Two Dragon knights crowded in around the King, forming as much of a circle of protection as they could.
As he scanned the rooftops, Sir Vasren said, “We need to get you out of here now, sire.”
“Oh, for fuck's sake, Vas'” The King pushed the knights away. “The killer is gone. And they weren't after me.”
“Or me,” I whispered in revelation.
“What's that, Tek?”
“Please, for the love of all that's holy, stop calling me Tek!” I stood up, dropping the corpse without care—I mean, the Brujai didn't care either. I put my dagger away and glared at the King.
He got up. “Sir Vasren, find the nearest talon and send him for a unit to recover the body.”
“I cannot leave you with only one guard, Your Majesty.”
“Go!”
Vasren's face shifted through irritation and then into blankness. He inclined his head and then ran off.
As surprised as I was that the King's presence had finally benefited me, I was still thinking about the Brujai's last words. It hadn't surprised me to learn that whoever was behind this—and it certainly wasn't that Brujai—wasn't after the King. It only confirmed my suspicions that the rumors of betrayal had been fed to the King on purpose. But why me? And if they were after me, why not shoot me instead of their minion? The only answer was that they didn't want me dead. So, in what capacity did they want me?
A dead Chelli, a weapon of fire, a Brujai murderer, and a mastermind named Hallaxgral who was interested in me. What did they add up to? For the first time in my life, I was utterly baffled. No direction. No ideas at all. As if following the theme of my day, it made no sense. But there was a huge difference between this puzzle and my issues with the King.
This was fascinating!
Yes, yes, two men were dead, and that was terrible. And yet, my brain couldn't help but be stimulated by a knot I couldn't immediately untangle. Hallaxgral. The name was unfamiliar to me. He was not a known criminal. Never had his name been whispered in this city, not in connection with any crime. Which meant this was either his debut as a villainous mastermind or he was so brilliant that he had never been so much as suspected of any misdeed.
I was betting on the latter.
Then I remembered I was standing in a crime scene.
“Your Majesty, please step back,” I said.
The King scowled at me.
“I need to search the body.”
The King crossed his arms.
“For the love of . . .” I gave up on the King, knelt beside the Brujai, and turned him on his side.
First, I pulled the arrow out of his back and inspected it. Pale wood for the shaft. Black feathers for the fletching. A nock carved from the shaft. The tip was steel. I smelled it. Nothing noticeable.
After setting the arrow aside, I examined the Brujai's head. Adorning his main temple horns were wide gold bands. The engravings upon them marked him as part of the Ke-len tribe. Short hair was typical on males from that tribe, so his haircut was normal. The Brujai's transparent scales—a protection against the drying desert winds—covered dark brown skin. Again, this was typical of the Ke-len. His eyes were blue and bloodshot. He hadn't been getting much rest recently. I inspected his neck. Nothing unusual there.
Down to his chest. I opened his jacket and searched the pockets. Nothing in them but a lock of dark hair tied with twine. Odd. I looked closer at the hair. Fine. Silky. Smelled of flowers. I concluded it was a love token and put it in an evidence bag. My inspection continued until the talon carriage arrived to take the body. The talons may not have recognized me, but they saw my badge and so they stood to one side and waited for me to finish.
When I did, I had more questions than when I'd started. But I also had some answers.
I nodded at the talons. “Take him. And let the Hall know to be on alert for any reports of missing Brujai.”
“Missing, sir?” A Hulfrin talon looked from me to the body. “Ain't he found?”
“Not for him, Talon. For females.”
“Females?” The Hulfrin's tale twitched.
“Yes, the opposite of males.”
