Chapter 26

  Hitasa turned on her heels back to the door, but a Wolf Brigade soldier wearing street clothes blocked her way. Someone might have confused him for a regular patron that just happened to have wolf ears, but she knew the build and recognized the posture. He smiled and shut the door, locking it with a noisy click, then gestured for her to join Castreier.

  She should have seen the signs. An empty bar, watchers in the street, the tingling feeling in the back of her neck. Was she just exhausted or had she always been so inattentive? Metsa had called her desperate, and desperate people didn't pay attention to the details.

  "I can see the wheels turning, Hitasa," Castreier said. "We've been here before. You're not going to get away. Why don't you sit down. We'll have a pleasant conversation. I asked the master to pour us some ale. It's been sitting out a while, so it's a bit warm, but a drink might help you relax."

  Hitasa knew he was right. There was no escape. She couldn't take Castreier on her own, and there were almost certainly more Wolf Brigade soldiers than the one blocking her exit.

  She wouldn't be able to write down Sitoa's words, after all. The paper had been so close.

  Dragonfire and human steel laid us low. Now they keep us from rising.

  "No, Hitasa," Castreier said, his voice paternally chiding, "don't go there. You had three days of freedom and you're already fleeing back to the silence?"

  His voice grated at her ears, but it also kept her alert. This man had killed her brother. Hitasa and Sitoa had stamped the pages of their shared manuscript with their hearts, and Castreier had burned it like trash. She wanted him dead almost as much as she wanted to write.

  Why was this happening now? Why, when Dalex was somewhere outside the city? Had he betrayed her? All humans were the same.

  "How did you find me?" she asked, refusing to approach the open seat across the table from him.

  "Come now. You didn't run very far. This is Batulan-bar, the scene of your first crime. I don't know how you got here so quickly, but it was easy enough to guess you would come here. A few select questions at the right entry points and I knew you came down the southern lift. Everyone is talking about the brawl between Lord Michel and the strange human. Some even heard the name Dalex. Anyone could have tracked you to this room."

  He gestured to the soldier. "Help her to a seat."

  The beastkin grabbed her shoulders and shoved her toward the table. She stumbled against the chair and he roughly pulled it out and pushed her down into it. The soldier took a seat across the tavern, watching closely.

  Hitasa thought she heard a click and a whir, but she couldn’t discern what they might be. Castreier was already talking.

  "Much better," he said. His tone neutralized, and he spoke a little quieter. "You look tired, Hitasa. Tell me, where were you last night and today?"

  Hitasa froze. During her interrogation, he had asked her many questions using this same voice. His words weren’t a spell. He never used magic when he plied her for information. Magic had certainly been a part of her torture, but it never accompanied a question. Castreier probably could publicize a truth telling word of power if he wanted to, but he didn’t need it. His words wormed their way from Hitasa’s ears to her throat where they constricted her windpipe against lies.

  “Mutt hunting,” Hitasa said.

  Castreier’s eyes widened. “Impressive. I didn’t think you would be able to lie to me again. Absence does make the heart grow harder. Though, I suppose Lord Michel did meet this curious human at the Hunters’ Lodge. Tell me, what could you possibly want with mutts?”

  “Nothing.”

  He sat back and studied her for almost a full minute, another tactic he had frequently used while Hitasa was in his captivity. Then he leaned back in as if returning to a play he had tuned out of.

  "I must say, I was worried we wouldn't get to chat like this again."

  Hitasa placed her hands on her lap. "If you were that worried, you wouldn't have come so close to executing me."

  He laughed. "Well, you weren't as interesting at the time. Then this man Dalex saved you, and you became a whole lot more interesting again. Who is he?"

  This time, he didn’t use the special tone of voice. Hitasa was free to lie, but the wrong answer might invite Castreier to resume the voice.

  “Dalex of the Expedition Seven.”

  Castreier nodded. “Yes, I’m told that’s what he said when I was indisposed after he attacked me. Lord Michel gave me the same name. He’s quite displeased with this Dalex character.”

  He paused and leaned back in his chair, this time casually rather than tactically. “I thought for sure we were dealing with a rock-carver elf. Who else would stop the execution of two elven dissidents? But Michel is dead certain this Dalex is a human, and all of the hunters at the lodge said the same thing.”

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  He adopted the interrogative tone again. “Tell me, is Dalex human, or is it a disguise?”

  “Dalex is a human,” Hitasa answered.

  Castreier dropped out of the voice. “He didn’t cut his ears, then. I’ve seen a few of your kind try that. It’s always obvious, though.” His eyes narrowed. “Tell me, what dragon does Dalex serve?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I suppose that could be the truth. Tell me, where does he come from?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “I see we’re about to get trapped in a loop. I’ll be specific. Tell me, did he come from Gaia Beta?”

  “No.”

  Castreier chuckled to himself. “Then you do know something. Here I was worried I was losing my touch. Tell me, why did he rescue you from execution?”

  “Because you pissed him off.”

  His eyes widened and a big smile crossed his lips. He turned his head away from her, mumbling, “Nooo... could it be? I must know him, then. But Dalex would have to be an assumed name.” Castreier faced Hitasa again. “Tell me, what is Dalex of the Expedition Seven’s true name.”

  “Dalex of the Expedition Seven.”

  Castreier nodded to himself. “I suppose if he didn’t tell you which dragon he serves he wouldn’t tell you his real name.” He chuckled again. “If I know him, we might both serve the Winged Inferno, but his description doesn’t match any of the greater or lesser lords. Tell me, does Dalex wear a disguise?”

  “He does not.”

  “Is my description correct? Male, late teens, short white hair, red eyes, and about my height? He sounds like a monster if anything.”

  Hitasa didn’t answer. Her mind was going numb. It always did when he used the voice for so many questions in a row. She wanted to resist every question, but her mouth refused to speak anything but the truth. It wouldn’t even let her stay silent.

  “Hitasa,” Castreier said, the disappointed parent again. “I know I’m wearing you out, but some questions you just have to answer.”

  She looked down at her hands. “Your description is correct.”

  “Good. Tell me, where is Dalex now?”

  “I don’t know,” Hitasa answered, clenching her fists.

  “Tell me, did he return to the city with you?”

  “Yes,” Hitasa answered, her throat dry.

  “Tell me, is he returning to this inn?”

  “I don’t know,” Hitasa answered, her eyes straining to see.

  “Tell me, does he know you are here?”

  “Yes,” Hitasa answered, ears ringing.

  “Tell me, does he intend to meet with you again?”

  “Yes,” Hitasa answered, her eyes brimming with tears.

  The deluge of questions stopped. Castreier sat back, studying her again. Hitasa’s breathing quickened under his gaze. Her throat itched. She tasted blood on her tongue.

  Click and whir.

  Castreier leaned in for one final question. “Tell me, what were you and Dalex doing last night and today?”

  “Mutt hunting,” Hitasa answered. She coughed into her hands. She felt wetness and saw blood on her palms.

  “What a bizarre answer,” Castreier said. “Oh well, I’m sure I’ll get the chance to ask the man himself soon enough. We’ll see if that or anything else is true.”

  He stood up and walked around the table to loom over her. Hitasa opened her mouth to speak but only dissolved into a coughing fit. He had never asked so many questions so quickly.

  “Whether you’re lying or just an ignorant tool, I’m losing interest,” Castreier said. “And so, we’re back to the scaffolding.” He pointed a finger at her head.

  Click whir.

  Hitasa felt her mind go blank. Hers and Sitoa’s manifesto rushed in to fill the void. There is shame in our history… and on and on, repeating endlessly every fraction of a second.

  “Yes, escape to wherever it is you go,” Castreier said. “It makes no difference to me any longer.” He paused to gather himself, then began, “Jetflame means–”

  “Threat to subject identified,” announced an unfamiliar disembodied voice. “Engaging hostile.”

  A large golden ring shimmered into existence, floating over Hitasa’s head. Four cylindrical protrusions stood out from the ring, evenly spaced to form a symmetrical cross.

  Castreier paused his definition to say, “What in hellfire is that?”

  The ring spun until one of the protrusions was facing him and then burst with light. Something slammed into Castreier’s chest. Hitasa saw the light of his publicized barrier take the brunt of the blow. It didn’t protect him from being thrown across the room to crash through the back wall of the tavern.

  The lone Wolf Brigade soldier in the room jumped up from his seat. He looked from Hitasa to the wall and then scanned the room. The ring above Hitasa’s head spun so that one of the protrusions faced the soldier, but it didn’t do anything else, yet.

  “She-elf!” the beastkin soldier shouted. “What did you do to my lord?”

  She was as confused as him, though she couldn’t say as much. Her throat ached and she desperately needed a drink of water.

  The soldier drew a knife from the sleeve of his shirt and stalked toward her. “Do not think you will–”

  “Engaging hostile,” the disembodied voice said again, its tone light and breezy.

  Another flash of light emanated from one of the ring protrusions, shooting something at the soldier. His publicized barrier activated as well, but it shattered at almost the same time. The ring blew a hole through his chest, splattering the tables and chair behind him with blood. The beastkin’s eyes widened and he fell to his knees, clutching at the wound. Blood gurgled from his mouth and then he toppled onto his face.

  His leg twitched, then he was still.

  Hitasa sat unmoving at the table, watching the blood pool around his body. Her eyes went to the hole in the wall where Castreier had disappeared. He hadn’t come back yet. Finally, she looked up at the ring, floating motionless over her head. Something about this felt familiar.

  She finally stood up. Castreier still did not return. No one came in to confront her. She walked to the door and rested a hand on the locking mechanism but stopped herself. More of the Wolf Brigade were outside, probably watching the door in case she tried to escape.

  Hitasa turned away from the door and trotted upstairs to the inn’s rooms. The ring followed her.

  The room she and Dalex had used two nights before had a window to the back of the building. She opened the window and checked the street. No one seemed to be watching, so she slipped outside and nimbly dropped to the ground.

  Again, no one came running to catch her. Were they all so confident she couldn’t escape? Any loitering Wolf Brigade soldiers might have assumed the two flashes from the ring had been Castreier’s own jetflame. Or maybe the rest of the Wolf Brigade were less concerned with what went on inside the building and more concerned about when Dalex would arrive.

  With a start, Hitasa noticed the hole in the wall of the building behind the inn. It lined up perfectly with Castreier’s trajectory from inside the bar.

  She stopped worrying about any other soldiers and ran away from the hole towards the edge of the city. She didn’t really know where she was going, she just knew she needed to be away from here.

  The ring stayed with her, floating just a foot off her head no matter where she went.

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