“What do we know of souls, I wonder?” Ba’Sel mused, head turning one way and another, as if looking at a world behind his blindfold that only he could see.
For a long time Adham stared, understanding coming slowly.
Abruptly Ba’Sel laughed, a giddy, childish squeal of delight. “Mother?” he cried. He nodded his head eagerly, and began rocking on his knees. “Oh, yes, I am hungry.”
“May Pa’amadin grant you peace,” Adham murmured, his scorn fading. The fabric of Ba’Sel’s will had torn, and the delusion that now held him might never relinquish its grip. In that moment, Adham felt pity in his heart not for a vanquished warrior, but for a simple man forced to a path he had never been suited to travel.
But how many of us are suited to stand against those who would destroy us for no more reason than that we live? Adham was not sure anyone, even himself, could stand against the enemies of humankind, but he had to try.
He glanced at the guard, now staring straight ahead. All the other guards had gone elsewhere, ordered so by Adu’lin, who no doubt believed that he had cowed his unruly prisoners to absolute submission.
Soon that lone guard, confident that he would meet no resistance, would come for Ba’Sel. When he did, Adham intended to make him pay for that confidence.
Chapter 32
Damoc’s clan, some three score strong, marched quickly through the night toward Armala. With dawn still an hour off, the forested path to the black city lay under a dewy pall of darkness and impregnable quiet. Leitos wished that same calm would settle over his heart.
After learning from the Yatoans who had been held in reserve outside the Throat of Balaam that the demonic swarm had made for the Fauthian city, all Leitos could think about was the safety of his father and the Brothers.
The doubts he had stubbornly nurtured about Belina’s account of the Fauthians had vanished. With the Throat of Balaam and the Faceless One so close to Armala, Leitos could not believe that Adu’lin was unaware of the place, or the dark entity that sheltered within its depths. He found it troubling that all the Brothers, himself included, had believed that the Fauthians were a decent, peaceful folk.
How could we have trusted them? Leitos’s only answer was Ba’Sel’s assurances. Disagreeable as it was, their leader had led them into a terrible trap. It pained Leitos to admit that he could never allow Ba’Sel to make such an error again. Once the Brothers knew the truth, they would turn from him, and join swords with the Yatoans. What happened to Ba’Sel after that, Leitos could not guess.
Coming to the edge of the forest, Leitos spied the road he had taken up the mountain the night he crept from Armala. The city slumbered nearby. On its wall, no movement attracted any eye. If not for the lights brightening the palace, Armala might have been a bone-town.
“How will we attack?” Leitos whispered to Damoc.
“There,” the elder said after a time, pointing at a section of wall that projected in sharp angles around a cluster of buildings with tall, pointed roofs. “We have watched Armala for a season, and the Fauthians never post a proper guard along that part of the wall. Our archers will cover two or three climbers who, once they reach the battlements, can make it safe for the rest to follow.”
“If the Mahk’lar have gone to Adu’lin, then he will know we are coming.”
“There is nothing for it. We must attack.”
“I need weapons,” Leitos said, glancing at Nola, who crouched next to Belina. “Unless Nola wishes to lend me her sword again.” He meant it as a jest, but the girl scowled, much the same as she had just before she tried to murder him. It seemed her gratitude for hauling her out of harm’s way had diminished. Belina, however, flashed him a shy smile, which he found disconcerting. Yatoans, he decided, were a strange lot.
From the leafy darkness, a familiar voice said, “There is no need to borrow a blade, when yours is at hand.”
“Ulmek?” Leitos gasped. Around him, the Yatoan company moved into aggressive postures, and Leitos flung up a restraining hand. The Yatoans froze, poised to attack.
The hard-faced Brother emerged from a nearby cluster of brush. Behind him came Sumahan and Daris. All three were burdened with haversacks and as many swords, daggers, and bows as they could carry.
“I believe this is yours,” Ulmek said, pushing a bundle into Leitos’s hands.
Leitos pulled the haversack’s straps over his shoulders, then accepted the sword Ba’Sel had presented to him the dawn after his testing. A dagger with a spike-like blade came next, and finally, Ulmek supplied Leitos with the short, double-curved bow Adham had helped him fashion, along with a leather quiver stuffed with arrows.
While Leitos secured his weapons, Ulmek’s eyes widened at the sight of Belina. When his gaze shifted to Nola, his mouth fell open, and he danced back with a curse. “How can this be?”
His sword seemed to spring into his hand, and the Yatoans surged forward in response. By the thinnest of margins, Leitos managed to convince them to hold fast.
“She is not who you think,” he said in a rush.
Ulmek went still, as Sumahn and Daris spread around him in a protective fan. He thrust his face forward. “She could be Zera, as I first knew her.”
Nola and Belina went rigid, and Damoc looked as if he had swallowed a stone. “How do you know that name?” the elder demanded.
“My brethren and I took Zera in. We trained her. At one time, she was one of us.” His dark eyes cut toward Leitos. “Then she betrayed us.”
“She is alive?” Belina breathed.
Still looking at Leitos, Ulmek shook his head. “No, she is not.”
“How did my sister die? When?” Belina asked. If not for Damoc’s arm blocking her path, she might have leaped at Ulmek.
My mother and eldest sister were the last in our clan to be returned. Icy sweat sprang from Leitos’s pores at the memory of Belina’s words. Twice, now, he had witnessed that volatile reaction to Zera’s name. He glanced at Nola. Eldest sister … my sister.… Sisters. He should have guessed it before now. He swallowed, dryly, wondering how they would react if they knew he killed Zera?
Ulmek looked between Belina and Nola, to Leitos, and finally Damoc. “We can speak of that matter at another time.”
Leitos let out a slow breath.
“Agreed,” Damoc said stiffly, as if that were the last thing he ever wanted to discuss. “For now, we must concentrate on destroying the Fauthians. This night, our oppressors will pay for their crimes against us.”
Ulmek grinned darkly. “I must say, Leitos, I grow rather fond of your new friends. As such,” he said, looking to Damoc, “I warn you that attacking this city will not be so easy as you think-but then, what joy ever comes from a simple task?”
Chapter 33
“Bring him,” Adu’lin called from the chamber.
“I am ready,” Ba’Sel said agreeably, by now caught fully in the throes of his madness.
Within the first few moments after they had taken Halan away, the big man’s screams ended. So it had been for all the Brothers. Adham could not guess what horrors they had faced, or if they yet drew breath, but he did not intend to become one of them.
The guard came forward. There was no fear in his posture, no caution whatsoever. He smirked when he glanced at Adham. For show, Adham cringed away. The guard turned to haul Ba’Sel to his feet.
Adham leaped up, wrapped an arm around the guard’s neck, and rammed a knee against his spine, driving him forward. They crashed to the stone floor, and Adham reared back until the Fauthian’s spine crackled. Adham pulled harder, tightening his grip, and the guard died with a shudder.