During this exchange, Ju had been nodding fervently to everything Zya had said. The Duke eyed him now. “Why did you come here when you could have escaped the city?”
“Because this was the only way left to me.” Ju stood as close to the Duke as was possible, and poured more of the wine. “I was stuck in a tunnel with mercenaries all around, and one man showed me the way out.”
“Where is this man? Why is he not with you now?”
Ju sighed, wiping a tear from his eye in memory of Foster's brave but suicidal act. “He led a group of mercenaries that were under some sort of spell away from me in an attempt to let me go free.”
“It obviously succeeded then, for here you are.”
“Barely, my Lord Duke. There were men close behind me to the point that one of them nearly tagged me while I was watching the
