"How did you find this place?" Zia asked the King, speaking for the first time since entering the tent.
"I've been searching for the location of your Headquarters for months- years, really." Donathan admitted. "We only found it when we got wind that...
"It's not your fault," Heath said firmly. "You didn't know what he was going to do or what he had already done."
Zia knew he was right, but she still couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt.
"At least we're now aware that we had spies among us," Heath said, changing the subject back to Percival and Archibald.
"Yes," Jay agreed sadly. "But there's no telling how much information Daxtor now has about us."
"Well," said Zia, "anything he does know won't be of much use to him now. Neither Percival nor Archibald were here while we were discussing our battle plans, so they'll have to guess at ours just as much as we'll have to guess at theirs."
"But Archibald knows the castle," Jay pointed out. "He knows its weaknesses and its secret places. And many servants can attest to seeing him wander the castle alone when he wasn't on duty, so who knows what the extent of his knowledge of the castle is?"
"You should warn the Guards," Heath advised. "They should be on high alert."
"I already have," Jay assured him. "The King has been informed as well, and I've convinced him to join the Queen when the morning battle comes, for his own protection."
"How did you manage that?" Zia wondered.
Jay looked away from her when he mumbled, "I may have told him that Percival had sold Daxtor information about the Queen and that her life was in danger."
Heath choked. "You told him Daxtor was after his wife?"
"It was the only way I could think of to get him out of danger," Jay said defensively.
Heath gave a bark of laughter. "I have to admit, Jay, I thought you were just a stuck-up, always-follow-the-rules kind of fellow, but you're a real rebel at heart, aren't you?"
Jay did not smile at the joke, but stared uncomprehendingly at the open window, as if he were trying to see Archibald through the darkness.
"Where do you suppose he is now?" Zia asked.
Jay shrugged his shoulders. "If I had to guess, I'd say he's with the Skilaen army, helping plan the morning attack."
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Jay was right. That's exactly were Archibald was.
Archibald paced back and forth in the General's tent, waiting for Daxtor to see him. The moment that he had arrived at the camp base, Archibald had been escorted to the bright yellow tent that he was in now and had been instructed to wait for the General.
Archibald looked around the tent as he waited. There was a long, mahogany table that had meat, cheese, and fruits set out waiting to be eaten on one side, and on the other was a long, detailed map of the capital and surrounding areas.
Archibald had just leaned over the table to examine the map more closely just when the tent flap flew open and Daxtor entered.
"You're here, then." Daxtor said gruffly. He'd had quite a lot to drink tonight, and he was in a wretchedly bad mood. He had not foreseen the sudden appearance of the women, nor of the Thieves. The Otarians had managed to evade him and protect their castle, and he was not the cheeriest of fellows at the moment.
