Dragonlance: Age of Mortals, Book 04 - Prisoner of Haven by Nancy Varian Berberick

Author:Nancy Varian Berberick [Berberick, Nancy Varian]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-7869-3327-3
Publisher: Fanversion Publishing
Published: 2015-12-31T16:00:00+00:00

“Men are dead, Usha.” The thud of Dezra’s boot heels as she paced the wooden floor punctuated her words. “Killed two nights ago, and—gods help them—two women were stolen, either dead or on their way to be sold.”

Usha set a plate of cold venison and a pitcher of water on the nightstand next to her sister-in-law’s bed. Dez ignored the makeshift breakfast, and Usha sat on the edge of the bed in stunned silence. The hair on the back of her neck prickled when she thought of the fate of the two missing women.

Dez stopped at the window and leaned against the sill. Blood smeared her clothes, dried and stiff and none of it her own. Her normally sun-browned face looked ashen in the afternoon light. The marks of fatigue and harrowed emotion showed in dark smudges under her eyes.

“Dez, what happened?”

Her voice leaden, Dezra said, “We were betrayed.”

Usha’s blood ran cold. “Do you know… do you know who betrayed you?”

Dez turned, her eyes flat and hard to read. “Funny you should ask, Usha. Maybe someone who can find a dark knight when he needs to—and get something back in kind for the information he passes on.”

Usha ignored the sarcasm. She tried to brush aside her own anger. The idea was ridiculous.

“I don’t believe you.”

Dezra’s bitter laughter sounded harsh as a crow’s. “You don’t ever believe me about Madoc.”

“I don’t believe little ghosts of rumors, if that’s what you mean. You know why he’s seen with the dark knights.”

“Sure. Information goes both ways. You give a little and hope to get more.”

Dezra poured water into a cup, drank it empty, and stabbed a chunk of venison with her knife. She ate as though she hadn’t had a meal in days.

“How careful do you think he is with what information he lets go, Usha? How soon do you think it will be before he’s made an offer much better than Aline’s?”

“Madoc would never betray Aline.”

“As you like. But no matter who you believe, it was Madoc who told us—his words to my ears!—that no knights would be patrolling where we were going that night.”

It was damning. Usha couldn’t deny. Still, she wasn’t able to believe it.

“Why is it so impossible to believe that Madoc himself was given wrong information? Or information that changed suddenly?”

“Him?” Dezra refilled her cup. “Madoc Diviner who boasts no one knows as much about the goings-on in Haven as he does? Give it over, Usha. He’s not to be trusted.”

Dezra said no more, plainly considering Madoc damned.

“What does Aline say about it?”

Dez looked disgusted. “You know how she is about him—besotted. Aline doesn’t know how to think when it comes to him. It’s like she’s never heard of working both ends against the middle.” Restless, she began to pace, her strides long and her boot heels thumping a grim tattoo on the floor. “He might be a traitor, but Madoc’s no fool, Usha. No one can be an honest broker of information these days. Sooner or later, Madoc will have to take sides.

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