Page 87 of Stormvein
A soft knock at the door interrupts our conversation. Varam waits, and when the knock repeats, he unlocks the door and looks out. When he sees who it is, he steps back to allow Mira inside.
“Lisandra has called a meeting,” she reports after the door closes. “She’s sent me for Varam. They want a full report about what happened at Glassfall Gap.”
I nod. “I’ve told Varam to tell them the truth about everything except my recovery. Let them believe I’m dying.”
“And the traitor?” Mira asks.
“I’m sure they’re already wondering how I survived long enough to return.” I study the map of Stonehaven and its surroundings, mentally ticking off places where someone might attempt to send messages beyond Stonehaven’s walls. “They’ll need to report my return to Sereven. Watch patrol routes,especially near the northeastern passes.” I turn back to face Mira and Varam. “Report back once you’re done. Watch everyone closely.”
Their hands fist against their chests, and they turn toward the door.
“Did you pick up anything from people’s reactions?” Ellie asks once Varam and Mira leave.
“Nothing that I didn’t expect to see. Shock. Concern. Horror at my apparent condition.”
“But no obvious signs of who could be the traitor?”
“Genuine reactions can mask guilt. Just because they’ve betrayed us, it doesn’t mean they wouldn’t be shocked to see the state I arrived in. Traitors rarely announce themselves through obvious tells. They compartmentalize, separate the betrayal from their daily identity. Someone in Stonehaven has betrayed ustwicethat we know of. I’ll find out who it is soon enough.”
“How?” She joins me in front of the maps. “If they’ve been careful enough to have never been suspected for all this time, why will that change now?”
“They’ve never been under this level of scrutiny before. My return changes everything. They thought I was captured or dead. Now they have to recalculate, adjust their approach, and potentially rush communications that would have otherwise been carefully timed. Every betrayal creates patterns. Every traitor leaves traces. We just need to watch long enough to identify them.”
“Do you think they’re still here? Or would they leave after finding out the rescue at Glassfall Gap was successful? Do you think they might know they’ve been discovered?”
“No, they’re here.” I’m confident of that. “Sereven would demand continued information, especially now. A traitor who abandons their post becomes useless … and the Authority doesn’t tolerate uselessness.”
“So, they’re trapped. Caught between Sereven’s demands and the risk of discovery.”
“Precisely. Which will make them desperate … and desperation creates opportunity.” I pause and turn to look at her. “The most valuable information they could provide now is confirmation of my condition. Sereven will want to know if I survived the rescue, and whether I’m dying or will heal.”
“Then they’ll try to check on you themselves?”
“Yes. They’ll do whatever they can to get inside this room to see me.”
“What do we do in the meantime?”
“We wait for Varam or Mira to return and tell us what happened at the meeting.”
It isn’t a long wait. Varam returns a little after midnight, slipping through the door during a guard change. His expression confirms successful deception at the meeting, before he says anything.
“They believe you’re dying,” he reports.
“And reactions to the suggestion that Sereven might have let slip information during my torture?”
“Mixed. Most seemed concerned. Lisandra wanted to know if it was anything that could help Stonehaven. Telren suggested your memory might be compromised by trauma and fever.”
I turn away from the maps, and pour a cup of water from the pitcher on the table.
“Then the trap is set. Now we wait, watch, and listen. Somewhere in these tunnels, someone is planning their next move. Someone who betrayed me twice, and will try again.”
Someone who doesn’t realize that the broken, dying man they expect to find is gone … replaced by something far more dangerous.
Something that doesn’t forgive.
Chapter Twenty
ELLIE
