He hadn’t bargained on one of the allies dropping in.
“Oh, I’m no ally,” Dahli corrected, then laughed.
The laugh was so light-hearted that Rielle wondered if she was hearing someone who only sounded like Dahli. She sought his mind and glimpsed a murderous intention. Her blood went cold. Surely Dahli wouldn’t…
“No? Then… what are you?” the stranger began.
“I am his Most Loyal.”
The magic around Rielle suddenly surged to a point somewhere within the dining room. Gabeme had taken it. She caught her breath, hoping that Dahli already had enough to repel an attack–and had regained control of his temper.
What she saw in Gabeme’s mind now shocked her. He’d heard stories of this one, closest of the Raen’s most willing followers, to whom the Raen gave his most terrible and murderous tasks. I must be the most unlucky rebel in the worlds. He was too terrified to move. The Most Loyal was reaching for him. He backed away, knowing that he would never win a fight with this man, or outrun him.
Rielle pushed through the door. “Let him go, Dahli.”
Dahli froze and looked at her in surprise. Gabeme gave her a puzzled stare, then vanished.
“Gah!” Dahli clenched his fists and turned back to the empty space Gabeme had occupied.
“Don’t!” Rielle called. “There is no need to kill him.”
He glared at her, then vanished.
Letting out a long sigh, she turned back to the door. At least I tried to stop him killing the man. But as she reached out to the handle Dahli blinked into existence in front of her.
“Gone,” he growled. “Just as you planned.”
She stepped back. “Plan?”
“You meant him to escape.”
“Well, yes. You were going to kill him.”
“Of course I was! He’s a rebel!”
“A messenger. A nobody.” She shook her head. “What difference would killing him make? He’s too weak to be any great threat–and not particularly smart. I couldn’t stand there and let you kill someone just for being a fool.”
Dahli’s eyes narrowed as he advanced, forcing her to back away. “You expect me to believe that?”
“Why wouldn’t you?” She stopped and met his stare despite how close he stood. “You’ve seen into my mind enough to know I’d never support killing anyone if it could be avoided. Why else would I intervene?”
“Because your loyalty is not to Valhan.”
Rielle shook her head. “What are you saying? That I would oppose Valhan and support the rebels after having met one rather unimpressive one–rebels who I don’t know and who have never done anything for me.”
“But you do know them,” he told her.
Exasperation filled her. “How can I possibly know the rebels?”
He leaned closer.
“You know Baluka quite well, from what I have heard.”
The name was like a slap, creating a wave of guilt that drowned out her ability to speak.
His expression became triumphant. “He is their leader.”
She could not breathe. Baluka. He’d not returned to his family and learned that she had left willingly. He’d joined the only people who were willing to fight the man he believed had abducted her.
“Oh, Baluka,” she breathed, moving to a chair and sitting down. “Why didn’t you go home?”
So this is all my fault, in a way. If I hadn’t left to join Valhan, Baluka wouldn’t have left the Travellers and–oh, what a mess. But then she realised that, by the same kind of reasoning, this could just as easily be Valhan’s fault for taking her from her world.
She looked up. Dahli stood regarding her with crossed arms, all determination and venom.
“Valhan was wise not to let me teach you how to travel between worlds,” he said.
She felt sick. I had no idea he distrusted me so much. It doesn’t make sense. He has seen into my mind. He knows I harbour no lingering feeling for Baluka. There must be another reason.
“You know I didn’t know Baluka had joined the rebels,” she told him. “You never saw that knowledge in my mind when you were teaching me pattern shifting.”
“Never seeing it simply means you never thought about it while your mind was open.”
“But surely if I had some malicious plan I’d have been unable to help thinking about it?”
“You simply had no reason to yet. But you did acknowledge that you do not want to serve Valhan. You are not loyal to him. You still feel an obligation to the Travellers. To this young man. If you had to choose between them—”
“Oh, don’t be ridiculous, Dahli,” she said, cutting him off. “Just because I don’t feel the same loyalty to Valhan that you do doesn’t mean I want him dead. Far from it. You know I never want to kill anyone ever again. Nothing will change that.”
Though his face barely moved, several emotions were betrayed in tiny shifts of muscles. Knowing. Guilt. Realisation. Hope. The latter three intrigued her. It was as if he had realised she wasn’t aware of something. As if he knew he’d got away with something. Perhaps it was time she asked the questions.