“He has guard duty,” Linsha replied while she rolled the leaves carefully in a scrap of fabric and tucked them under her shirt. “I don’t need an escort. I’m only going to talk to one Knight.”
“What Knight?” Mariana’s voice said behind her. The half- elf came, stretching her long limbs, and joined her friend in the growing sunlight.
Linsha quickly told her about the Solamnic Knight waiting to see her out by the guard posts.
The captain agreed with Varia. “Don’t go alone. I’ll go with you. And just to be on the safe side, Varia, why don’t you keep a watch for us but stay out of sight?”
Pleased for the company, Linsha picked up her walking stick and went to get her weapons and the bridles for the horses. The two women decided not to bother with saddles and retrieved their horses from the lines. By the time they were mounted bareback and ready to leave, the relieved guard from the outpost found them and reported the Knight’s message. Varia fluttered up into the Tree where she could watch them ride out to meet the Knight.
About two miles away from the Grandfather Tree they found the guard outpost where the Solamnic Knight was waiting. He stood by his horse, his arms crossed and his face sour while the new centaur sentry watched him like a vulture hoping for a meal.
“Sir Korbell,” Linsha said, her voice deliberately even and inoffensive.
The Knight saluted her as a Knight of superior rank, although he did not look pleased to do so. “Lady, Knight Commander Sir Jamis uth Remmik requests your presence for a meeting at our campsite.”
Linsha looked down at him and frowned. She was in no mood for games. “Pull the other one, Korbell. It has bells on.”
“This is a legitimate request. He would like to talk to you before we return to the Tarmaks.”
“Why?” Mariana snapped.
Sir Korbell did not look pleased to see the captain either. “I requested that the Rose Knight come alone.”
“Well, I guess that bit got lost in the passing,” Mariana said coldly. “If she goes, I am going with her. So tell us why Sir Remmik wants to talk, or we’ll turn around now and leave you with this fine centaur who would rather spit you on his spear than look at you.” A ferocious glare twisted Sir Korbell’s face before he fought it off and tried to look reassuring. “As you choose. The Knight Commander has information about the Tarmaks he wants to pass on-and a message from the Legionnaire, Lanther.”
Linsha did not move a muscle. “Why didn’t he give it to me at the Grandfather Tree?”
“The gathering was too crowded, too busy. Sir Remmik wants only to talk to you, and quickly. We must get back to the others.”
“Uh-uh. I seem to remember the last time I saw Sir Remmik face to face he accused me of aiding the enemy and breaking my oath to the Knighthood. I can’t imagine why he would want to see me alone except to try to arrest me again.”
“Sir Remmik told me to tell you he gives his word he will not arrest you.”
Linsha and Mariana exchanged a long, thoughtful look. “It’s a risk,” Mariana said under her breath.
“I know,” Linsha replied in a like manner. “It smells to Palanthas like a trap.”
“You know him better than I do. Would he betray you?”
“Before the war? No. Sir Remmik was a man of his word. His honor meant much to him. Now? I don’t know. He has suffered much.”
“So have you. So have we all!”
Sir Korbell cleared his throat with a forceful rasp. “There is little time,” he reminded them.
The half-elf turned her back to him and said to Linsha, “What will you do?”
“He says Sir Remmik has a message from Lanther.” She sighed, knowing her mind was made up. “Perhaps he has information worth listening to.”
“We must go with care.”
“Agreed.” Linsha turned to Sir Korbell. “How far is your camp?”
“About four miles east of here,” Korbell replied with bad grace.
“All right,” she said, hoping this would be worth the ride. “We’ll come.”
Without further speech, Sir Korbell kicked his horse into a trot and rode into the sunrise, obviously expecting the women to follow him. He rode fast in a straight line back the way he had come, with no effort to lose his tracks or mislead anyone who might be following them.
Linsha and Mariana followed side by side. The strong winds of the night before had dropped to a mere breeze in the light of the new day, and the sky shone a brilliant cloudless blue. It would have been a pleasant ride, if it not for the person who awaited them.
As Sir Korbell had said, the ride to the Knights’ camp was only a few miles away. In less than an hour they rode into a shallow ravine worn away by wind and rain and found Sir Remmik standing by a small fire waiting for them. He smiled a steely smile when he saw them, and his gray eyes were cold as deep winter ice. The two women slowed their horses to a walk and approached cautiously. Walls of weathered rock rose about ten feet on either side of a floor just wide enough for the two riders to pass through. About fifteen feet away from Sir Remmik, they stopped their horses and studied their surroundings. The camp sat in a widened curve of the wash, still dimmed in morning shadow by the eroded walls. They could see Sir Remmik standing by a small fire and Sir Korbell dismounting by several horses tied nearby. There was no sign of the other two Knights.
Linsha felt the hairs on the back of her neck rise. She and Mariana glanced at each other, both conveying the same sense of alarm.
Sir Remmik held out his hands to show he held no weapons. “Please dismount, Majere.”
Linsha’s hand slid closer to her sword. She suddenly wished she hadn’t left her saddle behind. If they had to make a run for it, she was going to want a sturdier, less slippery seat. “I don’t think I will, Sir Remmik. Just tell me what you want.”
“Very well. Is it true that you have been passing information to the Tarmaks for a year and a half? Is it true you helped in their invasion and with the battle for the city? Is it also true that you gave away vital secrets about the Scorpion Wadi and its defenses that led to the slaughter of the militia?”
Linsha’s mouth fell open in shock. Her face burned a fiery red. She was so taken aback by his sudden and vehement accusations she could not make a sound.
Mariana had no such trouble. “How dare you!” she shouted. “Where did you hear that dung heap of lies? How could you possibly believe it of one your own Knights?”
A loud, insistent alarm started going off in Linsha’s head. Sir Remmik would not have lured her out here just to shout vile accusations at her. He had to he planning something. “Mariana,” she whispered out of the side of her mouth. “We’ve got to get out of here.”
The half-elf was in complete agreement. She hacked her horse out of Linsha’s way and was about to wheel it around when Sir Remmik raised his hands to stop her.
“No! Wait! You misunderstand. I had to ask.”
The two women were so surprised they pulled their restive horses to a stop and stared at the older man. His words had been clipped as if he loathed saying them, but his tone had been almost conciliatory.
“Where are the others?” Linsha demanded.
“On guard duty, of course,” Sir Remmik said. “This is a Solamnic Camp.”
Linsha made no effort to move her hand away from her sword or lessen the look of distrust on her fair face. She only lifted her chin and asked, “What do you want, Sir Remmik? I know where those accusations come from, and how badly you’d like to believe them. But I will not sit here and be insulted.”
The Knight commander lowered his hands. An expression crossed his face as if he had just tasted bitter gall. “I know. I have had much time to think during the ride through the desert. I am no fool. The Akkad-Ur is treacherous and ambitious. He betrayed Thunder, the mercenaries, and the gods know who else to take our city. You have given me reason to doubt your loyalties in the past, but the more I thought about it, the more the Akkad-Ur’s interest in you raised my suspicions. His tale rings true: there is a spy in our midst. And I believe that spy helped murder Sir Morrec. But I am guessing his words hide a poison that has been working against us for months.” He stepped away from the fire and pointed a finger at Linsha. “Tell me now, Majere,”
he said forcefully, “give me
Linsha felt the silence ring in her ears, for she hardly knew what to say. Only two words came to her mind
