Scared men were dangerous men, Paxon thought as they reached the gates. Avelene had better watch herself.

Guards stepped forward to intercept them, weapons raised. “The compound is closed to outsiders. Turn around,” one said.

Avelene ignored the command, stepping forward to confront him. “Tell Commander Usurient the Druid and her companion from Arbrox are here to speak with him. Tell him we have information he needs.”

The guards looked uncertainly at each other. “Do it,” she snapped, her tone flat and hard.

One left immediately, hurrying away. The other stood where he was, blocking their way and looking decidedly self-conscious about it. Avelene held her ground, standing right in front of him, refusing to give way. Long minutes passed, and finally the first guard returned, his face stricken.

“Come this way,” he said when he was still ten feet away from them, almost as if he was afraid to come closer.

He turned away at once, not bothering to look back to see if they were following him. Paxon and Avelene glanced at each other and set off in pursuit, surprised at a reaction that seemed equal parts fear and revulsion. These were hardened soldiers, not inexperienced boys, and time in the Federation army usually gave them an advantage over whoever or whatever they might come up against. So it was a surprise to both the Druid and the Highlander that the soldiers they had just encountered should seem so intimidated.

“Watch yourself,” Paxon whispered to Avelene at one point.

He was uneasy about this entire business, but more so now because of the reaction of the soldiers. As they made their way through the mobilized compound, he kept shifting his gaze, taking everything in, looking for any suggestion of a potential threat. But everyone seemed so caught up in their efforts to organize whatever effort was under way that almost no one even bothered to glance at them.

When they reached a large building at the center of the compound, the guard opened a door leading in and stood waiting for them to enter. Once they were inside, he closed the door behind them.

“What is it you want?” a disembodied voice demanded. “Haven’t you caused enough trouble?”

Dallen Usurient walked out of the shadows at the rear of the room to face them. His visage was clouded by displeasure and frustration, clearly annoyed to have to deal with what he saw as just another distraction.

“You seem to have recovered from your experience at Arbrox,” Avelene observed. “I assume you know how much danger you’re in?”

The Red Slash Commander made a dismissive gesture. “None at all. I have to inconvenience myself with this sorcerer and his grandiose plans for my demise, but that won’t require much effort. Unless you’ve come to pick up where you left off in Arbrox, I don’t have to worry and we have nothing further to talk about.”

“You tried to kill us back there,” Paxon pointed out.

“I didn’t know who you were!” Usurient’s voice was shrill. “I saw what Arcannen did to my companions and I panicked. I should never have gone along on that trek in the first place. But I thought I might be able to help. Or at least keep the men I sent from making fools of themselves. I was wrong. Is there anything else we need to discuss? I have a lot to do to get ready for sunrise.”

“What happens at sunrise?” Avelene asked.

He looked at her in surprise. “You don’t know? I thought that was why you were here.” He fumbled in his pocket and produced a crumpled piece of paper. “He sent me this earlier tonight.”

He passed the paper to the Druid. She took it, unfolded it, and read its few words before passing it to Paxon. “Where is this Horn of Honor?” she asked. “What is it?”

“It’s a monument to fallen soldiers that sits in the Federation burial grounds, out on the bluff above the city.”

“Have you secured it?”

“The moment I received this note. What difference does it make to you? You’re not invited to the party.”

Avelene shook her head. “You should let this invitation go unanswered. You should step aside and let Paxon and myself handle it. We’re better equipped to deal with Arcannen.”

“Step aside? For one man? I should have taken the Red Slash back to Arbrox and squashed him like a bug in the first place! I wasted my time on those hunters. Now get out of here!”

Avelene never moved. “Do you know what he intends? Because we do. He intends to wipe your Red Slash off the map.”

Usurient stared at her. “That’s ridiculous.”

“He has a boy with him who has command of a very powerful magic called the wishsong. He can affect anything if he decides to use it. We think Arcannen holds you responsible for the deaths at Arbrox, and he intends to avenge those who died by eliminating their killers.”

“Soldiers, not killers,” he corrected her. “And what he intends and what he can accomplish are two entirely different things. He is an enemy of the Federation, and I have been charged with bringing him to the proper authorities to answer for his crimes. Or, if he decides to make a fight of it, to be sure he doesn’t ever do so again.”

“I repeat,” Avelene said, “let us take care of this. If he thought you had any chance of stopping him—even with your entire command backing you—he would never have come here and offered you this challenge. He is very dangerous. Much more so than you think. We have faced and fought him twice now, Paxon and I. So let us use our skills and experience to stop him. Don’t risk your soldiers.”

The Red Slash Commander hesitated, and Paxon could tell he was bothered by what she said. He had enough experience with the sorcerer to know that Arcannen was nobody’s fool and not given to rash behavior. He would have a plan. But then his demeanor changed, his anger resurfacing to sweep aside all other emotions and bury every consideration but one—putting an end to his enemy once and for all.

“Tell you what. You go back to mixing potions and sacrificing lizards and I will go back to soldiering.” His eyes were suddenly empty and dangerous. “Now get out of here. I don’t want you underfoot when things become unpleasant.”

Avelene straightened; her slender form was rigid as she glanced at Paxon. Then she looked back at Usurient. “You are making a mistake, Commander.”

“Yes, well it’s my mistake to make and answer for. I’m prepared to do both. But you’re not going to be satisfied with my answer, are you? You’re not going to accept it.” He shook his head. “Wait here.”

He walked to the door and called out. Seconds later an entire squad of soldiers had crowded into the room, all of them carrying weapons, all of these weapons pointed at Paxon and Avelene. The Highlander gave no thought to drawing his sword. It was pointless to think of fighting where there was nothing to be gained by doing so.

“Take them to the guardhouse and lock them inside,” Usurient ordered. “Relieve this one”—he pointed to Paxon—“of his blade before you do. If they try to escape, stop them. An hour after sunrise, you may release them.”

He gave them a critical look. “I don’t trust you. Or Druids in general, for that matter. You constantly interfere in things that don’t concern you. You might try to interfere in this. You have that look about you. So, yes, I’ve changed my mind about letting you leave. I need to be assured that you won’t get underfoot. And, yes—before you question it—I can do this. You may have diplomatic immunity from our beloved Prime Minister—as I suspect you do—but it doesn’t extend to this base and my command. Here, there is only one law, and it’s mine. Now good-bye.”

They took Paxon’s sword, and then he and Avelene were escorted back outside on a short walk to a solid stone-and-iron structure that could hardly be mistaken for anything but a prison. They were led inside and placed in one of the cells, a cramped space empty of everything but a cot and a chamber pot. A heavily barred window let in light through a two-foot-square hole. The soldiers backed out carefully, closing the heavy iron door behind them and sliding the crossbar into place.