As a couple of the men moved from their horses and began to gather their weapons, Nyssa caught Gail's eye. Gail paused before her and reached for her hood. But the moment she started to speak, her words were taken away from her.
Gail's darkened gaze flashed yellow.
Nyssa launched.
"YOU—“
Infi.
He was anInfi.
A hand wrapped around her mouth, and North grabbed her arms. Her feet nearly kicked off the ground as she struggled against him.
"Quiet," Gail warned, his hand covering her face.
The soldiers had started to stare, but Gail gave them a nod.
"Prisoners," he said with a shrug.
Her body was shaking so violently she felt ash on her fingertips.
Infi.
Infi-Infi-Infi.
Gail slowly removed his hand from her mouth, looking as though he dared her to speak.
"Where is Gail?" she forced herself to ask quietly.
He leaned closer and pulled her hood back over her head. "The long game, Princess," he uttered in her ear.
Nyssa was given no more time to discuss it. The men pushed them, and Gail—if it ever even was Gail— wrapped his hand around Nyssa's arm and pulled her forward.
Nyssa didn't remember how to walk.
Had she ever met the real Gailnor Fairwind? Had he been an Infi all along? He wouldn't have been. He couldn't have been. Were the rest of them Infi?
No, she decided.
She had met Gail.
She had been Gail's prisoner.
He had given her a tonic to sleep the night before so she didn't turn into a flaming heap. He may have been taking her to Man, but he had at least treated her with decency.
Had they been ambushed?
Was this indeed Antha?
And North? Had he been behind all of it?
Where was Gail?
She remembered what Gail had said about North, how he didn't trust him or any of his own company.
Had Infi infiltrated his ranks and taken over?
Nyssa couldn't see straight. At one point, the Infi’s grip tightened on her and shoved her forward. But her feet didn't want to move. The men asked around her why she wasn't moving, but their voices were echoes. Until finally, she felt her feet leave the ground, and she realized she had been tossed over North's shoulder.
