much as catch a glimpse of them. If the ancient construct that lurked in the Dhakaani ruins still wailed, they didn’t hear it.
The power of the Shield of Nobles was a revelation. Ekhaas had barely been able to sleep. She’d lain awake, listening to the jungle and imagining what they could do. One shaari’mal had weakened the hold of the Rod of Kings on Midian. Two had shattered it. They had three of the disks. What effect would waking all three have? Who would they give the third disk, the one Tenquis carried hidden in his vest, to?
Dagii’s gray-eyed face had risen in her memories.
Tooth, restored by rest and more healing magic, led them north out of the jungle. Several days later, they’d arrived at the town of Rheklor and the mouth of the Ghaal River, where boats traveled upstream to Rhukaan Draal in a constant flow of river traffic.
Unlike Arthuun in the south, they’d found the town alive with excitement over Tariic’s plans for defense against the Valenar. The news had given them a convenient excuse for traveling to Rhukaan Draal-when they’d approached a boat’s captain to arrange transportation, they claimed to be mercenaries looking to take Lhesh Tariic’s coin-at the same time as it had made Ekhaas’s stomach tighten with fear. A few inquiries established that no Valenar had been seen since Dagii’s triumph at the Battle of Zarrthec. What was Tariic up to? What had happened to Dagii and Ashi?
They’d also bid farewell to friends at Rheklor. Tooth wanted more rest before he made the journey back to Arthuun. Marrow refused to board a boat or enter Rhukaan Draal. She would return to her pack across country. They’d said good-bye and boarded their boat a party of five once more. Ekhaas. Geth. Tenquis. Chetiin.
And Midian.
After he’d stopped screaming, the gnome had begged for the chance to take his revenge against Tariic. He’d poured out a story that, coming from anyone else, would have roused Ekhaas’s pity. Coming from Midian, it only made her glad of his suffering. At the same time, though, they all agreed on two things. First, that freed of the influence of the Rod of Kings, Midian hated Tariic as much as any of them did.
Second, that they would need all the allies they could find. They had a shield against the rod’s power, but Tariic still had an army to throw at them.
Beyond the docks, the streets of the city were strangely empty.
“It was like this when Haruuc died,” Tenquis said. “Everyone went to watch him be laid to rest.”
“I guess it would be too much to hope that Tariic has died, then,” said Chetiin.
“I’d be disappointed if he had,” growled Geth. The shifter adjusted his cloak and cowl. Of all of them, he was the most recognizable, having held the throne of Darguun as Haruuc’s shava after the old lhesh’s death. “I’d miss the chance to bring him down.”
Ekhaas spotted a figure moving on the street ahead-a scruffy hobgoblin staggering along as if he’d just left a tavern. “Wait here,” she said. “I’ll see if I can find out what’s happening.” She had her answer quickly enough and returned to the others. “Everyone who can has gathered at the arena,” she said.
“The arena?” Geth asked. “Are there games?”
“Not exactly.” Ekhaas put her ears back. “Tariic gives blessings to the commanders of his army. They ride out today to take charge of the defense against the Valenar.”
Geth grunted. “More soldiers riding to the border of the Mournland leaves fewer soldiers in Rhukaan Draal for Tariic to command. That helps us.”
“Not when one of those commanders is Dagii,” said Ekhaas. They’d made loose plans on the journey upriver, not knowing exactly what they’d find in Rhukaan Draal. Most had involved slipping into Khaar Mbar’ost-with Chetiin’s and Midian’s skills it would be relatively easy-and freeing Ashi, but all had involved gathering allies before they confronted the lhesh. Dagii had always been at the top of that list.
Chetiin looked to Midian. “What are Tariic’s intentions for him?”
“I don’t know,” said the gnome. “I’ve been away from Rhukaan Draal almost as long as you, and Tariic didn’t discuss everything around me. I was his slave, not his adviser. It’s surprising, though. While I was here, Tariic was keeping Dagii away from the action. He was using him as a figurehead, the hero of Zarrthec.”
“Maybe that’s what he’s doing now,” said Tenquis. “Sending him to repeat his victory against the Valenar.”
“If there are Valenar,” Ekhaas said. She tried to put her feelings for Dagii aside. “We can use this chance to get into Khaar Mbar’ost more easily. We’ll find other allies. Munta the Gray could help us.”
Geth bared his teeth. “Dagii hasn’t left Rhukaan Draal yet,” he said. “We can still intercept him and get the shaari’mal into his hands. There’s no one else I’d want to have as part of the shield-especially if Tariic has made him one of the commanders of Darguun’s army. I say we go to the arena.”
Ekhaas’s ears rose. “Tariic will be there. Are we ready to face him?”
No one answered her. No one had to.
The great arena lay on the other side of the city. If a crowd had already gathered, they needed to hurry. Dagii wouldn’t waste any time beginning his march north after receiving Tariic’s blessing. She pointed along one of Rhukaan Draal’s crooked streets. “This way.”
The window of Ashi’s tower room looked out over the wide square before Khaar Mbar’ost, too high up to think of climbing down, but more than high enough to offer a spectacular vista of Rhukaan Draal. She wondered if Tariic had chosen the view deliberately. The square was where she and the others had tried and failed to kill him. Vounn had died down there. Ashi almost had too.
When Ashi saw troops parading in the square, she was certain the view was deliberate. Even from the tower window, she could make out the standard of the Iron Fox company. Tariic was taunting both her and Dagii. She could see the arch of the bridge over the Ghaal River as well. When Dagii led his troops north, she would be able to see them leave.
The Iron Fox wasn’t the only company to parade before Khaar Mbar’ost. Ashi recognized the precision of the Kech Shaarat too. They’d been first on the list of companies for the assault of Kennrun. If Dagii was leading the attack on New Cyre, presumably Riila Dhakaan-or more likely Taak-would be leading the attack on the fortress. Ashi felt a flash of hatred for the two Kech Shaarat, over and above what she felt for their role in Senen’s mutilation. She’d almost challenged Taak to a duel in the hall of honor. She wished that she had.
Her deaf jailer brought her food and water once a day, Pradoor waiting behind him with a prayer on her lips in case Ashi tried anything. Her days passed slowly and her nights, cold on the hard floor, even more so. Marks on the wall, scraped into the stone with the buckle of her belt, counted the days ahead to 28 Vult. The day of Tariic’s attack on unsuspecting Breland.
Maybe the Brelish weren’t so unsuspecting as she feared-but she doubted it. Tariic seemed awfully confident that his false aggression toward the Valenar, together with whatever misinformation he was providing through the ambassadors of the Five Nations, had fooled everyone.
Maybe the lhesh had been lulled into overconfidence by the Rod of Kings. Maybe the Valenar had gone to the lords of the Five Nations to tell them they had no intention of attacking Darguun again. Maybe Brelish scouts had slipped into northern Darguun and worked out Tariic’s plans on their own. Maybe Aruget had somehow survived, returning to his natural form to lull Pradoor and Tariic into a false sense of security before escaping from the castle and fleeing to Breland to warn his masters in the King’s Citadel…
“Maybe” could have driven her mad.
On the fifth day of her captivity, Ashi woke, watched the sun rise, and, for the first time since Vounn’s death, did not shield herself with her dragonmark. After so many days of invoking its protection, it felt odd. Her mark tingled as if it wanted to be used. The world beyond her window seemed a little less bright and sharp without its clarity. Ashi felt a bit more relaxed, though. There was little need for the mark. Tariic hadn’t come to see her since that first night, and even if he did come today, she could draw on her mark in an instant.
The irony of Tariic’s forged letter, she reflected as she watched the sun climb into the sky, was that the core of it was true. She would never betray House Deneith, but she certainly didn’t feel welcomed by it anymore. If Breven could turn his back on her, she could turn her back on Deneith. If she escaped Tariic’s trap, maybe she would. There was a lot of Khorvaire she had yet to explore. If she went back to Deneith, Sentinel Tower was all she was likely to see. She’d be more comfortable than in her tower prison, but no freer.
Movement in the courtyard below caught her eye. She leaned over the stone sill to watch as a parade of
