The Shield of Weeping Ghosts - James P. Davis [18]
Anilya did not struggle as she was led by her arms to the gatehouse. Bastun caught her eye for only a heartbeat before Syrolf shoved him behind her. He turned and faced the warrior, meeting Syrolf s steady gaze long enough to let him know that he might not allow another provocation to go unanswered. Turning away slowly, he exhaled and followed the others.
The durthans companion was shoved against the gatehouse wall, sevetal daggers and a thin sword removed from his belt. They tied his hands for good measure and posted a guard. Slumping against the stone, he sat in the snow, showing no sign of discomfort in the cold. Under the glow of the torches, his green eyes shined and his pupils narrowed to slits.
A tiefling, Bastun thought, and a durthan. This wasn't good.
Inside, Anilya was escorted to the back of the room, cornered and forced to sit with her hands laid plainly on her lap. Bastun resumed his place in his own corner, Syrolf close by, the warrior's eyes darting between the vremyonni and the durthan. The rest of the fang crouched, on alert, watching the door and listening as Thaena spoke to the unexpected prisoner.
"Tell me," Thaena said, "why should I wait for the hathran to lay sentence upon you? Why shouldn't I have you executed here and save my sisters the trouble?"
Anilya glanced casually at Duras's sword, held at the ready, and then to Thaena.
"That would seem to be a logical course of action," the durthan said in an even tone.
"Then you accept your part in what is occurring here?" Thaena asked. "Even for a durthan, allying with the Nar is-"
"Don't be foolish," Anilya interrupted. "I and mine have no part in whatever the Nar are doing here."
"I don't think it's entirely ridiculous to imagine the durthan making alliances with the Nar," Thaena said. "I do not hold traitors to Rashemen by any high moral standards."
A murmur of agreement passed through the fang at her words. Anilya met Thaena's cool gaze, their masks so much like night and day that Bastun briefly imagined the sun arguing with the moon.
"Traitors to the wychlaren perhaps. Not Rashemen. Never the land."
"However you wish to view it," Thaena said. "You will be taken to the Shield and dealt with by its hathran. Bind her hands, Duras."
Duras sheathed his long sword, drew a dagger, and reached for a coil of rope at his hip.
"I'm afraid you'll find the hathran is in no condition to pass judgment on anyone," Anilya said, giving Duras pause to consider her words and look to the ethran.
"What are you saying?" Thaena asked, her hands curled into fists. "What have you done?"
"Nothing," the durthan answered. "But the Nar have been here for some days, and they have already breached the Shield."
Bastun's eyes widened. The grim faces of the fang were all focused on Anilya, but none of them could know the concern that Bastun felt.
"You're lying," Thaena said. "You're trying to trick me into something."
"Haven't you yet wondered why a durthan and a single swordsman approached a full fang of warriors, their ethran, and a vremyonni without raising a single blade or casting the most minor of spells?" Anilya said. "I came here to meet with you, to bring a proposal that would benefit us all."
Thaena stared hard at the durthan as Duras stood by with the rope. At length, she gestured Duras back.
"Speak quickly," she said.
Anilya leaned back into her corner, keeping her hands visible, and told of the durthans' watch over Shandaular and the lands of the west.
"We spied the Nar, members of the Creel tribe, riding east. As they neared Shandaular we grew curious, but my sisters did not deem it worthy enough to investigate further. I disagreed. Strangely though, I was unable to find the Nar by magic. Some presence among the Creel tore my spells apart. So I found a tracker-Ohriman, my companion outside. He and his band accompanied me into the city.
"We found the wychlaren's paths destroyed by magic-old magic-just as you no doubt have discovered. Sounds of battle drew us