“A full corte of gray warriors are accounted for,” reported a Torak soldier. “All are dead except for the two before you. We had some light injuries, mostly to the escorting squad, but none are serious. The Qubari armor proved to work well.”
“Excellent,” smiled Cortain Talli. “Separate the prisoners. I want to talk to them one at a time. Did you search the dead?”
“We did,” nodded the soldier. “They carried nothing on them besides their weapons, not even a coin among them.”
The soldiers escorting the wagons had regrouped and mounted. They awaited permission to continue their journey. Cortain Talli approached one of the prisoners and knelt down before the seated man.
“Who are you?” asked Cortain Talli.
The gray warrior did not reply. The cortain drew a knife and held it to the prisoner’s throat.
“I will ask you again,” Talli said threateningly.
“I will answer no questions,” spat the prisoner. “You cannot expect a prisoner to break his Vows of Service by giving you information. I will give new Vows of Service and nothing more.”
“Gray warriors do not honor their Vows of Service,” retorted the cortain. “While I know that you are not really a gray warrior, I have every right to treat you as one. Do you forget that you are not wearing your clan colors?”
The blood drained out of the prisoner’s face as he glanced down at his gray clothes. In Khadora, captives of war were treated honorably. They were forced to swear new Vows of Service to their captors, but gray warriors belonged to no clan. As such, they were not entitled to any dealings of honor, because they were men without honor. Cortain Talli could do whatever he wished with a captured gray warrior, and the prisoner suddenly realized it.
“But I am a clansman,” protested the prisoner. “You say you already know that. Treat me with respect.”
“Not while you are clothed in gray,” Talli shook his head. “Do you wear your clan colors underneath?” he asked as his knife cut into the neckline of the prisoner’s gray tunic.
“No,” pleaded the prisoner. “We hid our uniforms on the other side of the rise.”
“We will see about that,” Cortain Talli said as he signaled for one of his soldiers. “What clan do you belong to, and where did you hide your uniforms?”
The prisoner hesitated as the summoned soldier approached.
“There will be great trouble if I answer your question,” protested the prisoner. “You do not know who you are dealing with.”
“I aim to know,” insisted Cortain Talli. “As a gray warrior, your death will linger for days. If I decide that you are a clansman, I will take you prisoner, and your fate will reside with Lord Marak.”
“Lord Marak will be dead within the fortnight,” sighed the prisoner. “What good will issuing vows to him do for me?”
“I am not sure,” shrugged the cortain. “Either way, you will still be alive a fortnight from now. If you cooperate, you will probably be defending Lord Marak. If not, you will be wishing for a death that is long overdue.”
“I am from the Nordon clan,” confessed the prisoner. “Our uniforms are hidden in a cave just beyond the ridge. You will find it by looking for a large lightning struck tree. The cave is just behind it.”
Cortain Talli nodded to his soldier and the man took off running.
“You made the right choice, soldier,” Talli said to the prisoner. “Lord Marak will not be dying anytime soon. Why is a member of the Lords’ Council attacking our caravans?”
“That is something that I cannot answer,” objected the prisoner. “I am still under Vows of Service to Lord Patel of the Nordon clan. You are asking me to violate those vows, yet you know that I cannot.”
“Imperial soldiers coming!” shouted one of the Torak soldiers.
Cortain Talli rose and gazed down the road. A full corte of Imperial soldiers were approaching. He walked away from the prisoner and tried to meet the new arrivals before they started asking too many questions. As he approached them, he saw that they were escorting a mediator for the Lords’ Council. He bowed out of respect for the mediator.
“Greetings, Katzu,” said Cortain Talli.
“Cortain Talli,” replied the mediator. “I see that we have interrupted a battle of some proportions. What is going on here?”
“I am surprised that you remember me,” Talli replied as he tried to be sociable.
“I rarely forget a face,” Katzu responded. “You are avoiding my question.”
“A Torak caravan was attacked,” sighed Cortain Talli. “We managed to defeat the attackers.”
“I have heard rumors of Torak caravans that have gone missing,” declared Katzu as he gazed at the carnage. “It would appear that gray warriors attacked you. I hope your losses were not too severe?”
Cortain Talli’s mind whirled with the knowledge that Katzu represented the Lords’ Council and that a member of that council had just attacked the caravan. He was not sure if Katzu would carry news of the encounter back to the capital. Lord Marak would be furious if everyone knew who his enemy was before he knew.
“The battle turned in our favor,” Talli finally replied. “I do hope these Imperial troops were not sent out to aid in the battle?”
“They are my escort,” answered Katzu. “I must mediate a border dispute. I sense that there is more to what is happening here than you care to tell me, Cortain. You are aware that I am a representative of the Lords’ Council?”
“I am very aware of that,” nodded Talli as he realized that any of the Imperial soldiers would be free to tell of what they saw. “In fact, your arrival presents me with a problem. May I speak to you privately?”
Katzu frowned, but he nodded as he dismounted. Cortain Talli led him off to the side of the road. Katzu waited patiently for the Torak cortain to speak.
“This is the fourth Torak caravan that has been ambushed,” Talli began. “The wagons and cargo are not being stolen. They are being destroyed. All evidence of the ambushes is swiftly removed. The last ambush was not totally in secret. One of our men escaped and reported it. This time we stationed two cortes of men in the forest beforehand. We were very successful in destroying the attackers. In fact, we took two of them captive.”
“Then you have had a great day,” shrugged Katzu. “I sense different feelings from you, though.”
“Indeed,” nodded Talli. “These are not gray warriors at all. They are clansmen disguised as gray warriors.”
“That is inexcusable,” Katzu scowled. “What clan would allow such a despicable act?”
“That is where my nervousness comes in, Katzu,” explained Cortain Talli. “I am supposed to personally deliver that information to Lord Marak. If you and the Imperial troops report what you have seen here today, Lord Marak’s enemy will be forewarned. That would put the Torak clan in grave jeopardy.”
“I think it would serve notice on your enemy that you are not to be trifled with,” argued Katzu. “I do not see the problem?”
“What if I told you that the clan that these gray warriors are from,” Talli asked softly, “sits on the Lords’ Council?”
Katzu’s face grew pale and his veins bulged. “I would demand a full investigation and an appropriate punishment for your lies,” Katzu answered sternly. “Do not besmirch the reputation of the Lords’ Council.”
“I do not wish to,” Cortain Talli said nervously, “but I have my Vows of Service to Lord Marak to uphold. If I could prove to you that a member of the Lords’ Council ordered this attack, would you agree to hold off telling anyone until Lord Marak approves it? Surely you can understand the gravity of such a thing.”
“Any member of the Lords’ Council could crush the Torak clan without using more than a portion of his army,” nodded Katzu. “What proof do you have of this allegation?”
“I just began interrogating one of the prisoners before you arrived,” answered Cortain Talli. “He admitted that he was a soldier in the Nordon clan. Their uniforms are hidden in a cave beyond the ridge. I sent a man over there to investigate.”