Without waiting for a reply, Taennen passed into his tent and lowered himself onto his cot. He cradled his right hand, still stinging from the impact with Haddar's face, and wished Jhoqo had done the same for him. He thought of Wajde and of the mistakes he would never make again.
Vieenya spotted Taennen in the marching lines. He looked better in the morning light, though it was obvious his wounds still pained him. She fell into step next to him. He gave her a small smile and saluted.
'Durir, it pleases me to see you're well. Be at ease,' she said, returning the salute.
Taennen dropped his arm to his side. 'Thank you. What can I do for you, Orir?'
'I wanted to see how you were recovering,' she said.
Taennen nodded. 'Fine, thank you. I hope the battle went well for you and yours, sir,' he said.
Adeenya nodded. 'As well as any fight can,' she said, her lips forming a tight smile.
Taennen raised an eyebrow and tilted his head.
'No fight is a good fight, Durir Tamoor.' Her goal had not been to remind him of his losses, but by the look on his face, she clearly had. Regrettable but she had no time to worry about such things.
'That seems a strange attitude for a mercenary,' Taennen said, 'if I may say so, Orir.'
'Does it?'
'I meant no offense,' he said with a bow and a gesture of apology, wiping three fingers down his chin.
'It's quite all right, Taennen. May we talk frankly?' she said. If she was going to try to get answers, she might as well go straight to the heart of the matter. 'Taennen, I have been unable to speak with the prisoners yet. Urir Valshu said it was unsafe and that with more time to examine them, he could allow me to interrogate them myself.'
'They are very dangerous, Orir,' Taennen said.
'I know that, but I hope you can understand my position. I need to know what's going on. I'd be a poor leader if I led my soldiers blindly without gathering all the intelligence I possibly could,' Adeenya said.
Taennen nodded, looking vaguely uncomfortable. She was getting to him.
'I'll be blunt, Taennen. I need your help,' she said.
'I would be pleased to help if I can, Orir,' he said.
Adeenya smiled. 'Excellent. Tell me about the prisoners.'
'I know very little, sir. I haven't even been able to interview them myself,' he said.
'What you do know would be helpful,' Adeenya said.
'Orir, if I had any answers for you, I would share them,' the Maquar said. His stiffened posture told her what she needed to know. She was being excluded. The urir obviously didn't think much of her command. He'd rather share information she needed with his skittish second.
Adeenya frowned and nodded. 'Very well. If you do learn anything or find you can share something you might feel unable to share now, please let me know.'
'Good morning,' Jhoqo said as he fell into step beside Adeenya.
'Good morning, sir,' Taennen said.
'Good morning, commander,' Adeenya said, with a smile she didn't feel. 'You've trained a tough one here.'
'I certainly have. How are you, son?' Jhoqo said to Taennen.
'Well, sir, thank you.'
'Actually, sir,' Adeenya said. 'I was just asking Taennen what he knew about the prisoners as I've not yet had the opportunity to interview them.'
'We've spoken about this, Orir,' Jhoqo said. 'No one has been allowed to interact with them yet. It's much too dangerous.'
'Very well, sir, can you at least tell me what you've learned?' Adeenya said. 'Clearly that information is not too dangerous as you know it and stand before me unharmed.'
Taennen started at the woman's bold words. 'Orir, I don't think-'
Jhoqo chuckled and waved a hand casually. 'No, son, it's fine. If I were in her position, I'd be asking too. So, what have you learned from my durir so far, daughter?'
'Nothing, I'm afraid,' she said.
Jhoqo nodded at the woman and turned a smile on Taennen. Pride shone in his eyes. Adeenya bit back her anger. She needed to know more about the creatures, and their secrets were in her way.
'Commander, I am already disadvantaged with a company appropriate only for the simple task I was advised of.' she said. 'I cannot do my job here if I don't have all the information available.'
Jhoqo cocked his head and looked at her. 'You have all the information you need, Orir,' he said. 'Unless perhaps we're of differing opinions as to what your job here is.'
'Sir?' she asked.
'Your job, Orir, is to follow my orders and support the Maquar in this endeavor,' Jhoqo replied.
Adeenya took a deep breath and said, 'Sir, this is a joint mission. We are here to support one another.'
'But you must agree that I am in charge?' Jhoqo said.
'Yes, sir. Of course, sir,' she said.
'Very well. Then, why are we still discussing this?' he said with a small smile.
'Sir, the safety of this mission is part of my duty. Important information necessary to honoring that duty is being kept from me, sir,' she said.
Jhoqo squinted at her for a moment and said, 'Are you accusing me of something, Orir?'
'No, sir,' she said. Adeenya did not fear the man before her, but his rising ire did not bode well for her career. Accusing an officer of negligence was a serious offense. Add it to that the fact that she had already tackled the man, and Adeenya saw her life as a soldier falling away.
'You need to be sure of what you are saying, Orir,' Jhoqo said, stepping toward her.
'Sir,' Taennen said. 'I believe the orir is just trying to do her job. I would be just as persistent as she were our roles reversed.'
Adeenya did not know who was more surprised by Taennen's statement, she or Jhoqo. The Maquar commander spun and faced his second. 'Durir?' Jhoqo said.
'Sorry, sir,' Taennen said, lowering his head.
Adeenya could almost see the younger man's spine melting away and thought it a pity. Her hopes for him had been raised when he had stood up for his principles.
She spoke again before she lost her momentum. 'Urir, we've never seen anything like these creatures. Before she died of her injuries, one of my people told a comrade that the ant-creatures had done something to her… had tried to do something to her mind but had failed,' Adeenya said.
'I need to investigate that. It could be disastrous for this mission.'
Taennen's head snapped up and his eyes met Jhoqo's. 'Gods damn it. You knew!' Adeenya said. 'Orir, keep your voice down,' Jhoqo said, glancing around.
Adeenya seethed and wished to say more, but after several breaths nodded. 'Yes, sir,' she said.
Jhoqo sighed. 'You may as well tell her now,' he said to Taennen.
'Yes, sir. I… experienced something similar,' Taennen said.
'What is it? What are these ant-things doing?' Adeenya asked.
'They call themselves formians, Orir,' Jhoqo said. 'Formians… where are they from? What are they doing here?'
'We don't know,' Jhoqo said.
'Urir, I need-' Adeenya began.
Taennen stepped nearer her and shook his head. 'We really don't, sir.'
Adeenya was skeptical but decided she didn't have much choice. She had achieved more progress than she had expected to. 'May I speak with them now that I know?' she asked.
'I suppose it couldn't hurt,' Jhoqo said. 'Once we've halted for meals. But I'll have your word that even your second-in-command doesn't learn of this. I want this no further than it's already gone.'
'Agreed,' she said.
