Oracle (Book 5) by Ben Cassidy Page B

her.”
    Kendril glared at him. “I still think Bronwyn knows something big. She’s definitely worth hunting down.”
    “I’ve interrogated cultists and worshippers of the Seteru from Vorten to Archangel,” Tomas said. “No one’s had any information of any kind of larger plan or grand scheme. Not like what you’re talking about. Right now all the information we have points to this being exactly what it seems like…a coordinated but haphazard series of minor uprisings and attacks in cities across Rothland.”
    Kendril gave a determined shake of his head. “No, it’s more than that. Every Despair has been more than that. There’s a bigger attack still coming. I know it. All these cults springing up everywhere, they’re just preparing the way for the big thrust. Softening us up, turning nation against nation.”
    Tomas tilted his head. “I don’t know, Kendril…”
    “Everyone thought I was crazy back in Vorten too, remember?” Kendril’s face twitched. “Especially Olan.”
    Tomas crossed his arms. “So Bronwyn’s really this important?”
    Kendril looked away, one hand still on his half-empty flagon. “I don’t know. But we have to start somewhere.” He looked back at Tomas. “But I lost her. New Marlin’s huge. Ships come in and out of here all the time. It would take me weeks to question everyone in the harbor and the boarding houses.”
    “Well,” said Tomas with a sly smile, “it appears that for once I’m ahead of someone here in New Marlin.”
    Kendril stopped the flagon half-way to his mouth. “You know where Bronwyn is?”
    “I…have a notion.”
    The flagon thumped as it hit the table. “Tell me.”
    Tomas leaned forward. “One condition. I come along.”
    Kendril sneered. “So you can tell Olan what we’re up to?”
    “Exactly.”
    Kendril’s sneer turned into a withering scowl. “I work alone, Tomas.”
    “That’s not what I saw in Vorten,” Tomas replied quickly. “You had three other people with you. You even called them your team, if I remember correctly.”
    A quick flash of pain passed over Kendril’s face. “I work alone.”
    “Not anymore.” Tomas stabbed his finger on the table top. “This is my neck on the line too, Kendril. Olan’s hopping mad about you going off on this crazy pursuit. Eru help me, I have a gut feeling that you might be right about Bronwyn, but I’m not going to pay the price for it if you’re wrong.”
    “So,” said Kendril coldly, “you want to share the glory with me if we uncover something big, but you’re going to throw me to the dogs if this turns out to be a waste of time?”
    Tomas grinned. “Now you get it.”
    Kendril’s face was dark. He clutched his hand tightly on the flagon, then gave a slow nod. “Alright. What do you know?”
    “Found a man in Shawnor,” Tomas said casually. “Part of one of the cults there. Chalranu, or Harnathu, one of the major Seteru. I forget which exactly.”
    Kendril waited patiently. His hand gripped the flagon tighter.
    “Anyway, the witch had passed through there.”
    “That was weeks ago,” Kendril growled.
    Tomas lifted his hands defensively. “I know, I know. Hear me out, will you? The man mentioned that this woman, I assume your Bronwyn, mentioned going east. Across the Strait.”
    Kendril looked hard at Tomas. “ East ? You’re sure?”
    Tomas gave a short nod. “It makes sense, doesn’t it? New Marlin would be the perfect jumping-off point to catch a ship that way.”
    “Jothland,” Kendril breathed. A new fire shone in his eyes. “That must mean something. There are barbarian tribes in Jothland, in the Wastelands. That might be where the Seteru are going to make their assault from.”
    Tomas spread his hands on the table. “Possibly. It’s a lead, at any rate.”
    Kendril’s mind was working furiously. “There’s only one port she could put in at. Redemption. It’s a small enough town. Someone like her would be sure to get noticed.”
    “She might have gone