The Eighth Warden Bk. 03 Ch. 33-34

Leena tensed. If he hadn't mentioned his cousin to the priests, then he must have known something bad might happen to the Travelers despite his protestations to the contrary. That meant he was responsible for her parents' deaths. She clenched her fists tightly, her fingernails biting into her palms.

Corec frowned. "If you started in the east, how did they catch up to us outside Tir Shar?"

"They have some way of talking to each other from a distance. They didn't tell me how."

"Then you're not strong enough to Seek something in Cordaea from Sanvar?" Rohav asked.

"I am!" the man said, sounding offended. "It takes them time to talk from a distance. Days, maybe more. They wanted me here so they could track her more quickly."

"Then you should have said that! If you hold back information, I'll consider it to be the same as lying."

"I'm just answering your questions! I don't know what you want to know!"

"I want to know something," Corec said. "Why send farmers? Villagers? Those men died for nothing. They had no business being on a battlefield."

Davir sneered. "How many people do you think are stupid enough to worship a snake? The priests recruit from areas with no schools or real temples. None of the men have any education. Most can't read. All they know is what the priests tell them."

His cavalier attitude toward the cult members would have been unsettling, except those were the men who'd wielded the knives against the camps. Those were the men who'd burned Leena's mother and father to death. They were just as much targets of Leena's blood feud as Davir was.

"Are the priests the ones that poisoned them?" Corec asked.

"What?"

"The poison! The injured ones died of poison! Who did it?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"It happened to dozens of them. You didn't see it?"

"I've been here the whole time!"

Corec scowled and stepped forward to loom over the man. "If I find out you're lying ..."

"I'm not!"

"What about the wizards?" Ellerie asked. "If they're so uneducated, where are the wizards coming from?"

"They're just hired to do a job, like me."

It seemed unlikely that a rural cult would be able to hire multiple wizards, but before Leena could question the statement, Pavan held up one of the knives with a snake etched into the hilt.

"Why the knives?" he asked. "Why risk losing a weapon that identifies them? Why use a knife at all if you're going into battle?"

Davir hesitated.

"Answer the question," Rohav said.

"I don't know for sure, but I overheard some things. The priests gave them the knives and told them to leave one at each attack. I guess they left a lot more than one once they started dying. Nobody told them not to take other weapons, but other than the hunters with their bows, most of them didn't have any. They can't afford swords, and they wouldn't know how to use them anyway. The priests didn't care what they brought—the Zidari don't fight, and the knives were enough. Here, they hired the mercenaries to do the actual work."

"They wanted people to know who they were?" Ellerie asked. "Why else would they leave the knives on purpose?"

Davir shrugged. "The knives are warded. I tried Seeking them but I couldn't. Nobody could find them that way."

"They wanted someone to know," Rohav said. "A message for someone who'd recognize it without a Seeking."

"Who?" Pavan asked.

No one had an answer.

"We'll ask all the camps again," Rohav said. "And the palace. Perhaps somebody will have an idea."

"Is there another group headed this way?" Corec asked Davir. "Are we going to be attacked again?"

"Not from Renfar," the prisoner said. "Mercenaries don't come cheap, and you just killed most of their own people who were of fighting age. I don't know how many members they have in the rest of Cordaea. The other group that attacked you, they might still have more people. They didn't tell me how big that church was—they just wanted to know how to find you."

Leena's uncle turned to Pavan and cocked his head to the side. The younger man nodded.

Rohav spoke to Corec. "If that takes care of what you need to know, we should be getting this one back to Sanvara City. There's a cell waiting for him."

Pavan leaned down, about to help Davir to his feet. They were going to take him away.

"No!" Leena shouted, grasping her own snake knife—the one that had been left behind in her family's camp after the attack. Razai had insisted she keep it with her during the battle. "I claim right of blood feud! By his actions, he killed my mother and father!"

"Put that away!" Rohav snapped. "He needs to return to Sanvar and face justice."

"He killed Rima!" she said, to remind her uncle of his own pain. "He deserves to die!"

A look of sorrow passed over Rohav's face, but he held firm. "The empress will make that decision. Either way, he'll never see the light of day again. Killing him now would be foolish. We may need him to answer more questions."

"Blood feud takes precedence by the old laws!" Leena said, her heart pounding in her chest. She crouched down over the traitor and held her knife to his face. Her hand wouldn't stop trembling. Despite Rohav's words, her uncle didn't make any move to stop her. Neither did anyone else. She traced the blade down Davir's cheek to his neck as he cringed back. But staring into his frightened eyes, Leena realized she couldn't bring herself to kill him in cold blood, regardless of the reason. She stood up, her body feeling as weak as if she'd been running for hours. "But I'll let you take him if he does something for me."

"Does what?"

Leena looked down at Davir. "You're a Seeker. Tell me where the priests of the Snake are. All of them!"

"They're warded! I already told you that!"

"Then the ones you know. Their names, locations, temples, everything."

His jaw worked as he thought through that, and then a small smile crossed his face. "I can do that."

"And the wizards," Leena said. She turned to Ellerie. "The warding spells will go away, right? They're not like the doors we found?"

"Yes. Warding spells fade over time if they're not renewed. Some can last years, like mage locks and preservation wards, but most will fade much faster than that—days or weeks—unless they're permanently enchanted, and no one knows how to do that anymore. Well, almost no one."

Leena nodded, then spoke to Davir again. "The wizards and the priests. We'll kill them, and after the wards go away, you can Seek every single person responsible for the attacks on our people."

"I don't know all the priests and wizards. There have to be more than the ones I met."

"Then the ones you do know will have to tell us about the others."

"Ask the priests," Corec suggested. "Wizards are too dangerous to take alive."

Leena shrugged. "Whoever can tell us. We'll keep them alive long enough to find out what they know." Despite the bravado of her words, she doubted she'd be amongst those doing the hunting. If she couldn't kill Davir, how could she kill anyone else? But there were plenty more of her people who would want vengeance for their losses. She wasn't the only one who'd sworn blood feud.

Rohav gave her a grim smile. "We will. And we'll find out if they're working for anyone else or if the priests took action on their own." He sighed, glancing around the room. "But for now, we should be going. If you Travel directly to the camp, I can join you there once I'm done at the palace."

She switched to the Zidari tongue. "I can't return yet, Uncle—I've still got responsibilities here."

He frowned. "I thought this was the reason you'd left. I thought you were coming back with us."

"It's why I left, but I promised to help out here." And, in truth, exploring an ancient city had been exciting. Perhaps she could enjoy it more now that she knew her brother would be safe. "I'll visit home each week. If you need my help tracking them down, I'll try to come back sooner, but I'm not much of a Seeker." She could accept it if her revenge was meted out by other, more competent hands, just so long as it was done. She did need to ask Rohav about the bracelet, but she couldn't do that here where someone else might see them.

"You should learn from this man's mistake," Rohav said, glancing down at the prisoner. "There's a reason why the Zidari don't work for outsiders."

"I'll be careful," she promised.

He nodded. "I suppose you've earned some leeway, but don't forget our laws. Our gifts are too dangerous in the wrong hands." He turned to speak to Pavan.

Leena faced Ellerie with an embarrassed grimace. "I couldn't do it," she admitted quietly, so only the elven woman could hear.

Ellerie held Leena's hands in hers for a brief moment. "That's not a bad thing."

Leena wanted to say more, but she wasn't ready to make any promises. Not yet. But the Seeker was captured. Soon, everyone responsible for the attacks on the Zidari would be dealt with. Perhaps they'd be arrested by the authorities, or perhaps they'd be killed out of hand by angry Travelers. Either option was acceptable. Leena's blood feud wasn't over, but the end was within her reach. Once it was done, she'd be able to look to the future, and perhaps have a more personal discussion with the elven woman.

Pavan joined them then. "We'll be leaving soon, but could I speak to you for a moment first?" the young Traveler asked in Zidari.

"Of course."

Pavan nodded to Ellerie, then drew Leena away from the others. "Your uncle tells me that, even half-trained, you managed to teleport from here to Sanvar in a single jump. That's impressive."

"Oh, uh, thank you."

"Even among the fully trained Travelers, fewer than half of us can manage that. We should consider positioning our two families better for the future. I would like to propose an alliance."

His expression was sincere, and Leena wasn't sure how to respond. It was obvious he was referring to strengthening the bloodlines by marriage. She'd never considered marrying a man before—she'd known since she was young that she preferred women. She glanced at Ellerie, but the elven woman hadn't heard, and, in any case, didn't speak Zidari.

"I don't know what to say."

"I wouldn't expect an answer so soon, of course. Even if you were in agreement, the families would still have to discuss it. Your uncle wasn't aware if you were entertaining other offers."

She could have just told him she liked women, but that was her personal life. She shouldn't have to talk about it with a stranger. Besides, if she ever wanted to have children, it would be something to consider. When the clan intermarried to merge their bloodlines, it wasn't unheard of for those to be marriages of convenience only. It would be up to Leena, or her family, to return to Pavan with terms for negotiation.

"I'll think about what you've said," she replied. "I have obligations that will keep me busy here for the near future, though."

"Certainly," Pavan said with a ready smile, "but I do hope to hear from you soon."

He returned to Rohav and the prisoner. Rohav gave Leena one last nod, and then Pavan laid his hands on their shoulders. The three men disappeared, either back in Sanvara City already or at some point in between.