Scrubbing her lips with the back of her hand, Belina watched him vanish into the forest. Then she turned and made her way to Leitos. As she passed by her father’s hut, she retrieved a bow and a quiver bristling with arrows.
He did not know what was happening, but Belina’s ire now seemed directed at him. Held by her smoldering gaze, he wondered if what she intended could be worse than burning alive.
“You’ll never cut through those without an ax,” Belina said.
Leitos glanced at the frayed vines. “I had to try. Will you tell your father, or do you intend to poke a few arrows in me? I suppose that would be preferable to burning.”
Instead of answering, Belina leaned on a nearby tree. Between the thin light of the waning day and her clothing, she all but disappeared against the bark. She continued to gaze at him, silent and motionless.
Around camp, the Yatoans had begun to gather their weapons. A few stole looks his way. A long, low horn blast rolled down the mountainside. For a heartbeat only, the Yatoans froze in place. In the next instant, they charged up the slope. In moments, the Yatoans had disappeared, leaving only a few swaying leaves marking their passage.
“My father will be displeased that no one thought to leave a guard to watch over you,” Belina said. “He has often scolded our clan about leaving the camp untended. We are new to fighting,” she admitted.
Belina drew a dagger-the same Kelren blade his father had given him, Leitos saw-and slashed the twist of vine holding the cage’s makeshift door closed. It was the way out he had been looking for, given to him freely. But at the end of that path stood Belina.
“Do you mean to torture me before I burn?”
She looked at him as if he were an idiot. “Someday, you may well burn, but not this night.”
“Then what are you doing?”
She turned at the snap of a branch, listened for a moment, then faced him again. “You asked for evidence against the Fauthians-as if what you saw at the Throat was not enough-so I will give it to you.”
“Why?”
“I need you to see the truth,” Belina said, looking around apprehensively, “to understand those you have taken shelter with. For the sake of all, you must follow the right path.”
“Lead and I will follow,” he said slowly, unable to hide his mistrust.
“No,” she answered with an impatient scowl. “You go where I tell you, or I’ll gut you where you stand.”
When she motioned with the dagger, he weighed his options, and did as bidden. Observing his escape, the shoats followed suit, and scampered into the underbrush, squealing and grunting into the distance.
“Where to?” Leitos asked. If he wanted to get away, he would have to disarm her. In doing so, he presented himself with the dilemma of killing her, or tying her up and leaving her alone in the forest. He knew he could not kill her-no matter what she had done to him. Her sister, on the other hand, a girl he had yet to set eyes upon, was another matter. Nola had nearly taken off his head once before. Doubtless, she would slaughter him without hesitation. The same likely held true for all the Yatoans.
All, that was, save Belina. For the sake of all, you must follow the right path. He did not know what that could mean, or why she had said it with such conviction, but obviously his path meant a great deal to her, enough that she was willing to betray the trust of her clan.
Belina pointed out faint trail leading downhill. “Go,” she said. “Mind you do not make a peep, unless you favor fire to freedom.”
You call this freedom? He almost blurted the question, but thought better of it.
He set out, moving as quietly as an apparition. Belina came along a few paces behind, moving just as silently. Despite her threats, it felt good to be free of the company of swine, and on the move. As he pushed into the forest, he thought about the proof she meant to reveal about the Fauthians, and wondered if he really wanted to see it.
Chapter 21
Concealed within the shadows of the gallery overlooking the gathering hall, Adham cringed at the drunken merriment below, and at the music made by the Fauthian women.
He did a rough headcount. A full third of the Brothers who usually engaged in the nightly carousing were absent. Chief among the missing were Ulmek, Ba’Sel, Halan, and Ke’uld.
Sumahn and Daris, both stumbling drunk and stripped to their breechclouts, enjoyed the affections of several women, whose bare golden skin glowed with sweet oils.
Although repulsed, Adham was glad for the nightly distraction. It allowed him the freedom to begin looking for Leitos. So far, Adu’lin had not brought word one way or another about Leitos’s whereabouts. As far as Adham knew, the Fauthian had not bothered to search. Leitos had been gone a night and a day with no word nor any concern from anyone, and Adham’s worry had grown sharper by the hour. Only because he had lived amongst the Brothers for a year kept them safe from his ire.
While he would try not to draw undue attention to himself, Adham meant to find Leitos, no matter where that search took him. If worse came to worst and a Fauthian guard questioned him, he could feign drunken ignorance-as a precaution, he had sloshed a little of the fruit wine over his robes. Just the smell of it gagged him. Jagdah was the drink of his people, clear spirits that burned like purifying fire when it went down your throat, and warmed your body even during the coldest winter night. Good for drinking and healing, jagdah was the only thing besides water or tea worth drinking.
The gallery ringed the entire upper floor of the gathering hall, and at several points let out onto balconies overlooking the palace grounds. Adham moved cautiously to a balcony that offered clear sight of the armory where Adu’lin had deposited their weapons.
Taking a knee, he peered through the carved stone balusters. Standing in the flickering light falling from a pair of ensconced torches, two guards secured the door of the armory. After a little snooping, Adham had discovered the armory’s other doors had long been sealed with stone and mortar. Even the narrow windows were boarded over. Nevertheless, Adham knew he could get in-mortar crumbled quickly in a place so damp and hot.
Adham retreated to another balcony out of sight from the armory, took hold of the spreading limbs of a tree that grew against the side of the gathering hall, and climbed to the ground.
As he began his slow route around to the back of the armory, he went over the elements of his plan. After he collected the weapons he needed, he meant to scour the city in earnest. His greatest hope was that Leitos was still within the city, lost or, at worst, hurt and immobile but alive. Anything beyond that, he refused to consider.
He hurried across a cobbled street, and paused in the shadows on the far side, and eyed the guards. The men had not seen him. He ducked into an alley so narrow that his shoulders brushed the walls. Overhead, the roofs leaned close together. Lichen and damp moss clung to the walls and the ground, silencing his footsteps.
The narrow passage branched when it came to the back side of another building, and Adham turned toward the armory. The way became tighter than before, forcing him to squeeze through with his back and chest brushing the walls.
After a few paces, the walls pressed closer, making him breathe in shallow gulps. He used his hands to alternately pull and push himself along. When he investigated the way earlier, he had been sure there was plenty of room. Now his confidence wavered. Much tighter, and he would have to turn back.