Word of Traitors_ Legacy of Dhakaan - Don Bassingthwaite [44]
“Then we need to think about why Haruuc was killed,” said Ekhaas. “What did anyone have to gain from Haruuc’s death?”
“They could stop him from becoming a tyrant,” Geth said. “They could prevent a war—they would have had their plans in place before he tried to turn the warlords away from Breland toward Valenar.”
Dagii shook his head. “Those are the reasons we’ve been chasing since Haruuc’s death. Except that, as Tenquis pointed out, most Darguuls liked the way Haruuc was acting under the rod’s influence. They would still welcome a war with Valenar. Or with anyone else, never mind the consequences.” His ears flicked. “Could a non-Darguul have hired one of the shaarat’khesh?”
“It would be difficult,” said Chetiin, “but not impossible. If one of my clan wanted the honor badly enough—”
“We’ve forgotten something.”
They all turned to look at Ekhaas. Her ears were flat against her skull and her eyes were narrow. She pointed at Geth. “You said that after he killed Haruuc, the assassin looked at you and said ‘We swore we would do what we had to.’ That’s what made us all think Chetiin believed Haruuc had discovered the power of the rod.”
“And we were wrong,” Geth said, but Chetiin’s eyes opened wide and he drew a long hard breath. Dagii’s lips peeled back from his teeth. A moment later, Geth understood what Ekhaas had seen as well.
Only the six of them who had recovered the rod and understood its terrible secret knew about the oath they had made. The idea left him cold. He looked out across the burned ruins to the eastern sky. Khaar Mbar’ost stood as a silhouette between them and the coming dawn. “One of us hired the assassin? Who would have done that? Who could have done that?”
Dagii spoke through clenched teeth. “Midian.”
Geth whirled to question this blunt accusation, but Ekhaas was already talking, building up evidence. “He was the only one of us who wasn’t there. You, Geth, and you, Dagii were with Haruuc on the dais. Ashi was just off of the dais in the side room. I was with Senen Dhakaan on the floor of the throne room. Chetiin was lying wounded. But Midian was conveniently out of Rhukaan Draal. He could have hired the assassin, told him what to say to make his disguise as Chetiin even more convincing, and left for the ruins at Bloodrun.” She began to pace back and forth among the ashes as she thought. “You knew that Haruuc hadn’t really discovered the power of the rod, Geth. You told me and you told Ashi. If one of us had hired the assassin, we had time to stop the assassination.”
“I didn’t hire an assassin!” Geth growled.
“I’m not saying you did. Or that Ashi did.” She looked to Dagii. “Or you.”
“I didn’t know about the danger of the rod until after Haruuc was dead,” Dagii said stiffly.
“No, but I know you.” Ekhaas’s ears rose and flicked. “When you returned with Keraal as your prisoner, you were as dirty as a farmhand and your hands were blistered because you had insisted on binding the Gan’duur warriors into the grieving trees along the road yourself. You took responsibility for their deaths. Someone with such muut wouldn’t hire an assassin to kill his lhesh.”
Geth thought he saw something pass between them, a meeting of amber and gray eyes, then Dagii lowered his head in acknowledgement and Ekhaas turned back to him and Chetiin.
“None of that proves Midian is the one behind it, only that he wasn’t there,” she said. “Haruuc had enemies—any one of them could have hired an assassin. But the false Chetiin knew the words of our pledge. Midian has to be our suspect.”
Only if Chetiin is telling the truth, whispered a voice inside Geth. He swallowed it, sending it down into the cold feeling that swirled in his gut. He remembered how pale Midian had been when they had told him about the danger of the rod. If Geth had just realized he’d made a horrible mistake, surely he would have reacted in the same way. “It still leaves us with the question