Traitors Gate

The cloak's anger stung like wounds. 'So you have already said. Don't lecture me!'

'My apologies, lord, for speaking out of turn.' Arras kept his head down, knowing an incautious glance would betray his secrets. 'I only mention it because you, my lord, are best suited to reconnoiter.'

'I am a holy Guardian! Not a scout!'

'My lord, I'm only pointing out what I am sure has already occurred to you. If you scout ahead now, when no reeves can fly, it would allow us to know whether it's best to retreat, or to attack.'

'It was flying ahead of the lines that got me stuck with arrows. Cursed archers! We must wait for Lord Commander Radas. He'll meet us at Saltow.'

'But my lord, the more time they have to regroup and recover and retrench-'

'I command you to retreat to Saltow! Do you defy me, Captain?'

'No, my lord.'

With that, the cloak was content. His passing left Arras shaking so hard it took him many breaths to calm himself. When he rose, only Giyara remained. All the others, even Zubaidit, had fled from the cloak's brutal presence.

'Captain?' A shout caused Giyara to take a step back, looking for the source of the noise. She kicked the lamp, but with quick reflexes caught it on her boot and tipped it back upright before much oil spilled. Fire flared on the ground, eating the oil as it hissed smoke.

They listened but heard no further alarm.

He shook his head. 'We can hide from the eyes of the reeves beneath a forest canopy, or inside buildings, or underground like the delvings. Out in this flat land, it's impossible. They'll always know where we are, except at night. What a waste. The only way to make this work is to overrun Nessumara's defenses quickly, burn down Copper Hall, and drive out the reeves. One setback is not a defeat. An attack might still have worked-'

'We're going to retreat?'

He whistled, venting anger. 'You heard the order. We retreat at dawn.'

14

As Miravia slept, Mai sat on the porch overlooking the tiny garden at the heart of the compound, her private retreat. A night wren chirped, but the taste of the air was already growing sweeter with the promise of a rising sun.

'There is a man loitering outside our gates,' said Chief Tuvi. 'I suspect he is an agent hired by the Ri Amarah. If he knew for certain she was here, then likely he would have fetched Master Isar already. That he has not suggests he suspects she is here but has yet no proof. So, if I give a word to him, he'll run-'

'No!' The forceful word spoiled the delicate hush.

'Of course she must be returned to her father. I am sorry if that answer displeases you, Mistress. You have a kind heart. But Captain Anji will insist.'

O'eki and Priya said nothing, but the gazes they bent on her were like the pressure of a hand checking impetuous speech. Did they want her to say one thing and expect her to say another? Yet her heart was determined. In the chamber behind, glimpsed through a partially open door, Miravia lay sprawled on the pallet; she had been so exhausted she had collapsed soon after Mai had drawn her inside. The baby's cot was tucked into the corner. Sheyshi, snoring lightly on a pallet just outside the sleeping chamber, had not even awakened.

'How did Miravia get inside?' Mai asked.

'I let her in.'

'Do you ever sleep, Tuvi?'

'I was restless, Mistress. Thinking of things. Hard to sleep then, eh?'

Certainly, as exhausted as Mai had felt earlier, she was wide awake now. 'I can't do it, Tuvi. I can't betray her.'

'She belongs to her father, Mistress. You accepted such a marriage. You were wiser than she was.'

'Maybe I was just fortunate!' she snapped. 'Hu! I beg your pardon, Chief. I know you are only telling me what everyone else will tell me, but I cannot do it.'

'I'll do it, Mistress. A word to the suspicious agent outside or a messenger sent directly to the compound, if you wish. The Ri Amarah will thank us, and Captain Anji will return home to a peaceful house, just as he likes it.'

His calm words decided her. Rising, she found her market face. 'Of course you are right, Tuvi. Never let it be said I turned my back on a distasteful task and let another perform it in my place. I'll go myself to the Ri Amarah house. But I must sleep first, for I'm very tired.'

He nodded. 'You are an honorable person, Mistress. Now, if you will, I want to settle the dawn rounds.'

She released him, a courtesy he extended to her, for although she ran the household and all of the business arrangements and dealings, he commanded the security measures in Anji's absence. Just as he would never question any negotiation she entered into or any contract she sealed, she knew where her authority ended and where Anji's began.

She slipped inside the door, Priya behind her. O'eki remained standing on the porch. From the bushes, the first dawn songs were I rilled. The sky was still black, stars blazing.

Priya touched her elbow. 'In the Mei household folk often called you stupid, or light-minded, or simpering, or precious. But I know these words describe what they see, not what is there. If you show a calm face to the world, it is not because you are without passion. If you do not challenge those who command you, it is not because you are too placid to protest. If you are obedient, it is not because you obey thoughtlessly, knowing no other course of action. I hear defiance in your voice, even if I am surprised Chief Tuvi did not. What are you planning?'

'I'll need help from you and O'eki to get out of the compound and the city. No one else must know. Can you do it?'

From the porch, O'eki spoke as if he had already guessed her intentions and run through several plans. 'It's possible to get out the back gate if you are willing to hide cramped in a chest, Mistress. I will need another hireling to help me carry it. Priya will have to stay here to guard the chamber and say you are sleeping. It will be easy enough to hire a covered palanquin down by Crow's Gate. Even so, our movements can be traced.'

'There lies the risk. I'll have to take Atani in case he wants nursing.'

'Chief Tuvi is right,' said Priya. 'Captain Anji will tell you to return her to her father.'

With trembling hands, she grasped Priya's fingers. 'I know.' She swallowed a sob, like drinking down sorrow. 'But I will never forgive myself if I do nothing. Never never never.'

Miravia stirred. Abruptly, she sat bolt upright. 'Mai?' she croaked.

Mai released Priya's warm hands and knelt beside Miravia, whose hands were cold. 'Hush, my sister. You must wake now. We're going to leave right away.'

'Where are we going?'

A pallor had lightened the shroud of night to a gleam neither night nor day which is called twilight for partaking of both and yet sustaining neither. Priya watched Mai, expression quiet in the gloom. O'eki waited on the porch, big body blocking her view of the garden.

'The only place we can go,' said Mai.

Soon after dawn, Arras gave the order and his cohort moved out, shields tortoised and wagons crammed with wounded and provisions. He forced the hostages to walk outside the shields. If the

Nessumaran militia broke the truce and attacked, they would kill unarmed civilians first. It's what he would do, in their position: he'd shoot down the civilians and break through the shield wall, because a cohort stuck out on an unprotected causeway was too easy to pass up. But he doubted the local militia had the stomach for such slaughter.

He hung back with the rearguard until the last soldiers cleared the bridge. Four sorry-looking hostages, the most truculent of the crew, trotted at the end, tied by long ropes to the rearmost wagon so they couldn't bolt. He moved up alongside the unit, marking their brisk pace and even footfalls, their confident gazes, their energy. The other hostages stared over the mire more than they watched their feet, although no one tried to run. If the enemy did not kill them, his people would shoot them in the back as they splashed into the swamp.