Ed Gentry - Neversfall

"You assume it was one of my people?" she replied, turning to see the man's face turning red. "I…" he stammered.

Taennen stared at her for several moments before holding out his left hand, palm up. He gripped his left wrist with his right hand and closed his eyes while lowering his head. Adeenya was humbled by the gesture, remembering its roots. Before Southerners learned of the Adama they lived very differently by often savage rules. If a man stole or even offended someone, a common punishment was the removal of his hand. Offering one's hand in such a gesture as Taennen was doing was a sign of great apology and acceptance of wrongdoing.

"Besides, it probably wasn't anyone here," he said. "Jhoqo is right. The last wizard of this place probably died right after revealing the passphrase. Poor soul."

Adeenya nodded, but she just wasn't sure. She debated telling him about her pendant. "Why would the formian lie?" she said.

"For his freedom, of course," Taennen replied.

"Yes, I suppose. He just…" she said.

"What?"

"He just doesn't seem dishonest," Adeenya said. "Frightening in his goals, yes. But not dishonest."

Many moments of silence passed between them. All around the courtyard, soldiers from both armies went about their duties, some on watch, some inspecting the small buildings, others hauling the dead bodies toward the citadel gate. They would be taken outside and burned some distance from the fortress.

"Time to start new," Adeenya said, quoting the founder of the Adama.

"The beginning is the beast," Taennen said.

"What?"

He turned toward her, a weak smile on his face. "My father used to say that every time he was working on a new spell or making a new piece for a customer."

Adeenya agreed. "He was full of quotes. You said he was good."

Taennen nodded. "He was the best enchanter in Estagund."

"Then I'm not sure I understand what you said about him needing the coin. He must have been a wealthy man if he was that good."

Taennen shook his head. "He refused to use his magic on weaponry or armor."

Adeenya lifted an eyebrow. "In Estagund, I'd imagine that limits one's business opportunities tremendously."

Her companion affirmed her thought. "I should have known before I did," Taennen said. "Who makes an honest living putting charms and dweomers on jewelry and decorations?"

She still could think of nothing else to say about the topic. Taennen had lost one father and gained a new one in the same day. The idea of making such a choice at a young age was beyond her. Knowing that Jhoqo had taken the boy in should have made her feel more warmly toward the man, but Adeenya still found the whole situation unsettling.

She decided to change the subject. "So where do we start on Guk? Where does the beast begin?"

"If Jhoqo is right about the former wizard of this place, then we have nothing to do, no leads to follow."

"You might have guessed this about me, Taennen, but I don't like to sit idle," she said. She wasn't going to tell him about the pendant, she decided. She couldn't trust him with that part of the puzzle. She hated the feeling, but Adeenya felt little reason to trust anyone at that moment.

Taennen grinned and said, "I figured as much."

"So even if Guk is a dead end, even if he's just trying to con his way to freedom, it's still a lead worth following simply because it's there. If Jhoqo's right, then it won't lead us to this supposed mystery person of Guk's, but we might find some other information of use. We both know that the formian knows more than he's saying," she said.

Taennen considered for a moment before saying, "I think we can arrange to interview him more carefully on the matter. I can talk to Jhoqo."

"That won't get us anywhere," she said. "You know that. You've seen how hard Guk is. He won't crack."

Taennen nodded.

"I have an idea," she said. "But I don't think you're going to like it." Before he could reply, horns sounded, and Adeenya noticed a commotion at the gate. They both ran toward the front of the citadel, pushing through the crowd of soldiers as they went. As expansive as the place was, Adeenya fought against the feeling of being hemmed in as she waded through the crowd. She lost sight of Taennen for a moment, but found herself standing behind him an instant later, as he stood stopped in his tracks. She moved next to him as he shouted for the onlookers to stand back.

On the ground before them lay the bodies of four soldiers at the feet of another five. Three of the dead were Durpari, the other Maquar, while two Maquar and three Durpari still stood. All bore scratches and were smeared with dirt. Adeenya shouted for a healer to be fetched.

Taennen stepped forward to face one of the Maquar who did not bear a serious wound. From the sweat and mud on his brow, he had clearly been in battle. The two men stood silently there another moment, Taennen's eyes locked onto the man before him, while the wounded man stared at his fallen comrades on the ground.

"Report," Taennen said, his voice a growl.

The soldier shook his head and lifted his eyes to Taennen, giving his superior officer a look that Adeenya might expect to see on a dead man's face when asked how things fared.

"We were attacked, sir," the man said.

"By whom? Where were you?" Taennen asked.

"On patrol, sir. The men who attacked the fortress before… it was them."

"You were outside the citadel walls? By the gods, man!" Taennen roared. "What in the hells were you doing out there with such a small force?"

"On the urir's orders, sir," the man said firmly.

Taennen seemed to shrink before Adeenya's eyes. The color drained from his face, leaving a pale palette begging to be filled in again.

Adeenya fought the urge to pull her remaining soldiers out and march straight back to Durpar. The Maquar urir had overreached yet again. Jhoqo had ordered men outside the walls, and now more of them were dead. That did not surprise her. She hadn't been told about it. That did not surprise her, either. It angered her, but in no way did it surprise her.

Taennen hadn't known about the patrols, though, and that surprised her. She expected a certain level of secrecy on Jhoqo's part. She was an outsider, after all. But Taennen was like the commander's son, not to mention his second in command. He should have known about the patrol.

The durir of the Maquar stepped away from his soldier as healers pushed through the crowd to tend the wounds of the injured warriors. Taennen took several steps backwards, the throng parting for him as he went. His eyes remained locked on the bodies of the men on the ground for several long moments before he looked up and found Adeenya's face. Taennen turned from the gathering. She darted after him and found him on the far side of the crowd. She caught up to him easily and fell into step beside him.

"He should have told you," she said. Taennen shook his head. "No." "You're his second."

Taennen stopped and looked straight at her. "He was right to leave me out of it. I've been a joke of an officer on this mission, and I have lost the right to be in on those decisions."

"That's not-" she started.

"Stop. Please," he said, holding up his hand. "I don't deserve his respect, but I will. From now on, I remember my place."

Adeenya shook her head. "So you'll just do whatever he says? Blind to what it might mean? Sending those men out there was foolish and he should have known better."

"I led my men into that massacre, I failed to stop the attackers, and now I'm following up on the words of our enemy who is trying to deceive me?" Taennen said. "Trust that formian? I must be mad. Jhoqo's right to leave me out of this until I get my head straight. I need to regain my focus."

Before Adeenya could speak, Taennen started off again, his gait determined. She had no idea what to say and even less idea of how to say it. She let him leave. If he wanted to wallow in self-pity she would not stop him.