The three men were silent.
“Is this true?” Baki finally asked the brewer. “You knew about the attack?”
The brewer straightened his tunic. “You know, Baki,” he said mildly, “I’ve always liked you. You’re not very smart, but you mean well. That’s why I told you not to go to that godforsaken meeting.”
Baki shook his head in horror. “How could you do this?” heasked. “How could you stand with us all this time and then betray us? I thought you were my friend.”
“Iamyour friend!” the brewer said, slamming his fist against the table. “I saved you, didn’t I? And the others!
“It was all under control until the attack on the Medjay. I’d managed to convince the nomarch that the Horizon was harmless—just a bunch of grumbling malcontents. But then, you had to go and rob their armory…
“After that, well, he was out for blood. So I made my choice—sacrifice a few to save the rest. The men who showed up to that meeting were too foolish and stubborn to be saved. They got what they deserved.” He turned to the shepherd. “You see now, Baki? I did you a favor. It’s time to put all this behind us and move on.”
“And what about us?” Omari asked. “What about the stubborn fools that survived your butchery?”
The brewer shrugged and gestured toward the bubbling beer vat. “All it takes is a few bad seeds to ruin the whole batch. Since you didn’t have the courtesy to die, I’ll be forced to pass along your names to the nomarch as traitors to the crown. You managed to evade execution last night, but it won’t happen again.”
He stepped close to Rae, his lip curling into a sneer.
“I’m sure the nomarch will take his time with you. He’s a man who likes to savor his pleasures. Maybe he’ll even let you watch when his guards collect your father and finally put him out of his misery.”
At the mention of her father, something inside Rae—already bent to its breaking point—snapped.
In a flash, her dagger was in her hand. With the other hand, she gripped the brewer’s shoulder, pulled him toward her, and thrust the blade into his ribs.
The brewer’s eyes widened. A surprised, strangled noise erupted from his throat.
“Rae!” Baki exclaimed.
She held firm, pressed close against the little man. She had always thought it would be difficult to stab someone. That it would take a lot of effort to plunge a knife through all that muscle and sinew. But it wasn’t. It was actually very, very easy.
Really, it took no effort at all.
After what seemed like a long moment, Rae released her grip on the brewer and jerked the dagger free. The man staggered back, his legs tottering under him like a drunkard’s. Rae and the others watched, silent, as he crashed into the table, knocking the beer cup to the floor. His tunic was already soaked with blood. He pressed a hand to his wound, but the blood poured over his fingers. There was no stanching the flow. No one moved to help him.
The brewer looked up at them, his face bright with hatred. His mouth opened to say something, but no words came out. Instead, he collapsed onto the dirt floor.
Nobody moved.
Finally, Rae nudged the brewer’s body with her foot. No response. She looked down at the dagger in her hand, stained crimson up to the hilt, the wedjat eye engraved on its handle staring up at her from between her fingers.
She waited for the horror. For the regret. For the self-loathing she’d felt when she’d killed that man at the House of the Medjay. But none of it came. Whatever part of her that had once held remorse for the deaths of the wicked was gone.
If you continue on this path, the person you are now will be lost.
A rustling came from the back room, where the brewer had his living quarters.
“We have to go, Rae.” Omari’s voice was soft but urgent. “We have to gonow.”
“Ra forgive us,” Baki muttered, his stare locked on the corpse.
Menk spat. “Son of a dog deserved it.”
“Father?”
A young woman emerged from the shadows. Her hair and clothing were rumpled, as if she’d just woken from a deep sleep. Her eyes went first to the bloody dagger in Rae’s hand, then to the body on the floor.
Rae recognized the brewer’s daughter. His wife had left him years ago, but the girl was about Rae’s age, and she’d often bumped into her at the market.
