"What I'm about to tell you must not leave this room!"
Annan called Babu and Ange, the two Blade Demons, into the Stone House, secured the door, then returned to them and spoke in a low voice.
"Snrrrk, snrrrk, snrrrk..."
Rus's snoring was the only sound in the Stone House.
The two Blade Demons exchanged a glance and nodded their narrow heads.
Annan pointed at the sleeping Ratfolk. "That's Rus."
The expressions on Babu's and Ange's faces were familiar. He had seen the same look on Martin.
"All you need to know is that Lady Biross planted him among the Ratfolk as a spy. He has important intelligence, but a curse has robbed him of his senses... When we get back, tell Biross Thing... Lady Biross the same story. Understood?"
The two Blade Demons nodded together.
"Good. Now I'll lay out our escape plan."
"Escape? Didn't we just get here?" asked one of the Blade Demons, though Annan couldn't tell whether it was Babu or Ange.
"Doesn't that make us look capable? The last three Envoys died without learning a thing. We've been here less than half a day, and we've already found Rus and completed our mission!"
"When we get back, your brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, and second maternal uncles will all be proud of you!"
That Ratfolk Thing would never expect him to flee the very night he arrived. Not even High Priest Stuen could have foreseen it!
And that was Annan's chance to get away.
Annan's plan had just three steps:
First, pretend to visit the Quarry again.
Second, have the Gargoyles carry them away on the way there.
Third, collect Lady Biross's reward at the Demon Camp.
The simpler the plan, the less likely it was to go wrong.
In the Far North, darkness fell around