Nikto was faster than him. He rushed to Squint-Eye and quickly twisted his arms back. Squint-Eye screamed. Lis pulled the knives from the sheathes on his belt and tossed them on the table.
"That's better," he punched Squint-Eye in his belly a few times. Squint-Eye bent down wheezing. Nikto didn't let him go. Lis turned to Orel.
"More? Or enough?"
Orel got up, walked up to Squint-Eye, grasped his head in his palms turning Squint-Eye's pale face upwards.
"Stop with your madness. Do you hear me?"
"Don't touch me!" Squint-Eye jerked trying to free his arms but only hurt himself worse. "Make the Unclean let me go!" He tried to turn to Nikto.
Nikto twisted his arms even more; his joints cracked. Squint-Eye shrieked in pain.
"What are you doing, Nik?" Orel asked half-surprised, half-frightened.
"He wants to break his arms off!" Lis laughed. "Go on, don't restrict yourself!"
Nikto pushed Squint-Eye away, letting him go. He cursed in Unclean.
Squint-Eye fell on the floor, his arms didn't obey him. He curled in a ball on the floor not looking at them. Orel knelt next to him. "Bert, where have you been?"
"I fulfilled the order," Squint-Eye sobbed. "Then I decided to take a swim."
"Dressed," Lis added. Squint-Eye looked at him askance, sniffed.
"Do you know that Bey attacked us while you were taking a swim?" Orel said in a calm, icy voice. "We fought without you. Enriki nearly died. Do you know why? Because you were not there to help him. He led both his and your soldiers. And Bey has flair about such things. He understood at once Enriki was alone. He sent Edin Ol to attack. Enriki was unhorsed, he was wounded, horses stomped on him. There was no one to stand by him."
"But I didn't know! Everything was quiet! You stayed in your castle, they went for a routine check, I went to fulfill an order in the Upper City," Squint-Eye swallowed hard. "Who could know Bey would attack!"
"You had to know Bey could attack any moment! You always have to be on guard, wait and be ready! You cannot do anything else," Orel squeezed his shoulders. "You cannot do whatever you want. You cannot go for a swim or wherever you've been. You don't have such a possibility. Do you understand me? You have to be here, with us, do only what I order, and as soon as you do it, you have to come back at once, for another order, and then again and again. You're not free, you're on the team!"