Impostor

Impostor

                The streets seemed unusually crowded as Tadyel made her way back to Vanna's shop. Perhaps it was just that she really, really wanted to rush, run, throw decorum to the wind to get there faster. If she was too late - even just barely too late - she'd... Feel guilty. Vanna was her taskmaster and a Magi, but Tadyel almost thought of her as a friend.

                Thought the walk back felt like it took an age, it took less time than the walk to Minn's had. Halfway back Tadyel realised that she had a second delivery she was meant to make in the opposite direction - That can wait, she thought.

                Once back inside the shop Tadyel closed the door gently behind her, checked for customers, and then almost rushed through the empty front room in the hope of finding Vanna quickly. Entering the main back room, Tadyel scanned her eyes around. Nothing, nothing, nothing - oh, she thought. Over in one corner was a very tied up, very angry looking Mavnen.

                As if on cue, Vanna popped out of her room. "Oh, it's just you, Gel. Good," said Vanna. "Stupid here tried to poison my water." She waved her hand towards Mavnen.

                "I - I found out that she asked about the stolen horses the day before Hum died," said Tadyel. "I came back as fast as I could."

                "Oh? Double stupid," said Vanna. "Then again, that might be why she acted now."

                "How? I mean, how could she be a traitor?" asked Tadyel, wandering over.

                "Lock the doors. It's time to find out," said Vanna.

                Several locked and closed doors later, Vanna and Tadyel stood over Mavnen. "I still don't get it," said Tadyel. "She doesn't care about the other refugees at all."

                "She can act, I'll give her that. Alright, Ven," said Vanna, "Gag coming off." Vanna tugged Mavnen's gag free.

                "How'd you know about the poison, bitch?" asked Mavnen viciously. Even compared to her normal demeanour it was nasty.

                "Did you forget that I have a little magic? Leaving myself open with a spy in the ranks would be foolish," said Vanna. "And we know about the poisoning of the pair of followers who got cold feet about being anti-Magi."

                Mavnen growled. "At least I can drop the pointless facade of giving a damn about any of you filth," Mavnen said.

                "Why do you hate the Magi so much?" asked Vanna.

                Mavnen started to laugh, and Tadyel interjected with, "She's - she's fucking Thrath, Vanna."

                "What?" exclaimed Vanna, turning to Tadyel with concern.

                Mavnen laughed louder. "That's right," she said. "It's too bad I never had a good chance to accidentally kill you, 'Gel'. Hahaha! Injury would have been fun but I'm sure I'd have let something slip."

                "How the hell can she be Thrath? We checked out both her parents," said Vanna. "Neither of them are Thrath."

                Mavnen grinned, leaving Tadyel to state the obvious. "Her mother was raped. Or did it for favours or something. Either way," said Tadyel, "It means that half Thrath are Thrath, if you're completely sure about her mother."

                Vanna was silent for a moment. "This could be a problem," she said.

                "So you know what I am. Well done! I'm not going to tell you anything useful, so. Are you going to kill me? That might be hard to cover up," said Mavnen.

                "We'll kill your kids if you don't talk," said Vanna. "Little Thrath babies all-"

                "Those useless shits aren't Thrath," interjected Mavnen angrily. "They can fucking die for my 'treachery', like my 'husband' will. And the others I picked." Mavnen smiled happily.

                "You know," said Vanna, "I can't tell if you're bullshitting or not. But we do have a way of checking if someone is Thrath - but it kills the person we do it too. Now, if you're telling the truth... That's very interesting. Is it two generations half-Thrath that does it? Or is the 'Thrath' part of you only passed on sometimes?"

                Mavnen glared silently. "She's, um, kind of being very helpful," said Tadyel. "That's two really important things to know about the Thrath. Actually, it explains why they sometimes kill their newborns when the father wasn't Thrath..."

                "I think I'll just call you stupid from now on," said Vanna. "Not Ven or Mavnen. Just stupid. We know Thrath can sense one another; all we have to do to find out who you've been working with is to find out which followers - or follower agents - you've talked to.

                "We actually interrogated a couple of followers already to try and find the leak - made them squeal, like you suggested. They have no idea how the information came in, but certain higher ups had it and verified it. Isn't that great? We don't need you to tell us what you've been doing. But the other information is very useful."

                Vanna punctuated Mavnen's silence by sticking her gag back in. "You are going to die tomorrow morning. Terrible accident. Those refugees you killed, and even Hum? They were good people. We'll have round two in the morning. Maybe I'll ask some of the questions you don't want to answer. Nighty night," said Vanna. As she said the last couple of words she pressed a small device against Mavnen who suddenly went stiff, then completely limp.

                "What was that?" asked Tadyel. "And, we didn't learn anything about what she's been doing."

                "A special little device. She'll be out cold until morning while the residual magic keeps her under," said Vanna. "As for questions: if she really is Thrath she'll lie if she says anything. You probably believe that they have a strong self-preservation instinct, right? That they'll crack under fear for their life due to cowardly selfishness?"

                "Well, yeah. That's the way they are," said Tadyel.

                "It's not. That's a - we don't know if it was deliberately spread, but it's a wrong or a lie. They do have self-preservation instincts, and they do work with animals or other non-humans if need be. But they hate the rest of humanity far more than they care about living," explained Vanna.

                "Really?" asked Tadyel. "I guess I've never seen it with my own eyes, but my people-"

                "We've brought in several Thrath patrols. They completely refuse to cooperate, even under... quite extreme torture. They will even refuse to cooperate with non-humans if they know that the non-human in question is working with ordinary humans," said Vanna. "Don't ask about the 'non-human'. That's more than a little secret."

                "Okay," said Tadyel. "How are you going to confirm that she's Thrath though?"

                "If she doesn't start bullshitting we'll know for sure, but Eden might be able to figure something out. We can find out if her kids are or aren't Thrath, too," said Vanna. "Check Mavnen's bonds for me and double-check my pat-down, then finish the deliveries. Grab the spare key and keep the doors locked. I've got a lot to do."

                "Got it," said Tadyel. Vanna immediately rushed away; leaving Tadyel to turn to Mavnen sadly.

                "You were kind of scary, but... I thought we were on the same side, properly, Ven," thought Tadyel aloud. "Were the few times you seemed... Normal, just an act?"

                Tadyel shook her head sadly and took a deep breath. "Well. I'll see you tomorrow. I've still got ordinary work to do. And... Nice, not real Ven: I'm sorry you're actually Thrath."