“Was it aneondghi?” Erol pressed.
Lin Lill sighed. “Does it matter?”
“The wrapping is all crooked. You should let me…”
“The wrapping is fine, old man. Now, as I was saying—the wall. I am impressed.”
“Lin is impressed?”
The voice was Venick’s. Ellina looked up to see him entering the great room with Harmon at his side. As the pair moved forward, Venick caught Ellina’s eye and gave a small, encouraging nod, which Ellina could not interpret. Harmon’s expression, on the other hand, was clear. She looked like someone had dropped a spider down her shirt.
There were not enough chairs for everyone, so Traegar stood, shuffling into the way of a nearby group of soldiers to offer Harmon his seat, ignoring Dourin’s good-natured,Such a gentleman.Harmon, however, did not sit.
“Ellina.” The woman squirmed. “I was wondering if we could…”
Bournmay let out a snarl.
“May,” Ellina reprimanded, feeling the banehound’s hackles puff under her fingers. Ellina was not exactly happy with Harmon, either, but for Bournmay to—
Traegar choked out a gasp.
Dourin said, “No.”
Then: a beat of silence that lasted an eternity.
It took Ellina the entire length of that beat to understand what had happened. She saw Dourin’s stricken face, the way he mouthed,Traegar, Traegar.She saw the dagger protruding from Traegar’s back. And she saw the elven corpse—empty eyes, jaw hanging—that had put it there.
The room broke into a frenzy. Bournmay lunged forward, gripping the corpse’s arm between her powerful jaws. There was an awfulsnap.The distinct sound of muscle tearing. As the banehound worked to relieve the corpse of its arm, Venick rushed in, gripping the undead by the head, his fingers digging under its jaw. The creature fought back, windmilling its free arm, but it had already sunk its only weapon into Traegar, who lay motionless on the floor.
“Impossible,” Harmon was saying, her voice swallowed by the havoc. “That’simpossible.”
The corpse—besides the blank eyes, and the network of blue veins peeling over cheekbones and forehead—looked disturbingly lively.There were no visible signs of damage, no hint as to how the elf had died. The male himself had been young, barely out of his fledgling years, unremarkably dressed, hair done in a simple braid. Ellina could have passed him on her way in and never looked twice.
The corpse snarled wordlessly, alien sounds sliding past Ellina’s ears as Venick continued to haul its body backward. Others moved to help, some twenty soldiers all crushing together as they dragged the corpse outside. One man yanked a torch off the wall on his way out. The smell of burning flesh permeated the air.
But…Traegar.
Dourin was bent over Traegar’s body, making fists of his shirt. “Come back,” he cried, pressing his forehead to Traegar’s chest. “Traegar, come back.”
Ellina felt her breath trickle to a mere wheeze, then cease. She was not rendered numb by the scene. Shock did not save her from the moment. She was crushed, instantly, by the horror of what had happened.
She spun on Harmon. “Save him,” she demanded.
“Ellina…”
“Save him,” she repeated, swinging her gaze to Erol. But the healer was grim.
“There’s nothing we can do,” Harmon said.
“There is always something you can do.”
“It doesn’t work like that.”
“You saved Dourin. In Parith. After the attack. His wound—he told me. He should not have survived that first night. He would not have, except for you. So do it again.”
“I’m so sorry, Ellina.” Harmon was shaking her head. “It’s too late. Traegar is already gone.”
Ellina wanted to lift her hand to block Harmon’s words. She wanted to go to Dourin, to comfort him as Venick had once comforted her. But a terrible feeling rooted her to the spot, reaching up like vines to trap her legs. “He can’t.” Ellina’s throat clicked. Her tongue was too dry. She could not get enough air. “He can’t just be gone.”
