Free Treason Keep by Jennifer Fallon Page A

bothers you.”
    Garet stared at the Warlord for a moment. “A pragmatist, I see. Not a quality I expected to find in a heathen who believes in the Primal gods.”
    “Then you sorely underestimate me, Commandant,” Damin warned.
    “I fear I’ve sorely underestimated a lot of things in my life, but I manage to get by.” He turned back toTarja, giving no indication that Damin’s threat bothered him. “The Quorum will not accept Joyhinia’s resignation without seeing her. How, in the name of the Founders, do you expect to pull this off?”
    “I have no idea, Garet,” Tarja admitted. “But we have to. Somehow.”
    “Who else knows of her true condition?”
    “The three of us,” Jenga told him. “Draco, of course. Mahina and Affiana know for certain. The Defenders and the heathens who were in Testra when it happened don’t fully comprehend the full extent of her…condition, and we’ve kept up the illusion that she is in command, so far.”
    “Who is this Affiana?”
    “A friend,” Tarja said. “She takes care of Joyhinia most of the time.”
    “I see,” Garet said. He steepled his fingers under his chin and stared into the fire for a long moment. Damin wondered what he was thinking, his hand resting on the hilt of his dagger. Garet Warner would not leave this room alive if Damin doubted him for a moment. “Let’s put aside the issue of Joyhinia, for the moment. What of the rumours that the Harshini have returned? You’ve made no mention of them.”
    “They, at least, are true. We’ve seen a few of them,” Tarja told him. “But not for months. I’ve no idea what they’re planning, or where they are. Believe me, if I could find them, I would have.”
    “To what purpose?” Garet asked. “You’ve acquired enough strange allies as it is,” he added, looking pointedly at Damin.
    “They have R’shiel,” Tarja explained, his voiceremarkably unemotional under the circumstances. “The Harshini believe she is the demon child.”
    Even Garet Warner couldn’t hide his surprise at the news. “R’shiel? The demon child? Why in the name of the Founders would they think that?”
    “They don’t think she’s the demon child, Commandant, they know she is. If she is still alive, the Harshini have her and I imagine they won’t let her go until she has performed the task for which she was created.”
    “What task?”
    “They want her to destroy Xaphista,” Tarja said.
    “The Karien god?” Garet shook his head in disbelief. “If this is some sort of joke, then you have me, Tarja. I’m afraid I—”
    “My Lords?” the urgent voice rang out from the shadows near the door. “I seek Lord Wolfblade.”
    “Come in, Almodavar,” Damin called, recognising the voice of his captain. “What is it?”
    “You’d better come see, my Lord,” Almodavar said in Hythrun, as he materialised out of the shadows. “The western patrol is bringing in two spies they captured.”
    There had been a number of forays across the border by the half-a-thousand knights camped north of the border for most of the summer, although rarely did a knight sully his hands with anything so demeaning as reconnaissance. It was always some hapless page or squire, attempting to breach the border. It was an ambitious undertaking, particularly for city-bred youths who thought Xaphista’s blessing was all the protection they needed on their journey. It had taken Damin quite some time to accept that theforays were genuine, not merely a feint to disguise a more effective attack. He had trouble believing that anybody could be that stupid.
    “Can’t you deal with it, Captain?” he asked in Hythrun. It was an advantage, sometimes, speaking a language his allies didn’t understand. Tarja was attempting to learn Hythrun, but he could not follow such a rapid exchange yet.
    “They have news, my Lord.”
    Damin frowned and turned to the Defenders. “I’d better see to this,” he told them. “I’ll be back in a while.” He followed