Traitor's Moon

over, she was led away under guard by her own riders. Rhylin was in charge and gave her an encouraging grin as they left the chamber.
    â€œThey’re all right, then?” he whispered.
    She shrugged, thinking of the bloodstain on Nyal’s tunic.
    At the guest house, Thero took her directly to Klia’s chamber, where the sick woman lay asleep under Corporal Nikides’s watchful guard. Her hands rested on the comforter at her sides, one whole, the other still swathed in bulky dressings. The window was open, and incense burned on a stand across the room, but a sickly odor still underlay it, one she had smelled on battlefields and in hospital tents—illness, poultices, and damaged flesh. Klia was so pale, so still, that for a moment Beka feared she’d taken a sudden turn for the worse.
    When Thero touched her shoulder and Klia opened her eyes, however, Beka saw that whether her commander could speak or not, her mind had cleared.
    Thank the Flame
, she thought, going down on one knee beside the bed.
    â€œShe wishes to know all that has happened,” Thero said, drawing a chair up for her. “You’d best keep it brief, though. These periods of lucidity don’t usually last long.”
    â€œThere’s not much to tell,” Beka admitted. “Seregil found his trail and I went on; Nyal caught up with me and sent me back with his men while he went on after Seregil.”
    Thero made a low, angry noise in his throat. “What happened then?”
    â€œWe were attacked by bandits and I escaped in the confusion. Nyal tracked me down again the next day, just in time to get me away from those Akhendi riders. He claimed he’d found Seregil and Alec, helped them out of an ambush, too, and then sent them on their way. But—” She paused, fighting back the sudden tightness in her chest.
    â€œYou doubt his word?”
    â€œI don’t know what to think,” she whispered. Looking down, she found Klia watching her intently. “He had blood on his tunic, my lady. He says Alec was hurt and he bound the wound. I—I don’t know.”
    Thero squeezed her shoulder. “We’ll find out,” he promised. “What happened then?”
    â€œI was headed back here anyway, so I let him bring me in. The rest you know.”
    Klia tried to speak but managed only a breathy rasp. Frustrated, she looked up at Thero.
    â€œYou did well, Captain. You should clean up and get some rest,” he told Beka, then followed her from the room.
    â€œWhat about her?” she demanded, keeping her voice low. “Have you been able to get any more out of her about who attacked her?”
    â€œNo, the poisoning affected her memory. She seems to recall little after the morning of the hunt.”
    â€œThat’s too bad. I don’t like the idea of leaving Aurënen before we see justice done.”
    â€œThat’s not Klia’s main concern,” Thero told her. “Don’t let it blind you, either. There’s still the vote to come. Your duty lies there.”
    Returning to the barracks at last, Beka was met with a round of cheers from the riders waiting for her there.
    â€œYou look like you had a hard go of it, Captain,” Braknil exclaimed, handing her a mug of rassos.
    She downed it gratefully, welcoming the warmth it spread through her aching muscles. “No worse than usual,” she replied, managing a grin to match those around her. “I just didn’t have you all there to help me.”
    After checking the order of the watches, she left Braknil in charge and retreated to her room to clean up. Smoothing a clean tabard over her shirt, she rested a hand on the regimental device stitched on its front: crossed sabers supporting a crown.
    Duty
.
    She recalled Nyal sitting across the fire from her, watching her with hazel eyes that spoke only of patience.
    I wanted to make certain you were safe—
    A soft knock interrupted her thoughts.
    â€œCome,” she mumbled, wiping quickly at her eyes.
    It was Mercalle. Giving Beka a stiff salute, she closed the door quietly behind her.
    Here was another situation designed to twist knots in her belly. The two of them had spoken less than ten words to each other since the sergeant had confessed to spying for Phoria. If they hadn’t all been trapped together in a foreign land, Beka would have packed her off to another regiment at once.
    â€œI was wondering if there was anything you