They neared the main square, soldiers watching them as they dismounted and brought their horses to a hitching post.
Feeling better knowing they’d have protection, Terena still worried for Sonah and Croak back at camp. Daris had assured her before they left that Jason and a hand selected group of Liodari would guard them.
Terena’s stomach sank when they stopped in front of a group of Heylisian soldiers and they parted to reveal General Peleon.
He sneered at them, his hawkish nose looking even bigger than she remembered, his eyes like slits. Terena kept her face blank. Daris and Rydon flanked her, with Melanos a few steps behind and the Liodari at their backs. Peleon stared at her a long while before spitting on the ground. Without a word, he motioned with his hand behind him and the soldiers parted again.
Two people were brought forward, hoods over their heads, one of them struggling against the grip of a massive soldier while the other was hunched and broken. Terena knew right away from the soiled robes the smaller figure was Pytho, so different now from the ethereal woman she’d met months ago.
Terena’s hands dropped to her sides, her thumbs tracing the pommels of her short swords. Her face heated, and she pinched her lips when Pytho was thrown roughly to the ground.
“Such a fucking coward, Peleon,” Terena seethed, taking a step forward. The guards closest to Peleon reached for their swords.
“Can’t say I’m surprised to see you here,” Peleon spat again, his eyes narrowed so far she wondered if he could see her at all. “Hiding behind the Liodari isn’t going to save you.”
Daris stiffened at her side. She gave the general a nasty smile. “I’m going to enjoy killing you.”
Peleon continued to sneer at her, but didn’t rise to her taunt. He turned his head to the men guarding Pytho and the other prisoner. The guards removed their hoods and Terena cursed inwardly to see the young acolyte, David, with Pytho. He had a large bruise on the left side of his face and blood crusted his mouth. His clothes were filthy, like Pytho’s, and Terena wondered if Peleon had even bothered to allow them to bathe or change their clothes since their capture.
Knowing what an asshole he was, Terena doubted it.
“Where’s the shroud?”
“I’ll give it to you after you release them,” Terena said, feigning boredom.
“Oh, no, tracker scum,” Peleon said and clicked his tongue. “Only this bitch is being traded. This bitch,” Peleon said as he grabbed David by the back of his neck and shoved him to the ground, “is incentive.”
“What?”
He unsheathed a dagger inside his cloak and Terena quickly pulled out her short swords. Peleon grabbed a fistful of David’s hair and yanked his head back. The acolyte inhaled sharply as the general put the dagger to his throat.
Looking across at Terena, his face dark, Peleon roared, “Where is the shroud?”
“Fuck, there’s no need to shout! I have your shroud,” she said as she turned to Melanos, who produced a small rucksack. Taking the bag from him, Terena raised it, shaking it for Peleon’s benefit. “See? Put the dagger away.”
“Bring it here.”
“Fuck that,” Terena snorted. Her eyes sparkled as she gave him a flirty smile. “You come get it.”
He stared at her, his face going slack.
Then he slit David’s throat.
Pytho cried out, her shrieks drowning out Rydon’s curse, and Terena lunged forward, ready to strike Peleon down. The soldiers on either side of them dropped to a knee, lifting shields as the row of archers behind them trained arrows on Terena. Swords unsheathed behind her, the Liodari readying for an attack.
“Understand now?”
“You fucking?—”
“Enough!” Peleon shouted, his face mottled. Behind him, two men wearing cloaks and plain trousers, their black shirts opened at the throat to reveal a jangle of pendants hanging off of silver and gold chains, stepped forward.
“Cyphers,” Melanos hissed as the cloaked men spread their arms. Their pendants glowed.
“What’s that?” Terena asked, turning to look at Melanos over her shoulder.
“Mortals with powers gifted by the Olympians. Those pendants are runes imbued with those powers. And there are two of them.”
Like the woman in Sparta that had attacked her and Rydon.
