Chapter 6
Anna cupped her bundle of eggs with one hand to steady them as she hurried over the bridge to the house. She couldn’t risk breaking them at a time like this.
She paused on the balcony to glance left and right just to make sure no one was looking. Then she ducked around the corner to the store room. She lifted the wooden beam away, and the door swung open on the lightless room.
Menlo sat in a corner. Anna cringed when she noticed his wrists tied behind his back. Aquilla must have tied him up when he threw him in the store room. When the light fell on him, he was shifting his position so his weight didn’t crush his hands behind his back, but he couldn’t move very well. He winced in pain no matter which way he turned.
He squinted into the light, and when he recognized Anna, he compressed his lips and turned away. “What do you want now?”
Anna stepped into the room and shut the door behind her. She did her best to steady her voice. “I brought you something to eat, but we don’t have much time. Here let me help you.”
Before he could react, she squatted down behind him. When she saw the knot holding his wrists together, she let out a sigh of relief. She knew that knot. She untied it, and his arms sprang free.
Menlo rubbed his wrists and regarded her out of the corner of his eye. “Tell me you brought something other than fruit.”
Anna sat down in front of him and untied her shirt. “I brought you some eggs. I’m sorry I don’t have any way to cook them. I couldn’t cook them without getting caught anyway. You’ll just have to eat them raw, but they’ll keep you going.” She held out the eggs to him. “I’m sorry I couldn’t find anything else.”
He stared at them for a brief instant. Then, without a word, he pounced on them. He snatched them out of the pouch and cracked them with his teeth. Then he dumped the contents down his throat. Every time he swallowed, he let out a little squeak of satisfaction. Anna smiled at him.
When he finished, he sank back against the wall with a heavy sigh. Anna collected the shells into her shirt. “I guess Aquilla didn’t give you anything else to eat since he stuck you in here.”
Menlo didn’t open his eyes. He wiped the egg off his chin with his wrist. “You don’t know how much better I feel after eating those.”
Anna chuckled. “I thought you might. I’ll try to find something else for you. I can’t promise anything, but I’ll try.”
Something between a purr and a growl rumbled up out of his throat. “My shoulders are killing me.”
She put out her hand to rub his sore shoulder, but stopped herself. What if he was manipulating her to help him escape? She shouldn’t even be here. If any Avitras, even Penelope Ann, caught her here, she would be in deep trouble. She’d done her good deed. Now she should get out of there while she had the chance.
Quick as lightning, Menlo caught her by the wrist. She yanked it back, but he held her in an iron grip. His eyes burned into her soul. “Wait.”
She struggled. “I have to get out of here.”
“At least let me thank you,” he murmured. “I wasn’t expecting anybody to give me the slightest consideration. I’m sorry I snapped at you before. I guess I thought I had to protect myself from getting hurt.”
Anna kept still and waited. When she didn’t answer, he glanced down at his hand on her arm. Then he dropped it with a shudder.
Anna moved back. Then she smiled at him again. “I better go.”
“Thank you.” He shifted against the wall. “I don’t even know your name.”
“I’m Anna. Anna Evans.” She stood up. “Now I better tie you up again. Aquilla will be back soon, and he’ll have to find you tied up or he’ll know someone has been here.”
He lowered his eyes and nodded. “Go ahead. Just don’t make it so tight this time, will you?”
She looped the rope around his wrists. “Sorry. I have to tie it exactly the way he left it.”
He flinched again when she pulled the rope tight. “Aargh!”
“Sorry,” she mumbled.
The frustration and anxiety returned to his face when he tried again to lean back against the wall. He clenched his teeth and grumbled every time he moved. “I’m no better off than I was before.”
Anna gazed down at him. “At least you’ve got something in your stomach now.”
His eyes shot up to her face. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean that. Thank you for the eggs.”
“I wish I could do more,” she replied, “but Aquilla will be watching me as much as he’s watching you. I have to be careful or I could wind up....”
“What?” he interrupted. “He wouldn’t do to you what he’s doing to me. He better not or I’ll....”
Anna smiled at him. “Or you’ll what? No, he won’t do anything to me, but I’m a guest in his house and in his faction. He already knows I don’t approve of what he’s doing to you.”
“How does he know that?” Menlo asked.
“I told him,” Anna replied. “I told him I wouldn’t go along with him torturing you and starving you and getting his revenge on you. I didn’t come over to the Avitras to be part of anything like this.”
Menlo snorted. “I’m sure he loved hearing that.”
“He’s already warned me more than once not to interfere with you,” Anna went on. “If he found out I gave you food when he’s obviously trying to starve you into submission....well, I really don’t know what he would do. He’d throw me out of the house at the very least.”
“Charming fellow,” Menlo grunted.
“He and Penelope Ann have been very kind to me,” Anna replied. “I should have my head examined for repaying their hospitality this way.”
His head whipped around. “Don’t beat yourself up about doing what’s right. You’re the only person here with a beating heart. You shouldn’t have your head examined for that.”
“Were all the Guards cruel to you on the march down here from the border?” Anna asked. “Wasn’t even one of them concerned about your treatment?”
He cocked his head to one side. “Now that you mention it, there was one who seemed more concerned than the others. He didn’t go out of his way to do me favors the way you have, but I did see him talking to Aquilla once. They seemed to be arguing, and this one Guard kept pointing at me, so I guess they were arguing about me. After that, he came over and examined my restraints and my injuries, but he didn’t say anything.”
“What did he look like?” Anna asked.
“He was uncommonly tall, even for an Avitras,” Menlo replied. “He was even taller than Aquilla, and he had very bright blue and green feathers. He was very striking.”
Anna nodded. “That’s Piwaka. He’s Captain of the Guard. He’s a sensible guy, and he’s been in enough combat to appreciate peace. I thought Aquilla was the same way, but I guess I was wrong. I wonder...”
Before she could finish her sentence, a thump reverberated through the house. The sound of laughter floated through the open door, and Anna recognized Penelope Ann’s voice. Then Aquilla’s voice answered.
Anna leapt toward the door with the egg shells clutched in her shirt. “They’re coming!”
Without another word, she ducked out of the store room and barred the door. She had time to rush into the house and dump the egg shells into her own sleeping roll before Aquilla and Penelope Ann entered with their arms around each other.
Both flushed with delight in their own company, and they kissed right there in the main room. They didn’t see Anna at all until they separated, and Penelope Ann’s smile softened. “Where have you been all day? I’ve been looking for you.”
Anna straightened her sleeping roll. “I went for a walk.”
“You won’t believe the story Aquilla just told me,” Penelope Ann breathed. “I couldn’t stop laughing all the way home.”
Anna looked up. “Really? Was it something that happened on the frontier?”
Aquilla waved his hand. “Nevermind. I don’t want to tell it again. Let’s eat something now, because I have to meet the Guard later.”
Penelope Ann jumped. “Why? I thought you were staying home for a while. You’re not going off on another patrol, are you?”
Aquilla took the bowl from her hands. “I’m meeting them here.”
Penelope Ann stopped in her tracks. “Here?”
“We’re meeting to discuss that prisoner,” he told her. “I knew you didn’t want me to leave home again, so I arranged to have the meeting here so we don’t miss one instant of our precious time together.”
Penelope Ann shook herself and held out a bowl to Anna, but Anna shook her head. She couldn’t even look at the food. “I’m not hungry.”
Penelope Ann eyes widened. “Are you sick?”
“I’m just not hungry,” Anna replied. “I don’t have any appetite right now.”
“You have to eat. You have to keep up your strength or you’ll get sick.” Penelope Ann set the bowl on the counter and took her seat next to Aquilla. They both ate.
Anna sat on the floor against the wall the way she usually did, but she said nothing. If only she could run away somewhere, she wouldn’t be here when Aquilla discussed Menlo with his Guards. But someone had to keep an eye on them. Aquilla could do anything, and no one else would do anything to stop him.
Aquilla and Penelope Ann murmured low into each other’s ears. They couldn’t be talking about Menlo or anything else unpleasant. They were too full of each other and their romantic whims to notice anything but themselves.
All at once, Aquilla shot off the couch. He startled Penelope Ann, and Anna stiffened. He slammed his bowl down on the counter and made for the store room.
He dragged Menlo back into the room, slashed the cord binding his hands behind his back, and stood him on his feet. He pointed into Menlo’s face. “Stay there.”
Menlo stared him down, but he didn’t move. Anna could barely look at him, but her eyes instinctively migrated to his face. To her relief, he looked stronger, more fortified by his meal of eggs. His predicament didn’t rattle him as much now that he could face Aquilla on a full stomach.
Aquilla confronted Menlo. “You fought in the last war between the Avitras and the Ursidreans, didn’t you?”
“I fought in the last two wars,” Menlo replied.
Aquilla waved his hand. “I don’t care about that. I only want to know about the first Ursidrean war against the Avitras. You admit you fought in it.”
“There never was an Ursidrean war against the Avitras,” Menlo countered. “The Ursidreans never made war against the Avitras. The Avitras attacked the Ursidreans in both the last two wars. In the first one, we beat you back and fought you on your own territory. In the second war, the Avitras broke our peace agreement and launched a surprise attack on our city. That’s the only reason we fought that war on our own territory.”
Aquilla chopped the air with his hand. “I’m not here to argue over details. You fought in the first Ursidrean war, so you must know about the Ursidrean military structure. What do you know about the commanders of the divisions who fought in this part of our territory?”
Menlo shrugged and looked away. “I was a common soldier, and the war was a long time ago. How am I supposed to know who commanded what division?”
Aquilla took two rapid paces across the room. He glared at Menlo. “You know, all right. Don’t waste my time denying it. Who commanded the division that breached our border along the Eastern Divide?”
Menlo lifted his eyes to Aquilla’s face. He locked his gaze on the Avitras. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Aquilla grabbed him by the back of the neck and shoved him to the window. He pointed over the expanse of treetops to a line of mountain peaks in the distance. “That is the Eastern Divide. If you fought in the war the way you say you did, you know that perfectly well. It’s the line between Ursidrean territory and Avitras territory, and that peak there is Corbell’s Crossing. That’s where the Ursidrean battle column breached our border for the first time. Now tell me the truth. Who commanded the division that crossed it first?”
Menlo gazed out the window. “I can’t remember. It was too long ago.”
Aquilla pushed Menlo back to the middle of the room. “You’re lying.”
Menlo only shrugged.
“Which division did you fight in?” Aquilla asked.
“I was in the Tenth Division,” Menlo replied.
Aquilla’s eyes flashed. “If you toy with me, you’ll find yourself in a very unpleasant position. Which part of Avitras territory did you attack?”
“I’m already in an unpleasant position,” Menlo replied. “My position couldn’t get much more unpleasant.”
Nausea gnawed at Anna’s insides. She clasped her hands together in her lap until her knuckles ached. Aquilla might as well be interrogating her.
Something thumped against on the balcony outside, and a line of Avitras men filed through the door. The first one stood taller than Aquilla himself, and his teal feathers caught the fading sunlight and glowed brighter than Aquilla’s pearly feathers. Anna recognized Piwaka, the Captain of the Guard.
Wrinkles softened his skin with the first signs of age. He surveyed the room in one glance, and he smiled at Anna and Penelope Ann. Anna blushed, but she couldn’t smile back. This was nothing to smile at.
The Guards formed a line behind Aquilla and faced the prisoner. Aquilla threw back his shoulders. “I’ve been questioning our prisoner about his involvement in the first Ursidrean war. He won’t admit it, but I’m convinced he knows the identity of the division commander for the Eastern Divide.”
Piwaka frowned. “Is that true? Do you know who the division commander was?”
Menlo shifted from one foot to the other. “I was just a foot soldier. I had nothing to do with command. I know who my division commander was, but I couldn’t say whether I fought on the Eastern Divide or not. To tell you the truth, I don’t know where I fought. I only know I was somewhere in Avitras territory.”
Aquilla rounded on Piwaka. “Don’t believe a word he says. He’s spinning a yarn to throw us off the track.”
Piwaka shook his head. “You know how it is in combat, Aquilla. Most soldiers don’t know the first thing about their commanders’ plans or where they are. They care about keeping themselves alive, and not much else. You’ve fought in enough border skirmishes to know that.”
“Can’t you see he’s lying through his teeth?” Aquilla shot back. “He’s hedging so we don’t find out who the division commander was.” He turned back to Menlo. “Tell us who your division commander was. If you can’t tell us what part of our territory you fought in, you can at least tell us who you fought under.”
Menlo opened his mouth to answer, but Piwaka interrupted. “This isn’t getting us anywhere. He just said he doesn’t know anything.”
Aquilla narrowed his eyes. “And you believe him over me?”
Piwaka shrugged. “This won’t accomplish anything. Finding your brother’s killer from one lowly soldier will be harder than finding a needle in a haystack. You can’t expect every Ursidrean that walks through your door to know where every other Ursidrean was during the war. It’s impossible.”
Aquilla rushed at Menlo. “You’re hiding something. Tell us who your commander was.” He fell on Menlo with kicks and punches, but Menlo got his arms up in front of his face before he did any serious damage. Piwaka took one long step across the room and hauled Aquilla back. “That’s enough. You’ve done enough.”
Aquilla spun around with his fist raised, but Piwaka didn’t flinch. He stared Aquilla down with the same quiet smile he gave Anna when he first walked in the door. Aquilla’s fist fell at his side. “You can’t believe a word they say. You know that.”
Piwaka shook his head again. “You can see by looking at him he’s telling the truth.”
Aquilla clenched his fists, but he didn’t raise them again. “You’ll live to regret this.”
“I only regret letting you bring him back here,” Piwaka replied. “I’ve known you since you were a boy, and I’ve stood by you and guided you since you became Alpha of our faction. I wouldn’t stand against you now if you weren’t making a big mistake. We all lost loved ones in the war. I lost my wife in the war. We can all let it go now and live in peace. That’s the best we can hope for.”
Aquilla shook his head. “The Ursidreans have been our enemies for generations. It’s only a matter of time before they lash out at us again. We have to take our stand now while we have a chance.”
Piwaka nodded toward Menlo. “This man never did anything to you. Let him go.”
“I will never let him go,” Aquilla growled.
“How do you think Donen will react when he finds out you captured one of his people?” Piwaka asked. “And it won’t be good.”
Aquilla waved his question away. “I know how to handle Donen.”
Piwaka shook his head again and walked to the door. The other Guards followed him. No one said a word. At the door, Piwaka turned back and gazed at Menlo. “I’m old now, and I’ve fought in many wars. I don’t want to fight in another one.”
A moment later, a gust of air shook the treetops, and the Guards flew away. Aquilla drew close to Menlo and pointed in his face. “You know more than you’re telling, but it’s only a matter of time before I find out what I want to know. Piwaka’s an old fool. He’s going soft in the head, but I don’t need him to deal with you. Tomorrow morning, bright and early, I’ll send a message to your Alpha. I’ll tell him you’re here, and we’ll bargain for the man who killed my brother. Make it easy on yourself and tell me who he is.”
Menlo stared at him. Aquilla waited, but when Menlo didn’t answer, he humphed and dragged Menlo back to the store room.