“We brought you something, Lolo,” Qingchi said during a hospital visit later that afternoon. “We picked it up off of a corpse.”

Lingdao pulled her black and green dagger out of his belt. “Maybe don’t throw it away next time,” he teased gently.

Lolo smiled and took the dagger from him. “Thanks. I’ll try to remember that.”

“How are you feeling?” Qingchi’s tone was thick with concern. Lolo knew what he meant.

“I’ll be ok.”

“We heard-,” Lingdao struggled to find the words, “we heard that you were expecting.”

“You can’t expect something that you didn’t know about,” Lolo shook her head.

“You really didn’t know?” Qingchi asked.

Lolo shook her head and started crying again. “But it still hurts. I don’t know how it’s possible to love someone so much when I never even saw her or knew about her existence until she was already gone.”

Qingchi and Lingdao exchanged a glance and then each sat on either side of their sister to squish her in a comforting sandwich while she cried.

***

Despite Jadu’s warnings that over-exerting herself could worsen her condition, Lolo spent the next two days running between meetings with the various committees during the day and meditating to pass energy to Philige at night in a vain effort to distract herself from her personal grief, Philige's continued state of unconsciousness, and Jadu’s frustrating lack of progress in finding an antidote to the poison. Standig stuck by Lolo nearly constantly to help her get around and fulfill the tribe leader duties she had assumed.

“Hey, Standig,” Ulana found him resting on a cot one evening at the hospital, “have you told Lolo about our prisoner yet?”

“Our prisoner?”

“Yeah. Captain Yudha?”

Standig had completely forgotten about him in the aftermath of the battle. “No.”

“Oh. She would want to know. Maybe Tamkhee has something important to talk with her about,” Ulana shrugged.

“Have you tried to talk with him?”

“Me? No. I haven’t even seen him since I turned him over to the military.”

Standig sighed. “I don’t want to tell her about him. She doesn’t need more on her plate right now.”

“Perhaps, but Standig, the last time you kept something from her, it ended in disaster. She has the right to know and make her own choices, and this might be important.”

“You’re right,” Standig agreed unwillingly. “I’ll tell her when she wakes up.”

Standig wasn't sure why, but Tamkhee's request to talk specifically with Lolo made him uneasy. Obviously, he didn't trust Tamkhee, and he was feeling extra protective of Lolo at the moment, but there seemed to be more to it. Maybe it was the fact that Lolo seemed to think Tamkhee had some unidentifiable redemptive quality that only she was capable of recognizing in him. Tamkhee was shrewd. He probably already knew Lolo felt that way, and he would likely try to take advantage of her. And Lolo was unusually vulnerable right now.

Standig had almost talked himself back out of telling Lolo about their prisoner when she woke up.

"Please tell me you weren't up brooding all night," Lolo said, snapping Standig out of his thoughts.

"Oh, er, not all night."

Lolo sighed. "What were you brooding about?"

Standig hesitated. "Lolo, there's something I forgot to tell you about, but I'm not sure that I want to tell you anyway."

"Is this another one of those, 'what she doesn't know can't hurt her' sorts of things?"

"Something like that," Standig nodded.

"Well, you'd probably better tell me then," Lolo said, bracing herself for whatever came next.

"We took a prisoner during the battle."

Not what she was expecting, Lolo relaxed a little. "A prisoner?"

"Yeah. He surrendered pretty intentionally to Ulana when we went to clear out the flanking army to the east, and he asked for you by name."

"That's... odd. Do I know him?"

Standig nodded. "It's Tamkhee."

Lolo's eyebrows knit together as she remembered the last real thing Tamkhee had ever said to her. "Don't misunderstand me, Huo Lohse Lang, I haven't done anything for you. We are not friends. My loyalty is to the Dragon Tribe alone." What had he meant by that? He'd said that after rescuing her and her friends from Sattal's wrath… again. "Where is he being held?"

"Lolo, please consider carefully-"

"Standig, where is he?" Lolo asked again softly.

"The military base."

"Take me there. Please, Standig," she added, seeing the forming storm cloud above him.

"Ok, Lolo, but before I do, I need to ask you something."

"What's that?"

"Why do you think that he wants to talk to you? Specifically you?"

"I don't know, but if I had to guess, it's probably because, out of everyone he knows outside of the Dragon Tribe, I'm the most likely to hear him out."

Standig exhaled a deep breath he'd been unconsciously holding. "Just, promise me that you won’t let him manipulate you."

***

Lolo and Standig were greeted by droves of admiring young soldiers when they reached the military base. All the hero worship was a little much for them, and Lolo in particular was uncomfortable with it. She felt ridiculous repeating "at ease" a gazillion times before reaching General Starkam's office to request an audience with the prisoner.

"He'll be happy for your visit," the general was saying. "He hasn't cracked at all. He just keeps insisting that he needs to talk to you."

Lolo felt a dizzying wave of nausea hit her. "You've been torturing him?!"

"Nothing as severe as what the dragon military does, but we've been employing standard interrogation tactics, yes."

She swayed dangerously, and Standig caught her by her shoulders.

"Lolo, are you ok?" Standig whispered. Lolo ignored him.

"General, it's easy enough for me to talk with someone," Lolo said, getting emotional. "There was no need to torture him!"

General Starkam cleared his throat uncomfortably. "He's through here."

Lolo and Standig were led into a dark basement room with stone walls and a single daylight window for light. The room was separated in halves by iron bars. On the other side of the bars, Lolo could see someone in dragon military uniform tied to a large post. He was unconscious, and Lolo couldn't even recognize him for all the bloody, swollen bruises on his face. Tamkhee had really taken a beating.

"I need clean rags, cold water, blankets and something to eat," Lolo ordered almost breathlessly.

"What?" The general couldn't believe what she'd said.

"Rags, water, blankets, food," she repeated angrily. "Now!"

The general left to issue orders, and Lolo found the key to enter the cell so she could personally cut the ropes binding Tamkhee to the post. Passed out as he was, Tamkhee fell against her once the ropes were cut, and, where Lolo was still barely strong enough to keep herself upright, they both dropped to the floor with the semi-control Lolo was able to manage.

"Standig, come help me roll him onto his back," Lolo said once she'd recovered a sitting position on the cold stone floor.

Standig did as he was asked, and Lolo got to work assessing Tamkhee's injuries. Someone had gotten a workout using Tamkhee as a punching bag from his head down to his gut.

A guard walked in with the rags, water, and blankets Lolo had requested. She made a pad with one of the blankets to shift Tamkhee onto and insulate him from the cold stone floor while she used the rags and water to clean him up a little. As she worked, Tamkhee started stirring.

"Huo Lohse Lang?"

"I'm sorry for this, captain. I didn't even know you were here until this morning."

"You came!"

"Yes. I’m here."

Tamkhee was getting worked up if not outright emotional as he tried to push himself into a sitting position. "Huo Lohse, I need to talk to you."

Lolo set her hands on his shoulders to gently ease him back down. "All in good time, captain. I promise that I will hear you out, but let's get you cleaned up a little first. Alright?"

Trembling, Tamkhee allowed Lolo to help him settle back down and continue cleaning the cuts on his face.

The guard returned with the requested food, and Lolo helped Tamkhee sit up to eat it and wrapped a blanket around his shoulders.

"Thank you," Tamkhee mumbled as he shakily accepted the food from her.

"Allow me," Lolo said, taking the utensils from him to feed him herself.

Tamkhee was startled by this gesture. "Why are you doing this?"

"Doing what?"

"Helping me."

"Because you're shaking too hard to feed yourself."

"No, I mean, you could have left me tied up to talk to me. Instead... instead you're helping me before asking a single question."

From the corner, Standig growled, “isn’t that why, of all people, you’ve insisted on talking to her?”

“Not helpful, Standig,” Lolo shot back at him warningly.

Tamkhee shook his head. “It’s alright. I’ll answer that. I wanted to talk to Huo Lohse because I knew that, if anyone would believe me, would take me seriously, she would.”

“And you have something to say that’s hard to believe?” Standig spat, his fears seemingly confirmed.

Tamkhee nodded.

“Then say it already!”

“Standig! I know you carry a grudge against him, but if you can’t keep it under control, get out,” Lolo snapped. “This isn’t helpful.”

“Don’t forget what he’s done to you, Lolo.”

“Which is what exactly?”

“From the very beginning, all he’s ever done is hurt you. From sparring with him during the Wolf Tribe exchange, to training during the Dragon Tribe exchange, to everything that happened in the cave. He’s the enemy, Lolo, the son to the Dragon General! Don’t be fooled!”

Lolo was surprised to watch Tamkhee visibly shrink against Standig’s accusations. “I’m aware of all that, Standig. But I’m also aware of more than that.”

“Like what exactly?!” Standig was angry.

“Standig, do you trust me?”

“What does that have to do with anything?!”

“It has to do with everything, Standig. If you trust me, then, please, trust me now. I will share my experiences with him with you later.”

“You actually think that a merge will make me change my mind?”

“No. But it will help you understand why I’m willing to hear him out.”

Standig was still fuming, but he stormed back into his corner and kept it to himself.

Satisfied for the moment, Lolo resumed helping Tamkhee eat. With Tamkhee cleaned up, fed, and wrapped in a blanket, Lolo was ready to listen to him talk.

“Alright, captain, you risked a lot to be here. What was so important to tell me?”

Tamkhee had to think about where to start. “I’ve had my doubts about this war for a long time, Huo Lohse. I became aware that we were preparing for it when I was made a captain after graduating from the exchange. At that point, the Dragon Tribe, well, more accurately, my father had been preparing for this war for a while already.”

“So you already knew about the war when you were training us?”

Tamkhee nodded. “I’m not sure why, but I felt like you deserved the opportunity to learn how to defend yourselves in a real battle. That’s why I took over your training when the five of you decided to stay.”

Lolo nodded slowly, considering the implications of what he’d said. “And you have doubts about this war?”

“Yes. I don’t know what my father is trying to accomplish with it. I haven’t heard a good reason for starting it in the first place or a plan for what is supposed to happen afterwards. War is supposed to be a last resort option when there are actual grievances to work out because it isn’t good for anyone. The Dragon Tribe isn’t immune to the consequences of war, and the people are suffering. But there’s more. My father… my father isn’t my father anymore.”

Tamkhee seemed distracted and pained. This was not a look Lolo had ever seen him wear before. He looked almost childlike, vulnerable and exposed. This was not the aggressive, calculating, and guarded soldier that she remembered. He'd been humbled by something.

“This war has changed him,” Tamkhee continued. “He barely recognizes me, and he no longer cares about the lives of his soldiers. He’s obsessed with world domination, and, there’s really no other way to put it, he’s insane.” Tamkhee had to swallow hard. “Huo Lohse, I’ve told you before that I am loyal only to the Dragon Tribe. I can’t let my people be ruled by a madman!”

“What about King Ajigar? If that’s the case, why hasn’t he stopped this war?”

Tamkhee had to take a step back. “Do you remember Captain Paalan?”

“The captain of the palace guards? Yes.”

“He remembered you fondly.”

“Remembered?”

“He’s dead, Huo Lohse. All of the palace guards are dead. They’ve been replaced by my father’s men.”

“Why?!”

“Before the palace guards were slaughtered, Captain Paalan found me and asked me to pass you and the rest of the world a message. King Ajigar has been dead for over two years. No one knows that though, not even Sattal who, by rights, is the new king. My father has been keeping that news to himself and killing off everyone who knows about it, presumably to make it look like the palace is in support of this psychotic war.”

“Tamkhee, Sattal is dead.”

“What?!”

“He was killed in the battle.”

“Then there really is no one standing in my father’s way anymore. He has a legitimate claim to the throne as the man leading the military, and no one will dare to try and stop him.”

“I guess that makes you the crown prince,” Lolo teased wryly.

“That’s not funny, Huo Lohse. My father will destroy the Dragon Tribe before he gives up his goal of conquering the rest of the world, and, I don’t know how, but he seems to have the power to do that.”

“What do you mean?”

“This is going to sound crazy, but I swear, I’m telling you the truth from what I’ve been able to piece together.”

Lolo was getting a nasty gnawing feeling in her stomach. “Go on.”

“There is a room somewhere deep in the palace. I only became aware of it because one of the medics from Pahaad got tortured for accidentally wandering too close to it. I vaguely know the area she was in. No one is allowed in that room except my father. Anyone who gets too close is summarily executed.”

“Sataaya.”

“What?”

“Sataaya is the woman who was tortured. What is this room for?”

“I don’t… Huo Lohse, I’ve only heard rumors, and I can only speculate about what they mean. The room is supposedly a place of sorcery where my father is said to be building an army.”

“Building an army?”

“I don’t understand how exactly. I know it’s related to the deaths of the smaller tribes and the disappearances along the southern road, and I think it’s also the reason why my father has been placing less value on the lives of the people and his real soldiers.”

“Real soldiers?”

“Huo Lohse, this information is highly suspect and based on rumors, speculations, and only a brief personal experience, but if it’s true, then I honestly don’t think the world stands a chance against the Dragon General.”

“Tell me.”

“I believe that my father can capture the souls of the dead to create mindless, automaton soldiers.”

Lolo and Tamkhee stared at each other in absolute silence as his statement sunk in.

Lolo felt tears drip down her face. “You said you had a personal experience.”

Tamkhee nodded. “There is a secret army being amassed in an area of the Dragon Tribe known as The Barren Expanse. These soldiers never eat, sleep, or talk, and they move about aimlessly or stand perfectly still until a threat is detected. They’re not human even though they look sort of humanish. I-I saw them.” Tamkhee had started trembling again. Whatever he’d seen had obviously disturbed him greatly. “I stumbled across them by accident. After spending some time observing them, the soldiers, or whatever you want to call them, became aware of my presence somehow and tried to chase me down to kill me. I’m not sure how I got away, but I never went back.”

“And they have yet to be unleashed?”

Tamkhee nodded. “Huo Lohse, if it’s true, each battle in which real people are killed only serves to expand this hidden army. The reason I finally decided to betray my father was because he has been finding reasons to kill some of the smaller villages in the Dragon Tribe, I assume, for the purpose of expanding his army further.”

“He’s killing your own people?!”

Tamkhee buried his face in his hands to get control of his emotions. “I know of two villages that have met this fate, but there are almost certainly more. First, my father will send people in to recruit new soldiers. I say recruit, but in reality, they intimidate the people into enlisting. The village is then bled dry of resources, and when they can no longer provide anything of value, the people are rounded up and slaughtered for disloyalty.”

“You’re serious?”

“I wouldn’t be here otherwise.”

The gravity of what Tamkhee was saying was oppressive.

“It’s... it’s possible that I’m wrong. But I can’t think of any other explanation for what I’ve seen and heard. This war, my father, all of it has to be stopped.”

“How?! How do we end this?”

“My father has to die.” Lolo searched Tamkhee’s eyes. Even though it hurt him to say it, he was sincere. “Only my father can create and manipulate his toy soldiers, so without him, the hidden army ceases to be a threat.”

Sataaya had been right. “They are the Dragon General’s toys, of course. All toys. Toy soldiers. Marching. Yes, sir. No, sir. Salute!” Sataaya’s unhinged laughter echoed through Lolo’s head.