabbed one of the guards by the shoulder. 'The big one is free of his bindings. Get at least three others and bind him again,' Taennen said. 'This time do it right and double it, if not triple it! Do not, under any circumstances, let anyone in there alone with him.' The durir turned in the direction of his bunk for much needed rest. His stomach wound still ached and nothing would do for it what sleep could.
Adeenya woke to the smell of roasting meat. Her stomach's rumblings urged her from her new quarters toward the cooking fires in the courtyard. The bright morning was warm, the citadel walls effectively blocking the fierce plains winds she could hear whistling above her. She was pleased to see Maquar and Durpari soldiers breaking their fasts together, sharing tales and tactics, telling one another about their respective homelands.
She could not deny her disappointment from the night before, but she felt confident that they had done their best to track the attackers. The halfling, Corbrinn, intrigued her, and she felt badly that he had been returned to the holding building. She dared not broach that topic with Jhoqo yet, certainly not so early in the morning.
She settled down with a plate of food, thanking the soldier who'd cooked it. She couldn't identify the meat, but she knew a Durpari fikrie sauce when she smelled one. The tart and spicy flavors coated her tongue and pried her tired eyes wide open.
Taennen approached and motioned to the ground next to her. Heavy eyelids, puffy cheeks, and other signs hinted that he had chased sleep through the night yet it had eluded him. She waved to him, and he sat beside her. They ate together in silence for a short while, the sun warming her neck and shoulders as it rose higher in the sky
