‘How much of that blood on you is yours?’

‘All of it, sir. I won’t see the sun’s rise.’

‘Tell me those bodyguards are dead.’

Uskan bared his teeth in a smile. ‘They are, but as you can see, it wasn’t easy. It’s a damned good thing, sir, that the rest of those monks went up in flames.’

‘Who killed Sheccanto? Was it you, Uskan?’

‘No. Truth is, sir, no one killed her. She was dead when my soldiers finally broke down the door to her room. Cutter Hisk says the body’s long past stiff, too.’

‘Meaning?’

Uskan laughed. ‘Meaning, sir, she probably died yesterday afternoon.’

‘You find that amusing, do you, lieutenant?’

Uskan leaned his head to one side and spat blood. ‘Those poor monks were defending a corpse. They killed eighteen soldiers. And all of it was for nothing. Amusing, sir? No. Fucking hilarious.’ He paused, a frown settling on his pale brow. ‘Did I say eighteen? Wrong. Make that… nineteen…’

Hallyd Bahann glared at him, until he realized that Uskan couldn’t see anything, because the man was dead.

The commander stepped back, eyed the two corpses facing each other in their plush chairs.

Telra appeared at his side. ‘Sir, we should collect his body—’

‘No,’ Bahann replied. ‘Leave him where he is. For all we know, he and that old man are swapping stories right now. Move our other dead back into the hall. We’re going to burn it all down.’

‘We have prisoners, sir—’

‘Prisoners?’

‘Servants. Children, mostly.’

‘Find them a wagon. Send them down to Yedan monastery.’

‘We’re not going to attack it, sir?’

‘No. They’ve lost both their leaders and that monastery is now full of widows. Let them grieve.’

‘And us, sir?’

With some effort, Hallyd Bahann dragged his gaze away from the two corpses in their chairs. He eyed Telra. ‘We’re heading into the forest. We’ve dealt with the Shake. Now we’ll deal with the Deniers.’

‘Yes sir.’

‘I’m field promoting you to lieutenant.’

‘Thank you, sir.’

After a moment, he shook his head. ‘Uskan never really seemed to be the kind of soldier to die in battle. Not like this.’

Telra shrugged. ‘Perhaps, sir, he got careless.’

Bahann squinted at her, wondering, but her face was expressionless, and stayed that way.

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN