“I don’t know,” Dagii said tightly, “but they must have some trick. How many do you think there are?”
“Three hundred,” said Keraal at the same moment as Ekhaas and Chetiin said, “Four hundred.”
Dagii nodded. “We’ll assume the worst. Four hundred Valaes Tairn warriors. Based on our experience tonight, enough to crush our troops without lathering their horses.”
“What do we do?” asked Ekhaas.
“We laugh our way back through the mists,” Dagii told her in tones that brooked no laughter whatsoever. “We return to Tii’ator, dispatch all of our messenger falcons in the hope that at least one makes it to Khaar Mbar’ost, then we run back to the main army, make a stand outside Zarrthec, and hope we can slow them down.”
Keraal grunted agreement. Chetiin nodded. Ekhaas looked at all three of them. “Slow them down? If they get through us, they won’t have far to go to reach Zarrthec.”
Dagii bared his teeth. “They’re not interested in Zarrthec, Ekhaas. They didn’t bring that many warriors to attack a village, and if they wanted to harry the countryside they would be doing it already instead of hiding here. A force of that strength is meant for a big target. They’re planning an attack on Rhukaan Draal.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
27 Sypheros
'Safe,” said Aruget and led Ashi and Vounn across a small square. Krakuul watched their rear. Ashi could have told Aruget the square was clear of assassins, assailants, thugs, thieves, or any other danger. Darkness was falling, but there was still enough light for her to see the streets of Rhukaan Draal. The houses that lined the streets here were built of stone with high, windowless outer walls that could have seen off a casual attack. It was as wealthy and peaceful an area as the city could boast-a pleasant place for a dinner party, a terrible place for an ambush. She scowled at Aruget’s back.
Vounn poked her in the ribs. Ashi forced her face to return to neutrality and wondered what Krakuul thought of Aruget’s new caution. She hoped he was as frustrated as she was. The lump at the back of her skull, two days old now but still tender, throbbed as if to torment her.
Down the street, guards stood before a door marked with the crest of House Cannith. A warforged, metal body swathed in a gown stiff with intricate embroidery, appeared from inside the doorway. “Lady Seneschal Vounn, Lady Ashi, welcome to Cannith enclave.”
In marked contrast to a mask-like face and green glass eyes, the warforged’s voice was lively, warm, and surprisingly delicate. Even more than the gown, the voice and a certain way of moving made Ashi think instinctively of the warforged as a woman in spite of her muscular frame and bald head. The effect was disconcerting, and she had to force herself to nod when the warforged offered a graceful curtsy.
Vounn didn’t even blink. “Thank you, Stitch,” she said. “We’re late. Has dinner begun?”
The warforged ushered them into a narrow, high-ceilinged entry hall. “Lady Dannel has waited for you, lady. I’ll show you to the library. If your guards care to go to the kitchen, they’ll find refreshment.” She indicated an unobtrusive door just inside the main entrance.
Aruget looked at Vounn, scowling, but when she gestured he and Krakuul vanished through the door.
The lines of the house were clean and fine, the walls and floors faced with polished stone, yet there was a strange echo about the place as if it was more than half empty. Ashi tried to sneak a look around as Stitch led them through the entry hall.
The warforged caught her curious glances. “The enclave in Rhukaan Draal was built at the same time that House Cannith was constructing Khaar Mbar’ost and other projects for Lhesh Haruuc Shaarat’kor,” Stitch said. “At the time, there were many more members of the house in Rhukaan Draal than there are now. But we cling to our pride, don’t we?”
“Uh… yes,” said Ashi, but Stitch had already turned away to open a fine wooden door ornamented with nothing more than its natural grain.
“Lady Seneschal Vounn d’Deneith and Lady Ashi d’Deneith,” she announced.
In a library with walls lined with velvet drapes and dark bookshelves, nearly a dozen people looked back at them. Ashi saw Pater d’Orien and Esmyssa Entar ir’Korran. She recognized most of the others: the ambassadors of Breland, Karrnath, and Aundair, the envoys of Houses Vadalis and Medani. Dannel d’Cannith, envoy of her house, strode up to Vounn, welcoming her with a smile.
Just the wealthy and powerful of Darguun’s visiting dignitaries gathered for dinner-as if there was absolutely nothing wrong.
Two days before, with the sounds of the city celebrating Tariic’s coronation drifting in the window, Ashi had sat with a cold cloth pressed to her head in the chambers she shared with Vounn and listened to the hobgoblin and the lady seneschal argue.
“You hit her?”
“She would have tried to attack Daavn and his guards, Lady Vounn.”
“So you hit her?”
“Lhesh Tariic sent Daavn after Geth. If Ashi had attacked him, she would have been interfering with the lhesh’s orders.” Aruget gave Vounn a level look. “Would Deneith have been able to protect her?”
That won the argument for him. Vounn gave him cold thanks for his discretion, sent him away to find out what had happened to Geth-and turned her attention to Ashi.
“You protected me with your dragonmark. You told me not to trust Tariic. Geth has clearly done something to anger him. You’re clearly involved.” The lady seneschal’s expression, normally as calm and controlled as still water, was like a storm. “No more evasions, Ashi. What’s going on?”
There was no way around it. Ashi had given too much away already and even when she tried to hold back, it all came rushing out. She confessed everything, from the pact that she and the others had made to keep the rod’s power a secret to Haruuc’s discovery of the curse, to Geth’s decision to seize the rod after the assassination and Midian’s idea to present the new lhesh with a false rod, to the fear that had pierced her at Tariic’s reaction during the coronation. The only thing she managed to keep secret was Tenquis’s name.
Red spots of color appeared high on Vounn’s cheeks. She sat down stiffly and didn’t move or speak for a long, long time. When she did finally speak, it was to say, “You’re leaving Darguun.”
Ashi’s head snapped up. “I won’t! Geth needs me now more than ever!”
“You would rather be arrested for conspiracy?”
“It’s not a conspira-”
“It is,” Vounn said harshly. “You may have had the best of intentions, but what you have done is conspire against the throne-and in every nation of Khorvaire, that’s a crime. If you were a Darguul, it would be treason. Is there evidence? You’re Geth’s friend, so suspicion will fall on you, but is there hard evidence?”
Her gut felt numb. “Geth’s word, but Geth would never betray me or any of us.”
“If Tariic is serious about rooting you out, he may not give Geth a choice.” Vounn closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them and put her hands on Ashi’s shoulders. Her voice was tense but not so angry. “If you had attacked Daavn, Tariic would have had a reason to arrest you-you should thank the Host that Aruget stopped you. He had the right of it. Unless he has evidence that you’ve done something wrong, Tariic would be putting himself against Deneith if he tried to take you captive.”
“And if he has a reason to arrest me?” Ashi asked.
“Then I’ll have to give you to him.” Vounn looked into her eyes as she said it. “He won’t want to anger us, but we don’t want to anger him. Deneith values our contracts too highly. You’ve dug yourself a grave, Ashi. We need to get you out of Darguun before you’re forced into it.”
“Abandon my friends or you’ll abandon me?” Ashi gave her a bitter smile. “What if I don’t give Tariic any reason to arrest me? What if Geth doesn’t betray me?” The smile twisted a bit. “What if he escaped Daavn? I’ll have left my friends in danger for nothing.”
“You want to take a chance on that?”
“It’s what you’re doing.” She lifted her chin stubbornly. “My friends took a chance on me once, Vounn. They
