The elf went straight for Rahven. “Empty your pockets.”
Rahven appeared startled. “What?”
“Empty your pockets.Now.”
“I do not—”
Dourin lashed out, gripping Rahven by the wrist, using his free hand to find a sensitive nerve in the chronicler’s elbow. Rahven gave a cry, doubling over, helpless in Dourin’s hold. “Do it.”
Venick rushed to intervene. “Dourin. Stop.”
“He is a spy.”
“What?”
“He is a spy for the Dark Queen.”
The entire tavern was on their feet now.
“That’s impossible,” Venick managed. “We asked him. Outside Evov, we asked him in elvish if he had any ties to Farah.”
“And do you remember his reply?”
Rahven’s hair had fallen into his face. The column of his throat bobbed.
Dourin shoved the elf to the floor and drew his sword. “Rahven, empty your damn pockets.”
“Please.” Rahven’s eyes were bulging. “You do not understand.”
“I think I understand perfectly.”
Venick’s mind was scrambling, searching for purchase. What had they asked Rahven that day on the mountain? How had he answered?
They said they would have me killed if I did not join Farah, Rahven had said.They gave me a choice. Join their new regime, or die.
And so you wish to avoid death by joining us?
Yes.
Dourin aimed a hard look at Branton. “Search him.”
Branton was rough. Rahven tried to fight his way free, but he was outmatched, and soon Branton had retrieved a scrap of parchment from the elf’s pocket. He gave it a glance, then passed it to Venick.
It was a coded message. Venick couldn’t read the words, but that hardly mattered. There was only one reason Rahven would be carrying a message like that.
And so you wish to avoid death by joining us?
Venick understood. He saw how Rahven might have twisted his reply. The chronicler had never actually specified whether he’d taken Farah’s deal. It was possible that Rahvenhadavoided death by joining Venick. He’d joined them as a spy, just like Farah wanted.
“How much does she know?” Dourin demanded. “What have you told her?”
Rahven quailed. He didn’t answer, but his answer was obvious: everything.
Dourin swore.
“The Dark Queen has my daughter,” Rahven pleaded. “She would have killed her if I did not obey.”
“And you think your daughter will live if the Dark Queen is not defeated?” Dourin’s voice burned. “Did it not occur to you that we might have been able tohelp?Innocents will die because of your treachery. You have undermined everything we have been working for.”
