The Traitor’s Ruin

by Erin Beaty

  She was near Princess Alaniah’s rooms, and one of the voices was feminine, so Sage crept a little closer. Lani had been friendly enough, but when Sage identified the second voice as Minister Sinda’s, she decided interrupting them might not be ideal, especially when the princess’s tone turned angry.

  “You didn’t even try, Dev,” she said, her voice straining to stay low. “You have always insisted I be there. Yet now I don’t seem to matter.”

  “No, Lani, you matter more than anything,” Minister Sinda answered in a pleading voice, sounding very different from his confident baritone at dinner. “I just have to agree with him right now, don’t you see? I need to be on his good side before I ask him for what we want.”

  Lani sighed. “I suppose this meeting isn’t important for me,” she admitted.

  “I think this is actually a good thing,” he said. “Getting to know this foreign woman better can only help your brother.”

  “Will I see you in the afternoon?” Lani asked hopefully.

  Sage was now close enough to see the shadow of Minister Sinda pressing Lani up against the wall. The chessa’s hands were on his jacket collar, holding him close. Sinda shook his head, and Sage backed away from watching and just listened.

  “I’m auditing the prison accounts, remember? Because of the council meeting, I have to go in the afternoon.”

  “There is a new Kimisar down there. Banneth brought him in with the Demorans.”

  Sage hadn’t seen the man Darit captured since their arrival at Banneth’s camp. She’d almost completely forgotten about him.

  “Really? General Calodan would be interested in talking to him,” said Sinda.

  “You should tell him, then. It could make him like you better.”

  “We’ve been on better terms lately, but that’s a good suggestion.”

  “That reminds me,” said Lani. “My maid said she heard from his manservant that he’s planning to retire.”

  “Calodan?”

  She must have nodded. “I can think of someone worthy of taking his place.”

  “I have a job already.”

  “Not for much longer, if I have my way,” the princess said. There was a long pause followed by a sigh.

  Sage’s face grew hot. This was definitely not a conversation she wanted to be caught overhearing.

  “Someone is coming,” whispered Lani.

  Oh, no.

  “I’ll leave,” said Minister Sinda.

  Lani’s reply was a little breathless. “I have a better idea.”

  Sage heard a door open and close. Then silence. She slowly released the breath she’d been holding and clasped her trembling hands. That had been close.

  Heavy, boot-clad footsteps echoed down the curved corridor. The regularity indicated a guard. Sage jumped out of the shadows before it could look like she was hiding. A few seconds later, a man carrying a spear and wearing a curved sword came around the bend, and the relief on her face was genuine.

  “Can you help me?” Sage threw out her hands in appeal and so he could see she had no weapons. “I cannot find my room.”

  79

  THE CELL BLOCK was empty other than Alex and the two Kimisar. Alex managed to sleep a bit before Kamron woke, then he spent a good hour telling the brothers about Gispan’s family and where he’d grown up, which fortunately was far from their home. They knew the places Gispan’s memories described, however, and Alex’s account of the wildfire that killed Gispan’s family seemed to seal him as genuine in their eyes.

  Stesh told him Banneth was the name of the prince of the Casmuni camp, and he was, in fact, the nation’s king. The Kimisar were glad to hear he’d returned to Osthiza. Perhaps death sentences required royal approval, as they did in Demora. The pair had been here for over a month, which was probably why their imminent execution didn’t faze them anymore. A man waiting for death could only care for so long.

  Alex also recounted Huzar’s actions for Kamron. He, too, was unimpressed. “Should have just waited a few more months. Now he’s brought the whole Demoran army down on his head.”

  “Why should he have waited?” asked Alex.

  “Once the south pass has dried up, King Ragat will march through and take Demora from behind,” Stesh said, referring to Kimisara’s ruler, who’d been on the throne for over forty years now. “Of course, Huzar’s actions put troops in our way. Jackass.”

  Alex shook his head. “Jovan is sealed tight. I doubt our army can get through.”

  Stesh cocked his head and drew his brows down. “We mean the pass here, in Casmun.”

  Alex had a vague sense there was another pass through the Catrix, but he knew little else. It was safe to assume if Casmun and Kimisara hated each other enough to send assassins, the pass was heavily guarded. Alex feigned puzzlement. “That one would be even harder to cross. They’ll have to fight through Casmuni first.”

  “Not if they get out of the way,” said Kamron with a grin. He resembled his brother in the color of his eyes and most other features, except the nose. Kamron’s was crooked from a previous break, while the daintiness of Stesh’s was apparently a source of brotherly teasing. Both were paler than the average Casmuni, which might have explained how they were caught.

  “Enough talking,” said Stesh. “The more we babble, the more likely we are to be overheard.” He pointed to the grate in the ceiling that let in light and air.

  The two men retreated to the back of their cells and sat side by side, talking quietly through the bars. Alex lay back down, though he was unable to sleep.

  He knew the Demoran army was strained and how few defenses were on the east side of the mountains. That was why the king had been so concerned by the evidence of Casmuni intrusions. If he was going to pull resources from Tasmet, it had to be absolutely necessary.

  Despite what Kamron said, though, it was unlikely many forces would be brought across the mountains to chase Huzar, especially if Lieutenant Casseck and Ash Carter were able to convince Colonel Traysden what was really going on. That left the Tenne Valley wide open for an invasion force from the south, hugging the mountains until it was past the Casmuni desert.

  Letting the Kimisar army march through Casmun was dangerous, however, even if that part was uninhabited. Once the supplies required to get thousands of men across hundreds of miles of barren land were through the mountains, there was nothing to stop them from heading for the Casmuni capital instead. Risk aside, King Banneth’s imprisonment of Alex, Gispan, and the dolofan coupled with his honoring of Sage and Nicholas went against that idea. His sympathies were clearly Demoran.

  He’d been gone for months, however, and the dolofan had been captured several weeks ago. If Kimisara couldn’t barter passage, maybe they only needed to distract Casmun long enough to get through. An assassination would easily accomplish that. Fortunately, the men had been caught.

  Something wasn’t quite right, though. Stesh and Kamron were too unconcerned about failing their mission. Rather, they acted like it simply wasn’t complete yet.

  The more Alex thought about it, the more he felt sure there was a traitor within Casmuni high circles. Someone stood to gain from Banneth’s death, and that someone would release these men when the time was right. By holding the Kimisar in prison, they were already inside the palace perimeter.

  The king of Casmun was about to be murdered, and there was no way Alex could warn him.

  80

  DESPITE HER INITIAL objections to shopping, Princess Lani walked through the marketplace with a bounce in her step. She linked arms with Sage and led her through the streets and into a dizzying array of shops. As quickly as she was met at the doors and offered the latest items and styles, Banneth’s sister must have been a common sight and a free spender, Sage thought. Sage herself wasn’t much for shopping. She was more interested in the city itself.

  The rooftop gardens, she learned, weren’t just for food and decoration; they provided natural cooling for the homes and businesses. Abundant water from the seven
springs ran beneath homes in canals and along gutters in the streets, providing both waste removal and additional cooling.

  “Do you always ask so many questions?” Lani said after she’d finished explaining the network that delivered the soiled water as fertilizer to the fields between the city and the river.

  “Yes,” Sage replied. “But you know so much.”

  “Attend as many council meetings as I have and sewer facts will be drilled into your head,” the princess said dryly. “I think half their time is spent explaining everything like I can’t remember the ten times they told me before. Men love to hear themselves talk.”

  Sage had never attended such a high meeting, but Alex said almost the same thing about them.

  Alex.

  The thought of him hit her so unexpectedly, she stopped in the middle of the street.

  “Are you well, Saizsch?” Lani looked at her with concern. “Your face is white as a zara flower.”

  Sage wiped cold sweat from her forehead. “I am well. My thoughts were not pleasant.” She pushed them from her mind. “But you have remembered me to ask about your exclusion from the council today.”

  Lani’s expression changed, anger making the green in her eyes dominate the brown. “If it weren’t for Minister Sinda, I would still be on the outside of matters, but when I came of age last year, he insisted I be allowed to attend. He said it was only right, as I was now able to make decisions in Banneth’s absence.”

  No wonder she admired the man. “Minister Sinda sounds like someone I would like,” said Sage.

  Lani relaxed and smiled. “Once you have shared water with him, I know you will.”

  “His looks are good, too, I think,” said Sage slyly.

  Jealousy flashed across Lani’s face. “He is too old for you.”

  “Really?” Sage said innocently. “I am only one year younger than My Princess.”

  Lani realized Sage was teasing and scowled at her. “How did you know about us?”

  There was no way Sage would admit what she’d overheard last night, but she had observed the attraction at dinner. “The true question is how My King could not notice,” she said. “But I was learned to see such things.”

  “Learned?”

  “At home I worked for a matchmaker”—Sage used the Demoran word—“a woman who creates marriages.”

  Lani’s brow furrowed. “I thought you were Nikkolaz’s sister.”

  Oops. Sage needed to be more cautious about what she said. “Yes, but he gets all the land so I must work.” Lani nodded sympathetically, and they continued along their way, Sage telling the princess more carefully chosen details about her background and learning much about Lani herself.

  “You train in combat, too?” the princess asked as she straightened the shoulders of a dark-green dress on Sage in a shop. The outfit was similar to the one she’d worn last night, but the color and fit were much better. “You should join Reza and me in the afternoons.”

  Sage blinked in surprise. Tashaivar didn’t seem like a very princesslike thing to do, and she said so.

  “I have studied tashaivar since I was six,” said Lani. “When a girl has no mother, it is considered a sign she should be raised with more masculine care.” She cocked her head to the side. “You lost your mother at an early age. Is your custom not similar?”

  Sage shook her head. “No, I am unusual.”

  The princess stepped back and giggled, putting her hand over her mouth.

  Sage frowned. She must have chosen a word that didn’t mean quite what she thought. “I just said I am not shaped correctly, didn’t I?”

  Lani burst out laughing. “Yes, you did!”

  81

  ALEX STRETCHED AND exercised within his cell, working off some of his restlessness while trying to keep the shackles quiet for the Kimisar sleeping across from him. Stesh said they typically slept during the day, no doubt waiting for the night they’d escape and carry out their mission. Judging from the cycle of meals, it was now afternoon. The man who fed them hadn’t responded when Alex spoke to him in Kimisar, so he likely didn’t speak the language. Alex had no way to tell anyone what he knew.

  The door down the passage opened, and a man strode toward them carrying a torch. When he stopped between the occupied cells, Stesh looked up from his straw mattress. “Is it tonight?” he asked lazily.

  The man answered in Kimisar. “No, I need a few more days. Plans may be changing.”

  It was him, the traitor. Alex shrank back against the wall, trying to be invisible.

  Stesh sat up, suddenly wide awake. “I don’t like the sound of that.”

  “You will do as ordered,” the Casmuni man said. “But your target is the same. My targets may have changed.”

  The Kimisar looked unconcerned once more. “Decide who you want blamed already and let us out. Kamron needs a bath.”

  The man ignored him and turned to face Alex. “You’re the one brought in yesterday?” he said in Kimisar.

  Alex squinted against the bright light. “I am,” he answered.

  The hand that held the torch wore several rings with large stones. Alex could barely see his knuckles. “Why were you in the desert?”

  Stesh answered for Alex. “Gispan says he was in Demora for the past year.”

  “That does not explain why he came to Casmun.”

  Alex swallowed. “I was pursuing two Demorans.”

  The man brightened. He pulled a ring of keys from his belt. “Come with me, I wish to discuss them.”

  He wanted to know more about Sage and Nicholas so he could frame them for Banneth’s murder.

  Stesh had stood and moved to the front of his cell. “I’m sure our friend can tell you many, many things about Demora.” His teeth glittered in the torchlight, making him look like a predator. “And if he doesn’t want to, we’ll know why.”

  The man glanced back with the key half turned in the lock. “Why would that be?”

  “Because he is not Kimisar.”

  Alex’s heart skipped a beat and then began pounding in his chest. What had given him away? The Casmuni frowned at him. “Demoran?”

  “Either that, or he has become Demoran in the last year. He wouldn’t be the first.” Stesh spat in disgust.

  The sound of the tumblers of the lock falling into place echoed through the room.

  Alex charged out of the cell, slamming the Casmuni against the bars across the way. The torch dropped into a puddle and sizzled before going out as Alex swung the chain linking his wrists at the man’s head. In the sudden darkness, he half missed and nearly lost his balance. He turned and ran for the main door, but the chain between his ankles wasn’t long enough, and the Casmuni man had almost caught up with him as Alex burst out the door.

  The guard outside jumped from where he leaned against the wall, but Alex was already down the corridor, going back the way he remembered arriving from. They wouldn’t understand him, but speaking in Demoran might get their attention. “I need to speak with the king!” he shouted.

  Something low to the ground snapped out and caught the chain linking his feet, and he crashed shoulder first onto the stone floor. Three men were on him in a second, punching and pinning him down. He saw the blow coming and knew what it would do. Alex opened his mouth to scream his last hope of getting them to listen: her name.

  “SA—”

  82

  THERE WERE NO good choices.

  Huzar could surrender to the Norsari and the force that had joined them, he could attempt to push his way through Jovan and then Tasmet and back to Kimisara, or he could try to make his way through Casmun to the southernmost pass.

  His men were broken and lost, and the Demorans might have treated them with mercy if Huzar hadn’t just tried to kidnap their prince. The Norsari returned without the boy, and it didn’t matter if he was now in Casmuni hands, the Kimisar would be blamed for his loss. Even the option of returning to the places and employments that sheltered the scattered Kimisar in the past year was gone.


  As for Jovan—Shovan, he reminded himself, as he was no longer hiding among Demorans—it would be sealed even tighter now that the Demorans knew the Kimisar were here. If by some miracle they made it through, the last he’d heard, the Demoran army’s headquarters were based in the fortress on the other side. He’d be leading his men straight into the hornet’s nest.

  That left Casmun.

  Huzar ordered everyone to disperse and make their way nondirectly to the area south of the Kaz River’s first major fork by the full moon. The tactic worked—the Norsari were left chasing so many ghosts that the Kimisar were able to stay one step ahead. Then Huzar led the remaining 141 men into the foothills of the Catrix and followed the mountain range south. The terrain made for slow going, but the Demorans didn’t pursue them.

  By the tenth day, Huzar had forgotten what it felt like to walk on level ground, to take a step without wondering if the earth would slide away. Water was scarce in this Spirit-forsaken place. In a few spots, melted snow trickled down the mountainside but most had dried up for the year, and only small rodents and scrubby bushes survived the arid steppes. The starving and bedraggled lot behind him had been further reduced by a tenth. His lost were buried in the shifting slopes of the Catrix, several by nature itself. The most recent rockslide had covered its victims, which was a relief at the time; he’d noted their names and moved on. One hundred and twenty-five remained of the original company, but he’d fought shorter battles with greater casualties.

  That’s what this was: a battle.

  And every footstep he heard behind him was a victory.

  83

  ALEX PUSHED THE boat into the water as Kimisar closed in from behind. When he tried to climb in, she pushed him away. I don’t need you to protect me.