He raised a third finger on his “good news” hand and looked suggestively at Kitalia. She had her eyes closed and lips pressed tightly together as she slowly shook her head side to side. “I know,” he said slowly. “I know that you don’t want to hear this. I’ll be honest, I’m not thrilled with the idea either. I’m as likely to be killed in Ylveryan lands as I am facing capture by the Rangers if we continue south.”
“What about that oath of yours?” she asked, clearly trying to find reasons to dissuade him from his course of thinking. “The one that keeps you moving as directly as possible?”
Kre nodded. “I thought about that a bit, mostly while we were holed in in that… well… that hole.
“There were four covenants that I had to swear to,” he continued, moving his left hand back down and waving the right one to emphasize his point. “The first was to not violate any laws. Second was to move with all haste to the Citadel. Third, keep the details of my situation secret, and last was to wear the cloak of shame.”
Kre sighed heavily and shrugged his shoulders. “The least of my violations so far seems to be that I’ve lost the cloak. Slightly worse yet, everyone and their brother seems to know about me and what I’ve done. Still, I think my biggest crime so far is that I’ve fled from the authorities and disregarded lawful orders.
“I’ve violated three of the four covenants already and am already a fugitive from justice. It can’t really get much worse for me legally if I take a detour.”
“Why did you not simply give yourself up when the Rangers demanded then?” Kitalia asked in her usual sweet voice, but even Kre could tell there was a hint of a steely edge to it.
“Well,” he started, chewing on his lower lip as he paused to think of how to phrase his response, “I could say that I got swept up in the moment. That I was pressured into making some bad decisions that just seemed to drive me further and further away from my course.
“But,” he added quickly, seeing the dangerous glint in Kitalia’s eyes from being called out as a bad influence, “none of that is the case. Truth be told, I don’t think the lawful authorities are all that lawful. I don’t think that justice will be served if I turn myself in.”
“Justice for you?” she asked.
Kre shook his head. “No, I’m resigned to the fact that I’ve broken numerous laws and deserve my punishment. It’s Ser Terync’s legacy that concerns me now. The Citadel has to know what happened to him. They have to know that a great man… a Dragon Knight… is dead now, murdered. They need to look into why he died and dispense justice as only they can do in this situation.”
Bel chimed in quickly, “That path is not available to us either.”
Both Kre and Kitalia turned to the blue-eyed lady and asked in unison, “What do you mean?”
“The Citadel is the one who sent the assassin to kill my Terync.”