his hand on Cayan’s arm. He said something and waited. Sanders translated, “He says he should’ve protected his town in the first place. He should do this.”
Cayan clenched his jaw. His power bubbled within him, barely kept under control. He stepped away.
Shanti felt more minds gather, watching. Women and men both crowded around as the man from the town stepped up to the door and grabbed the handle. He turned and threw the door wide.
“Should’ve checked to see if it was locked,” Shanti muttered to Cayan.
The Graygual sat at the table in a large, well-appointed dining room. Judging by the familiarity with which the man moved through this house, checking hiding places, and his sorrow, it was probably his.
“Tell him the Graygual is the only one alive here,” Cayan told Sanders.
A moment later the man turned to Sanders, and then narrowed his eyes at Cayan. It wasn’t until he met Shanti’s eyes that his face drained of color and his eyes started to shine with moisture. He uttered something as his knuckles drained of white on his sword handle. Shanti could feel his gratitude mixing with his profound hope.
Sanders didn’t translate.
“I bet you would’ve told me what he said if he was cursing me,” Shanti muttered as the man kissed the back of her hand.
“Yup.” Sanders jerked his chin toward the silent and patiently waiting Graygual. “He wants you to do the honors in killing the scum.”
“No, Chulan,” Rohnan said with urgency. “He needs to do this, and the townspeople need to see him do it. They need this, Chulan.”
Shanti gave the man a deep bow, and gestured him on instead. “Tell him I have done my job so that he can do his.”
“No,” Cayan said softly before Sanders could utter the words. “Tell him to claim his freedom.”
After Sanders relayed the message, the man paused. He turned his attention to Cayan. For a moment the two men stared at each other in a silent exchange, before the man’s grip tightened on his sword again and determination coated his features. He turned toward the Graygual.
“You will make a wonderful pet,” the Graygual said to Shanti in his home tongue. “The Being Supreme has great plans for you.”
The man from town wasted no time. He slashed down at the Graygual’s neck, cleaving it almost clean off. For a moment, he just stared down with rage masking his expression. That dripped away, though, and in its place was intense, gut-wrenching sorrow.
“I must go, Chulan,” Rohnan said, backing out of the door. “I suspect the Graygual took his family from him.”
Shanti nodded and backed out as well, leaving the man to his grief.
“That was the right thing,” Sanders said when he met Shanti outside. “Letting him do it. That was the right thing to do.”
“It seems so.” Shanti looked into the breeze, letting the air dry her eyes.
“The Captain said to do whatever you wanted as long as you were with Rohnan.” Sanders stepped back toward the door.
“What are you doing?”
“I need to translate for him. He’s got to get this city organized before we can move on.”
“We need to speak to some of these people, Chulan,” Rohnan said softly. “They have the same pain we do. They have lost a lot of people.”
“How are we going to talk with them? Do any of us know this language?”
“One of us must. Your grandfather was thorough.”
Shanti chose a path to Sayas. He was the biggest busybody of them all, so he’d probably know who knew what. As she made her way, she thought of their upcoming battle. This town was small, with nothing more than the spillover of the larger city up the road. But even so, those archers surprised them, and the Inkna had posed a bigger problem than they should’ve done. It didn’t bode well. Even using all their resources in the next city, unless they did something different, they wouldn’t live to take Xandre down.
16
“Sanders, where do we stand?” Cayan wiped his hands on a rag as he came to a stop next to his commander.
Sanders straightened up slowly and then stretched with a grunt before putting his hand to his lower back. “The people are rallying, sir.”
Cayan glanced up at the sun, finding it closer to the horizon than he might’ve liked, and then blew out a breath as he surveyed the small town. Starved and bedraggled, the people here had been through much hardship. The Graygual officer in charge of this city wasn’t as firm in his control as