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them. With them out of the way, Helam’s own path into the Portal would have been all but assured.
    But things were changing far faster than he’d anticipated.
    Adar shouldn’t have been made a general so soon. It bothered Helam that the Rarbon Council had chosen Adar over his son Molach who was the better-qualified candidate, of a more senior rank than Adar, and had proven himself time after time. Adar’s selection for the open position had taken everybody else by surprise as well.
    Even Adar had worn a shocked look on his face for a partial moment before covering it up.
    Helam’s spies on the council hadn’t been able or were refusing to yield any useful explanations. His best guess was that Abel had done something to get Adar the position, which didn’t make sense given that Abel had scorned his son in public on several occasions; Helam believed Abel to have been behind countless incidents of sabotage that had undermined Adar’s advancement.
    Why would Abel all of the sudden be supporting the efforts of his son to become Ghar when by all accounts he was jealous of Adar’s successes? Helam would have to give that some thought. Perhaps there was an angle here that he was somehow missing.
    When Helam had learned that Adar was out on patrol and wasn’t due back until tomorrow, he’d sent Birgemat and his mercenaries to lie in wait for merchant trains approaching from the south hoping to show that the venerable Adar Rahid wasn’t immune to such attacks.
    That was just the beginning of the trap, Helam planned to make it look like Adar was behind the attacks and had his own territory attacked while he was away to cast blame somewhere else.
    Lieutenant Briggs cleared his throat, but Helam didn’t look his way.
    The news that Briggs had hurried back with was disturbing yet foreseeable. This was why Helam had sent Briggs to spy on Birgemat and his brigands in the first place. Adar had a tendency to break from the script and today was no exception because he’d come back earlier than planned. There had to be a way for Helam to turn Adar’s sudden changes in the plan against him; yet another thing for Helam to mull over.
    “You’re sure that Birgemat is the one Adar took captive?” Helam asked.
    Briggs nodded. “That stupid earring of his makes him unmistakable.”
    Helam thought it over and grimaced. “How fast can you get a warrant to Jarren?”
    “Within the hour, well before they return.”
    Perhaps Briggs’ fear of Adar would give Helam a way out of this mess. It was a blow to Helam’s designs that Adar had not only captured his brigands but executed them there on the spot.
    It was a move of questionable legality, but chances were high that the other generals would be sympathetic to Adar and follow his example. This bold action would further expand the tension between the Radim armies and the Rarbon Council. It would also mean that the Rarbon Council would give Adar a harder first task on his path to becoming Ghar. Adar had known that when he’d decided to hold the execution in the field and probably hadn’t given it a second thought.
    If Helam had been in Adar’s position, he wouldn’t have done anything to make the council assign more difficult tasks. If Helam was reading things correctly, they were running out of time.
    But what’s done was done and it was further evidence of why Rarbon’s fate couldn’t be left in the hands of the Rahids.
    In fact, Helam decided he would exacerbate the schism by being one of the first to follow suit and execute some brigands in his own territory. Not only would it further his overall goal of strengthening the position of the Radim generals, it would serve to make the Council even more wary of Adar and the effect he was having in Rarbon. That would guarantee Adar an almost impossible task if Helam acted within the next few days.
    If Adar were to fail on his own before Helam’s machinations were complete, then it would be a matter of ending the Rahids altogether to