Neversfall

here, he would agree with me. You are just not the patriot we thought you to be, and your service is no longer required. Besides, there won't be much to be done about it in a few moments, will there?'

Taennen followed Bascou back toward the citadel. The grass on the empty plains smelled dead and defeated under the scorching sun. Taennen glanced over his shoulder many times as he followed the man before him.

As they approached to within an arrow shot, the front gates cracked open for them. Bascou sang the praises of the fallen men to those gathered just inside the citadel, proclaiming Taennen a warrior of unmatched prowess. The observers joined in his praise.

Their forces were waning, and soon there would be none of them left unless they could stem the tide of the invaders' attacks. Taennen's prowess didn't matter if they were outnumbered and outmaneuvered. He ignored the remarks and strode past Bascou, headed toward the building Jhoqo had designated for citadel operations.

Taennen's mind wandered as he walked through the courtyard. He needed to have his wounds dressed, and his sword needed to be cleaned or he would risk damaging the fine blade. He needed to write letters to the families of the men lost on the patrol that day. He pictured Loraica's face along with the rest of his fallen friends' and focused his attention. Right then, he needed to speak to Jhoqo.

The list of concerns to bring before Jhoqo formed in his mind. He chose his words carefully to tread the fine line between being too lightly critical of Bascou, whom Jhoqo clearly believed in, and smearing the man unnecessarily to the point of closing Jhoqo's mind to the possibilities he would present.

Thoughts still whirling, he knocked on his commander's door. There were no guards on duty-not surprising, given the dwindling number of bodies still upright and breathing in the citadel. Jhoqo's voiced beckoned him enter.

The late sun found every crevice it could to leak through and the room shone. Jhoqo sat behind the planning table, still covered with maps and notes on the geography and vegetation of the area. The commander held his head in his hands, not raising his eyes to greet his durir.

Still not moving, and speaking very slowly, Jhoqo asked, 'Do you have word of the mission?'

'Aye, sir,' Taennen replied. 'It's not good.' Jhoqo lifted his face. 'Taennen.' Aye, sir.

'I am glad you are well, son. Report.'

Taennen cleared his throat. 'We lost all eight men.'

'And Bascou?'

Taennen wanted to roar in the face of his commander. Four of his own were dead, and their commander cared first and foremost about the foreigner?

'Alive, sir,' he said.

'You found them, then?' Jhoqo said.

'A contingent, not their base of operations if they even have one. Sir, we had the opportunity to learn more, but Bascou decided not to pursue the tracks of the enemy. That's why I came, sir, I don't think he-'

'I'm sure he had his reasons. Unfortunately, further issues have arisen,' Jhoqo said.

'Sir, we lost-'

'I heard you, Durir. Now, listen to me,' Jhoqo said as he slumped back into his chair. He pointed to another seat, but Taennen declined the offer. Jhoqo ran a hand through his dark hair and said, 'There was a traitor in our midst, a saboteur. Two of them, it seems.'

Taennen stood silent. Jhoqo continued before the younger man could ask the obvious question.

'Marlke's dead. Killed by his conspirator, whom I captured,' the commander said.

Taennen responded before the words had finished leaving the man's mouth, 'Who?'

'I'm sorry, son,' Jhoqo said, and Taennen felt his knees soften. 'I know you had grown close with her.'

Adeenya's eyes flew open and then slammed closed just as quickly when a shaft of light in the room lanced them, sending a sharp pain through her skull. Her head jerked away from the brightness, eyes cracking open again. She pulled herself up to a sitting position on the floor. Her head ached, but a check at the source of pain showed no blood or severe injury, though a bruise would doubtless fill the space. There was blood on the floor, and her face throbbed. Her fingers found a large, sore crevice of a wound on her chin as well as a split lip. Her right cheek and eye were swelling even as she felt them. Her mouth tasted terrible.

The wall behind her was rounded, a half circle that met with the flat wall before her, and a single covered window was set in the wall instead of small openings close to the ceiling. She was in one of the towers of Neversfall, she realized.

The moments prior to finding herself in that place began coming back to her. Marlke was the traitor-he had been about to kill the formians, but she had stopped him. After that. she was unsure what had happened. She had wounded the dwarf, almost certainly incapacitating him.

Adeenya glanced around the spartan room, deciding she had not been taken here for medical attention. Even the most unskilled healers would place a patient on something other than the floor, and at the very least would have cleaned her wounds. Gray walls met bare floor that held only dust. She was a prisoner, then.

Marlke's face came to her mind, his eyes looking past her, his lips turning up in a smile even as blood poured from the wound she had given him. As if it were a stone thrown at her by a giant, Adeenya felt the truth crash down upon her. Jhoqo had knocked her unconscious while she stood over Marlke.

She shuffled to her feet and checked the window. Crossed with wooden planks, it was well sealed. She pushed and pulled on the boards but to no avail. Perhaps if she had a weapon, she could work her way out, but she counted herself lucky to be alive, never mind armed. Her chin throbbed worse as she loosed a small growl.

'The door it is, then,' she said.

'There's no mistake, Taennen. The Durpari dorir is dead by her sword. The prisoners nearly died as well,' Jhoqo said, rising from his seat. The smaller man passed Taennen, motioning toward the door with his chin as he said, 'Come, we must tell the others now that you and Bascou have returned.'

Taennen had not yet spoken since Jhoqo had revealed the second traitor. He could feel his tongue in his mouth, but it felt transitory, temporary, as though his first attempt at speech would cause it to streak from his mouth and fly away, never to return. He felt like a child again, confused beyond cognition. Marlke? Adeenya? Why would Adeenya have launched such an elaborate campaign to discover the traitor if it were her?

They crossed the courtyard, Jhoqo shouting for the men to gather in the center. Word spread in ripples, one man shouting to the next, so on and so forth, until even the guards on the walls were sprinting down the stairs. The crowd fell in behind Taennen, murmuring among themselves about what the commander might say. Bascou's voice could be heard over the whispers, telling soldiers to get out of his way as he moved to stand beside Jhoqo.

Jhoqo stopped and raised his arms high, patting his hands in the air. He called for silence and, after several moments, had it.

'Friends, I have news. News that is tragic,' Jhoqo said.

Shouts issued from the audience, prompting the man to continue.

'We have been betrayed, brothers,' the urir said.

Loud protestations and utterances of anger boiled forth before quieting at Bascou s insistence.

Jhoqo nodded his thanks to the Chondathan leader and continued, 'But there is good news. The traitors have been found!'

The Maquar slapped their leather armor and whistled, until Jhoqo again called for silence and added, 'Know this, friends, had it not been for this treachery, our other brethren who are lost to us would surely be standing with you now. Without the help of these betrayers, surely no foe could begin to harm us!'

The last several things his commander had said began fitting together in the durir's mind. Taennen looked out over the gathered crowd and saw what remained of the Durpari soldiers. What would they say when Jhoqo proclaimed their leaders as traitors? Hqw would they react? What would a Maquar say or do if someone accused Jhoqo and himself of treachery? By sheer practice of duty, Taennen steeled himself for trouble.

Jhoqo stood tall and went on. 'I know that you all wish vengeance upon those who have betrayed us, but I beg your stay in this matter. These filthy dogs should be tried, publicly acknowledged as being in violation of the Adama, in their homeland. Their faces will be spat upon by their former friends and family, and they will know the true depth and consequences of their treachery.'

Cheers came in a short burst, the crowd anxious to hear the names. The Durpari seemed to be moving