Traitor's Moon

dried her tears and prepared to send out a similar spell. “Aura protect us,” she whispered when she finished, praying that this time she acted rightly.

40
G AMBIT
    D espite all Thero’s precautions, the storm broke far sooner than he’d hoped. He was helping Mydri change Klia’s dressings at midmorning when Corporal Kallas hurried in, looking worried.
    â€œThere’s trouble next door, my lord. I think you’d better come.”
    A small crowd had gathered outside Adzriel’s house. She stood in the doorway with Säaban as she faced the Haman khirnari. Beside him stood the formidable Lhaär ä Iriel, her face a mask of righteous indignation behind her tattoos.
    â€œHe would never have left without speaking to you!” Nazien í Hari said, leveling an accusing finger at her.
    â€œYou know as well as I that the ban of exile cut him off from clan and family,” Adzriel retorted coldly. “There is no claim of atui on Bôkthersa in this. Even if there were, I can tell you nothing of where he’s gone or why, for I do not know. I swear it by Aura’s own light.”
    â€œThere’s the wizard!” someone else shouted, and the unfriendly crowd turned its collective glare on Thero.
    â€œWhere is Seregil of Rhíminee?” Lhaär demanded, and he could see a faint corona of power glinting around her. His heart sank;she might not read thoughts, but no simulacrum of his was going to fool those sharp eyes.
    â€œHe’s left the city,” he replied tersely. “I don’t know where he’s gone.” That was true enough after a fashion. Seregil had purposely not revealed his route.
    â€œWhy did they leave?” demanded the Akhendi khirnari, stepping into view for the first time accompanied by the Silmai and Ra’basi khirnari. Thero quailed inwardly, all his precautions useless. How could they all have found out so quickly?
    He scanned the crowd, seeking one more familiar face beneath a Ra’basi sen’gai. Nyal was nowhere to be found.
    â€œI cannot tell you why he left, Khirnari. Perhaps the strain of his situation here took more of a toll than any of us realized.”
    â€œNonsense!” snorted Brythir. “Your queen and your princess both vouched for him as a man of character. I have judged him to be the same. He would not simply run off! You must answer to the Iia’sidra regarding this. I’ll expect to see you and your household there at once!”
    â€œForgive me, Khirnari, but that is not possible.” An ugly murmur spread through the crowd, and Thero was glad suddenly for the soldiers at his back. “Princess Klia lies close to death, poisoned by an Aurënfaie hand. We now have reason to believe that Torsin’s death was not a natural one, either. I will attend the Iia’sidra as soon as they can be assembled, but I cannot in good conscience allow any other member of this household to leave here as long as she remains in danger.”
    â€œTorsin murdered?” The old khirnari blinked up at him. “You said nothing of this before.”
    â€œWe believed the murderer might reveal himself by his own guilty knowledge.”
    â€œDo you know who this murderer is?” the Khatme khirnari demanded, looking skeptical.
    â€œI can say nothing of that, as yet,” Thero replied, letting the others take that as they would, and hoping it would deflect attention from Seregil’s disappearance.
    â€œCome then, Wizard,” Brythir told him, motioning for Thero to follow.
    â€œYou don’t mean to go alone?” Sergeant Braknil whispered, moving in beside him.
    â€œStay here, all of you,” Thero told him calmly. “Klia’s safety is all that matters now. Send the Bôkthersans back to Adzriel with mythanks, and then set siege guard.” He paused, halfway down the stairs. “Release Sergeant Mercalle back to duty, too. We need everyone we can get.”
    â€œThank you, my lord. She’s loyal to Skala, whatever else you may think of her actions.” Raising his voice, Braknil added, “Take care, my lord. Send word if you need us—for anything.”
    â€œI’m sure that won’t be necessary, Sergeant.” Going down the stairs, Thero joined the khirnari. Adzriel lingered with the others in front of her own door, but gave him a small smile as he passed. Encouragement, perhaps, or complicity?
    Most of the Iia’sidra were