Neversfall - Ed Gentry [82]
"I can only imagine what you're feeling now," the man said.
Adeenya sprang forward, her hands reaching toward the Maquar's neck. Jhoqo's head shook as he stepped into her attack and drove a fist into her stomach. She crumpled back to the floor, sputtering and gasping for air. He withdrew and crouched, watching her closely. She forced away the pain and drew a deep breath as she pushed herself back up against the wall. Her eyes found his again, his dark skin shimmering in the firelight from the torch.
"Please do not do that again," Jhoqo said. "I have no wish to harm you."
"Only to knock me out from behind? To blame me for Marlke's death? And what else?" Adeenya said. "What other invented crimes have you charged me with?"
"A few, all necessary," Jhoqo replied. "His death is the only one that you are guilty of."
"I was trying to stop him! Your interference is what killed him. Or maybe you finished him off yourself!"
"You caused his death," Jhoqo replied. "Whether directly or indirectly, you were the cause of his death. Had you not insisted upon setting a trap for the traitor, you would never have discovered Marlke at his work. Had you not found him, he would not be dead."
"That's the logic of someone seeking absolution if I've ever heard it," she said.
Jhoqo shrugged again, unimpressed with the distinction. "I let him die. You killed him," he said. "There is a difference."
"By the One and the All… you are mad," Adeenya said, her feet unconsciously pushing against the stone to move farther from the man.
Jhoqo smiled halfway and nodded as he moved himself to rest against the door, sitting opposite the woman. "Your words do not surprise me, but let me ask a question. Why did you become a mercenary?" he asked.
When she did not answer, he continued, "Did you wish to serve something greater than yourself? Though Durpar does not have a military institution in the same sense as my country, you mercenaries fill that void. Is that why you made your choice?"
Adeenya thought about the question and nodded. She saw an opportunity and could not pass it up.
"It is the same for most of us, I think," he said, offering a larger smile.
"Most of who?" she asked.
"Patriots, like you and I," he answered. "That's what we are, Adeenya. We love our countries, our people, our ways of life."
Her eyes wide, Adeenya said, "You're a murderer. You're no hero!"
"I said patriot," he replied, and added, "though I think history will remember me as a hero as well. How do you wish to be remembered, Adeenya? As a hero or a traitor?" Jhoqo asked, leaning toward her.
Adeenya hesitated, Jhoqo's grotesque nature growing clearer to her by the moment. Talk of patriots and heroes, love of country and fellow man-it made her stomach heave in protest to think of the man before her believing such things about himself, while the blood of his subordinates soaked the ground. His eyes shone back at her in the torchlight, and he clearly expected a response to his question.
"I'm no hero, " Adeenya said, "and I don't yet deserve to be remembered as one. Maybe I never will be," she said with a shrug before continuing. "And if you're what passes for a patriot, then I'd not call myself one in this life or any after."
Jhoqo nodded, easing away from her. He stared at her in silence for several moments before standing, his knees grinding a little and causing him to sigh. The short man moved to the wall against which she rested and placed his hand on the stone. Running his fingers along the rock, he smiled, tracing the tiny gaps where one stone met another.
"Do you know what makes stacked stones stand together as a wall?" Jhoqo asked, not looking at her.
"Patriotism?" Adeenya said, sarcastically.
Jhoqo's grin widened as he looked at her and said, "Of the builders who come together to craft the wall? That's true. But I mean in a broader sense."
Jhoqo ran a finger along the gaps between the stones again and spoke softly, "If you stack these stones directly atop one another, no matter how many columns, they will begin to waver and eventually tumble after