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"Who else?" Abdel asked with a shrug. "You knew the battle plan, you could have sent a message to the army beyond the walls. And you disappeared during the battle. Why not assume you were the traitor?"

"Your evidence could implicate others as well," Sarevok countered. "Gromnir knew our tactics. In fact, it was the mad general who devised the strategy. And he, too, vanished during the battle."

"No. Gromnir did not arrange this. I saw him die on the battlefield."

"Did you?" Sarevok asked. "Truly? Or did you merely think you saw him die?"

"I was there when Gromir died," Abdel insisted. "I killed… I mean, I saw how he was killed. Crushed by his own horse."

"Perhaps you only saw what Gromnir wanted you to see," Sarevok cautioned. "The Calimshite general was a Bhaalspawn, Abdel. Do you truly believe a fall from a horse could so easily end his existence?"

At first Abdel had no reply. The scenario Sarevok painted was improbable but not impossible. Since learning of his own unbelievable parentage, Abdel had come to accept the improbable almost as a matter of course, but he was not yet ready to accept Sarevok's theory without question.

"If Gromnir was a traitor working for the Five, then why was he hiding in Saradush with Melissan and the other Bhaalspawn?"

"Imagine you are a servant of the Five," Sarevok said slowly, "maybe even their leader, the one known only as Bhaal's Anointed. You learn of Saradush-a town where the Bhaalspawn you seek to destroy can seek refuge and sanctuary. Would you not bring your army to the gates of this town?"

When Abdel nodded, Sarevok continued. "And would you not come up with a clever ruse to have them invite you in? Would you not seek some way to infiltrate their ranks?"

Again, Abdel nodded.

"Perhaps Gromnir came to Saradush intent on destroying it, his Calimshite soldiers the vanguard of Yaga Shura's larger force. He convinced the people of Saradush to grant him admittance to their city, then seized power. When the troops of Yaga Shura arrived, Gromnir would then be in control of both sides of the siege."

"But why go through a siege at all?" Abdel protested. "Why not just slaughter the Bhaalspawn as soon as he came to power?"

Sarevok shrugged with the familiar grating shriek of metal on metal. "Maybe he did not expect Melissan to be there. She is powerful, Abdel. Perhaps Gromnir was forced to maintain the charade for fear of retribution from Melissan.

"Or maybe," Sarevok added in the nearest approximation to a whisper his monotone speech could achieve, "Gromnir knew you were coming. Maybe all this was a charade to lure you into Saradush and manipulate you into a battle with Yaga Shura. Unfortunately, you survived, and Gromnir was forced to stage his own death to hide his treachery."

"No, it's all too far-fetched," Abdel declared after a moment's consideration. "The plot is too convoluted, too intricate."

"That is how most Bhaalspawn think," Sarevok reminded him. "Treachery is in our blood. We will go to any lengths to achieve our devious ends."

"Including spinning a fantastic tale of deceptions and deceits to cover your own involvement?"

His half brother made no reply to Abdel's thinly veiled accusation. After several minutes of uncomfortable silence, Sarevok spoke again.

"Do you wish me to go, brother?"

Abdel nodded. "I can't trust you Sarevok. I can't trust anyone but myself. If you are innocent of these crimes, I have no wish to spill your blood. Therefore, I will grant you the benefit of the doubt. But understand this, brother … if we ever meet again I will know you are responsible for this bloodshed. And I will kill you."

With a series of harsh, grinding noises Sarevok rose to his feet. "I understand."

The armored man turned and left the cave. Abdel could hear the clink of his half brother's armor growing ever fainter until it was lost beneath the soft whistling of the wind.

He whispered a brief prayer, though he knew no living god who would hear his pleas. He prayed he had made the right decision by letting Sarevok live, and he prayed that Jaheira still survived, wherever