“Yes, it is!” She shook her finger in his face. “You said Rule 1 is to protect and honor your friends. Tam is your best friend. You have failed. You must go after him.”
Rezkin felt empty as he looked at her. He said, “I have a war to wage. I cannot be everywhere at once.”
“Your BEST friend, Rezkin!”
“I will send a striker to confirm his death and retrieve his body, if possible. Will that make you happy? This is the kind of thing for which they are trained.”
“No! Not good enough. It has to be you. You are the best, and you are responsible for his welfare. If you cannot take care of your best friend, then how do you intend to care for an empire?”
Rezkin looked at Tieran. In that moment, he had an overwhelming urge to kill his cousin, and he did not know why. He looked down at Frisha, and he knew he had failed to bury his anger when it escaped in his voice. “I never wanted an empire. I did all of this for you—for you and him.”
“Then find him!”
Rezkin stared into her deep brown eyes, red and watery with tears. He turned to a very pale Tieran. “You are in charge of the war. I am going to search for a dead man.”
“What? Wait, Rez ...”
Rezkin stormed away before they could assail him again. Just before he reached the corveua, he felt a sharp sting on his neck. His arm felt heavier as he reached up to pluck the tiny, feathered needle from his neck. His first thought was that Connovan was up to his tricks. He furrowed his brow as he spun the dart between his fingers. He had never seen anything like it. The feathers looked exotic, and the miniscule needle was engraved with runes that seemed familiar, but his mind was becoming foggy. He stumbled through the corveua, and his last thought was a call for the shielreyah.
Epilogue
“It worked (eager),” she said, peering at the prostrate man from her perch in the rocks.
“Too quickly, (cautious),” said Entris. “He is almost completely drained. It may succeed in killing him (concerned).”
“Then our presence here will no longer be necessary, and we can go home (impatient).”
He said, “We must deal with this (determined).”
“So, is he, or is he not (impatient)?” she said.
Entris’s emerald eyes glinted in the waning light when he glanced at her. “I would have said no, except the poison worked (confused). What does his aura say (curious)?”
She shook her head. “I cannot tell. I have never seen one so utterly destroyed (disgusted).”
“Perhaps it is because of the Daem’Ahn. I have never seen such a possession (curious).”
She drummed her fingers on her blow tube. “The Daem’Ahn complicates things (frustrated).”
“We will not engage unless he survives (decisive).” Entris looked at her. “For now, we watch and wait. How shall we pass the time (playful)?”