Tirana cuffed him across the forehead with the guard of her sword. “Gell, Yants, bind him and keep him under watch.”
Thessa hung back through the whole drama. Even if she was in charge of this test, this felt like something outside of her authority. The enforcers around her muttered and swore, one of them even spitting after Kempt as he was led away. Thessa returned to the lighthouse, feeling a distinct sense of unease. It was one thing for Tirana to suggest they had a traitor. It was a whole other to find evidence and make the accusation.
“I don’t like that,” Pari said when they were once again alone, scowling at the wall as if she could see through it to the enforcers gathered outside. “Glassdamn. I know that the guild-families spy on each other all the time, but is this whole thing really worth it? Did he really push that enforcer off the cliff the other night?”
Thessa glanced at the phoenix channel, remembering what she’d told Demir – she would risk her life to gain just a few days. “Yes,” she answered, “it’s worth killing over.”
“Well, they’re not killing us,” Pari declared, drawing her belt knife and checking the blade. “I’ll keep watch tonight, here at the door.”
Thessa hoped they’d be on their way back to Ossa by then. From what she knew of the storms here at the Forge, they blew through hard and fast. She paced the lighthouse floor, thinking. Who was Kempt signaling to? Did anyone see that flare? If he was working for the Grent then why did he leave the door open for the Dorlani back at the hotel? None of it made sense, and it made the Forge seem even more hostile and cold.
“Lady Foleer!” Tirana suddenly shouted, barging into the lighthouse, the door banging open. She paused, her eyes wild and her hand on her sword. “We just spotted dragoons in mercenary colors. There’s a whole company of them, and they’re heading right this way.”
Thessa followed her out to the southern edge of the Forge, looking out over the scrubland between here and Harbortown. She couldn’t make out much of anything but a little bit of movement off in the olive groves. “You’re sure?”
“Positive.”
“Do we have time to run?”
“We’ll be twice as vulnerable on the open road.”
They were joined by Breenen. The old concierge wrung his hands as he stared out toward the south, and Thessa wondered if he regretted leaving the safety of his hotel. “We should barricade the path up to the Forge,” he suggested.
Thessa squeezed her hands into fists until it hurt, measuring her breaths until she realized that both Tirana and Breenen were staring at her. Glassdamnit. She was in charge of a phoenix channel test, not this. It felt like the attack on the Grent Royal Glassworks all over again and it nearly made her lose her nerve. Gathering what reserves of courage she had left, she said, “Breenen, send one of your enforcers on horseback to Demir. He’s on hand for this exact reason. Tirana, barricade the path.”
“We only brought twenty rifles,” Tirana said in dismay. “We were expecting the Dorlani, not actual cavalry.”
“Twenty rifles will have to do.” The wind continued to pick up, and Thessa thought she heard the rumble of thunder.
To Thessa’s surprise, the mercenary dragoons didn’t seem to know what to do with this small group of guild-family enforcers camped out on a desolate rock miles from the city. They approached cautiously, riding about the entire area as if checking for spies or reinforcements, before they officially took control of the carriages and horses that the Grappo enforcers had been forced to leave on the mainland. They corralled their own horses and then set up a cordon around the approach to the Forge, effectively cutting Thessa and her companions off from escape.
There was something frightening about the slow, deliberate way in which they worked. It felt very professional and only made it harder to watch them helplessly from atop the Forge, knowing that the phoenix channel expedition was completely trapped. When one of them finally came forward – an officer by his epaulets – he marched up the approach until he was just below the rocks and empty crates Tirana’s enforcers had used for their barricade.
“Ossans!” the mercenary officer called. “My name is Captain Hellonian of Kerite’s Drakes. I am obliged to inform you that you are inside of an active war zone. If you will hand over your weapons and come down from there peaceably, we can take you into custody and make arrangements for your ransom.” It sounded almost gentlemanly, as if this were just a bit of bureaucracy for them all to go through so they could go home.
Thessa knelt behind the barricades with Tirana and Breenen. “What do you think?”
Tirana shook her head. “We have a very defensible position, but they outnumber us four to one. Maybe they’ll attack. Maybe they’ll take our carriages and horses and leave us here under guard. It’s impossible to tell.”
“If they take us into custody,” Breenen said with a grimace, “it’s hard to tell what will happen. If they ransom us to Demir, we could be free in days.”
“And if they don’t ransom us?” Thessa asked.
Breenen grimaced. “They’ll ransom us. We have no value beyond that.”
Thessa bit down on her tongue until she tasted blood. Was she even capable of surrendering? “The last time soldiers took me into custody, I wound up in a labor camp. I’m not doing that again. If they find out what we’re guarding, they won’t give it back. They won’t give me back.” She wrestled with herself, trying to decide on the right course of action. She was surrounded by enforcers, not soldiers. Their lives might rest on whatever she said next.
“Did you get a message off to Demir?” she asked Breenen.
“I did. It should have already arrived.”
She turned to Tirana. “You’re the only one here with actual military experience. Can we hold out long enough for Demir’s people to arrive?”
Tirana squinted down at the officer below them, who tapped his foot impatiently. “I think it’s a bluff. I think Kerite saw that flare early this morning and sent someone to investigate. Captain Hellonian isn’t going to sacrifice lives just to capture a bunch of trapped enforcers.”
Thessa considered her options once more and took a deep breath before she stood up. She addressed the mercenary officer. “This is a scientific expedition. We were here before we knew it was a war zone. I suggest you leave us in peace, and I give my word that we’ll be gone by tomorrow.”
The captain looked unimpressed. “A scientific expedition is not immune to the rules of war. Surrender immediately so things don’t have to get nasty.”
“There are no rules of war,” Tirana whispered beside Thessa, rolling her eyes. Louder she said, “We’re civilians. You’ve got nothing to gain from forcing our hand.”
“You do not surrender, then?” the captain asked.
Thessa and Tirana exchanged one last glance. “No,” Thessa declared. “We do not.”
The captain pursed his lips and looked along the makeshift barricades for several long moments. He sighed and tugged at his riding glove to remove it, then held up his hand with the back facing them. Tattooed where guild-family members had their silic sigil was a small knife with a pink razorglass blade. “Does this change your mind?”
Thessa exchanged a glance with Tirana. “Why would it?” As the words left her mouth, she saw some movement in the corner of her eye. Several of the Grappo enforcers suddenly turned their pistols, pointing them at their companions. Traitors. The word shot through Thessa’s head in half a moment. She reached for her own pistol, only to come up short as one was thrust in her face.
On the other end of it stood Breenen, the concierge, his jaw set in a sad line of determination. “Yes,” he said loudly, “it does change our mind.”