She dropped her eyes as her face flushed. "No less than you have, Nando. We didn't have a chance to talk last time, but I am so glad to see you again. I thought you died with Ironhide in the mountains."
"He was a brave man, and a true friend."
"I miss him greatly." Nyori felt a pang of sadness as she recalled Ironhide's insight and gentle manner. She quickly switched subjects. "You and Ayna left to rally the Sha. Were you successful?"
Nando snorted, looking like his old self for a moment. "You know Ayna doesn't bother to inform me of the business of the Sha."
"Perhaps because you never bothered to listen." Nyori sweetened the words with a smile.
Nando grinned in return. "Perhaps."
"I think we're ignoring something very important." Han gazed into the fire, seemingly lost in thought. "How did that Yanus creature know how to find us?"
Dradyn looked up with a sharp gaze. "What do you mean?"
"We were in the middle of a raging snowstorm is what I mean. We were basically lost out there, yet he zeroed in on us as if he knew exactly where we were. How?"
"Who knows what a creature like that can do?" Meshella tossed a twig into the flames. "They have powers beyond any of us."
"Maybe." Nando looked at them challengingly. "Or maybe there is someone here that cannot be trusted."
Meshella's jaw tightened. "Ridiculous."
"My sister said there are ill eyes among you. If any of you are a threat to the Shama, you will answer to me."
Nyori placed a hand on his arm. "Nando, don't—"
"I'm serious, Nyori. You have been in constant danger from the akhkharu, but they have their agents as well. Their Thralls could easily be among us right now."
"And you're suggesting one of us could be an agent of the kuang-shi?" Han spoke in a casual tone, but his eyes were hard.
"Is that so hard to believe?" Nando's face was locked in stubborn mode, his gaze defiant.
Dradyn stood up. "No so hard for me. And I think we all know who can be trusted the least." He glared at Shiru.
Han lifted a hand. "Dradyn—"
"No, Han. I think it strange that your man just so happened to be in Kaerleon at the time we arrived looking for answers about the akhkharu. And in the employment of a false king impersonated by the very type that attacked us. Now Shiru accompanies us, but for what reason? Surely we deserve to know."
Everyone gazed at Shiru expectantly. He met their stares with quiet calm before looking to Han as though for permission. Han sighed and nodded his assent.
Shiru stood. "I understand your suspicions. So I will explain myself as clearly as possible. I am on a mission of great importance to my Sage-king. One of our own Imperial governors betrayed us, a man named Bo Yung. He slew comrades of mine and stole an artifact of supreme value and great power."
"What kind of an artifact?" Nyori dreaded the answer.
"Why, one much like that." Shiru pointed to Eymunder. "The medallion that Rhanu wears is similar as well. The artifact stolen from the Emperor was a scepter. The name of it is Fucang. Like your staff, it appears made of crystal but is in fact indestructible. The orb that tops it is emerald green."
"All well and good," Nando said. "But what does that have to do with here and now?"
"Bo Yung disguised himself as a traveling merchant to evade capture. He traveled the Way of Silk and crossed the wilds into Bruallia."
"We know of Bruallia," Meshella said. "We tracked a pair of akhkharu from there all the way to Kaerleon."
"So I've been told. I had already departed, disguised as a meigi assassin. They were plying their trade for hire in Bruallia, but I convinced them to join me in tracking Bo Yung along the same route that you trailed your quarry. Yet somewhere along the way, Bo Yung must have caught whiff of my pursuit because he vanished before I could catch up to him. By that time I had discovered the presence of the kuang-shi in Kaerleon. I suspected Bo Yung was in alliance with them, so I continued to use my cover as the leader of assassins to try to discover his whereabouts."
"And you just so happened to have been hired by the king of Kaerleon himself." Dradyn folded his muscular arms. "A king who had been replaced by one of the akhkharu."
"The king did not hire us. His Captain of the Guard did. I had no idea the infiltration had penetrated so high, but I was determined to learn all I could in order to catch word of Bo Yung's whereabouts."
"An entertaining story," Dradyn said. "But all of your men were killed, and you providentially slew the imposter king before he could talk. So you have no one to corroborate your story."
Han cleared his throat. "I can." The words dragged out with great reluctance.
"You know this man? How would you know someone sworn in service to the Sage-king?"
Han shrugged. "Because I'm related to him."
"To Shiru?" Nyori looked at the two. Other than obvious racial similarities, she didn't see the resemblance.
"No. To the Sage-king."
"You're royalty?" Meshella stared at him. "You never said anything of being of royal blood."
"It's not that big of a deal," Han said. "I'm only a minor prince."
"Wait, you're a prince?"
Han sighed. "This is why I never said anything. I'm a grandson of the Sage-king. Not to worry, he has dozens of grandchildren. He probably never noticed my departure."
"A favored grandson is always noticed," Shiru said. "The Lord of All Under Heaven has worried about you. I was charged to bring you back if ever I should find you."
Han smiled. "That might take a while. I have a quest of my own."
"Our quest is the same. But after it ends, you will return with me."
Han held his peace, but exasperation was clear on his face. Nyori looked at him wonderingly. A prince of a fabled land in their company and none of them had a clue. He certainly did not look princely in his simple warrior's garb. She tried to imagine him in regal raiment, but the thought was impossible to conjure.
Dradyn sighed. "Well, that takes us back to the beginning again."
"We can't go on suspecting one another of treachery," Nyori said. "The akhkharu have pursued me from one end of Leodia to the other. It is no small wonder that Yanus found us. His senses may be able to track the presence of the Reaver. Or even Eymunder, for that manner."
"It still seems unbelievable that Marcellus is this dark rider," Dradyn said. "What dark sorcery did that to him?"
Nyori said nothing. Explaining Leilavin's involvement would take long in telling, and Nyori still wasn't sure what Leilavin's motives truly were.
"Far as we know he only kills the kuang-shi," Han said. "So what does it matter?"
Nyori stared at him. "You cannot be serious."
"Why not? I hope he returns to us. We could use his powers to sack the kuang-shi once and for all."
"You're talking about a man. A human being. Marcellus has been horribly altered, twisted into something unnatural. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"
"He looked human enough to me. At least until he turned into a giant, armored warrior of death. He didn't seem to have any regrets, Shama. Why should I?"
Nyori studied him for a moment. Han had always seemed the most carefree of the Huntsmen, but she realized that he was just better at hiding his emotions. "What is your dispute with the akhkharu, Han? Why do you hate them so much?"
Han winced. For a moment she thought he would not answer. When he did, his voice was nearly a whisper. "You heard Shiru speak of Bo Yung. The man who stole Fucang from the Emperor's household."