The pounding at the door jolted Malik from a dream.

  “Get yer ass out ’ere, Malik!” The words were slurred. Not quite a yell, but other villagers could surely hear him.

  Malik sprang from his bedroll in the main prayer hall.

  “What in the Abyss is going on?” Surel demanded, sitting up in her cot.

  “I don’t know.”

  Malik staggered to his feet, vision blurry as his eyes adjusted from being jolted straight out of a dream.

  “Malik! Open the door.”

  Malik hurried across the room, tripping over a pair of boots on his way, cursing.

  “What’s going on?” Madri demanded, emerging from the hallway, his father right behind her.

  “Is that…” Surel began.

  Malik threw open the door. The stench of his friend’s breath was potent on the air. Yuri nearly fell through the doorway, eyes wide and bloodshot.

  “It’s about time, yeh lyin’ son of a—”

  Malik grabbed the boy’s arm and pulled him inside. He shot a quick glance around the empty street, relieved to see no one had been watching in the pre-dawn darkness.

  Madri lit a lamp with a flare of hish, and Yuri shielded his eyes from the light. He staggered into the room, looking around wildly.

  “What is the meaning of this, Yuri Alwensein?” Madri demanded.

  Yuri’s face turned, not quite remorseful, but chastened. “There been lights on here all bloody night!” Yuri said. “Why don’t you tell me what the meaning is?”

  “You’re drunk, Yuri,” Malik’s mother scolded. “I can smell the mead across the room.”

  Yuri glowered. “Maybe I am. That mean I shouldn’t believe what I see with my own eyes?”

  “We’ve been up taking care of our people,” Madri said. “And healing an injured Attican boy.”

  “Nah,” said Yuri, gulping down a breath. “Consul left hours ago.”

  “God’s breath,” said Surel. “You’ve been watching the temple all night? What’s wrong with you?”

  Malik thought he knew, judging by the way Yuri had been acting after Aram Tulsein had coming jabbering.

  “Let me handle this,” said Malik. He motioned toward the hall.

  Surel glanced from Malik to their parents.

  “Malik is right,” said Joren. “Yuri has always been a good friend of Malik’s. This is between them.”

  Once they were alone Malik turned on Yuri. “The bloody Abyss is your problem, Alwensein?”

  Yuri leaned back, stunned at the force of his words. Then, he pointed, jabbing his finger at Malik’s chest. He resisted the instinct to bat Yuri away, sensing the pain in his friend’s spirit.

  “I’m sick of being lied too.”

  “Yuri, I haven’t been—”

  “Bullshit! You know something you’re not saying. And even that prick, Ulgar, is in on it. So quit lying to me.”

  Malik froze, horror nagging at his gut.

  “I seen you two sneaking off to the shrines right after the attack. I may not’ve seen what you were doing, but I know it’s got something to do with Riese.”

  Malik wasn’t sure what to say. Just how much did Yuri know? His friend’s mind was a wall. He could feel his anger, but no specifics. Had he seen them sneaking Ava away from the scene of the crime?

  Yuri slumped onto the ground and coughed. “Shit, you got any water?”

  “Er, yeah, of course.”

  Malik fetched a flagon, and the boy gulped it down. He took a few breaths, eyes closed. For a moment, Malik thought Yuri might drift off to sleep. His head lolled on his shoulders. Then, he opened his eyes.

  The anger was gone, replaced by a rare sadness. When Yuri spoke, the words came clearly.

  ‘I’m sorry, Malik. I know you’re a bloody shaman now, and we all know you keep secrets from the rest of us. I’m just scared for her. I knew you always trusted Riese more than me. And maybe for good reason, but… that Serpent fisher oaf?”

  “It had nothing to do with who’s trustworthy, Yuri. Ulgar was right in the middle of the attack. He saved my life. And oaf or not, I trust him. That doesn’t mean I don’t trust you too.”

  Yuri sighed. “I just thought if there was a way to help Riese, you’d let me in on it. She’s my friend too.”

  Malik didn’t respond.

  Yuri glanced around the room. “So, where is she, Malik?”

  The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

  “You think Riese is—”

  “No, I’m talking about your bloody prisoner.”

  Malik’s breath caught. “Yuri, you’re drunk. You have no idea—”

  “Still lying. I shoulda known. And to think I defended you when Aram Tulsein was talking shit about what you were hiding.”

  “Aram?” Malik’s senses heightened.

  He reached for Yuri’s spirit, searching for some hidden malice, but finding nothing but anger and confusion.

  “You shoulda heard that bastard going on at the tavern tonight. That he seen you sneaking around the woods after the battle. That you were hiding something. And I told him…”

  “What did you say?” Malik demanded, a pit burrowing deep in his stomach.

  “I didn’t tell him anything!” Yuri said. “I said he was a prick, and of course, if you were hiding something, Aram and his father would be the last to know. And that if there was something to hide, there must be a damn good...”

  Malik backed toward the window. It was nearing morning, though the streets remained empty, silent.

  “What are you—”

  “I’m seeing if you were bloody followed, Alwensein!”

  Yuri went dead silent. He glanced out the window, met Malik’s gaze, a sudden terror stirring, like a wild animal that knew it’d been spotted by a hunter.

  “N-nah, I’m sure there was no one…”

  Malik pulled away from the window, and crossed the wide chamber toward the back hallway. He hadn’t heard a sound from the rest of his family since Yuri arrived.

  Yuri doubled down, reverting to anger once more. “Come on, man. I may be drunk, but I en’t bloody stupid. Aram left the tavern long before I did. And besides, he knows where to find you anyway. Now, quit changing the subject. Is your little prisoner—”

  “Oh, she’s certainly here.”

  The voice came from the end of the hall.

  Malik turned to find not Aram, or even his father, but the Lady Knight.

  Vera Salyr held tight to Ava Rykus’s wrist, shoving her forward. The girl grimaced, her other hand supporting herself on her cane as she walked forward.

  The rest of Malik’s family followed the knight out into the room. Surel looked terrified. His mother angry. His father defeated.

  Wielding bone spears, Aram Tulsein and his father brought up the rear, accompanied by another Attican soldier, who wielded a gladius.

  The Lady Knight surveyed the main temple hall. The other soldier walked the perimeter, securing windows shut.

  “I was informed of a disturbance at the hall where my Lady’s son is being tended. Lucky that Elder Eriksein came when he did. For who should I find standing over Ruan than the very girl responsible for murdering my Lady’s predecessor.”

  The knight jerked Ava forward again. She nearly stumbled, biting back pain, as the knight ripped the cane from her grasp.

  “Is this how you did it?” Salyr demanded.

  A flash of hish. Ava answered softly. “I’m sure I don’t know what—”

  Slap!

  Ava’s cheek reddened instantly. Her jaw tensed, but she showed no fear.

  The knight glared. “You killed Lord Campos with a hidden blade. Show me. Now!”

  The knight held up the cane’s length, and Ava pointed to a small ring in the wood where the handle met the staff. “Twist it a quarter turn to the left. A half turn right. Then press the dragon’s mouth at the end.”

  The dagger shot from the end of the cane, dried blood still on the blade.

  Salyr’s eyes grew wide with fury. In one swift movement, she cracked the cane over her knee, splitting it in half. She handed the blade end to the soldier at her side, then swung the other end around.

  Ava shrieked and clutched at her neck. The splintered end left a long streak across her throat. A stream of blood trickled down, splattering on the temple floor. It was remarkable precision. If the knight had extended the attack a fraction further, Ava would be bleeding out.

  The knight tossed the jagged remnant aside. Ava held her gaze, but for the first time that Malik had seen, her composure cracked. Tears welled up in Ava’s eyes. Her body shuddered with stifled gasps as she fought to remain composed. The walls around her spirit weakened, and Malik could feel her fear.

  “Do you sense my resolve, sorceress?” Salyr said. “Do you sense my loathing? You’re lucky you have valuable information, or you would already be dead. Try to manipulate my mind again, and I’ll do much worse.”

  More people emerged from the back hallway. All the Faltari elders. With one exception. There was no sign of the Serpent chieftain, Olma Marudeil. A third member of the Bloody Company followed after them, though Pelasius remained absent.

  “Caliphus has gone to fetch reinforcements,” the soldier said.

  Salyr nodded. “I doubt that will be necessary. The shaman is conniving, but he’s weak.”

  “Please leave my family out of this,” Joren said.

  Madri clutched Surel tight, keeping her body in front of her daughter like a shield.

  Tul Eriksein shoved Malik’s father forward with the butt end of his spear, like he was a stubborn alkine, and not the shaman of his own damn people.

  The elder did not hide his disdain. “What were you scheming, shaman?”

  “Nothing!” Malik said, before his father could answer.

  All eyes fell on him.

  Aram grinned maliciously.

  “Malik, no,” Joren said, fear in his eyes.

  “My father wasn’t scheming anything,” Malik insisted.

  “Bullshit,” said Aram.

  “You expect us to believe you were just holding this assassin for our own good?” Tul demanded. “Through all our council, you didn’t think we might benefit from hearing from one of the very rebels who terrorized our festival? God’s breath, I think you may very well have been in on the whole attack.”

  “My father didn’t know she was here,” Malik said.

  “What?” The Lady Knight’s piercing eyes bore into his own.

  “It was me. My father knew nothing about her until a few minutes ago.”

  “Son, no.”

  “It’s true,” Malik said. “I hid Ava from the council. Not my father. He wasn’t scheming anything.”

  Aram’s father grinned, pulling a satchel from his shoulder. “Then, do you want to explain why your father was carrying this?”

  The Lady Knight stepped forward and took what appeared to be a scroll out of the satchel.

  “I… I don’t know what that is,” said Malik.

  “It’s a map,” said Tul. “Of the dead city beyond the Gate.”

  The knight’s eyes went wide as she inspected the ancient parchment.

  Malik cursed to himself.

  Yuri had slumped in a chair, holding his head in his hands.

  Salyr rolled up the parchment and handed it to the soldier who had brought in the other elders. “Hurry after Caliphus. Get this to our Lady Consul now.”

  The woman rushed from the room. The other soldier followed with orders to guard the back entrance. The other elders stood before the front door.

  The main hall contained no windows, only prayer urns, statues of the All Mother and All Father, and murals belonging to each of the clans. There was the secret tunnel from the inner sanctum, but there was no way to get there. Tul and Aram blocked the way to the back hall.

  The Lady Knight turned back to Malik. “You’re a liar, boy. All of you are traitors to the Dragon Throne, as far as I’m concerned. Everyone in this room will taken to Attica to be tried. But you, Malik… only you were there when Campos died.”

  Salyr stepped closer, her gaze withering. Malik could feel the rage emanating from her spirit like heat from a blazing fire.

  “They knew nothing before the attack!” Ava said. There was no hish, no manipulations. “We had no scheme with the shamans, I swear it.” Her eyes drifted to Aram and Tul at the hallway for a moment. “I… played them.”

  “Played them?” Salyr demanded.

  Ava pointed to her temple. “You felt my abilities. These savages think they are the one true arbiters of magic, but they have barely touched the surface. They were all too easy to manipulate. Just like you bloody Atticans. Just like Campos.”

  “Enough!” cried Salyr. She raised her hand to strike Ava.

  A squelching sound emitted from across the room, and she spun.

  Tul Eriksein’s face distorted. The tip of a bonespear jutted out the front of his chest. The blade disappeared, and the elder fell forward.

  Ulgar Fenrisein stood over the body, and the temple erupted in chaos.