man managed a nearly imperceptible nod. 'Until a few days ago. 1...' He paused, winced, and seemed to maintain lucidity with an effort. 'I am Kanil. I served in the Minwanabi household. I carried food to Desio's table and stood by to meet his demands. Much of . . .' His voice faded.
Gently as possible Lujan said,'Slowly. Tell us slowly. We have all night to listen.'
The injured servant jerked his chin violently in the negative, then sank back into a faint.
'Give him air, and tell the healer to bring a restorative to rouse him,' Lujan snapped. A warrior hurried off to comply, while the men who had been steadying the man gently eased a blanket under his head. Moments later the healer arrived, unlimbering his bundled box of medicines and bandages.
He quickly prepared and pressed a strong-smelling medicine to the unconscious man's nose. He roused with a groan and thrashed his arms.
Lujan caught his tortured gaze. 'Tell me. You were discovered.'
'Somehow.' The man blinked, as if trapped by unpleasant memories. 'The First Adviser, Incomo, found out I was an Acoma agent.'
Lujan said nothing. Besides the Spy Master, only four people in the Acoma household, Mara, Nacoya, Keyoke, and himself, knew the passwords, changed at irregular intervals, that would identify an Acoma agent. The possibility could not be dismissed that this man might be a Minwanabi impostor. Only Arakasi would know for certain.
If torture could force the password from the real agent, any number of enemy warriors might agree to this abuse to ruin the Acoma.
Kanil clawed weakly at Lujan's wrist. 'I don't know how they found me out. They called for me and then took me to this room.' He swallowed hard. 'They tortured me . . .1 lost consciouSness and when I awoke I was alone. The door was unguarded. I don't know why. Perhaps they thought I was dead. Many Minwanabi soldiers were rushing to boa boats and cross the lake. I crept out of the room in which was a prisoner and stowed away on a supply boat. I passe out, and when I was again conscious, the flotilla was docked at Sulan-Qu. There were only two guards at the far end the docks, so I slipped off into the city.'
'Strike Leader Lujan,' the healer interjected, 'if you'
question this man too long, his survival may be threatened At the mention of Lujan's name, Kanil stirred in sudden'
and shattering agitation. 'Oh, gods!' he whispered hoarsely
'This is the false caravan.'
Lujan's only betrayal of shock was a tightening of his hand on his sword hilt. Taut, dangerous, and wary, h'
ignored the healer's plea and leaned close to the man. Too softly he said, 'For what reason would the Spy Master inform you of this deception?' ~
The man lay uncaring of his peril. Whispering, he said,
'Arakasi didn't. The Minwanabi know! They laughed and boasted of what they knew of Lady Mara's plan while they tortured me.'
Chilled by this answer, Lujan pressed, 'Do they know about the real silk shipment?'
Kanil returned a painful nod. 'They do. They sent three hundred men to plunder it.'
Lujan stood. Curbing an impulse to fling his plumed helm to the ground, he cried, 'Damn the fickleness of the gods!'
Then, aware of curious eyes that turned in his direction, he waved healer and soldiers away, leaving him alone with the tortured man. Night wind stirred the fire. Kneeling, Lujan seized Kanil by the back of the neck and hauled his battered face near to his own so they might speak without being overheard. 'Upon your soul and life, do you know where?'
Tremors coursed through Kanil's body. But his eyes were steady as he said, 'The attack will happen on the road through the Kyamaka Mountains, beyond the Tuscalora border, in a place where wagons must climb up out of a depression toward a western ridge. That is all I know.'
Lujan stared unseeing into features ravaged by enemies.
He thought with a clarity that came on him in moments of crisis, and reviewed every dell and hideout and cranny he remembered in the mountains 'where he had once led his band of grey warriors. There were many an army might use for an ambush. Yet only one place that was suitable for concealment of three full companies matched the description.
As if dreaming, Lujan said, 'How long ago did the Minwanabi dogs pass Sulan-Qu?'
Kanil's head sagged sideways. 'A day, perhaps two. I cannot say. I fainted in a hovel in the city, and the gods only know how long I