The man went limp. Fallon grabbed his headand twisted, snapping his neck. As the man sunk to the ground,guards rushed into the tent, halting when they saw the figure lyingat Fallon’s feet.
“Send for Darius,” Fallon barked.
He reached behind him, grimacing as hisfingers came away with blood. If the man’s aim had been a littlebetter, Fallon would be the one lying dead on the ground. He shouldhave known better than to turn his back on any but a trustedfriend.
Darius ducked under the flap, his eyes goingimmediately to the assassin.
“Another one? That makes the third thismonth.”
Fallon bent and using the man’s hair liftedhim so his face was to the light. “Any one you recognize?”
Darius’s eyebrows pulled together as heexamined the man’s face. “No. Did he say anything before hedied?”
“Said it was courtesy of the Horse Clan.”
Darius’s jaw dropped as his eyes widened inrage. “Horse Clan? They’re your ally!” He strode to the pronefigure and spit on it. “I’ll have my men make inquiries. If any ofthem had anything to do with this, I’ll find them.”
“It’s not certain it came from the HorseClan, my friend.”
Darius shot Fallon an agonized look. “Itdoesn’t matter. You and I both know we can’t do anything butquestion anyone indicated. They knew right where to hit us.Questioning the Horse Clan’s integrity could jeopardize theirloyalty.”
“Which is why I want you to hold off,” Fallonsaid, crossing his arms.
“You have a plan.”
Fallon inclined his head. “You’re right.Until now I have had no reason to question the Horse Clan’sloyalty. I am not going to start now because of the word of aninept assassin. My back was to him. He could have slit my throat orslid the dagger into my heart. He did neither and told me where theattempt originated. Why?”
“To throw off suspicion and drive a wedgebetween you and one of your closest allies. But, how can you becertain?”
“We’ll find out if my plan works.” He headedto his sleeping chamber and a clean set of clothes. “Call a meetingof the clan heads. I want to see their reactions when they seetheir assassin failed.”
Fallon’s face was cold and unyielding as hewatched the clan leaders shift in their seats. Their unease mighthave something to do with the head sitting in the middle of thetable.
Henry, head of the Horse Clan, hair whitewith age, poked at the head with one finger, causing it to rolltowards the leader of Snake Clan, who batted it away with a look ofdistaste. Indra was a tall, lithe woman with long black hairbraided into a series of interlocking braids.
Only four of the clan leaders were present,as well as Darius, who was Fallon’s right hand man. The last threewere currently leading war parties.
“Why were we pulled from our beds in themiddle of the night?” Van was middle aged with golden hair and abarrel chest and was the oldest except for Horse Clan’s leader. AsLion Clan, he was one of the potential traitors. Fallon had noproof. Yet.
“Someone tried to assassinate me tonight,”Fallon said blandly, watching for any betraying tick.
There was a hushed moment of silence as eachprocessed how this might affect them. Indra arched one eyebrow butotherwise kept her expression politely interested.
Van smirked and said, “Guess someone reallywants you dead.”
“They will just have to consign themselves todisappointment.”
“For now.”
“Is that a threat?” Darius asked sharply.
“Did it sound like one?” Van waved one hand.“Given the number of attempts lately, it’s just a matter of timebefore one is successful. Perhaps now you will reconsider headingback to clan lands. This place isn’t good for our people.”
“Yes, our mistake. How dare we take ourpeople somewhere where they won’t have to fight over every speck offood or have to decide between giving water to their children ortheir horses,” Darius said.
“But we haven’t stopped fighting, have we?We’ve just traded one enemy for another,” Van said, baring histeeth.
“At least we aren’t fighting amongstourselves,” Ben, the leader of Earth Clan said, arching an eyebrow.He was the youngest in the group and had not been tested by battlethough he was in his twenties already.
