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Sepheris is mustering an army, ostensibly for an all-out attack on Ilsig's
enemies to the north. But Jamasharem suspects that the
Ilsigi army is going to march against Ranke instead. So, under the pretense of
celebrating the
Ten-Slaying some Rankan festival having to do with one of their gods,
Vashanka, I think, killing all ten of His brothers the good emperor has sent
an emissary, Badareen, to negotiate with my sire to
convince him to convince him, my dung-eating uncle, Zarzakhan, and my lout of
a half-brother to rally the Irrune against Sepheris should war come this way."
Soldt snorted and shook his head. "The Irrune are not likely to do so, not
likely to take sides."
Naimun ruefully smiled. "Aye, not likely. Not even my half-brother the Dragon
is that stupid." He took a sip of brandy and then said, "Regardless, as cover
for his mission rather flimsy, I say Badareen has arranged for this tournament
to be part of some bloody commemoration, as the Rankan would have this time of
season be."
Soldt again shook his head and glanced out over the crowd. "Entertainment for
the masses, while emissaries of so-called men of power Emperor Jamasharem and
King Sepheris IV set the wheels of destiny in motion.  Ha! My father, Arizak,
will play one side against the other to get whatever it is he wants from them
both."
Naimun nodded, then fixed the other man in the eye. "Nonetheless, Soldt, I
would have that jewel."
The door banged open, and one of the Vulgar Unicorn's patrons came staggering
back in and shouted, "Oi! Come see! The moon has gone all dark and bloody!"
Down at the docks, the huge man gestured toward the icy water. "And that's not
the Valagon Sea."
Halott came to a stop several paces away, Rogi at his side shuffling from foot
to foot. "You are correct,"
whispered Halott, his hollow voice a rustle.
Now the big man turned toward the necromancer. "Where, by Tislitt, are we? And
how did we get here?"
"Elsewhere," replied Halott. "I brought you here with the mantling of the
moon, and I shall send you back with the shrouding of the sun, fourteen days
from now."
Of a sudden there was a curved blade in the hand of the female, and she
stepped forward into the light, the point of the sword held low. "You will
send us back now."
Rogi gasped and stumbled back a step or two, not only because of the threat of
the blade, but also because in all of his travels he had never seen such a
woman before:
She was perhaps five foot two, with short-cropped, straight, glossy,
raven-black hair. Under her gray-green cloak she was garbed in brown
leather vest and breeks and boots. Hammered bronze plates like scales were
sewn on the vest; underneath she wore a silk jerkin the color of cream. A
brown leather headband incised with red glyphs made certain that even the
slightest wisp of her hair was held back and away from her high-cheekboned
face. But none of that was what caused Rogi to gasp; instead it was her eyes
and skin, for the eyes were so dark as to be black, and they held the hint of
a tilt, and her skin& it was saffron a tawny, ivory yellow.
Rogi was instantly in love.
Perhapth thshe will even want to thsee my dragon, perhapth even fondle it
. But at the moment she was too dangerous to even suggest such, for not only
did she have a blade in hand, she also stood in a warrior's stance: balanced,
ready. And Rogi could see the hilt of another sword peeking out from her
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cloak.
"I cannot send you back now," said Halott. "Not for fourteen days. Then I will
act, but only if you do my bidding."
The woman growled and brought her sword to guard, but the big man stepped
forward. "Ariko, wait, let
us hear him out."
Now Rogi shifted his attention to the man. He was tall, very tall, perhaps six
foot four or so, and muscular, and had to scale two-hundred-twenty or -thirty
lithe pounds. He had sun-bleached auburn hair and ice-blue eyes. He, too, wore
brown leathers beneath a gray-green cloak, but a metal breastplate covered his
chest. The hilt of a great two-handed sword rode in a harness across his back.
And although
Rogi was no sure judge of age, he thought perhaps this man was in his early to
mid-thirties, as was the woman Ariko.
Reluctantly, Ariko lowered the point of her blade, but caged fury lurked deep
within the black of her tilted eyes.
"I am Durel," said the big man. He peered into the enshadowed, dark cowl. "And
you are& ?"
"You may call me Halott," came the whisper.
Now Durel looked down at Halott's companion and waited. "R-rogi," stammered
the little hunchback, flopping his hands about in his too-long sleeves.
"H-halott ith my mathter."
Now Durel turned his attention back to the gaunt figure in the black robes.
"And why have you brought us here?"
Halott turned his unseen face toward Ariko and said, "There is this gemstone I
would have& "
Naimun was somber and silent when he and Soldt returned to the table and took
up their brandies again.
"You seem pensive, my friend," said Soldt.
"It is an unfavorable omen," replied Naimun. "Zarzakhan says that Irrunega is
troubled whenever the moon runs with blood."
Soldt smiled unto himself. Even so, he did not gainsay Naimun's words, for
gods surely visited both banes and boons upon the world at large, and upon [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]