A/N: Thank you for reviewing, you fabulous, intelligent, amazingly attractive people (am I sucking up? Oh yeah). Oh, and thanks also to all the silent readers out there who've stuck with this… Unless the reviewers are the only ones reading this story, and they're reading each chapter several times. In either case, I'm flattered!

Sammie: My anonymous reviewer, I couldn't reply to you privately so you get a note that everybody gets to read! So who will be standing over the body? I already know, of course, but it's still fun to wonder. You won't find out in this chapter, but it's coming soon, I promise!

A Traitor in Our Midst

Alocas and Danel had been summoned to see Gamori, and like everyone who experienced similar circumstances they dropped whatever they were doing and immediately obeyed.

Alocas was quite distracted, and being summoned to Gamori's tent was not only frightening, but irritating as well. He had some very important information to send to Belisaere, but he could not risk messenger-birds. This information was much too valuable and dangerous, and he was even considering going to the palace in person.

The camp was quiet when he ducked out of the tent behind Danel, and a figure approached as soon as they emerged, hailing both of them by name. At first Alocas did not recognize the face, backlit by a bright orange sun. It therefore came as a great surprise when the stranger smiled widely and said, "It's good to see you again, Alocas!"

A perplexed Alocas blinked and turned to his friend for explanations. "Who–?"

"Don't you recognize Vassago?" chuckled Danel.

"Vassago?" Alocas turned to stare at the stranger, who winked impishly at him. "Not my little cousin Vassago?"

"I'm not sure about 'little'," the young man snorted. "I'm eighteen years old now. Danel just recruited me. I'm the newest member of the Freemen!"

Thankfully, Danel and Vassago took the look of horror on his face to be one of surprise. The last time Alocas had seen Vassago, he had been a six-year-old boy with dark twinkling eyes who laughed at everything. The thought that he was caught up in something as dangerous as the Freemen was worse than anything that had happened to the spy so far.

Danel told Vassago to scram, and led his dismayed friend to Gamori's tent. The soldiers posted outside inclined their heads respectfully at Danel, and let them both pass.

Alocas was surprised by the number of people inside the tent. He had expected Gamori, Raum, and the witch Carabia, of course. But Spymaster Seare was there, as was Master Torturer Bute, and a hooded and masked agent.

"Good," said Gamori. She was dressed in blue, as usual, and sat on her chair as if it was a throne, staring down at them all. Her imposing countenance could have been carved from marble. "Now that we are all here, there is something I would like to reveal." She looked around at the assembled group, and announced, "We have a traitor in our midst."

Alocas' stomach plummeted to his knees.

"You see," the necromancer carried on, "A recent attempt by two of our sorcerers to waylay Lord Abhorsen was thwarted. The sorcerers were killed, of course, for their failure. But before they died they told me that it seemed as if Abhorsen was prepared for them. He knew exactly where they would ambush him and how." She gazed around the room. "The only people who knew about this plan, other than the sorcerers, are standing in this tent right now."

She was silent for twenty whole seconds, before the inevitable explosion came. "Which one of you did it?" she shrieked, knocking over a table covered in platters of food. Everyone in the tent jumped about a foot into the air. "All of these years spent trying, and Gabriel Abhorsen is still alive!" screamed Gamori. "I will not have that spineless turncoat outlast me!" She paused, breathing hard, and noticed their incredulous stares. The necromancer gave a bone-chilling laugh that sent shivers down Alocas' spine. "Yes, I knew him once," she hissed, raking her sharp nails through a beautiful tapestry. "But he was still a necromancer then, known as Gabriel." She snarled as she tore the tapestry to shreds.

Gamori continued to mindlessly demolish her tent, apparently forgetting that anyone else was present in the room. However her second-in-command, the necromancer Raum, was peering at Alocas in a way that the spy did not like at all.

"It was you, wasn't it?" the tall necromancer growled.

Alocas gulped and shook his head, desperately wishing that he could just blend into his surroundings. Was it just his terrible luck that one of the most fearsome necromancers in the Kingdom immediately accused him of treachery? The fact that Raum was right had nothing to do with it, of course.

Raum took a step closer, and it took all of the spy's willpower not to cower in fear. "Four years were you held in that prison," the necromancer was saying darkly. "And then they just decided to let you go? You've been passing information to them since you returned!"

"You don't know that," Danel spoke up, moving to stand beside Alocas. "There is no proof–"

"Proof!" Raum exploded. "Proof! Somebody in this room betrayed us! Who else could it have been?" He reached out with a gloved hand and seized Alocas by the scruff of his neck. The spy struggled as he was dragged outside, but he may as well have tried to sprout wings and fly over the forest for all the good it did him. That necromancer was strong! Everyone else poured out of the tent to watch the spectacle, except Gamori who was still intent on destroying her living quarters.

Alocas looked up at the sky, which the setting sun was turning blood-red.

Raum ordered the guards to circle them and keep away the curious bystanders who had begun to gather at the commotion. Alocas was shoved to his knees in the mud, landing with an undignified splat.

"Bute!" the necromancer barked. "Give me your whip. Now!"

The torture-master reluctantly handed over the ox hide whip he always carried at his belt. Alocas looked up at his old friend, but the older man was studiously avoiding his gaze. Overcome with a sense of despair, the spy made no move to resist as two guards caught hold of his arms.

"Alocas," Raum hissed venomously. "Did you turn against the Freeman and become an informant to the Kingdom?"

The spy considered his options, mind buzzing. If he confessed, he would be tortured and executed. If he did not confess, then he would be tortured too – but perhaps his life would be spared. And if he turned against the Kingdom now, he knew that Prince Dantalion would see to it that he suffered for the remainder of his short life, helped by that frightening man Abhorsen who walked in Death. No, the best thing to do would be to hold his tongue.

His resolution wavered with the first strike of the whip. Alocas tried to take his mind off the pain by reminding himself that he had been tortured before, but unsurprisingly that thought did not comfort him.

Alocas turned instead his head to the side, to concentrate on the faces of those who were watching. Bute looked on helplessly, but made no move to interfere. The Spymaster Seare had an unreadable expression. Danel, however, had that desperate look on his face. It was the look that he always wore before he was going to do something heroic and incredibly stupid. Alocas tried to plead with his eyes, telling him not to get involved, but it seemed to do no good.

"That is enough!" Danel shouted, striding forward. He caught Raum's arm as the necromancer swung it back for another strike. "Alocas has been a valuable spy for our side these past eight years," he continued. "He gave us invaluable information on the layout of the palace!"

Raum shook off the other man, but when Danel grabbed his arm again, the necromancer swung around angrily. "Do not touch me, spy," snarled Raum. When Danel did not comply, the necromancer jerked his head.

Two more guards grabbed Danel between them, and Raum proceeded to whip him as well. Alocas watched helplessly. His back was in agony, yes, but he could not shake off this horrible sense of guilt, which was almost as bad. His best friend was putting himself in danger in order to defend him from the Freemen, when in fact Alocas had turned against them. It was this unbearable guilt that made him speak up: "Don't! He didn't do anything!"

Perhaps drawing Raum's attention to him wasn't the wisest thing to do, but it did stop the necromancer from further hurting Danel. It was almost worth the pain of what happened to him next. Almost.

When Raum was finally finished with the two of them, he flung the whip onto the ground and pushed his way out of the circle of bystanders. Without a word to anyone, the necromancer untied his horse from a post and rode off into the forest at breakneck speed.

The guards dropped Alocas, and he was too weak to stop himself from falling face-first into the mud. He could hear murmurs as the people dispersed, discussing what had just happened and wondering where Raum had gone. Alocas rested his cheek in the cool mud, letting the wind sting his ragged back.

A pair of embroidered slippers entered his vision, and Alocas looked up to see Gamori, who had calmed somewhat after destroying the interior of her tent. She cast her disdainful eyes over the scene, before resting them on an unfortunate guard. "Where is the necromancer Raum?" she demanded.

The poor guard's knees were shaking. He licked his lips twice before answering, "He's g- gone, milady."

"Of course he is gone!" the woman snapped. "I can see that! Now where did he go to, fool?"

"I- I do not know, milady."

"You do not know." Her voice was completely calm, and it scared Alocas more than her shouting ever had.

The guard shuffled his feet, twisting his spear nervously with sweaty hands. "He just rode off without saying anything. Nobody knows where he went, milady."

Gamori stared at the guard for a moment. Then without any forewarning, she grabbed the spear from the soldier's faltering hands and ran him through.

Alocas stared at the fallen guard, then gaped up at the necromancer. Gamori was looking down at him and Danel with an expression of mild disgust, and the spy suddenly wondered if he was going to die.

"Take them away," she finally said to the frightened bystanders, before turning and heading back to her tent.

Within a few minutes, Alocas found himself being tended to by Nammah, Danel's wife, and a fellow spy. Vassago had also been by to check on them. After bandaging their flayed backs, the woman ducked out into the night to find some more herbs to dull the pain.

Alocas propped himself up on one arm, and turned to Danel. "I need to tell you something," he whispered.

Danel sensed the urgency in his voice, and frowned. "What?"

The other spy took a deep breath. "I need you to get out of here." At Danel's blank look, he carried on. "Take Nammah with you. And take young Vassago. Get out of here. Go home. Go somewhere – only don't stay with the Freemen any longer."

A small smile tickled the corner of Danel's mouth. "What are you talking about?"

Alocas wondered what he could say to keep his friend from becoming involved, without giving away his situation. "Listen," he said as reasonably as he could. "This – all of this – it's obviously not what we expected it to be. We live poorly, the food is bad, and we're punished severely for the slightest offence. People are killed for anything around here! We cannot live like this. And those who are caught by the Kingdom – and many have been caught – are usually never seen again."

For a long moment Danel said nothing. Finally, he shook his head. "I understand if you feel you've had enough," the man said slowly. "But this is a way of life for me now. I'm in too deep, and I will see it through. Run if you wish – I will cover for you. But I cannot do what you ask."

Alocas fell silent as Nammah returned to the tent. He brooded by himself, desperately wondering what he should do. Finally, he gave a short nod and sat up, reaching for his tunic.

"Alocas!" Nammah exclaimed, nearly spilling the tea she was brewing. "What do you think you're doing?"

The spy shot a glance at his friend, who nodded. "It's all right, Nammah," soothed Danel.

Alocas winced as he pulled on his tunic, then clasped his friend's hand warmly. The spy grabbed his cloak and rucksack, and ducked out of the tent.

The camp was quiet in the evening, with little islands of cooking fires in the shadows. He nodded briefly at the other Freemen as he passed, striding towards the trees with a purposeful air. The others assumed that he was heading out on another spying mission, and left him alone. Alocas was stopped briefly by guards, who were their usual unpleasant selves. But his answers seemed to satisfy them, and they double-checked his mark before letting him out of the campsite.

But when Alocas finally reached the overgrown road, he did not turn his steps back to his home village. Instead, he left the path, cutting north to Belisaere.

A/N: So, how does Gamori know Abhorsen? And where does Alocas' allegiance lie? And where the heck did Raum go? I won't tell you the answer to the first question, but the second and third will be answered in due time. Gosh, that wasn't helpful at all, was it?

Oh, and I really can't wait to put up the next chapter! I'm going through it right now, and it's just… well, you'll see.