The Ghost Tiger's Lament

Chapter Nine

They were not difficult to track. Even in the darkness, the apothecary left a blatant trail behind him, and the bandits, in their apparent haste, made little effort to cover him.

“They are leading us into a trap,” said Ashne in sudden certainty, when dawn broke.

“Most likely,” replied Phas. “But I have no other choice.”

Nor did she. And yet, and yet — something was not quite right.

“Your employer is quite unreasonable,” she said softly.

When he did not respond, she continued, “Why did he kidnap Princess Sarabis if it was the scabbard he was after? What purpose did it serve? Be honest with me! Does he mean to destroy the kingdom? Take it for his own?”

Still he would not look at her.

“How long have you been working for him anyway? That day in the forest — that was no coincidence, was it? You’ve been seeking that scabbard all along.”

“You are not wrong,” he said at last. “When I said I was seeking employment, that was a lie. I have already been in this man’s employ for some months.”

“Is it true, then? That he is the foreign sorcerer the apothecary seeks?”

“He is...” Phas began, then seemed to think better of what he had been about to say. “He is a complicated man, but not the one of whom the rumors speak. I dare not say more.”

“And the princess is truly safe with him?”

“She is.”

“And it is not the throne he is after?”

“His only desire is the scabbard.”

“What does he want with it? You served in the court of Khonua, you said. Or was that a lie as well?”

He met her gaze. “That was no lie.”

“Then surely you must understand its significance. Or rather, its lack of it. It is nothing without the blade.”

“I cannot say. I do not question the man’s motives. I am but a mere mercenary. I am paid to follow orders.”

No amount of payment could have ever been enough for Kitzon, she thought with sudden bitterness. Evidently this Phas Tiuknin was a different sort of man entirely.

“I must apologize for involving you in this,” he was saying. “It was my understanding that my only targets were to be those bandits.”

“Just tell me one thing, then. Were you involved in the princess’s kidnapping?”

“I was not. Until I met with them in Tham, I was utterly unaware of this development. This I swear upon my ancestors and the heavens above.”

She frowned, then. She raised a hand to her chest, where the glass pendant lay heavy against her skin, realization slowly dawning upon her. “You met them in Tham?” She backed away. Drew her sword. “What are you playing at? You’ve been working with the bandits all along! Or at least since Tham. You were working with them, until they betrayed you!”

He seemed genuinely startled. “What do you mean?”

She grabbed the pendant with her free hand, ripped it from her neck, held it out, arm trembling. “I found this at the magistrate’s! How else would you explain this?”

How could she have forgotten? How could she not have realized?

The damn apothecary had confused her. Muddled her thinking.