Chapter Thirty: The CostIona listened to Ger-Val's tale with stunned horror. She did not want to believe what the orc was telling her. However, she knew whatever she thought of green-skins they were not given to flights of fancy like this. Blinking hard, she found that she was unable to cry, her tear ducts were clogged by scar tissue. She felt sick. She could not believe Josephine had betrayed them. She would not have believed it, convincing herself she had had a courageous plan all along, had it not concurred with the intelligence Sylas and Tollie had provided. Slumped against a tree, cradling Derek's grey, drained face on her lap, Iona was numb. She stroked his hair, and patted his clammy shoulder; he was out for the count. She would never admit to anyone that she had thought the traitor
