Ahead, she heard Cezon cursing up a storm. The path snaked to the right and opened onto a small rocky plateau. Warriors ringed the edges of the clearing, standing guard between artfully carved stone arches and thin columns topped with glimmering blue-green crystals.
On the eastern side of the clearing was an empty stone plinth. On the western side, Cezon was being detained beside one of several flat rocks near the cliff. Keriya’s captors forced her down next to him. Her chin scraped against one of the sun-warmed stones.
“What’d they get you for?” Cezon muttered.
“Sacrifice for the Moorfainian ambassador.”
Cezon spat on the ground at the ambassador’s feet. The pale man glared down his crooked nose at Cezon, unruffled by the rude display.
“Skyriver—it is a foreign name, no?” he said smo
