The Cursewright's Vow

Chapter 11: Blood on the Old Godsway, Part 5

 "Captain-Commander," said Ammas Mourthia pleasantly.

"Mourthia," she replied. "Want to explain all this here, or in Titansgrave?"

"Is there any way you're not taking me to Titansgrave tonight, Mielle?"

"Captain-Commander."

"Is there any way you're not taking me to Titansgrave tonight, Captain-Commander Mielle?"

Thalia scowled. "I'm thrilled you can make jokes while one of those girls is being loaded into a funeral cart."

Barthim the Beast leapt to his feet, his face contorted with a rage not even the odd miscreant at the Lioness usually saw. "Ammas did more for that girl than any of your useless, vile, cockless guardsmen ever did! You are to be speaking to him with more respect, and if he wants to be joking, you will smile and listen!" At that Barthim pounded one gigantic fist against Ammas's table, making it shiver and creak so ominously it might have shattered. Ammas would find a hairline crack in its surface the next day.

"Barthim," the cursewright said warningly. The guards had drawn their swords, although the Captain-Commander seemed unmoved. Muttering ominously, the Beast sank back into his chair. Ammas looked up at Thalia. "I'll tell you this much. There are two dead werewolves in this temple, one in a rather sorry physical state, one in perfect condition except for a broken neck."

"And a crushed windpipe, several broken ribs -- "

"Barthim, please. There is also at least one living wolf still abroad. It may have assumed a human shape, I do not know. I have reason to suspect these wolves have an unusual level of control over their forms."

"Would you share these reasons with me?"

"Am I under arrest?"

"I don't have a choice. I might not have to charge you with anything, but we need to speak frankly," her eyes wandered to Barthim for a moment, "and alone."

"Then I'll tell you everything I know at Titansgrave. What are you doing about the remaining wolves?"

"I have two guards and a couple of deputies scouring Brightmoon Bay."

"Deputies?" Now Ammas looked deeply concerned. "What deputies? And why Brightmoon Bay in particular?"

"The deputies are a couple of travelers out of Gallowsport. They claimed to have experience dealing with these monsters."

Ammas now looked downright alarmed. "Gallowsport? What men out of Gallowsport?" He rose from his seat, heedless of the glaring, sword-wielding guardsmen. "Mielle, please. If you've deputized men from Gallowsport, they -- they might not be trustworthy."

Thalia's eyes narrowed. "Tell me what you know about this."

Ammas's eyes darted over his shoulder, toward the waters of Brightmoon Bay, glittering peacefully under the risen half-moon of Saya. "Travelers out of Gallowsport, wolves out of Gallowsport. I fear you may have been duped."

The Captain-Commander looked for a jest in Ammas's eyes and found none there. Disquiet began to creep into her otherwise immovable demeanor. "I'll send a few more guards, make sure my men aren't outnumbered."

"I'll go with them if you want."

"I can't permit that."

"The offer stands. Perhaps we should finish our conversation at Titansgrave as quickly as possible, then. I won't even ask you to deputize me."

Captain Thalia seemed to find this agreeable. She nodded to Sergeant Lyros, who pulled from his belt a pair of shackles. Ammas turned around and offered his wrists without complaint. "Shall I confiscate his dagger, Captain?"