Don Bassingthwaite - The doom of Kings

The increased activity between the lhesh and the Kech Volaar had also kept Ekhaas busy. Senen had drafted her as an aide. She would be remaining in Rhukaan Draal, of course- unless Senen dispatched her to Volaar Draal. The ambassador seemed to regard the position as an honored reward. Ashi wasn’t certain Ekhaas felt the same way about it, but the duur’kala held her tongue. When the time came for them to say their good-byes, she offered Ashi a hug that was almost human. She also offered her a sword, not a heavy, notched hobgoblin blade but a slim, double-edged human sword.

“Magewrought in Cyre before the end of the Last War,” Ekhaas said as Ashi slid the weapon out to examine it. “Not as good as your honor blade, but still good. It’s the least I can do after dragging you out of Karrlakton.”

“You didn’t drag me out, Ekhaas. If you hadn’t let me come, I would have stowed away on your ship.” Ashi gave her another hug, then turned to the last of her friends still waiting for her.

Geth smiled at her. He looked as reputable as she had ever seen him, his thick hair brushed and pulled back, his clothes clean and untorn. He didn’t wear the armband of red cords-a shava wasn’t a servant-but there was a heavy ring with the lhesh’s crest on his finger. “What about you?” Ashi asked him. “How long will you be staying?”

“How do you know I won’t stay?”

“Because I know you.”

He laughed. “I’ll stay until the fighting’s over at least. All this standing around while people cheer Haruuc and talk about putting up statues in his honor is starting to bore me. There’s a letter to Singe and Dandra in the post with this caravan, but I want to get back and rub it in Singe’s face personally.”

“You accepted Haruuc’s invitation to be his shava so you could make Singe jealous?” said Ekhaas. There was shock in her eyes.

“No!” Geth said. “Well, maybe a bit, but what was I supposed to do? It’s not the sort of offer you turn down.”

“Why did you do it, then?” asked Ashi. “It wasn’t exactly what I would have expected from you, either.”

The shifter looked from her to Ekhaas, then dropped his voice. “It was Wrath,” he said. Ekhaas’s ears rose. Geth spread his hands. “Ever since you woke it, sometimes I get the feeling that I should do certain things. Like when I charged back to stop the trolls. Wrath wants me to be a hero, and it pushes me to do things a hero would do.”

Ashi raised her eyebrows and glanced at Ekhaas. Before they’d entered the shrine of the Uura Odaarii, the duur’kala had asked her if Geth had seemed more impetuous than usual. “Wrath takes control of you?”

“Control? No. But it… pushes me. Puts the right ideas in my head. During the presentation of the rod, it showed me how a hero would answer Haruuc-it even gave me the right words to say.”

“I noticed that your Goblin improved suddenly,” said Ekhaas.

“I don’t think Wrath can give me the right words all the time.” Geth’s hand slipped down to grip the sword’s hilt. “Only when it’s important. It wants me to live up to the legacy of the heroes of the name of Kuun. To tell you the truth, I kind of like it. It’s almost like having you whispering stories in my ear, Ekhaas. It’s inspiring.”

“Taruuzh created Aram to represent the inspiration heroes provided for the people,” Ekhaas said. She frowned. “Maybe it provided inspiration to the line of Kuun as well. Just be careful, Geth.”

“I’m not going to doing anything stupid.” He hugged Ekhaas as well. “I’ll come see you in Karrlakton.”

“I’ll watch for you,” she said.

Tariic and Vounn were waiting, too. Haruuc’s nephew bowed. “Swift travel and great glory, Ashi d’Deneith. Darguun will remember you. I only regret I never saw you perform the sword dance.”

Ashi returned his bow with perfect form. “You’ll have to visit House Deneith again, Tariic of Rhukaan Taash,” she told him.

Tariic straightened up and looked at Vounn. “She has clearly learned from you,” he said with a smile.

Vounn acknowledged the compliment with a nod, then turned to Ashi and held out her scarf. “You left this in your chamber,” she said.

“I know,” said Ashi. “I don’t think I need it.” She felt her mentor’s gaze trace the pattern of the dragonmark over her face and held her head up a little higher. “I’m not going to hide anymore. Let people think what they will.”

“In Rhukaan Draal or among the Five Nations maybe, but on the road to Sterngate?” Vounn asked. “You’ve made a reputation for yourself now, Ashi. If there are bandits on the road, you’ll be a target.”

“And I’ll fight them. I’ve done it twice before. The bandits of Darguun aren’t that terrifying.”

She kept her voice light, trying to ease Vounn’s reaction, but the expression that creased the older woman’s forehead wasn’t anger-it was confusion. “Twice?”

“The Gan’duur raiders on the journey from Sterngate and a pack on the way back north with the rod.”

Vounn’s eyes narrowed, and Ashi realized that her reports to her had focused only on retrieving the rod. They had told Haruuc, but Vounn hadn’t been in the small chamber when they told their story.

“It was nothing, Vounn,” she added quickly. “They were just a gang of desperate thugs along the road a couple of days south of Rhukaan Draal. We saw some locals and they said the gang had been making trouble in the area for a couple of weeks.”

Vounn didn’t look relieved. “Were they Gan’duur?”

“We thought of that,” said Geth. “We checked their bags to see but it looks like they came from Rhukaan Draal. The locals thought they must have fled south to avoid being mistaken for Gan’duur raiders by Haruuc’s men.”

“But they attacked you?”

“I said they were desperate,” Ashi pointed out.

“Could they have been waiting for you?”

“How could they have been? Why would they wait for me-?”

Vounn’s lips pressed together. “Not just you, Ashi. All of you.” She glanced at Ekhaas and Geth, Chetiin and Midian.

Chetiin’s ears twitched. “It is possible,” the goblin admitted. “But Ashi is right. Why would they be waiting for us? Even if they were Gan’duur, they wouldn’t have known when we’d return or even if we’d come back the same way we left.”

“That was why they were waiting.”

“Vounn, no one outside of Haruuc’s circle knew of the mission,” Tariic said. “It can only have been a coincidence.”

Vounn looked at Haruuc’s nephew, then smiled and nodded. “You may be right. The attempted abduction has left me on edge.” She stepped forward to embrace Ashi-and whisper in her ear, “By the honor of our House, be careful until you’re out of Darguun.”

Ashi felt unease wrap around her heart. “What’s wrong, Vounn?”

“Maybe nothing. Just be cautious.” She stood back again, the smile still on her face, but Ashi couldn’t help noticing that she no longer stood quite as close to Tariic as she had.

Not so long ago, Ashi might have pressed her and demanded to know what she was keeping back. Part of her wanted to, but another part urged her to respect Vounn’s wishes. If her teacher didn’t want to say anything more, there had to be a reason. Ashi kept her mouth closed, nodded to Vounn, took one last look at her friends, then turned to mount her horse. The caravan was waiting for her. The caravan master threw a suffering look at her and raised a horn to his lips, blowing a sharp note.

“Orien caravan,” he bellowed, “move ou-”

“Hold!” A goblin runner in the uniform of Haruuc’s guard raced through the gates of the compound, waving his arms and gasping for breath. “Lhesh Haruuc declares the roads closed!”