Verdom had been feeling guilty for some time. He knew he needed to confess to Linth about the truth of Fulch, but he was too scared. Every night since their return, Nartuck would host a dinner, and they were the guests of honor. By now, the whole village knew what had happened, and they had to cry in secret.
Linth’s warriors didn’t know what to think, and they didn’t know if they could trust Linth anymore. Linth advised Verdom to keep the truth quiet for some time. Just in case they were being followed. To take suspicion away from them. Nartuck was finally sick of the dinners, mainly because he wasn’t the main attraction. So he sent a soldier to Linth’s place to tell him there will be no more parties. Linth took this as a sign that he could start to prepare; he thought they were wasting time, but he had to be careful. Just then, Verdom walked into Linth’s hut. He had been there every day, mainly to decompress; he wasn’t used to this much stress. Linth knew what to do; he grabbed a pitcher of grog and poured a cup for Verdom. He took it gleefully and sat down in a chair, sighing deeply and drinking.
“I’m glad those dinners are over. I don’t know if I could have said how Fulch died one more time,” Verdom said. Linth chuckled; he was annoyed by it too. Linth decided to join Verdom in drinking and poured himself a cup and sat next to him.
“I think it’s time to talk to my warriors. Have you figured out which ones are turning?” Linth said. This seemed to perk up Verdom.
“Not one is changing their beliefs; the Lord is thinking about killing them,” Verdom said. Linth took a sip and put his hand on his head.
“Then it’s time,” Linth said. Verdom wanted to talk more, mainly to gather the courage to tell Linth what he knew, but Linth said he had to set it up and walked out. Verdom knew what he had to do; he knew he had to distract the soldiers, so he was going to call a meeting to discuss what to do with the warriors.
Linth went to his second in command and said he’s calling a meeting of the warriors and to keep it quiet and not let anyone know where they're going. His Bishta seemed confused but chose to obey anyway. Later in the evening, both peoples were in their meetings. Linth came into his, eyeing each and every one of his warriors, and noticed one was missing. They met at a tree where the water runs from. They thought it sacred, so they held meetings there. All of the warriors looked nervous; they were expecting to be slaughtered, if they only knew how close they were to their demise. Bishta was waiting for him, trying to calm down the warriors. Once Linth got in front of them, his nerves were going crazy.
“Welcome my friends…”Linth said there was tension still, and he knew he needed to be upfront with everything.
“I say friends, but I know you all doubt that. Fulch is alive, we are playing a trick on the Lord, for it to undoubtably be his downfall. The soldier I am with is on our side. I’m sorry brothers, that I have not come to you sooner, but this had to be done right…now we must incite rebellion.” Linth said, but the warriors weren’t convinced; they still thought this to be a trap. This is when Bishta spoke up.
“How do we know what you say is true?” he asked. Linth then realized he had no proof.
“I have no proof but my word, and with my past history with you all, I would think I’ve earned your trust,” Linth said. Bishta was hesitant until an unnamed warrior spoke up.
“Trust him!” he said, then a cheer came from the rest of the warriors. With this, Bishta gave a nod.
“So what do we do?” he said. Linth exhaled with relief. They had not abandoned him, and now they could begin their work. They started going over their plans, but the missing warrior was weighing heavily on Linth’s mind.
“Sorry to interrupt, but we are missing someone,” Linth said. Bishta looked around, then noticed they were missing Tulka.
“Where is Tulka?” Bishta said. No one knew. That’s when Linth stated he was not to be trusted and to keep this meeting from him. Linth knew this would not go over well, but they all eventually agreed. Linth was wondering how the meeting with the soldiers was going, and he wondered if Tulka was there.
***
Verdom had been spewing the Lord's rhetoric, and the soldiers were eating it up, all the while Verdom was taking special interest in the one warrior sitting in between the ranks. Some of the soldiers noticed and were treating him like he had already switched sides. Verdom knew he had to address this at some point, and he also needed to know if there were more like him.
“Warrior! What is your name?” Verdom said, interrupting the cheers of the soldiers. Tulka was taken aback by this; he wanted to go unnoticed, which he was clearly failing at.
“Tulka,” he said, standing up purely out of nerves.
“Hear, hear Tulka!” the soldiers yelled. Verdom needed to be careful how he questioned Tulka.
“What brings you to our meeting? Are you here to join our ranks?” Verdom asked. This let out a cheer from the soldiers. Tulka smiled and said yes, but Verdom suspected there was more to the story. He decided to finish up and question him when there wasn’t an audience. Then Verdom remembered there was a reason for this meeting, more than to distract the soldiers.
“My fellow soldiers, Tulka has presented us with a chance. You see, we shouldn’t destroy the warriors; we need to convert them to make us more powerful. Give a beggar food, and they’ll eat out of our hands. We should send Tulka back to find like minded individuals that want to join us.” Verdom said, which the soldiers ate up. Verdom wondered how he was so blinded like them before and questioned whether he was the one who was that radical. Verdom talked about how they need to invite the warriors to more of the doings to wrap them in, and then concluded the meeting. When people started to leave, Verdom asked Tulka to join him. Tulka was hesitant but came anyway. Verdom put his arm around him and walked him away from the others.
“Now what was it exactly that brought you to us?” Verdom said, Tulka was nervous. Verdom could tell.
“No need to be bashful, all is welcome!” Verdom said, Tulka took a deep breath before talking.
“It was Bishta who sent me to be honest. He’s tired of Linth and the loyalty to the king. Now that the king is dead, he’s ready to take over Linth’s position and unite all of us to the Lord’s plan,” Tulka said. Verdom was worried, and he really hoped his face didn’t give him away.
“I would like to have a sit down with Bishta so I can help out with this transition,” Verdom said, hoping he was being convincing. Tulka shifted his feet.
“That will be a little difficult. We have to do it privately so the other warriors don’t suspect something. I will talk to him and maybe get a couple of other warriors as well,” Tulka said. Verdom smiled in agreement and let him go his separate ways. He then wanted to go so badly to tell Linth what he had found out. He was nervous because their plans were now in jeopardy. Verdom waited for his moment and rushed back to Linth’s hut. Linth had been waiting for Verdom, happy about what had happened. Verdom came in with a fury.
“We have a problem,” Verdom said. As he walked over and poured himself a drink. Linth got up and went over to Verdom.
“What do you mean?” Linth said. Verdom looked at him and sighed.
“Tulka was sent by your second in command. He’s gunning for your job,” Verdom said. Linth’s expression changed to being worried.
“He never mentioned that. Are you sure?” Linth said, which made Verdom angry.
“What the fusht is wrong with you? Are you so far gone in believing in them that you can’t possibly consider one of them turning on you?” Verdom said. Linth thought, and he wasn’t sure what to do. He had known Bishta since they were children. They joined the warriors together; he couldn’t believe he wanted to hurt him.
“What did Tulka say?” Linth asked. Verdom had lost his patience.
“You’re a dahaked fool!” Verdom said as he left the hut. Linth decided to go over to the second in command’s house to go see for himself.
***
The roads were empty, and the night had a calming chill to it. Fires were lit all around him, doing a dance in the winter's air. Linth made it to the house and thought about knocking, but decided against it. He looked into the window to find that Tulka was already there.
“Trust me, we’re fine, I got the backing of Verdom, he wouldn’t let anything happen to us,” Tulka said. Linth then saw Bishta looking very stressed.
“I think Linth has someone in the soldiers' camp. It probably is Verdom. He has to be in on it,” Bishta said. This made Linth freeze.
“We should tell the Lord,” Tulka said. Bishta pondered over this and was shaking his head in agreement.
“Yes, when this comes to a head, we will be rewarded, and Linth will finally be dead,” Bishta said. This broke Linth’s heart; he thought that he was his friend, but apparently not. Linth was so filled with rage that he left to go get flammable liquid. Once he found something that would work, he doused the whole house in it and quickly grabbed a lantern. He threw it on the house, and it went up in flames. Linth heard the men realize the house was on fire, and they were heading towards the door. There was a log nearby, and Linth grabbed it with such might that he didn’t know where this strength was coming from. He placed it on the door, and the two men were trapped. Once they realized they couldn’t get out, they started screaming for help. Linth knew someone would eventually hear and come, so he got out of there as fast as he could. Linth ran to Verdom’s place and was banging on the door. Verdom opened it sword in hand.
“I killed them,” Linth said, the smell of smoke was tainting Verdom’s nose. Verdom motioned Linth to come inside, and as Linth went inside, Verdom looked around to see if anyone was watching, thankfully there was no one. As he closed the door, he sized up Linth. Who seemed far in thought and in crisis.
“Killed who?” Verdom said. Linth looked far off into the distance, not sure how to reconcile what he did.
“Linth!” Verdom yelled. This brought Linth back.
“I’m sorry my friend…friend…we are friends right?” Linth said. Verdom realized then just how frazzled Linth was.
“Yes. I believe so,” Verdom said. He then went for his pitcher of grog and grabbed a cup for Linth. As he was giving it to him, Linth sat down.
“I thought he was my friend. We were found out, you see, and they were going to turn us into the Lord. I had to do something. I’m sorry for not believing you, my friend,” Linth said. Verdom walked over to him and placed his hand on his shoulder.
“Trust me, I know how hard it is to believe someone has changed. I have something to confess,” Verdom said. Linth looked at him curiously.
“I poisoned Fulch before we left the village. I don’t know if he’ll make it back,” Verdom said. Linth saw red, he grabbed his throat and started to squeeze.
“Wait…Stop…Please,” Verdom said. Linth brought him closer to his face.
“Why should I?” Linth said. Verdom could barely get the words out.
“There’s…hope,” Verdom said. Linth decided to let him go and see what he had to say. Verdom was coughing and holding his neck.
“It’s a water poison, the Master should see the problem before it kills him,” Verdom said. Linth didn’t know what to do.
“Why tell me this now? Why didn’t you tell us when we were out in the forest?” Linth said. Verdom was afraid.
“I don’t know, at first it was just to trick you, but now it’s different, I really want change. I have betrayed you, I know. Please forgive me,” Verdom said. Linth was conflicted, he had grown fond of Verdom. Learning how ignorant he was to the way of things was eye opening. He had to admit it; he wasn’t convinced of his transformation so fast, but as time went on, he saw how Verdom had changed.
“If he doesn’t make it back, I will kill you,” Linth said. Verdom got up.
“And I’ll let you,” Verdom said. As they looked at each other, a noise was heard from the back. Verdom looked with a worried face. Linth saw this and immediately got up hand on his sword.
“Tanla, come out, I know it’s you,” Verdom said. Tanla walked out with fear on her face.
“I didn’t hear anything. I promise,” Tanla said. Verdom sighed and put out his hand for her to come closer. She hesitantly walked over.
“Linth, this is Tanla, my wife,” Verdom said. Linth, still enraged, gave a small smile and gave out his hand for her to shake. She took it with such fright that Linth noticed.
“There is nothing to be afraid of dear,” Linth said, which put Tanla on guard. She walked over to the kitchen, trying to put distance between them.
“I haven’t told her anything,” Verdom said. This took Linth aback.
“Why not?” he asked. This all was confusing Tanla, who was standing there holding a pitcher of grog.
“Tell me what?” Tanla said. Verdom went to her, grabbed the pitcher, and put it down to hold her hands. Tanla stood back, purely afraid.
“I never killed the king. I am working with them to overthrow the Lord,” Verdom said. She looked confused.
“Are you tricking me, my love?” Tanla said. Linth walked towards her.
“It’s no trick, my lady, we will change how things are,” Linth said. Tanla started to laugh, and Linth and Verdom looked at each other. She started to hysterically laugh and bend down, barely breathing. Verdom knew what all this was about; he knew he had to address it. So he walked over to her, grabbed her hands, and brought her to the ground.
“I’m sorry, my love for everything. I know I put you through fusht ever since I became a soldier, and I’m sorry about that. I’m not tricking you, trust me, my love, I have finally seen the light. Something I know you have been trying to show me,” Verdom said. She started to cry as he spoke, and she kept shaking her head.
“It’s true, Tanla, I haven’t changed my allegiance,” Linth said. Tanla took a deep breath.
“Thank god, cause I have something to tell you,” Tanla said. Verdom was confused. She then went on to tell them that she was with a faction of people who were rising up against the Lord. They had already been making his life difficult with shipments from the Porpura, and they were extremely disheartened to hear about Fulch. They said they needed to find a new leader; some said Linth, but others stated he was too far gone. She was happy to report all of this to the faction, but Linth and Verdom had reservations. She said she will call their council and they can decide where to go from there. Linth was secretly happy that the people were rising up, and he knew that this was exactly what they needed. Verdom wasn’t sure, but he knew he could trust his wife, so they talked about all the plans the faction had come up with and what Linth and Verdom planned. They talked all night. Things were about to change.