"Stupid filth," the wife, who cooked for the inn, muttered under her breath as she came out to help her daughter clear the table. The others didn't hear her words, but I did.
After we finished eating, we walked to the healer's home to check on the two wounded men—they'd been beaten badly and were still unconscious. I had my doubts that one would wake at all and the other probably had brain damage from a severe head wound. The General was angry, I could tell—these men had been on late watch and had likely been accosted by their attackers while everyone else was asleep. The early morning watch had found the wounded night guards on the edge of camp when they arrived for their shift. Neither of the unconscious men had awakened since then.
"We'll check on the Regulars," the General said after we left the healer's home. We walked—the army was less than half a mile away and I figured the walk would serve to clear away some of the General's anger. We met up with Desmun, Nord and Cordus; Blade and Grip were out patrolling the perimeter with their bodyguards.
"Have you found anything?" We sat inside Desmun's tent, drinking tea and going over information the Captains managed to gather from the troops. The General wanted to know everything, no matter how insignificant it might seem.
"Three Red Hand troops went to meet with the High Commander, at least that's what they said they were going to do when they left right after moonrise, last night," Cordus grumped. Red Hand had camped ahead of the Farus army, just a little way up the mountain. They had to pass the outskirts of the Farus army to get back to Windle.
"Horsed or not?" The General asked.
"Horsed," Cordus answered. "But the night watch on the north side said they came back through after three marks, long before the late watch guards came on duty."
"How many does the High Commander have in Windle to guard him?" I asked.
"Seven, I believe," Solis replied. "What does that have to do with anything?"
"How hard would it be for two or three of them to ride double coming back with the others, drop off in that stand of trees between here and Windle and then attack several marks later when the watch changed, just to divert suspicion from the three that came through earlier?" Yeah, I hadn't liked what I'd smelled when the four had come to eat at our inn. There was a taint about them and that had raised my hackles.
Solis drew in a ragged breath. He was seeing this, too.
"Then we need to be questioning those in town instead of those here, perhaps," the General said.
"And we need to be quiet about it," Desmun grumped. "I don't want the High Commander to find out we suspect his guards unless we have solid proof." Solis, Nord and Cordus all agreed.
"We'll start with the stable hands," the General said. "Tomorrow, after breakfast, when the High Commander is inspecting his troops." He went every day—we knew that much—but was back in plenty of time for a better meal in town later. I wanted to be in on that questioning, to make sure no tales were carried back to the HC or any of his troops. I didn't get any information after that, the bodyguards were sent away so the Captains could have a private chat with the General.
If I'd been alone, I'd have turned to mist and gone right back in. That wasn't an option with Warn, Maks and Ander with me. We ended up walking down to the stand of trees to see if we could find anything. The other three missed the hoof prints because of darkness, but I didn't. I also sniffed out the trees where they'd stopped to relieve themselves while they waited three or four marks to do their murderous misdeeds. Three Red Hand troops had come—their scents were clear to me. They were likely well trained in hand-to-hand combat, too. No wonder they'd beaten the two guards so badly. We walked back to the camp afterward, waiting at a table in the officers' mess tent while the Captains and General finished their meeting.
"Ready to go?" The General seemed to be in better spirits when he came out with Solis and the others. I stood with the others and we all walked toward Windle. Halfway there, the breeze carried a scent to me, which worried me greatly.
"Something's burning," I said, starting to trot and then to run. Solis was beside me in seconds, with Warn and the General coming behind at a slower pace. I was cursing when we raced into town—our inn was aflame.
"Someone's cut the well rope!" A man shouted. Things were chaotic as precious minutes slipped by.
"Get another rope," Solis yelled. "Find buckets now!" Some brave souls had gone inside the inn and pulled the bodies of the innkeeper, his wife and daughter out. All dead. My group was the only one staying at the inn, and we'd been away when the fire started.
The great room inside the inn was mostly what was burning, but the wing with the guestrooms was beginning to catch.
"What do you need out of there?" I shouted at the General and Solis over the din while we passed buckets of water along. Those buckets were too little and much too late—I realized that quickly, but an attempt had to be made.
"Almost everything," the General shouted. I nodded. "I'll go," I said, and stepped out of the line. That night the entire town watched me shimmy up a tree that stood near the guest quarters of the inn, and then swing on a branch to kick out a window before climbing inside the burning building.
Smoke choked me immediately so I went to mist, gathered all our belongings quickly and then stayed mist as long as I could to account for the proper passage of time. Rematerializing, then, I began throwing things onto the ground below the window. We'd been on the second floor at the General's insistence—the better rooms were there.
Warn and Solis were beneath the window quickly, gathering our things and taking them out of harm's way. I was coughing hard when I got the last of it out, while soot and sparks flew around me. The smoke was too thick, almost, to see through and I had to climb over the windowsill, leaping for the tree limb I'd jumped from to begin with. My arms barely caught hold of it while I coughed and gagged. I dangled there, still coughing my lungs out and hanging on in desperation. The smoke had nearly gotten me and it took a while for me to stop coughing long enough to realize that Solis was shouting for me to drop down—the entire building was burning and the tree had caught as well. I let go of the limb and Solis and Warn caught me.
Our night was spent in the stable where we gratefully cleaned ourselves up in buckets of water after the fire was doused. The inn was a complete loss, however. The fire was extinguished merely to keep other buildings nearby from suffering the same fate.
Horse blankets laid on hay served as beds for us and we all slept. I was almost too tired to put up a shield around the stable, but I made sure it was done before I dropped off in complete exhaustion.
"Liss, wake up, girl," Solis tugged on my elbow. I'd been dreaming that I was in bed at home, my head on Roff's shoulder. Light filtering through the stable window was blindingly bright as I blinked my eyes open.
"I'm awake," I muttered, sitting up on my horse blanket and rubbing my eyes with the heels of my hands. Dust motes and tiny bits of hay were suspended in the early morning light inside the stable. I smelled all of it, along with the remnants of a smoky haze left over from the burning of the inn.
"The General wants to see the bodies of the innkeeper and his family before they're buried," Solis said. I stopped rubbing my eyes and looked up at him.
"I want to see them, too." I stood quickly and went to find my boots. I'd slept in my clothes, so I pulled my boots on as fast as I could and clattered down the ladder right behind Solis. The General and Warn were waiting below for us, and we headed toward the healer's house quickly.
The bodies were in a shed behind the healer's home—all three victims were lined up on rough, makeshift tables inside it. They were all burned, but less so than the ones who'd murdered them hoped.
All three throats had been cut and they'd likely been dead already, bleeding out while the fire was set. The General saw the knife wounds right away and growled. Solis sighed. The fire had destroyed any scent of the attackers—none of it remained with the bodies, but I figured I had a good guess as to who'd done this. The same ones who'd beaten two others who lay in comas yards away inside the healer's home.
When we went looking for other lodging after examining the bodies, we learned that the HC's messengers had arrived. They hadn't spoken to anyone upon arrival and were now closeted inside the HC's rooms at the other inn. Would we find out what their messages contained? My money was on the negative.
* * *
"This one tried to kill himself after he was caught." Lisster had the man by the collar, shoving him into a chair beside Lissa's desk inside her study. Aryn sat behind the Queen's desk, his fingertips pressed together while he examined the intruder. He was young, like all the others, and Lisster and Rush had captured him as he scaled the wall to get away from Lissia.
"How?" Aryn wasn't looking at Lisster—he was still examining the young male, who swallowed uncomfortably.
"Poison—Lindis seeds."
"I see. Did the ones who hired you supply these?" Aryn's voice held strong compulsion. Grant sat nearby, recording notes on his handheld computer.
"Yes," the young man bobbed his head.
"Who hired you?"
"Said his name was Ibbett. Offered me a lot of money if I could get maps for him. Maps of this place plus some of the other cities."
"Did he say what the maps were for?"
"Said he wanted to sell them."
"Where did you meet Ibbett?"
"Hraede."
"I have a suggestion," Tony folded in with Gavin. Kiarra had given them the ability when they agreed to be alternate Spawn Hunters. They'd already gone to help with two batches of Ra'Ak spawn during Lissa's absence.
"What is the suggestion?" Aurelius and Garde walked through the door—they'd come quickly when Lisster called for them.
"Let's place compulsion on our boyo, here, and follow him back to Hraede." Tony grinned. He'd only gotten better over the years at espionage.