Daniyel tugged on the reins, and his mule walked back. Then he stopped it. He looked over his shoulder. “Captain, I should remind you that I’m an officer of the law, duly appointed. I already sent a preliminary report to the capital. And I have the authority—”

“Constable,” Gandash interrupted, “I would in turn remind you that I’m a captain in the Military Magic branch of the Sin-Amuhhu Combined Armed Forces. I’m here at the behest of High Archon Kingallu and the Sin-Amuhhu Mage Parliament. If I wanted to, I could tell you to fuck off and never bother me again. In fact, I could tell the entire Jehannemid Mage Parliament here to fuck off, and they couldn’t do a thing about it.” He let a long moment of silence build. “Instead… I’ll look into the matter.”

Daniyel flashed a smile that involved an upturn of his lips, yet didn’t touch the rest of his face. “Understood, Captain. I’ll go find Sergeant Stratos.”

After the detective was out of earshot, Gandash said, “Xerk, do you know anything about this?”

Xerxes opened his mouth, but hesitated.

Before he could come up with words, Gandash said, “Never mind. Let me simplify the question. Did you go to that village?”

“No, Gandy. I didn’t.” He closed his mouth and considered what to explain.

Again, Gandash didn’t let him. “Go get Jad and Enusat. Also Tizqar.”

Xerxes complied. He started with his two friends, who were fidgeting on horseback.

“Come with me,” Xerxes said, then started down the line toward Tizqar.

Jad heeled his horse closer to Xerxes. “What’s going on, Xerk-man?” he asked, almost under his breath. “People are saying a constable came down from the mountains.”

Keeping his own voice low, Xerxes said, “It’s about what happened in that village. The constable is saying it’s murder.”

“Fuck. What did you tell them?”

“Nothing,” Xerxes said. “But you and Enusat had better get your story straight, because this isn’t going away.”

Jad fell back to confer with the shorter mage.

They picked up Tizqar, and were soon off the road again with Gandash.

Gandash wasted no time. “Here’s the short version,” he said, and recapped Daniyel’s story.

Xerxes kept his gaze straight ahead, but out of the corner of his eye, he could see Jad and Enusat sitting very stiffly in their saddles.

“So now we come to the big question,” Gandash said. “First Lieutenant Jad. Lieutenant Enusat. Were you there? In the village?”

The breeze blew. Xerxes turned his head slightly to look at his two friends.

Jad’s lips were tight. Enusat licked his.

Finally, Enusat said, “Yes. But it wasn’t murder, Gandy. I swear to the ‘oly Pontifarch. I was defending myself! I just—”

“Stop,” Gandash said. “First Lieutenant Jad. Am I to understand that it was Enusat who struck the blow?”

Jad hesitated briefly. “That’s right. But I was there with him. I can tell you what happened.”

“Go ahead.”

“Enusat… got friendly with a woman we met at the gambling hall. One thing led to another, and… well, he didn’t know the woman was married. A fight broke out. I don’t think we had anything to do with it. But somehow, the woman’s husband showed up right when Enusat was getting his clothes back on. He had some thugs with him and they chased us out back. They attacked us. We defended ourselves. Next thing I knew, the merchant was dead. The thugs ran. That’s about it.”

Gandash looked at Enusat. “You fucked some man’s wife? Then killed him?”

Xerxes expected Enusat to get angry, but instead, the short mage wilted.

“I didn’t know, Gandy,” he said. “I mean, I didn’t really know. She threw some hints out. But she was seducing me. I’m telling you, that’s what happened. And the man got the jump on me. His thug hit me from behind, knocked me down. Then the fucker stabbed me. In the gut! It was after that I… I struck back.”

“You almost decapitated him,” Gandash said.

Enusat’s mouth opened a closed a few times.

“This is what’s going to happen,” Gandash continued. “Tizqar, you’re here because you’re a Hasasu mage. I want you to cast Base Empathics, and pay close attention to the questions I ask Enusat, and his answers.”

“You’re going to read his mind?” Jad asked incredulously.

“Y-you think I’m lying?” Enusat blubbered.

“It doesn’t matter what I think,” Gandash snapped. “And you both know full well that Base Empathics isn’t mind-reading. Tizqar, cast the spell.”

Tizqar reached down to untie his component pouch, but fumbled in the process. The drawstring knot was tight.

“Gandy, this isn’t fair,” Enusat said. “You’re not supposed to cast Hasasu spells on us. It’s against regulations.”

“I have the authority to circumvent those regulations,” Gandash said.

“That bastard stabbed me. How could it not be self-defense?”

Gandash didn’t respond.

Tizqar got his component pouch open and pulled out some glittering powder. “I’m ready,” he said.

“Lieutenant Enusat,” Gandash said, “I expect you to answer all the questions quickly. If you stall for time, I’ll have Tizqar cast the spell again and make you pay for the components, including pills to compensate for lost melam. Tizqar, cast the spell.”

Tizqar traced the Hasasu Isten rune, and melam flowed. “Go ahead, sir.”

“Is your name Enusat?” Gandash asked.

Enusat gritted his teeth. “Yes.”

“Are you a fish?”

“No.”

“Is the sky blue?”

“Yes.”

“Are you naked?”

“No.”

Gandash looked at Tizqar. “Is that good enough for a baseline?”

“I think so,” the pudgy mage replied.

Gandash returned his attention to Enusat. “Were you in the mountain village called Urmia, the night we arrived here on Jehannemid?”

Enusat ground his teeth even harder. “Yes.”

“Did you kill someone that night?”

A long pause. “Yes.”

“Who struck the first blow?”

“They did.”

“Could you have ended the fight without killing the victim?”

“That’s not a fair question,” Enusat said. “It’s more complicated—”

“Yes or no,” Gandash interrupted. “Could you have ended the fight without taking a life?”

Enusat squirmed in the saddle. “No.”

“Could you have prevented the fight from happening in the first place?”

Enusat’s jaw jutted out. “No.”

Tizqar cleared his throat. “One minute left.”

“You were injured,” Gandash continued. “How did you heal yourself?”

Enusat blinked several times.

“How did you heal yourself?”

Fucking hell, Xerxes thought. This is it.

He was sure Enusat was going to say that Katayoun healed him. What else could he say, with a Hasasu mage probing him with Base Empathics?

“I took a pill.”

“What?” Gandash blurted. “You had a healing pill?”

“You heard what I said.”

“Did anyone assist you that night?”

“Yes.”

“Who?”

“Jad,” Enusat said, jerking his head in his friend’s direction.

“Anyone other than Jad?”

“No.”

“Was anyone else with you in the village besides Jad?”

“No.”

At that point, Tizqar raised his hand. “Spell’s done,” he said.

Gandash nodded. “Jad, Enusat, you’re dismissed. Xerxes, Tizqar, you stay here.”