He turned to face the two women. Before he was fully around, Rhrenna had slammed her shoulder into his thin chest, pushing him back against the wall. He felt the prick of a tiny, undoubtedly razor-sharp, blade at his neck. The Meinish woman pressed it skillfully, with enough of the flat of the blade that he could feel the pulse of his artery beneath it, and with enough of the edge that he felt his skin on the verge of bursting open around it. Her small face was close to his chin, her teeth bared as if she would bite him as well as cut him. He had expected this, too, but it was savage enough an action to take his breath away again.

"Explain yourself now, Dagon," Corinn said. She stood only a step away, for the chamber was small, more like a fissure in a cave than a man-made room. Lit from above, she was frightening, all highlight or shadow. He had no problem believing her capable of sorcery. She said, "Rhrenna never liked you. She'd slit your throat and bathe in the shower of blood that would bring. Considering that you have shoved us into a secret room-a room that you should know nothing about-I'll happily pardon her and curse the leagueman who challenges me."

A few more breaths. This was so awkward, but to get through it he must get through it. The best way to do that was to hit her so directly she was stunned to silence, and then he would regain some control. "Queen Corinn"-he gasped-"first, you must know that Sire Neen and much of the envoy were killed. Ah-" He flinched at a change in the pressure of the knife. He grasped the dolphin pendant hanging from his chest, the symbol of the league, and caressed it between his fingers. "The mission is a failure. We were betrayed in the most foul way. There are traitors within the walls of the palace at this very moment. Please, have the woman draw back her knife."

Corinn did not do so. "My brother?"

"I know not," Sire Dagon admitted.

"Is he alive?"

"I don't know. Perhaps he was captured. He was under our full protection, of course, but was, as I said, betrayed. We think-"

"By whom?"

"The Lothan Aklun. The Auldek. Both. We arrived to find them at war. They both sought to make us pawns. Tricked us. There was a massacre. And, Your Majesty, most important right now: the Numrek have betrayed us."

Corinn stood still. For a long time she looked like some beautiful, bloodless witch, the type of being who might haunt and excite adolescent nightmares. For a few moments, Sire Dagon felt he might have failed. There was too much to say, too much to explain, too many lies to navigate, even as he created more. For a moment, the idea of Rhrenna slicing his life from him did not seem so bad. At least it would end the complications.

"What do you mean the Numrek betrayed us?"

"They-Oh, it's hard to explain with a dagger at my throat."

Corinn shrugged. "Do it anyway."

So he did. As best he could, flinching often, feeling the trickles of blood that oozed out of small nicks made by the knife. He could smell Rhrenna's breath-not unpleasant-and hear the moist coagulation of his blood on her fingers when she flexed them. He told of how the Ambergris arrived to find the Lothan Aklun and Auldek in open war with each other. The Aklun were suffering, nearly defeated; Sire Neen tried to arrange a peace, but he failed. The Auldek met with him under the guise of parley, he said, but Calrach chose the moment to switch sides. The Auldek were their cousins, similar in many ways. Together, they slaughtered the entire delegation party. Only a few from the landing party got back to the Ambergris. The vessel stayed a time in Aklun waters, trying to assess the situation. By the time they sailed for home, they believed two things: the Lothan Aklun were all but conquered, and the Numrek were trying to get the Auldek to attack the Known World via the same route they had used.

So he spoke. He did not tell the truth, save for the final point. As an alternative, though, his version of events was no less credible than the real one.

"You are telling me we're at war? At war with a race I've done nothing to? All because of a league gambit gone wrong? All because you couldn't tell an enemy from a friend?"

Sire Dagon seemed to have difficulty accepting the entirety of the statement, but he could not settle on which part to take issue with. He answered rather sheepishly, "Ah… yes. In part." And then, not so sheepishly, "We were not the only ones fooled. But that doesn't matter. Your Majesty, at the moment I pray that we have the leisure for you to berate our stupidity at length. Now is not the time, though. The Numrek have played us all for fools, and they yet stand outside your door. Your Majesty, they must be exterminated. Right now. Today. This very hour. The vessel the messenger arrived in is stuffed with Ishtat. They are armed and ready, and they will take the palace any moment now."

"What?" Corinn somehow made the word sound like a spell of damnation.

"It's all we can do. If the Numrek knew that their brethren have succeeded, they'd begin the slaughter. That's what they've been waiting for, a sign to commence."

"The Marah. They will-"

"Some will die in the confusion. But others we've tried to contact, to explain-"

"You take great liberties!" Rhrenna spoke through teeth that still seemed ready to bite.

"And why should I believe you? The Numrek have never once shown a sign of deceit."

"Oh, yes they have. Majesty, they've written their treachery in blood. In your brother's blood, I fear. You haven't seen it, but must you lay eyes on everything to believe it real? As for you, why would I come to you with this tragedy if it were not true? What fool would make up such misfortune?"

Corinn stared at him for a long moment. "If this is true, how would the Numrek learn what happened? They're not going to pilot a ship back themselves, are they?"

"I… I don't know," Sire Dagon sputtered.

"Would one of your people carry the message?"

"No, of course not. They've attacked us. We-"

Rhrenna interrupted. "You're the messenger."

"What?" Sire Dagon grimaced. "No, I'm here to warn you."

"You fool," Rhrenna continued. "If what you've said is true, look at what you've just done. You walked in here sweating, ashen-faced, nervous. You think the Numrek guards wouldn't notice that? Then you push us into a secret room! What more confirmation do they need that something grave has happened? And you're going to attack them? Only a handful of them are on the island. The rest will learn all they need to know because of your actions!"

Sire Dagon was speechless for a moment. He then said, "But we've brought Ishtat. They'll attack any moment. That's why we are safe in here." But even as he said this he felt his logic falling away beneath him. Of course his actions would confirm the betrayal in the Other Lands. The few Numrek on Acacia would die, but they would act as assassins in their last moments. Perhaps his appearance had given them a few extra minutes to kill chosen targets. The rest of the clan, safely on the Teh Coast, would dig in and wait. Who knew what preparations they had made already, what supplies and weapons had been stored?

Corinn, speaking to Rhrenna now, snapped, "How many Numrek are within the palace today?"

When the Meinish woman craned around to answer, Corinn flicked her fingers, indicating she could release him. She did, and Sire Dagon's fingers went immediately to his throat. He touched it gently, as if his fingers could somehow do more damage than the blade had. He realized Rhrenna was answering the queen, but he caught only the end of it.

"… and there is a handful with Aaden and Mena at the Carmelia Stadium."

The queen let out a gasp of air, as if she had just been punched in the chest. She did it again, forming it into a word this time. "Aaden!"

She stepped for the hidden door, but Sire Dagon dove to block it from her.