Cursed: Traitor's Trail

Chapter 14 part 1

The scout, Kordal, hunched before Jaob, even his dust covered robes sagged, tired and worn from the long ride. From the way he stood, Jaob suspected that he hadn't slept since he left the village of Thian. Despite his posture, and the slight swaying of his body, the man's lips pursed in a serious manner, his face lined with deep concern.

For a good reason, Jaob reminded himself. If his news were true, then every Magi had reason for concern. A deeper concern than even the traitor brought forth. And given that the man drove himself to exhaustion to get the news to Jaob, there was no reason to consider his words false. No matter how much he might wish they were.

“Are you certain?” he asked, more out of habit than disbelief.

“Positive Jaob, they know where we are. I heard it described in detail. Someone who has been in New Hope had to have told them; their knowledge was too intricate to be guesswork.” Kordal swayed, as if talking took a great deal of effort for him. Jaob indicated he should sit on the pallet of skins provided, but the man shook his head. “If I sit, I will sleep, there is nothing for it right now.”

Jaob pondered the information. No trading trips had been made since before the whole mess with the traitor started. The only Magi roaming out of New Hope between then had been the scouts.

His eyes roved over the exhausted man. A scout might be a traitor, he supposed. At least, the chance of one of the scouts turning traitor was about the same as any other Magi of the village. But if their betrayer was a scout, then the sabotage would have been sporadic, only when the scout was in the village. In truth, since its beginning, the traitor's influence seemed consistent and growing.

“Did the villagers say what they were going to do with this information?” Jaob asked.

This nightmare of problems had to end, truly it grew beyond his control. If someone used, at any time, their powers for sabotage, then the king became an immediate worry. He doubted it would take Theron long to send his forces to investigate. And now he must worry about the nearby villagers, as well. He pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose. What kind of leader let things get this out of control? And still he had no course of action without knowing the traitor's identity, and the problematic fires he put out just kept growing and birthing new problems.

“It was being debated when I found myself having to leave rather quickly to avoid detection.”

Jaob grunted his agreement. Even when New Hope wished to trade with Thian, they remained in large groups for protection. Thian would trade for the Magi's superior wares if their price was reduced far below their true value. But they could not be trusted regarding violence if any Magi were caught on their own.

He heaved a great sigh. It began to occur to him that New Hope was no longer the haven it had been. In the space of a few weeks, everything he worked to accomplish was lost. Such a short time to ruin what took eight years to build.

The Magi were going to have to evacuate, there was no wisdom in waiting for one of the confounding factors to pick them off.

“Thank you for your good work Kordal. When do you think you can ride out next?”