Richard Tuttle - Web of Deceit

Rejji scrambled across the floor and dove after the blade before Brakas could regain his feet. He scooped up the blade while still sliding across the floor and when his momentum slowed, Rejji leaped to his feet and ran back toward Brakas who was still sprawled on the floor.

He skidded to a halt and towered over the bandit’s body as he brought the sword up and prepared to strike. Rejji felt a sudden smack on the back of his head and his vision blurred. The room started spinning and Rejji felt like he was falling. Then Rejji’s world turned to darkness.

Rejji woke with a splitting headache. He reached for the back of his head to feel for blood, but could find none. The room was totally dark except for the small amount of moonlight coming through the vent hole in the roof, which allowed the smoke to escape. He tried to remember what had happened through the haze of his mind and slowly it came back to him. In his fight with Brakas, he neglected to remember about Wyant. He shuddered when he replayed the scene in his mind and realized he had been about to kill a man. He wondered what had gotten into him. Killing Brakas would not have gotten him free of the camp. He speculated whether this is how all men reacted in a fight for their life. Did reason and negotiation take leave when a man’s back was up against the wall? He hoped he never had another chance to find out.

Slowly Rejji rose off the floor and tried to scan the darkness for the presence of anyone else in the room. The moonlight was dim and he could not see very far, so he made his way to a wall and started walking around the room to check it out. When he reached the only door to the room, he silently tried to open it. It was locked. He completed an entire circuit of the room and ended back at the door. He was the only occupant. He looked up at the hole in the ceiling again, but realized there was no way to reach it. Even if he tried to build something out of the benches, it would fall far short of reaching the high ceiling. He had never been in a room where the ceiling was so far off the floor. At home he could easily touch the ceiling without jumping.

Rejji heard footsteps coming down the hall and he eased himself along the wall and away from the door. He heard another door open and then some clatter through the wall where he had moved. Someone had entered the next room and was moving furniture around. More footsteps sounded in the hallway and they entered the next room as well. Rejji could here muffled voices through the wall and pressed his ear to it. The voices were faint, but Rejji could hear them talking.

“What was it?” inquired Wyant.

“Just a fire,” reported Brakas. “There was a large pile of leaves that went up, but there was no sign of anyone around. I think one of the returning patrols probably got careless with his bocco and it just took a while to ignite the leaves. It was right off the trail coming in.”

“How is your head?” Wyant asked.

“I’ll be fine,” Brakas grumbled. “The lad got lucky.”

“No, the lad fought as best he could with what he had,” laughed Wyant. “He was resourceful. Don’t feel too bad about it. His moves surprised me too. We are so trained to expect a certain type of fight that sometimes the unskilled can surprise us. Perhaps it was a lesson for both of us.”

“Easy for you to say,” retorted Brakas. “It was my face what got hammered. You at least got to hit him good.”

“I do believe he was going to kill you, or I would have let it continue,” declared Wyant. “It did prove one thing to me though. He is not a spy. I am sure if the Jiadin sent in a spy he would be prepared for the little game we play with new recruits. The lad really thought you were going to kill him and that means he had no idea we were testing him.”

“True,” conceded Brakas. “I did have men go back out there and check things out. There was nothing hidden. No water bag. No food sack. I really don’t see how he could have possibly crossed the badlands without provisions. It isn’t possible.”

“And yet the sentries never saw him,” Wyant stated. “There was nobody with him and no signs of him setting a horse free. I understand your concerns.”

“He doesn’t know about horses,” offered Brakas. “I could tell that by the way he rode with me on the way in.”

“It is clear he doesn’t know anything about weapons either,” added Wyant. “He is quick and strong though. And intelligent I think. It might take a lot of training, but he could become a good warrior, perhaps a leader over time.”

“Maybe,” Brakas said, “but there is something about him that doesn’t sit quite right, if you know what I mean. I think we should keep him locked up at night.”

“I agree,” Wyant said. “I think we should team him up with Klavin. The lad would not only learn, but will also provide us with some entertainment.”

“Why Klavin?”

“Because Klavin was sleeping the day they handed out brains,” Wyant chuckled, “and the boy is smart. It might be fun to see if brains or brawn is superior.”

“Klavin is a good warrior,” argued Brakas. “One of the best warriors we have.”

“Which is the only reason he is still with us,” responded Wyant.

“What about making the lad into a real spy?” asked Brakas. “You said he isn’t a spy because he doesn’t know how the tribes operate, but that very quality would make him the right person to send into the Jiadin camp.”

“I don’t know,” hesitated Wyant. “That could be sending the lad to his death. You said he wanted revenge on them. It is hard to believe that he could fake wanting to join them. That advisor Grulak has, Veltar, he scares me. There is something inhuman about him. I think he could read the lad’s soul the moment he entered their fortress.”

“What is more important to us?” reasoned Brakas. “They have raided a village in our sector. That is against the agreement we have with them. I think we need to know what they are up to.”

“That village was good for maybe two clova a year,” Wyant stated. “It certainly is no great loss for us, but you do have a point about the agreement. The Jiadin are up to something and we need to know what it is. Still, I think the lad would not succeed. I will dwell upon it. We have time yet to make that decision. For now, match him up with Klavin. At night we will keep him locked up until we are satisfied that he is what he says he is.”

Rejji heard the moving of a chair and the closing of a door. He waited until he heard the footsteps receding down the hallway before he moved away from the wall. He walked towards the center of the room and spread out on the floor in a patch of moonlight and closed his eyes.

***

Using the small flask she had cut open, Mistake carried the last two coals to the spot she had selected. When she reached the spot she had chosen, she let the coals slid out of the mutilated flask onto the heap of the other coals she had transported. She looked at the last rays of the sun and decided to wait a little while longer. She dropped her improvised scoop and the moss she had used to insulate her hand from the heat. It had been tedious transporting all of the coals over such a distance, but if her fire had been any closer to the fortress, she would have been noticed. As it was, it had taken her all day to prepare for this. She hoped it worked.

When she felt it was dark enough that the smoke would not be noticed, she piled armfuls of damp grass over the coals. When she had piled all of the damp grass over the coals, she started heaping the dry leaves on top of the pile. As soon as all of the leaves were in place, Mistake started running. She was still a fair distance from the fort and she had to approach it unseen. And quickly.