Ed Gentry - Neversfall

Adeenya stood and nodded, too stunned to speak.

"If I am wrong, we will soon find out." Jhoqo smiled nastily. "Besides, my dear, look where we are. If you were guilty and wanted to run, where would you go? The wilds of the Aerilpar? That's a death sentence, and I know you're well aware of it."

"Where is he?" Jhoqo asked, as he strode away from Adeenya's quarters through the courtyard.

The Durpari woman he spoke to said, "The durir, sir? I saw him near the big tower, sir."

Jhoqo quickened his pace, turned a corner around the central tower at a jog, and spotted Taennen walking toward him, a puzzled look on the younger man's face. Jhoqo stopped and waved the durir to him.

"Sir? What's wrong?" Taennen said, the confusion clear on his face. He had not heard yet. That was fortunate, Jhoqo thought.

"Son, come with me," Jhoqo said and walked to the door of the largest tower. He pushed the door open and stepped inside. There were many windows in the tower, unlike most of the buildings in the citadel, so the interior was bright with morning light. Jhoqo pointed to the steps and asked Taennen to take a seat.

"Sir, please, what's the matter?" Taennen asked. "You look disturbed. What's happened?"

"Taennen, we're losing this citadel," the urir said. Taennen's body went rigid, and he shook his head. "It's true, boy. The men are furious and helpless but have nowhere to direct their anger. That's a horrible combination, one that always begs for trouble."

"Sir, we'll figure this out," Taennen said. "All isn't lost."

Jhoqo shook his head. "This is a critical time, son. We must be strong for our troops. We have to rally them and point them in the right direction."

Taennen nodded and narrowed his eyes. "Why do you say these things to me now? What's happened?"

Jhoqo stared hard at the man he considered his son. He looked into Taennen's dark eyes, watched as the younger man's cheek twitched in anticipation. He saw the boy he had raised as much as he saw his second in command.

"We have to remain strong, Durir. Remember that," Jhoqo said. "The men will look to us."

Taennen nodded as he rose to his feet and said, "Tell me."

Jhoqo sighed and lowered his head before saying, "Loraica was found dead this morning."

All color fled Taennen's face. His muscles gave out all at once, and he toppled to the steps, his hands flailing out behind him for purchase.

Many moments passed as Taennen stared out the doorway and Jhoqo watched him. The urir never imagined feeling someone else's pain so strongly.

"How?" Taennen asked, his lips quivering.

"Murdered," Jhoqo said.

Taennen fixed him with a hard stare. "How was she murdered, sir?"

"It does not matter," the urir replied.

Taennen stood, fierceness fueling his voice. "How was she murdered?"

"Her throat was slit." Jhoqo said.

"Who?" Taennen asked, his voice tremulous.

"We don't know," Jhoqo said.

"Who found her?"

"The Durpari orir."

"Adeenya?" the younger man said.

"I'm afraid so," the urir replied.

"Where was she?" Taennen asked.

Jhoqo sighed. "In the orir's quarters."

Taennen shook his head and said, "Surely she could not…"

"I hope she could not, too, son," Jhoqo said. "We'll need to question her further, but I decided it would be bad for morale if I threw her in a cell. It's not as though she can go anywhere."

Taennen swayed as he stood. His forehead wrinkled as though he might cry.

"You understand what I said about the troops?" Jhoqo asked.

Taennen nodded, but his eyes were unfocused.

"Very well, then. You're dismissed-just remember what I said," Jhoqo said.

Jhoqo stepped out of the way as Taennen strode past him without a word. Loraica and Taennen had worked together and been friends for as long as Taennen had been in the Maquar. Nothing Jhoqo could say would soothe the boy.

Jhoqo recalled the first time he had seen the two together and smiled. Loraica had been large even then, twice the bulk of Taennen at the same age. She had taught Taennen how to fight. Jhoqo had watched them many times as they figured out new maneuvers to try on one another. Even full days of training with the troops had not exhausted them enough to skip their own training sessions.

Jhoqo sighed and walked toward his quarters. It would be a long day, he knew. He went over what he would say to the troops in his mind and found nothing adequate. Nothing that seemed worthy of Loraica, nothing that would transform grief into enough motivation and morale to turn things around. But as commander of the fortress, it was his duty to make the best of the situation. Loraica had served the Maquar well in her life, and if he had anything to say about it, her death would prove just as useful.

Adeenya paced back and forth outside Taennen's quarters. The image of Loraica's pallid corpse was etched on her mind's eye, and she could see little else, no matter how hard she tried to think other thoughts. She had rushed to Taennen's quarters and waited for him to return instead of searching the entire citadel for him. She had wanted to be the one to tell the man about his friend, but he had already gone by the time she arrived.

"I saw you talking to her yesterday evening on the wall," Taennen said from behind her.

Adeenya spun to face the man. His shoulders were slumped, his head cast down. His hands hung at his side, and his cheeks and nose were red. Adeenya could think of nothing to say, so she nodded. "Yes."

"Both of you were tense. I could see it," he said. "You were arguing? She was angry with you?"

"Angry? No. What are you saying?" Adeenya asked.

"What did you tell her?"

"Did Jhoqo send you?" she asked.

"What did you tell her?"

"My plan to lure out the traitor," Adeenya said. His closest friend was gone, but Adeenya hoped he could not think her responsible.

Taennen's face wrinkled. "What plan?" he said.

Several of the soldiers had gathered nearby, likely attracted by the tension that leaked from Taennen. Adeenya waved them off as did Taennen when he noticed them. The warriors moved away.

"Let's talk inside, shall we, Durir?" she said.

Taennen nodded and followed her into his quarters. The room was like most of the others in the citadel, plain and unadorned with small, high windows that let very little light into the room. Taennen closed the door and stood before it, his arms across his chest, and he said, "Tell me, now."

"Durir, I would remind you of your place," she said.

Taennen stiffened and stood at attention. He trembled, looking like nothing so much as a scarecrow being tousled by the wind. Adeenya sighed and motioned toward a chair as she raised an eyebrow. When Taennen nodded, she sat. All the muscles in her body seemed to coil and tighten at once before releasing, leaving her feeling like a puddle of mud.

"I tried to tell you about my plan," she said. "When you were not responsive, I approached Loraica instead because I knew I would need help to find the traitor."

"How, sir?" he asked, punctuating the honorific.

She told him of her plan and every detail of her conversation with Loraica. Adeenya watched his eyes harden and his face sour from his tight lips to his wrinkled brow. His response was not unexpected.

"It violates every principle that the Maquar hold dear," he said, looking as though his personal honor had been insulted. "Loraica turned you away when she heard it."

"I see no alternative," she said. "And she disliked it for the same reason you do, but she agreed to it in the end when I told her about my pendant.

"I had a magical device to contact my superiors. It was my only way to reach the outside world, to get us help here, to do anything. It was stolen, deliberately, in the attack. They came straight for me and took it," Adeenya said.