Chapter 29: Debt, Part 3

Malea gasped and covered her mouth with both hands, tears spilling down her cheeks.

"Fires!" one of the mercenaries exclaimed. "That isn't possible! No fearmonger could just destroy all of the Heart! Not just one!"

"The king?" another asked. "You said you were traveling in his name, so I hope that means he is alive?"

"His Majesty is safe," Cemal replied, "and secreted away until the fearmonger is destroyed and the one who commanded it killed."

Malea wiped tears from her face. "That's your king's business, isn't it? Oh, mercy of the Dragon, the Heart…. My mother's family lived there! My cousins! The people we sent for the census were old friends." She knelt on the ground and quietly wept. Binhadi gave his tea back to Cemal, so abruptly that Cemal almost dropped it. He strode to Malea and knelt beside her, pulling her close.