"No," Merc said.
Screaming ripped from the prisoners' throats.
Every instinct in Caden screamed danger. "It's a trap. Get away from them."
Tim jackknifed onto his hands and feet, lifting his face for them to see. Blood leaked from his eyes and nose. Out of his ears.
It started as a drip but then came faster and faster. Until it poured from his orifices.
His mouth opened on a second scream that was silenced as a dagger embedded itself in his throat. An abrupt wheeze replaced his cry.
A gurgle left Tim as he choked on his own blood. His face slackened and his body tilted to the side, before toppling to the ground.
Gawain lowered his hand as he gave the other two a careless shrug. "The screaming was bothering me."
"Which meant you had to end it?" Van drawled.
Gawain smiled. "You understand."
At a signal from Caden, Jane drew her sword in a swift movement before burying it in the second prisoner's throat.
"Burn the bodies," Caden ordered. "Do it now."
His request went against Lowland tradition, who often considered the Trateri barbarians for the way they handled their dead, but that was only because they didn't understand their culture.
The Trateri saw fire as a release. If circumstances allowed, they preferred to burn their dead. Since they held a fondness for battle, this wasn't always possible.
In such cases, they would collect a piece of the body, such as hair, to bring back to their camps to burn later. It was also acceptable to offer a person's body up for sky burial, allowing the elements and nature to reclaim them.
These men didn't deserve such kindness. Caden would have been perfectly happy to let their soul's roam the land for eternity, but sometimes you had to take into account other variables.
"What are you thinking?" Gawain asked.
Caden studied the two men as he shook his head. "Something is very wrong."
"And burning them will fix that?"
There was no reproach in Gawain's face, only the expression of someone trying to understand.
It was why Caden didn't rebuke him for questioning his orders.
Now that Gawain had learned to get out of his own way, his opinion could hold some insight into the situation.
Caden shook his head. "I can't explain it. I just have a feeling these men need to be purified by fire."
They'd descended into madness too quickly. One second fine and the next they acted as if something else had control of their bodies.
Those screams had been agonizing. They weren't faked. It was like they were being eaten from the inside.
Caden had to wonder if his threat had actually come true. Had the swarm gotten to them? It wouldn't have taken much from what Chirron had said. One bite to seed their bodies with eggs.
As closely as they'd been watching the prisoners, it was still possible one of the swarm had gotten past them.
If that was the case, they didn't have time to waste. Their bodies needed to be disposed of in such a way that any eggs or newly hatched insects were destroyed.
"I don't know." Caden's confession burned. He didn't like not knowing and the fact he was in uncharted territory made him want to rip heads off bodies.
As he spoke, Jane crossed to her mount where she dug inside her saddle bags and withdrew a small pouch everyone there recognized.
