Bewitched & Betrayed

I resisted the urge to hit something. “Pay someone enough and they’ll say they saw their mother do it.” Another “witness” was a clearly frightened elderly elven mage in shabby robes who stood as far away from Carnades and Balmorlan and as close to the front doors, and escape, as he could. “Or threaten them.”



And I had no doubt that the black-silk-and-velvet-robed mage essentially holding court in the center of the squad room would have done that and more to get Tam behind bars and wards. Carnades Silvanus looked like his birthday had come early this year.



No doubt Carnades believed himself to be the pinnacle of elven fine breeding. The elf’s shoulder- length hair was the color of winter frost, and his eyes the pale blue of arctic ice. His face was like flawless alabaster, a cold, sharp beauty. He was a pure-blooded high elf and he wasn’t about to let anyone forget it.



Carnades had served as Conclave emissary to the goblin court at the same time that Tam had been the queen’s magical right-hand man. Something that happened during that time—and knowing Tam, probably more than one something—had made Carnades despise Tam even more than he hated every other goblin who breathed his air. Tam didn’t exactly harbor warm feelings toward Carnades, so the animosity was more than mutual.



And from the sound of the charges, Carnades was getting his revenge for any slight or insult, either real or imagined, in one fell swoop.



The elven mage wasn’t satisfied by seeing Tam charged with the kidnapping and grisly murder of the fourth-highest-ranking general in the elf queen’s army. He was accusing Tam of having fed General Aratus’s soul to the Saghred. When asked to explain, Carnades just smiled wider and Balmorlan coolly said that an expert would arrive soon to substantiate the claim. No one other than the rock itself could tell whether it had been fed or not. Carnades and Balmorlan were lying, and soon someone was going to walk through those doors and lie some more. The elf bastards couldn’t prove a damned thing; but their smug smiles told me that they’d found a way around that impediment to vigilante justice called the truth, and what I had been dreading was about to happen. Carnades knew that Tam could have only fed the Saghred through me.



Through our umi’atsu bond.



Carnades knew all about it.



He hadn’t ratted us out. Yet. The self-righteous elf was saving it for just the right moment—much like Sarad Nukpana’s gift of a dried corpse.



From the smug expression on his face, that moment had come.



I knew that General Aratus’s soul was inside Sarad Nukpana, not the Saghred. But just as Carnades couldn’t prove that the Saghred had been fed, I couldn’t prove that it hadn’t. And Mychael and I had been the only ones to hear Sarad Nukpana’s threats spoken through the general’s dried corpse. I couldn’t tell Sedge Rinker that. The only way Mychael had heard those threats was through the part of the umi’atsu bond that I shared with him.



After Tam had been arrested, Vegard had ordered one of the Guardians on sentry dragon patrol to return immediately to the citadel and tell Mychael what had happened.



I pinched the bridge of my nose against the headache that was well on its way. Mychael would probably be here any minute, and when he got here, that would put him in the same room with me and Tam. Our proximity to one another would leave no doubt about the bond the three of us shared. Any and every mage in the room would know.



Which was precisely what Carnades wanted.



I wasn’t about to leave Tam alone in the same room with Carnades.



The elf mage knew that, too. He also wanted everyone to know what he already did—the paladin of the Conclave Guardians was in an umi’atsu bond with a goblin dark mage and accused murderer, and the bond servant of the Saghred. If it were proven, Mychael would be arrested, tried, and executed; and Tam and I wouldn’t be far behind him.



Carnades had seen the proof of our joint powers two weeks ago when Mychael, Tam, and I had worked together to close a Hellgate that had been opened on the island. Phaelan had clubbed him over the head with a rock to keep him from exposing the three of us right then and there. Markus Sevelien had visited Carnades the moment his ship had docked. Mychael had sources in Carnades’s household, and those sources reported that Markus told Carnades to stay home and see no one. Either Markus had rescinded that order, or Carnades was feeling rebellious this evening.



And for the icing on the cake, Taltek Balmorlan reported to Markus and now seemed to be Carnades’s new best friend. Best friends didn’t keep secrets. Balmorlan knew about our umi’atsu bond; I was certain of it. What he was going to do about it remained to be seen, but from his self-satisfied smirk, he couldn’t be happier with how things were playing out.



There was a cell waiting next to Tam’s that had Mychael’s name written all over it.



Or mine.



Dammit. Mychael knew I was here with Tam, yet he was coming down here anyway. He knew it was a trap and he was walking right into it. Mychael was coolheaded and a tactician; I told myself that he would never walk into a trap without a plan to spring it on its maker. I was sure he had a plan, a good one. I’d just feel a hell of a lot better if I knew what that plan was.



If it came down to it, I would do anything I had to do to keep Tam and Mychael from the executioner’s block. The Benares in me had a few ideas; the Saghred in me had a few more.



I would do whatever it took, and whatever it did to me didn’t matter.



Mychael had told me once that if anyone wanted his head on an executioner’s block, they’d have to fight him for the privilege. Sounded good to me.



“Magus Silvanus has requested that I take you into custody as an accessory before and after the fact.” Sedge sounded almost apologetic.



“Are you?”



“No. He has no proof or witnesses to substantiate his charge.”



I barked a short laugh. “Give him another hour; I’m sure he’ll come up with something and someone.”



I looked out at Carnades. He must have sensed me and turned toward Sedge’s office. Our eyes met. I’d given Carnades the benefit of a doubt ever since I’d met him; hell, I’d even saved his life twice. He was through playing games. Well, so was I. He had lied and manipulated his way into having Tam caged like an animal, and he wouldn’t stop until he’d done the same to me and Mychael. Though the one thing he wouldn’t be lying about was that Mychael shared an umi’atsu bond with me and Tam. That Mychael had done it to save both of us wouldn’t matter to Carnades and his ilk. Once Mychael was proven to be a criminal, Justinius Valerian’s political power base would be weakened. He’d handpicked Mychael as paladin; his judgment would be suspect.



Carnades Silvanus had taken the first steps to getting himself elected archmagus. If that happened, he would have the power of life or death over every magic user in the seven kingdoms, and the Guardians would be reduced to his personal enforcers.



It had to stop. Tonight. Now. This was war; my gloves were off.



I gave Carnades a slow, cold smile that told him that and much more. If Tam could act cool and confident, so could I. In reality I was scared shitless and mad as hell, but considering how close I was to a whole row of empty cells, I thought I’d keep that to myself for now. I could always let my rage out to play later. I didn’t want to, but if Carnades pushed me too far, I would push back. He’d seen the Saghred’s full power in me when I’d crushed a demon the size of a small house, right here in this very room. He knew what I could do, but he thought I wouldn’t do it. If he laid a hand on Tam or Mychael, I’d show him just how wrong he was.



I opened the door and walked out into the squad room. I vaguely heard Vegard order Talon to stay put. Like that was going to happen, though I hoped the kid showed some sense for once and did as told.



Normally Vegard would be trying to keep me from saying or doing anything to Carnades or Balmorlan that I’d regret later. Not this time. He knew that whatever I did, I’d have no regrets. Vegard was as pissed off and fed up as I was. His solid and reassuring presence at my left shoulder told me, without saying a word, that whatever I wanted to start, he’d help me finish. I got a lump in my throat and forced it down. Hugging Vegard would definitely ruin my badass Saghred-wielder act.



I still had my blades, every last one of them. Since I hadn’t been officially arrested, Sedge hadn’t ordered my weapons be taken. I stopped when I got about ten feet from Carnades Silvanus and Taltek Balmorlan. I didn’t trust myself to get any closer. And to tell you the truth, I didn’t want to be any closer to them. I’d rather touch a dried-up corpse.



When I spoke, my voice was cool and conversational. “So you boys don’t believe Sarad Nukpana has gone on a high-elf killing spree?”



“I believe that he’s a convenient scapegoat for the crimes perpetrated by you and your goblin lover,” Carnades said smoothly. “You even carry goblin weapons.”



“Because they kill better than elf blades.” I gave him a tight smile. “I only use the best.”



“You’ve always preferred the company of goblins, haven’t you, Mistress Benares?” Balmorlan said smoothly. Hell, even his voice was bland.



“I certainly prefer them to elves like the two of you. In fact, I don’t know of any elf who wouldn’t.”



“You have quite the reputation among several of our agents for succeeding where they have failed,” Balmorlan noted. “Goblin prisons are notoriously difficult to break into, some would even say impossible, but you have done it on more than one occasion and made it look almost easy.”



“I’m a Benares, remember? Jail breaking is in our blood.”



“I don’t believe your success was due to skill either as a criminal or a seeker. I believe, as do others, that you had goblin allies inside those prisons. You believe that Markus Sevelien retained your services because of your criminal tendencies, but no doubt he knew precisely what was going on. He didn’t care how or who”—Balmorlan paused in contempt—“or what got our people back; he was only interested in the results. That it was accomplished through a traitor made no difference to him.”