“And shame him by mistrusting his decisions?”Gargle said with a scoff.“Nothing leads to failure faster than disrespecting the shaman.”
Kof grunted thoughtfully.“Good thing I have a second in command who sees things from every angle.It’s not the first time you’ve saved me from myself, and I’m sure it won’t be the last.”
I risked a glance to see if I was alone, only to find Gargle and one of the other guards had paused to shift their grip on a huge jug of oil.I quickly ducked back into my crevice.Once Kof’s footfalls receded, Gargle said to his parting steps, “No…I’m definitely done making you look good.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”the other orc wondered.
“The shaman is getting rid of Kof.I made sure of it.”
“Oh?”Gargle’s crony sounded amused.“And how did you manage that?”
My nemesis pitched his voice low and nasty, and said, “What’s the worst thing I could hold over the pup’s head—something that would get him marched straight to the chopping block?”
Hold on.Gorgulwasn’ton Droko’s side?
“Is the new shaman a traitor?”the other guardsman guessed.“Ooh, I’ll bet he is.”
“What do you mean?”
“He’s using his dark magic to sabotage Ul-Rott.Why, I’ll wager those festering crotch-boils everyone’s whispering about were the lad’s way of getting revenge for stealing him away from his own clan—”
“Don’t be stupid.That’s impossible.”
The crony warmed to his own idea.“Never smart to get on the bad side of a shaman.You remember the poor sod who insulted Taruut, ended up trampled by an elk?Took a hoof straight through the kidney and died by morning.If that’s not bad enough, they say his corpse was pissing blood.”
“No one has magical dick boils,” Gorgul said, “and no one’s getting trampled.Even if Droko wanted to curse someone… he can’t.The pup’s not even a shaman.”
No.No way.Gorgul was full of shit.He had to be.Becauseof courseDroko was a shaman.Why else would he be here?
Droko…who never once gave me some cryptic shamanic answer…who didn’t seem to know a mossberry from a mouse turd…who never so much as shook a bone in my direction.
Unless you counted the one between his legs.
And his assertion that he’d never taken an oath of celibacy.
A claim that suddenly made a lot more sense….
“Hold on.”Gorgul made that distinctive whuffing noise an orc does when he’s bathing his palate in scent.“I thought I smelled the shaman.”
Belatedly, I realized I’d been clutching Droko’s cloak around me so tightly my knuckles were white.I held my breath, worried they’d manage to scent my exhalation, and struggled against the cold sweat already prickling between my shoulder blades.
And then the other one whuffed.“Can’t smell nothing but this reeking oil.Far as I’m concerned, we can’t put this whole funeral business behind us soon enough.And if what you say is true—well, you’d better remember who your friends are when you’re looking for your next lieutenant!”
I held my breath until my lungs clutched at my ribcage and an image of the starry night sky painted itself against my closed eyelids.Lightheadedness tickled at my consciousness—I’d only recently recovered from my own malady, after all—but as I felt my knees threaten to buckle, the orcs hefted their burden and trudged off to the fake tomb.
I eased my way out of my hiding place and saw I was only a short jog away from the crescent-shaped gap.So close to freedom I could taste it.And yet…I couldn’t just leave Droko to the jackals.
Hugging his cloak around me, I threw self-interest to the wind, kept my ears pricked for orcish footsteps, clung to the shadows…and made my way back to Droko.
He was still exactly where I’d left him, squatting in the meditation chamber, staring resolutely at the wall.“Forget breakfast—I’m not hungry.”
Only after he got the words out did his nose register that breakfast had already been forgotten.
He turned to me and his nostrils flared.I didn’t need to tell him I was totally unnerved, he couldsmellit.“What’s wrong?”he asked cautiously as he got to his feet.
I understand men.The surest way to wound them isn’t to kick them in the nuts, but to take a stab at their ego.But there was simply no time to do some delicate song and dance to coax a confession out of Droko, and pretend shock over learning he’d been living a lie.“I know,” I said simply.“I know everything.”
His expression went even grimmer than usual.“Then I suppose you have demands as well.”
