AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“You’re sure it wasn’t someone else?” Marli tried again.
Neither deputy hid their annoyance as Craig answered. “Everyone in this tribe knows Sten. The king’s man.” He emphasized the last few words.
“Well, that doesn’t make any sense,” Marli planted her fists on her hips.
“Yeah, well, we didn’t think so either. But here we are,” he snarled back.
Marli stepped to within a couple of feet of him, looking up into his face and held his gaze, staring him down from below.
Sten suppressed a smile at her boldness.
“Sten couldn’t have gone down to let those two idiots out of their cell last night, because I was with him all night. And I sure as hell didn’t go down to the dungeon to let them out.”
The shock of Marli’s unapologetic assertion rippled through Sten, leaving his heart racing with relief.
“He was with you?” Jori’s surprised voice pulled Marli’s attention away from the deputy.
She turned toward him, “All night.”
Jori nodded. “Good. That’s sorted. Now we need to figure out what the fuck is going on, if some apparent duplicate of Sten managed to not just fool the deputies, but magically made our prisoners disappear, too.” To Eamerson, Jori said, “Review the camera footage around the elevators and stairwells for the time that Sten was supposed to have been bi-located.”
Relief flooded through Sten, but he couldn’t shake the sense of dread that he had even been suspected of betraying them.
Eamerson nodded, “Our tech team is already working on it.” He hesitated.
“What is it?”
Eamerson pinched his lip again as he looked to the deputies before answering Jori. “There have been other issues among the tribe similar to this, where one male is adamant they saw someone doing something, while someone would also swear they were in another area of the mountain. But complaints of all kinds have risen since your ascension, sire—Jori.”
“Hackles are up, the guys are edgy, and some are pushing the limits. We’ve been very busy the last while,” Randal said, weary.
Elora stepped forward, “I’ve heard of this sort of thing happening before, but never encountered it myself.”
“Encountered what?”
“Shape shifting. Morphing.”
“Humor me here; I was ignorant of the paranormal world until a couple of months ago. You’re telling me that people can shape shift into anyone? Not just into dragons or bears? But into other people?”
Elora replied, “They’re extremely rare, Jori. It’s more likely that if there is something beyond just edgy males with elevated testosterone, then it’s spell work.”
Jori pinched the bridge of his nose and drew in a deep breath as he looked at his mother. “Okay, so doppleganging is a thing.”
“If it’s spell work, then the magic user would need to access some genetic material from whomever they’re duplicating.”
“That’s not difficult in a place like this. Just go to the aerie or training grounds.” Revulsion rolled through Sten’s gut at the idea that someone might have taken some piece of him in order to impersonate him. “But we don’t know for sure that’s what happening here.”
“We’re not discounting it, if it’s a thing that exists. If Clive and Merwin are still in this mountain, we have to find and stop them before they endanger Aeleftheria.” Jori said. “Eamerson, I want to go over those reports that you’re concerned about. Sten, you should join the search patrols.”
“I’ll go too,” Marli said.
Jori nodded. “Where are we on the communications tower replacement?”
“The steel beams to rebuild the tower haven’t come in yet.”
“Can you get a message out to Aeleftheria?” Jori turned to Marli.
“Our communication relays are slow, but yes, we can try,” Marli said. “When we go out on patrol, I’ll fly out to see if I can spot Red’s ship. She’s often just off the coast at this time of year. She’d get the message back more directly than the relay.”
