David Dalglish - The Cost of Betrayal

“I’m never good at bad news, so I’ll tell you both straight.” The wizard bit off a chunk of bacon, chewed it twice, and then stunned them both. “Aurelia, a bounty has been placed on your head.”

Harruq nearly gagged.

“I feared as much,” Aurelia said, sighing and pushing away her plate. “Who placed it?”

“I traced the official bounty back to the Quellan elves. I wanted to bring you to the priests of Ashhur, but as good a friend as Calan is, he’s still a priest. He would have reported your whereabouts. Respect for law and nonsense like that. As for now, I believe your presence here is still unknown.”

Harruq coughed, gaining the attention of the two. “Excuse me, but can one of you fill me in here. Why do the Quellan elves want her dead?”

“They don’t want her dead,” Tarlak said, chomping down on his final piece of bacon. “The bounty is null if she isn’t alive. A thousand gold pieces for her capture. As for a reason, that was interesting, most interesting.”

The wizard’s expression hardened. He began quoting the bounty’s details.

“A thousand gold pieces for the live capture of Aurelia Thyne, responsible for the escape of two murderers of elves and human children.” He stopped and stared straight into Harruq’s eyes. “I’ve heard many exaggerations, and there are times when people die, but it is the children that worry me. I would like to know what I am dealing with before every bounty hunter in the country comes knocking on our tower door.”

Harruq started to reply, but Aurelia stood, leaning against the table on weak arms. There was nothing weak about her eyes or her voice when she spoke.

“The battle at Woodhaven was just that, a battle. I fought for my friends. Harruq and Qurrah fought for reasons that will remain unsaid. Those murders are nothing more than the deaths of elves in combat. Many died that day, but there is no bounty on every soldier that fought for Neldar.”

“Then why the bounty on you?” he asked, his voice equally strong.

“Because I helped them escape. I am a traitor to elven kind, and so they wish me to explain myself.”

“And then kill you afterwards?”

Aurelia shrugged. “Perhaps. I hope not.”

“This is horseshit,” Harruq said. He smashed his fist against the table, stood, and flung his plate across the room. It smashed against a wall, splattering egg. “They can’t take Aurry. They can’t!”

“Calm yourself,” Tarlak said, the only one still seated. “I am not turning any of you over to some bounty hunter. Aurelia saved Haern’s life, who is like a brother to me. There is much I owe her, and keeping her whereabouts secret is a small step I can take toward repayment.”

Harruq’s breath was heavy and heated through his nostrils as he fought to control his temper. “Then what do we do?” he asked.

“Nothing. We have Aurelia lay low in the tower, going out only in disguise, until we do something about that bounty.”

“No,” Aurelia said. She stood tall and shook her head. “No. That won’t work.”

“Why not?” Tarlak asked.

“Because I know who put the bounty on my head.”

The two men glanced at each other.

“And who’s that?” Tarlak asked.

“Dieredon,” Aurelia said, her voice nearing a whisper. “And he will hunt for me until he knows my whereabouts. I will not live my life in hiding.”

“Dieredon,” Tarlak said, rubbing his eyes. “Why did you have to upset that elf?”

“Dieredon?” Harruq asked. “Wait, is he an elf that uses a crazy bow with spikes?”

“That would be him,” Tarlak said, adding a bit of grandiose to his speech. “Scoutmaster of the Quellan elves, unbeatable in blade and bow, tracker of shadows, and master of the silent arrow in the night. Thank you, Aurelia, for all the wonderful fun you bring to my tower.”

Harruq frowned, feeling his rage grow. His body ached, remembering wounds the skilled fighter had given him during their brief skirmish. Aurelia staggered a little, a dizzy spell overcoming her. Harruq rushed around the table and held her in his arms as she recovered.

“I’m fine, Harruq,” she said, pushing him away. “Don’t worry. And I know why he’s looking for me. Crazy as it sounds, he’s worried about me. Probably angry, too. That is why the bounty is so high, and only if I am unharmed. If I talk to him, the bounty will most likely be dropped.”

“So how do we find him?” Tarlak asked.

“That is simple enough,” said a voice from the stairs. The three turned to see Haern sitting on the lower steps, wrapped in his cloaks. His lowered hood exposed his golden hair and fair skin. Despite her weakness, Aurelia felt a tingle go through her at the sight of him.

“No disguise?” the wizard asked.

“No need, not in here. And you do not need to hunt down Dieredon.”

“Why is that?” Harruq asked.

Haern chuckled.

“I will bring him to us.” The assassin stood and pulled his hood over his face. His voice immediately shrank to a whisper. “I must ensure the other thief guilds learn from the ruination of the Spider Guild. Before I finish, I will send word to the elven lands that we stand ready to collect the bounty.”

Tarlak scratched his beard. “Clever. We don’t want her captured and turned in, so we just beat everyone to the punch by doing it ourselves?”

“Sure this is a good idea?” Harruq asked, looking to Aurelia for an answer. The elf nodded.

“Do it,” she said. “Killing bounty hunters gets old after awhile. They make it so damn hard to get a good night’s sleep.”

The men in the room stared at her with inquisitive looks. She winked back to them.

“Don’t ask.”

They didn’t.

Q urrah and Tessanna slipped out to the forest long before Harruq awoke. The half-orc carried Pelarak’s papers with him cradled against his chest. Tessanna did not ask where they went, or why, and Qurrah did not say. They stopped at a stream. A fallen tree stretched across it. The two sat on one end and listened as the sound of birds filled their ears with a sweetness unfitting either of them. Qurrah had never learned to appreciate it, and Tessanna had long forgotten the peacefulness the sound used to impart her.

“I want to show you something,” Qurrah said, handing her the papers. Tessanna glanced over them and shrugged.

“I cannot read,” she said, handing them back.

“They are runic words of power. They can drive any living man insane just by hearing their recitation.”

The girl smiled. “Sounds fun. Too bad I’ll never try them.”

Qurrah nodded, his eyes refusing to look at hers. “I wish to cure you, Tessanna. For everything you’ve done. I can decipher what happened to you. I can learn to undo it. Will you accept this from me?”

The girl’s eyes flared with pain, and her entire body shriveled away from him.

“I just wish to help,” he said.

She shook her head, pain bleeding out her eyes in the form of tears.

“As I am, Qurrah. Can’t you be with me as I am? Can’t anyone?” She stood, backing away as if he were a monster. “People have tried. It hurts so badly, Qurrah. My mind is broken glass, and all they do is shove the shards together and hope they stick. I’ve killed every one of them. I never mean to. Please, please, I don’t want to kill you.”

“This is different,” Qurrah said, approaching her even though she cowered away. “I am no priest. I will not beg to a god who shall not listen. I will find what broke your mind, and I will remove it. You deserve this.”

Tessanna felt a tree press against her back. She glanced about, but had no place to go. Qurrah blocked her path.

“I thought you loved me,” she cried, sliding to the ground as the rough bark tore her skin. “I thought you were different.”