It was in her handwriting.
To Breven, patriarch of Deneith, on the 28th day of Vult, 99 YK-
By your message commanding that I remain in the court of Lhesh Tariic Kurar’taarn, you show that House Deneith turns away from me. Now I turn away from House Deneith.
You tell me that the mercenaries hired to Deneith by the lhesh of Darguun are worth more than the life of any member of your house, including that of a bearer of the Siberys Mark of Sentinel. I tell you to see what one who bears the Siberys Mark can do.
You said that Lhesh Tariic is more understanding than you if he accepts my continued presence in his court. Know that Lhesh Tariic has done more than welcome my presence. He has accepted and forgiven me. On this day, Darguul troops enter Breland. They are aware of every Deneith mercenary between Kennrun and New Cyre. I made them aware. They have been trained to fight Deneith’s soldiers. I taught them.
I defy your threat of excoriation. As Tariic conquers Breland, I swear I will conquer Deneith. -Ashi
She stared at the letter in shock. “I didn’t write this.”
“Sivis scribes are capable of amazing forgeries,” Aruget said. “All he would have needed was a sample of your writing.”
“This letter will destroy me. Breven will go insane!”
“That’s probably the idea. Tariic wants to hurt you. At least we know the date of the attack, though. Nine days from now.” He reached to take the letter back from her.
She twitched it away and tore it in two, shredding those pieces into smaller pieces.
“Ashi!” Aruget said sharply, but she cut off his reprimand.
“Tariic will not do that to me. I won’t let him.”
He grabbed her wrists. “But now he’ll know we were here!”
Shadows fell across the doorway of the room. “Perhaps,” said a cackling voice, “he already does.”
Ashi and Aruget both looked up. Pradoor stood between them and the outer room. Behind her stood Tariic’s three deaf bugbear servants.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
19 Vult
Aruget reacted instantly, vaulting over the table and slamming the door of the room in Pradoor’s face. Ashi heard the old goblin priestess yelp in pain. Aruget put his back to the door and pointed at the table. “Get that over here!”
Ashi dropped the torn pieces of Tariic’s false letter and heaved against the table. Papers went flying. Aruget hopped up out of the way, and she rammed the table against the door just as something-a bugbear’s shoulder, probably-struck from the other side. The door shuddered, but the table held it closed. Aruget joined Ashi, and together they threw the table up on its end so the heavy top leaned against the door.
The silent door of Tariic’s chambers. The thick, muffling carpets in the outer room-the same things that had hidden their entry, Ashi realized, had let Pradoor and the bugbears sneak up on them. How had she known they were there, though? Ashi glared at Aruget. “You set off that ward on the cabinet after all!”
“I didn’t!”
“The Six hear our secrets,” Pradoor called from the other side of the door, “and I hear you. Do you think Lhesh Tariic would keep his plans behind just one ward? The Keeper commands that both inner and outer doors be guarded.”
A second ward inside the cabinet. Ashi ground her teeth together and Aruget cursed. “What now?” she asked him.
He looked around at the scattered papers, then scooped up both the folded paper she’d written on and the rolled map she’d copied from. He thrust the folded paper at her and stuffed the map through his belt. “We fight. Whoever gets out has to get this information to someone who can warn Breland.”
Ashi’s mouth went dry as she took the paper and slid it into her jacket. “What about stopping Tariic before he can attack?”
Aruget looked at her and shook his head. “That’s not going to happen. I’m sorry, Ashi, but this could be the end for Darguun. The Five Nations will crush Tariic.”
Another blow rocked the door and shifted the heavy table back by a handspan. Ashi jumped away from it and drew her sword. Aruget drew his as well and shifted around to the side of the door. When the next blow came, the door burst open, and a bugbear pushed his head and shoulders through. Aruget lunged.
His hobgoblin sword wasn’t made for thrusting. The broad end of it, though sharp, left only a shallow cut in the bugbear’s shoulder. The bugbear yelped and just jerked back. Aruget cursed. “Useless bloody-”
With a roar, the bugbear hit the door again. This time it flew wide, the table toppling over, and the bugbear surged into the room. Aruget leaped for him-and Ashi heard Pradoor’s voice crack in prayer, invoking the power of the Dark Six. “See the glory of the Mockery!”
Aruget stiffened before he could land a blow. His eyes went wide with unnatural fear, and he leaped away. The bugbear lumbered after him, but the changeling pressed himself back toward the farthest corner of the room.
Ashi reached out and grabbed his arm. She focused her will, and heat spread through her dragonmark. Aruget sucked in a breath and the fear faded from his face.
“You’re welcome,” said Ashi. No further tricks of the mind lurking in Pradoor’s prayers would touch either of them anymore. She ducked past Aruget and slashed at the first of the bugbears. The bright Deneith honor blade flashed and the big dar reeled back, clutching the gaping wound across its belly.
The other two bugbears pushed it out of the way, almost filling the room with their bulk. They were armed too. One carried an axe, the other a heavy hammer. Tariic might have had them deafened, but that hadn’t taken away any of their battle skills. Both swung their weapons in easy circles. Ashi backed up a pace. She didn’t even notice that Pradoor had also crept through the door until the priestess flung an arm toward her. “The Fury scours your soul!”
Black fire tinged with licking colors seemed to rush up around Ashi, feeling as if it were burning all the way through her. It vanished in an instant, but it left her gasping, and this time it was Aruget who ducked past to cover her. He wouldn’t stand long against the two bugbears, though. Ashi sucked in her breath, pushed the pain of the fire away, and joined him. The hammer swung down at his unprotected side, but she caught the blow with her sword and deflected it.
The hammer’s wielder bared his teeth and turned all of his attention to her. Crouched down low, she moved to the side, searching for an opening.
Beyond the two armed bugbears, Pradoor crept toward the one Ashi had wounded. She moved with eerie confidence for a blind woman, hand going directly to his wound. Ashi didn’t hear the prayer she spoke, but she saw its effects-the bugbear jerked at her touch and sat upright. The wound across its belly was gone.
“Just run, Ashi!” snapped Aruget. He led the way, slipping around his opponent and sprinting through the shattered door into the outer room. Ashi feinted at the hammer-wielding bugbear, then slid to his other side as he reacted.
The bugbear Pradoor had just healed thrust himself to his feet and lunged for her. Ashi skipped aside, and the bugbear’s arms swept wide, but so did her blow. Pradoor cackled with glee. Ashi plunged on through the shattered door after Aruget. The changeling was almost across the outer room, almost at the door to the corridor “I call the teeth of the Devourer!” Pradoor shouted.
Whirling white blades burst out of the air between Aruget and the door. He tried to stop, but he slid half in among them. The blades seemed to close on him like a school of fish caught in a feeding frenzy. Aruget screamed and scrambled away. His left arm emerged torn and bloody from the attack. The white blades spread back across the door, cutting off escape.
Ashi caught up to him. “Aruget-”
“I’m fine,” he said in a voice tight with pain.
“No,” she said. “The map.”