Web of Deceit by Richard S. Tuttle Page A

tribe, then what does it matter?” retorted Wyant. “They are strong enough now to walk all over us. Our only hope of survival would be to band with the other tribes.”
    “But here we have the fortress,” Brakas complained. “It is a very defensible place.”
    “Yes it is,” agreed Wyant, “but it is not impregnable. And if we only took a portion of the troops we would be setting ourselves up for just that. I am already leery about the Jiadin holding this meeting on sacred ground. Something smells to me.”
    “You think it is a trap?” questioned Brakas.
    “I do,” answered the Zaldoni leader. “The Jiadin have broken every agreement the tribes have made. They have attacked villages in our territory as well as others. Now they appear to have set up camp in the sacred lands, where no tribe is to be. If this is not a ploy to put all tribes under the Jiadin, I’ll eat my horse.”
    “Then why go at all?” asked Brakas.
    “Because we need to show strength to the other tribes,” explained Wyant. “I am hoping to convince some of them to join with us in opposing the Jiadin.”
    “If Grulak finds out about that he will attack us for sure,” commented Brakas.
    “Then he had best not find out,” frowned Wyant. “By the way, Rejji is not coming with us.”
    “So you do think he is a spy then?” questioned Brakas.
    “No, I don’t,” answered Wyant. “He has trained hard to be one of us and Klavin says he has learned well and swiftly. It is his desire for revenge against the Jiadin that troubles me. To take him there would be too tempting for any man to resist and it would expose our entire tribe to danger. I like the young lad, but I am going to turn him loose in the morning when we leave. Perhaps he will rejoin us someday in the future.”
    “Makes sense I guess,” Brakas responded. “Vandegar Temple is not the place for us to start a fight.”

Chapter 6
Rocky Road
    “It sure would be nice to have that gold Brontos gave you,” needled Mistake, “or at least something other than my daggers to get food with.”
    “The villagers gave us what they thought they could spare,” replied Rejji. “You are just looking for an excuse to start stealing again.”
    “It would have been easy, Rejji,” she grumbled. “They weren’t even watching me.”
    “We will find another village or some travelers we can ask for food,” Rejji promised. “Maybe I can find some work at the next village and pick up a few gold coins.”
    “Maybe,” Mistake frowned, “but we have been a week on the road now and haven’t seen any other travelers and the villagers are suspicious of everyone.”
    “Can’t say as I blame them,” responded Rejji. “If Wyant was right about the Jiadin gathering all the tribes together, Fakara is going to become a much more dangerous place than it has been.”
    “It never has been safe,” Mistake pointed out. “You have lived in a idealistic world, Rejji. Outside your little village, people have been robbed and murdered daily. That is the way of this world. You take what you can get and guard it from others.”
    “Well that is just stupid,” Rejji stated. “If people worked together, there would be more for everyone. Our village survived because we shared everything. Nobody was left to fend for themselves.”
    “And where are they now?” Mistake blurted out and immediately regretted it.
    Rejji halted on the trail and stared at Mistake. “The people who attacked our village will pay for it,” he promised. “If all the young men of the villages weren’t running off to join the bandits, the tribes would think twice about attacking the villages. Somebody has to stand up to them.”
    “I am sorry, Rejji,” apologized Mistake. “I shouldn’t have brought that up, but you should not believe that everyone is good at heart either. While all of the tribes are bandits, not all bandits are members of the tribes. There are other bad people in this world. Someone will always be there to