Roo sighed.
He had left the palace and walked home, thinking the entire way about the best manner to approach Frederick Jacoby. If the old man was more like the quiet Randolph, an accommodation might be reached. If he was like the volatile Timothy, the feud would almost certainly continue until one house or the other was destroyed.
Roo entered his home. The only noise came from the kitchen, where Rendel and Mary readied food for the day. The upstairs hallway was still, and he knew he’d find his wife and children still sleeping. He wondered at the hour, and realized he had no idea what time it was. From the light, no later than eight of the clock.
He pushed open the door to the room Karli slept in with the baby, and found her asleep. He now considered waking her, but decided to wait until the baby demanded feeding. Roo walked softly to the bedside and studied his wife and son in the dim light coming through the curtains.
In the shadows, Karli looked very young. Roo suddenly felt terribly old and sat down in the rocking chair Karli used to soothe the baby when he was fussy. He didn’t sleep as well as his sister had, and cried more often.
Roo ran his hand over his face, feeling fatigue in his bones. His eyes were gritty and his mouth had a bitter taste in it: too much coffee and a hint of bile from killing men.
Roo closed his eyes.
Some time later the baby’s cry woke him. Karli sat up and said, ‘What is it?’ She saw her husband in the chair. ‘Roo?’
‘I must have fallen asleep.’
‘Why didn’t you go to bed?’ she asked.
‘I have something to tell you,’ he answered as she began to nurse the hungry child.
‘What?’
‘The men who killed your father are dead.’
She didn’t react.
After a moment he said, ‘They attempted to ruin me, and I found out in time. We fought … and they’re dead. I just came from the palace and a long discussion of these events with the Duke.’
‘Then it’s over,’ she said.
‘Not quite,’ said Roo.
Karli stared at him a moment. ‘Why not?’
‘The two men have a father.’ He took a deep breath. ‘Your father had an old rival, Frederick Jacoby.’
She nodded. ‘They were boys together, in the Advarian community up in Tannerus.’ Her voice softened. ‘I think they were friends once. Why? Did he have Father killed?’
‘No, his son Timothy ordered it. I think his brother Randolph may have helped, or at least he knew about it and didn’t do anything to prevent it.’
‘So those men are dead?’
‘Yes.’
‘But Frederick is still alive,’ observed Karli. She looked sad, as if on the verge of weeping. ‘So you have to kill him, too?’
Roo said, ‘I don’t know. I need to make some sort of peace with him if I can.’ He stood up. ‘And I should go do it now. The Duke insists.’
Roo started around the bed, then paused and turned. He leaned over and kissed the back of the baby’s head, then kissed Karli on the cheek. ‘I probably won’t get home until supper. And what I really need is sleep.’
She reached out with her left hand and gripped his right. ‘Be careful.’
He squeezed her hand in reply and left the room.
He called down to Mary to have his coach brought around, went to his room, quickly washed up and changed his tunic. Then he went downstairs and out the door. His coach was there, and as he entered, he saw another figure waiting inside for him.
Dash nodded in greeting. ‘Feeling better?’
‘Tired,’ said Roo. ‘What brings you here?’
‘Grandfather thought it prudent if I tagged along. Mr Jacoby might have servants or other members of his household who are going to take the news of the brothers’ death badly.’ He pointed to the sword that lay across his knees.
Roo nodded. ‘You know how to use that?’
‘Better than most,’ Dash said without boasting.
They rode along in silence until the coach pulled up before the Jacoby residence. Dash followed Roo out of the carriage and to the door. Roo hesitated a moment, then knocked. A young woman opened the door a few moments later. She was pretty in an unspectacular way – dark hair and eyes, strong chin and straight nose. ‘Yes? May I help you?’ she asked.
Roo found he could barely bring himself to speak. He didn’t know what to say. After a moment’s hesitation, he said, ‘My name is Rupert Avery.’
The woman’s eyes narrowed. ‘I know your name, Mr Avery. It is not one spoken with affection in this house.’
‘I can imagine,’ Roo said. He took a deep breath. ‘I suspect it will be even less so when you discover what brings me here. I would like to speak to Frederick Jacoby.’
‘I’m afraid that’s impossible,’ said the young woman. ‘He doesn’t see visitors.’
Roo’s expression betrayed something, for after a moment the woman said, ‘What is it?’
Dash said, ‘Pardon me, ma’am. Who are you?’
‘I’m Helen. Randolph’s wife.’
Roo closed his eyes and then took a deep breath. ‘I fear I have grave tidings for you and for your father-in-law.’
The woman’s knuckles where she gripped the door whitened. ‘Randy’s dead, isn’t he?’
Roo nodded. ‘May I come in, please?’
The woman stepped back and it was clear she was close to fainting. Dash moved and took her by the elbow, keeping her upright. Just then two children ran into the entry hall, complaining over a childish inequity. She separated the two of them, a boy and girl, looking to Roo to be about four and six. ‘Children,’ she said, ‘go to your room and play quietly.’
‘But, Mother,’ said the boy, irritated at his complaint being ignored.
‘Go to your room!’ she said sharply.
The boy looked injured by the command, but the girl just skipped away, counting their mother’s deafness to the boy’s grievance a victory in the eternal sibling war.
When the children were gone, she looked at Roo and said, ‘How did Randy die?’
Roo said, ‘We had cornered Randolph and Timothy at the docks – they were trying to make off with gold they had taken from me – and Timothy tried to attack me. Randolph pushed him aside, and was killed by a crossbow bolt fired at Timothy.’ Trying to think of anything that might lessen the sting the woman felt, he said, ‘It was over quickly. He was acting to save his brother.’
Helen’s eyes filled with tears, but her tone was one of anger. ‘He was always trying to save his brother! Is Tim alive?’
‘No,’ said Roo softly. He took a deep breath. ‘I killed him.’
As the woman turned, Dash said, ‘It was a fair duel, ma’am. Timothy died with weapons in his hand, trying to kill Mr Avery.’
‘Why are you here?’ said the woman. ‘Are you here to gloat over the fall of the house of Jacoby?’
‘No,’ said Roo. ‘I’m here because Duke James asked me to come.’ He sighed, feeling more tired than he had ever felt in his life. ‘I had nothing against your husband, or you or your father, ma’am. It was only Tim I had issue with. Tim arranged to have my partner – my father-in-law – killed. Tim was trying to ruin me.’
Helen turned her back on them. ‘I have no doubt of that, Mr Avery. Please follow me.’
She led them through a large hallway, and Roo saw that the house was much larger than one might think from the street, being very deep in its plan. Then they entered a garden at the rear of the house, surrounded by a large stone wall. An old man sat alone in a chair, bundled in heavy robes, with a large quilt over his knees. As they approached, Roo saw his eyes were blinded by cataracts, and then that part of his face was motionless. ‘Yes? Who’s there?’ he said, his speech slurred and his voice weak.
Helen raised her voice. ‘It’s me, Father!’ To Roo she said, ‘He’s hard of hearing. He had a seizure two years ago. He’s been like this ever since.’
She turned to face Roo. ‘It’s your chance, Mr Avery. All that’s left of the once-great trading house of Jacoby is a blind, half-deaf crazy old man, a woman, and two children. You can kill us all now and put an end to this feud.’
Roo put up his hand and his expression was one of total helplessness. ‘Please. I … I have no wish to see any more suffering for either of our families.’
‘No suffering?’ she said, as again tears came. ‘How am I to make do? Who’s to run the business? Who will care for us? It would be far kinder for you to pull your sword and put us all out of our misery.’ She began to cry in earnest, and Dash stepped forward and let her lean against his shoulder as she sobbed.
‘Helen?’ said the old man, his speech slurred by the affliction of his seizure. ‘Is something amiss?’
Roo went and knelt by the old man. ‘Mr Jacoby?’
‘Who is this?’ he said, reaching out with his left arm. Roo saw that his right lay motionless in his lap. Roo took the left hand and said, ‘My name is Rupert Avery.’ He spoke loudly.
‘Avery? Do I know you, sir?’ asked the old man. ‘Knew a Klaus Avery when … no, that was Klaus Klamer. What was the Avery boy’s name?’
Roo said, ‘No, I don’t think I’ve had the honor of meeting you before. But I … knew an old friend of yours. Helmut Grindle.’
‘Helmut!’ said the old man with a grin. Saliva dribbled from the side of his mouth.
Helen composed herself, and with a thank-you pat to Dash’s shoulders, she came and used a handkerchief to wipe the old man’s chin.
‘He and I grew up in the same town, did you know that?’ said the old man. ‘How is he?’
Roo said, ‘He died recently.’
‘Oh,’ said the old man. ‘That’s too bad. I haven’t seen him for a while. Did I tell you we grew up in the same town?’
‘Yes, you did,’ said Roo.
With delight, the old man said, ‘Do you by chance know my boys? Tim and Randy?’
Roo said, ‘I do, sir.’
The old man picked up Roo’s hand slightly, as if for emphasis. ‘If you’re one of those rascals who is always stealing apples from our tree, don’t admit it!’ he said with a laugh. ‘I’ve told Tim to keep the other boys out of that tree! We need those apples for pie! My Eva bakes pies every fall!’
Roo looked at Helen, and she whispered, ‘He gets confused. Sometimes he thinks his sons are still children. Eva was his wife; she’s been dead thirteen years.’
Roo shook his head and released the old man’s hand. He said, ‘I can’t.’
‘Tell him?’ asked Helen.
Roo shook his head no.
‘Randy?’ said the old man, motioning to Roo. Roo leaned over to put his head next to the old man’s. Whispering, the old man said, ‘Randy, you’re a good lad. Look out for Tim; he’s got such a temper. But don’t let the other boys steal the apples!’ He reached out with his good hand and patted Roo on the shoulder.
Roo straightened up and spent a few moments watching the old man, who was again lost in whatever dreams or memories he spent his days within. Roo stepped away and said to Helen, ‘What purpose? Let him think his sons still live, for the gods’ mercy.’
He thought of the coming fleet and the destruction that would be upon Krondor within a few years, and said, ‘Let us all have a few years of pleasant dreams.’
Helen led them away from the garden and said, ‘I thank you for that small gesture, sir.’
‘What will you do?’ said Roo.
‘Sell the house and business.’ She started to weep again. ‘I have family in Tannerus. I’ll go to them. It will be hard, but we’ll endure.’
Roo said, ‘No.’ He thought about the boy and girl and his own two children, then said, ‘I do not think the children need suffer for the … mistakes of their fathers.’
‘What do you propose?’ asked Helen.
‘Let me take charge of Jacoby and Sons. I will not take a copper of profit from the company. I will operate it as if it were my own, but when your son is old enough, it will be his to control.’ Roo glanced around the house as they walked toward the entrance. ‘I never spoke more than a word to Randolph, but it seems to me your husband’s only flaw was to love a brother too well. It was only Tim with whom I had dispute.’ Taking the woman’s hand, he said, ‘Let it end here, now.’
The woman said, ‘You are generous.’
Roo said, ‘No. I am sorry. More than you will ever know. I’ll have my solicitor draw up a contract between you as surviving widow of Randolph Jacoby and the Bitter Sea Company to operate Jacoby and Sons until such time as either you wish to dispose of the property or your son is ready to take control.
‘If you need anything, anything at all, you only have to ask.’ He pointed to Dash. ‘My associate will come fetch you this afternoon and take you to the temple. Have you other relatives who should come with you?’
‘No. They live out of the city.’
‘I would bid you a good day, Mrs Jacoby, but that would seem an empty sentiment. Let me depart by saying I wish we had met under different circumstances.’
Holding back more tears, Helen Jacoby said, ‘So do I, Mr Avery. I even suspect had circumstances been otherwise, you and Randolph could have been friends.’
They left and entered the carriage. Dash said nothing and Roo put his right hand over his face. After a moment, he began to weep.
Calis signaled and the column came to a halt. They had encountered small commands of the Pantathians over the last three days. Calis judged they had moved twenty miles north of where they had encountered the large well in the heart of the mountain. Several times they had found more signs of struggle and destruction. Occasionally they encountered Saaur corpses, but as of yet they hadn’t seen a single living lizard man. Having faced them once, Erik was grateful for that small boon.
Erik fought against a growing sense of futility. The galleries seemed to wander under the mountains forever; he remembered maps back at the palace that suggested this range might be as much as a thousand miles long. If the Pantathian home realm wasn’t as closely confined as Calis’s theory proposed, they would be dead long before destroying the snake men’s nest.
Men were tense; the other specter that haunted their imaginations was who this mysterious third player might be. No fallen were seen who were not Pantathians or Saaur. The only human remains were those belonging to pitiful prisoners, dragged under the mountain to feed the Pantathian young. Whoever or whatever was warring on the Pantathians seemed intent on the same mission as Calis and his men: three breeding crèches had been found with infant Pantathians littering the rooms, all torn to pieces.
The more evidence he observed, the more Erik was convinced they weren’t looking for anything remotely like another invading force. Several bodies appeared to have been torn asunder, literally ripped limb from limb. Some of the young Pantathians looked as if they had been bitten in two. Erik couldn’t put aside images of some monstrous creature from an ancient fable, materialized here by a magician to destroy his enemies.
But when he had wondered aloud on this, Miranda’s only answer was ‘Where are the Pantathian magicians, then?’
Erik had heard some of Miranda’s speculations as they marched: the entire population of Pantathian serpent priests was out in the field serving the Emerald Queen. Even when she said it, Miranda didn’t sound convinced.
A scout returned and said, ‘Nothing ahead, but there are some odd echoes, Sergeant.’
Erik nodded and asked, ‘What do you mean by odd?’
‘Nothing I can put a name to, but there’s something ahead, perhaps at a great distance, but it’s making enough noise we should be able to get very close without being heard.’
Calis was told and said, ‘We’re close to being ready to drop.’
Miranda wiped her forehead. The heat down here is as bad as in the Green Reaches of Kesh.’
Erik couldn’t argue. The men were wearing the lightest clothing possible under their armor, and it had taken a lot of attention to keep them from throwing away the heavy fur cloaks, which were now rolled and stowed in the heavy backpacks they lugged. Erik took time to remind each man that once they were back out of the mountains, winter would be upon them and it would be as cold as it was now hot.
Calis ordered a break and rest, and Erik assigned men to keep watch, while others grabbed what sleep they could. As he reviewed every detail he could remember, de Loungville motioned for him to come to a distant part of the cavern.
‘Some stench?’ he offered.
Erik nodded. ‘Sometimes the sulfur makes my eyes burn.’
‘What do you think?’
Erik looked confused. ‘About what?’
‘About all this?’ Bobby waved his hand around.
Erik shrugged. ‘I’m not paid to think.’
Bobby grinned. ‘Right.’ Then the grin vanished. ‘Now, what do you really think?’
Erik shrugged. ‘I don’t know. Sometimes it seems to me we’ve got no chance of ever seeing daylight again, but the rest of the time I just keep moving, one foot ahead of the other, go where I’m told, keep the men alive, and don’t dwell on tomorrow.’
De Loungville nodded. ‘Understood. But here’s the hard part. That one-foot-at-a-time attitude is fine for the soldiers in the trenches, but you’ve got responsibilities.’
‘I know.’
‘No, I don’t think you do,’ said de Loungville. He looked around to make sure no one else was listening. ‘Miranda has the means to get herself and one other out of here in a hurry. Special means.’
Erik nodded. He had long ago accommodated to the idea of Miranda’s being a sorceress in some fashion, so this didn’t surprise him.
‘If anything happens to me, your job is to get the Captain out with Miranda, understand?’
‘Maybe I don’t.’
‘He’s special,’ said de Loungville. ‘The Kingdom needs him more than a couple of sorry sods like me and you. If you have to, hit him over the head and toss his limp body at Miranda, but don’t let her leave without him.’
Erik tried not to laugh. The only member of this company stronger than Erik was the Captain, and from what Erik had seen over the last few years, Calis was significantly stronger than Erik. Erik had a pretty good notion that if he hit Calis over the head, it probably wouldn’t slow him a beat.
‘I’ll see what I can do,’ he said noncommittally.
They moved out two hours later and Erik kept what de Loungville said in mind. He discounted the admonition because he didn’t want to imagine a situation where de Loungville wasn’t around to tell him what to do, and he didn’t think he could tell the Captain to do anything.
They moved along a long, narrow tunnel that seemed to slope gently downward. The heat continued unabated, but didn’t seem to get worse.
Twice they took breaks and scouts were sent ahead. Both times they returned to report the distant sounds they couldn’t identify.
Two hours later, Erik could hear the sounds they mentioned. Rumblings, the thunder faintly heard, with high-pitched keening, echoed from a great distance, or at least that’s how it seemed to Erik.
They reached a gallery and again found the signs of battle. But unlike the ones found earlier in the day or on the previous day, these were relatively fresh. ‘This struggle took place yesterday,’ observed Calis. He pointed to places where deep pools of blood were still congealing. A soldier called Calis over to a breeding pool, and Erik followed.
‘Gods!’ said Erik looking at the carnage. It was the biggest hatching pool found so far. Eggs were smashed and yolk and albumen floated in the water. The stench of rotten eggs was nearly overpowering, then Erik noticed something. ‘Where are the bodies of the young?’
A single arm lay floating in a bubbling pool of pinkish water, and around the verge splatters of blood were evident. At last Calis said, ‘Something feasted here.’
The image of something ripping open the eggs and devouring the Pantathian young was one Erik didn’t wish to dwell on, so he turned around and left. ‘We should keep moving,’ said Calis at last.
Erik formed up the men and moved them out.
The ceremony was as brief as the one that had been conducted for Helmut. Roo stood with Karli beside him. The children were home with Mary.
Helen and her two children stood silently while the priest of Lims-Kragma intoned the benediction for the dead and lit the pyre. The girl played absently with her doll while the boy looked on with his face set in an expression of confusion.
When the ceremony was over, Karli said, ‘It is over?’
Roo patted her hand. ‘Yes. The widow is a woman of remarkable strength but no bitterness. She also cares most for her children.’
Karli looked at the children. ‘Poor babies.’ She went over to Helen and said, ‘I find no pleasure in this; if I can help, don’t be ashamed to ask.’
Helen nodded. Her face was drawn and pale, but whatever tears she might have had remaining were held in check for later that night, when she was again alone.
Karli returned to Roo’s side. ‘Are we going home?’
Roo shook his head. ‘As much as I would like to, I have business I must oversee.’ He glanced at the distant afternoon sun. ‘I must discharge a debt before sundown. After that … I don’t know.’
Karli nodded. ‘I must return to the children.’
Roo kissed her dutifully upon the cheek. ‘I’ll be home when I can.’
As Karli departed, Roo crossed to Helen. He studied the widow and thought what a fine and brave woman she was. Nothing like the beauty that Sylvia was, but nevertheless a woman who drew him.
She turned to find him staring at her, and he lowered his eyes. ‘I just wanted to repeat what I said today. Whatever you need, it is yours.’
Calmly she said, ‘Thank you.’
Without knowing why, he said, ‘You never have to thank me.’ Then he impulsively took her hand in his and held it briefly, saying, ‘Never.’
Without waiting for her to say anything, he turned and left.
He rode without clear thought from the temple to Barret’s. Fatigue and emotions new to him made him unable to focus his mind. He thought of the struggle and the death, then he saw the face of Helen Jacoby. The children, he would think, and then he would think of his own children.
His driver had to alert him to the fact he was outside of Barret’s, and he wearily made his way to his usual place of business. His three partners were waiting for him and he sat heavily, signaling to the waiter for a large cup of coffee.
Masterson said, ‘How did it go?’
‘I got the gold,’ answered Roo. He had intentionally not let his partners know about the recovery until now. His conversation with Duke James stuck in his mind, and he knew he needed to talk to his three partners while they were still frantic from worry.
‘Praise be!’ called Hume, while Crowley just sighed deeply.
Masterson said, ‘Where’s the gold?’
‘On its way to pay off the note.’
‘Good, good,’ said Crowley.
Roo paused a moment, then said, ‘I want you to buy me out.’
Masterson said, ‘What?’
Roo said, ‘This is all going too fast. We’re very vulnerable, and I find I spend most of my time on the Bitter Sea Company and not enough time on Avery and Son’s business.’
Crowley said, ‘Why should we buy you out?’
‘Because I’ve earned the right to quit,’ said Roo. For emphasis he slammed his hand upon the table. ‘I’m the one who fought a duel this morning to save our collective backsides. I don’t mind saving my own, but I didn’t see any of you gentlemen down there in the dark with a sword in your hand, fighting for your lives!’
Hume said, ‘Well, I mean, had we known …’
Crowley said, ‘I don’t think I’m persuaded we owe you any sort of quick exit, Mr Avery.’
Masterson had been quiet, then he said, ‘So you think this partnership should be dissolved?’
Roo said, ‘Or at least reorganized.’
Masterson smiled slightly. ‘How?’
‘Let me buy controlling interest,’ said Roo, ‘if you won’t buy me out. Either way, I don’t care, but if I’m going to be putting my life on the line, it will be for my own interests.’
Masterson said, ‘You’re a fast one, Roo Avery. I think you’ll do fine with or without us. If you’re avid for a break, I’ll sell to you.’
Hume said, ‘This is all too much for me. I’m confused.’
Crowley said, ‘Bah! This is just a trick to get me to step down as Presiding Officer of the Bitter Sea Company.’
‘Sell me half your interests, gentlemen,’ said Roo, ‘and I’ll make you rich. But I won’t put myself again in the position where I’m risking my life and my family’s future to protect your gold.’
Masterson laughed. ‘That’s right, Avery. I’ll tell you what: I’ll sell you just enough, if the others will, to give you control, but I won’t give you it all. It may have been your knack for a deal and your bloody damn luck that won us this wealth, but it was a lot of our gold at risk.’
Hume said, ‘I’ll do the same. I spend too much time here on Bitter Sea Company business and not enough on my other concerns.’
Crowley said, ‘Well, I won’t do it. Buy me out or sell to me, one or the other.’
Roo looked at Crowley and said, ‘What price?’
‘To buy or to sell?’
The other three men laughed, and after a moment, Crowley did as well. ‘Very well,’ said Crowley. ‘I’ll set you a price.’ He picked up a quill and scribbled a total on it, then pushed it across to Roo.
Roo picked up the parchment, saw the figure was ridiculously high, and shook his head. He picked up the quill, drew a line through the total, wrote another one, and passed the parchment back to Brandon Crowley.
Crowley looked at the total. ‘That’s robbery!’
‘Then I’ll take the first number as your offer to buy me out?’ said Roo.
Masterson laughed. ‘He’s got you, Brandon.’
Crowley said, ‘I’ll take the difference between the two.’
Which was as Roo knew he would, so Roo said, ‘Done!’ To Hume and Masterson he said, ‘You gentlemen bear witness.’
They quickly agreed on the transfer of ownership, and before he knew it, Masterson was breaking out his special brandy again. After the events of the last two days, Roo was emotionally and physically drained. The single brandy got him close to as drunk as he could remember being.
He struggled down to find Duncan waiting for him at the door. ‘Luis says to tell you the gold got to where it needed to go, and all is well.’ He smiled.
Roo smiled in return. ‘You’re a good friend as well as my cousin, Duncan.’ He gave his cousin a very unexpected hug. ‘I neglect to tell you that.’
Duncan laughed. ‘Been drinking?’
Roo nodded. ‘Yes. And you are now talking to the owner of the Bitter Sea Trading and Holding Company.’ He signaled for his carriage. ‘I believe that makes me one of the richest men in Krondor, Duncan.’
Laughing, Duncan said, ‘Well, if you say so.’
The carriage rolled up and Duncan opened the door, then helped to get Roo inside. ‘Where to, sir?’ asked the driver.
Roo leaned out the still-open door and said, ‘Duncan, I need a favor. I was to dine this night with Sylvia Esterbrook and I simply am too exhausted. Would you be a friend and carry my regrets to her?’
Duncan grinned. ‘I think I can manage it.’
‘You’re a good friend, Duncan. Have I told you that?’
‘Yes,’ said Duncan with a laugh. He closed the door and said, ‘Get home with you!’
The carriage rolled away and Duncan went to where his horse was tethered. He mounted and started to ride out toward the Esterbrook estate. After a block, he turned his horse and headed back toward the small house he now shared with a prostitute he had met at the docks after Luis had left.
He found the woman sleeping through the day and unceremoniously yanked the covers from her. She snorted and awoke, saying, ‘What?’
He stared at her nude body a moment, then reached down and pulled her dress off the floor. ‘Get your things and get out!’ he commanded as he threw it at her.
‘What?’ asked the still-confused woman again, sitting up.
‘I said, get out!’ he shouted. For emphasis, he slapped her hard across the face. ‘I need to bathe. Be gone by the time I’m done.’
He left the shocked and crying woman in the bedroom and moved down to the end of the hall, where a tub sat next to a small stove. He heated water and inspected his face in a polished metal mirror. Rubbing his hand over his chin, he decided he needed to shave. Stropping a razor, he hummed a nameless tune while in the next room the whore whose name he couldn’t recall gathered up her belongings and cursed him under her breath.
The screams echoed down the tunnels and Erik, Calis, and the rest of the company moved as cautiously as possible. A bright light shone ahead, from where a battle appeared to be taking place. Occasionally the sound of struggle paused, and then the clash of steel and shouts resumed. The hissing scream of Pantathians was punctuated by what Erik recognized as Saaur war cries and something else, something that raised the hair on the back of his neck.
Erik used hand signals, despite the din sounding ahead, against the faint possibility that someone might hear them coming. Renaldo moved to where Erik stood, at the van, and both of them stepped forward far enough to see what was ahead.
A vast cavern, as big as any they had encountered, opened before them, a circular well similar to the one they had used to enter the mountains. It rose so high overhead that Erik had no idea where it stopped, but they had arrived near the bottom.
Below them, one revolution down the circular ramp that hugged the inside of the well, a scene of desperate horror greeted them. The largest cache of Pantathian eggs they had seen so far lay in a vast pool of bubbling water. Erik quickly apprehended details. A stream of water ran down a wall into the pool, and Erik presumed it was cold, for the eggs would be cooked otherwise. The ice melt from above and the hot water from below must be mixed to keep the eggs incubated.
The pool was easily sixty feet across, and crouched in the middle was a creature so alien Erik couldn’t define it. He waved to those behind him and stared while the rest of the company filed out of the tunnel and spread out along the lip of the ramp. Erik felt pain in his shoulder and found Calis’s hand gripping him tightly. Erik whispered, ‘Captain?’
Calis blinked and said, ‘Sorry,’ as he removed his hand.
Erik knew he was startled but was surprised at how much.
The creature in the pool stood seventeen or eighteen feet tall, with large leathery wings on its back. It was a pearlescent black in color, with emerald green eyes. It divided its attention between savaging the remaining eggs in the pool – picking them apart and pulling the tiny Pantathians from within, devouring them with a gulp – and fighting a battle with the surviving defenders. The creature’s head was horselike, but it had wide-set curved horns, like a goat, and each arm ended with human-looking hands, five fingers with long sharp talons where nails should be.
‘What is that thing?’ asked de Loungville.
‘Mantrecoe,’ said Boldar. ‘You’d call it a demon, I guess. It’s a being from a different plane of reality. I’ve never seen one, but I know about them.’ He turned to Miranda and said, ‘Did you know?’
She shook her head and said, ‘No. I thought we faced something else entirely.’
‘How did it get here?’ asked Boldar. ‘The seals between this realm and the Fifth Circle have been intact for centuries. If one of those things had come through the Hall, we would have known.’
‘It didn’t come through the Hall of Worlds, obviously,’ said Miranda, straining to watch. Then she said, ‘Now we know where the Pantathian magic users are.’
Suddenly a keening howl filled the room as the creature screamed in pain. It turned to face a group of serpent men who were incanting a spell against it.
Calis said, ‘Over there!’
He pointed and Erik saw a tunnel, about twenty feet beyond the other side of the struggle. ‘What?’
‘That’s where we need to go.’
‘Are you mad?’ asked Erik, before he could remember who he was speaking to.
‘Unfortunately, no,’ said Calis. To Bobby he said, ‘Start walking the men around the ramp to just above that door and then drop a rope. Try not to call attention to yourself. I don’t want to have to deal with either side of this struggle if we can avoid it.’
De Loungville signaled and Erik took the lead, moving as close to the wall as he could, so that at times as he circled the well, following the ramp’s rise, he saw only the head of the creature as it ducked, weaved, and tried to get past magic wards and blasts of energy. Twice waves of searing heat rose off the battle below, and once he was almost blinded by a flash of light so bright it left him blinking for a moment.
He reached the position above the tunnel entrance Calis wanted, and turned so the man behind him could pull a rope out of Erik’s backpack. Erik saw nothing to which he could tie the rope, so he braced himself and nodded for the next soldier to shinny down the rope and head up the tunnel.
Each man followed orders without thought or hesitation. Two archers waited nearby, ready to fire at either the Pantathian magicians or the demon, but both sides seemed intent on their struggle.
After the tenth man descended, Calis approached and said, ‘How are you doing?’
‘My arms ache, but I’m all right,’ said Erik.
Calis said, ‘I’ll hold this for a bit.’ He took the rope with one hand, and Erik was again impressed with just how much more powerful the Captain was than he appeared to be.
More men climbed down, ducking into the tunnel. Erik couldn’t judge, but it seemed to him the contest was slowly turning the demon’s way. Each time the Pantathian magicians launched an assault, the creature returned even more viciously. The magicians appeared to be tiring, if Erik could judge these alien creatures.
Suddenly it was Miranda climbing down and Calis said, ‘Erik, you next.’
Erik complied, and was followed by de Loungville; then the rope fell. Calis leaped the twenty and more feet to the stone floor, landing as lightly as if he had jumped only a few. He found his company spread out down the tunnel, backs against the wall. Calis moved past and said, ‘Follow me,’ when he reached the other end of the line.
The men fell in, and Erik took up a position at the rear, glancing back at the struggle. A strange hissing scream cut through the air and Erik judged one of the magicians had been taken by the demon.
They came to a small chamber, barely large enough to hold the company. Calis said, ‘Listen, everyone. Something has changed the balance of forces we find opposing us and we need to discover what this new agent is.’ He glanced about, ‘Boldar?’
‘Yes?’ asked the mercenary.
‘You put a name to that thing. What do you know about it?’
Boldar’s helm turned in Miranda’s direction and she nodded once. ‘Tell him.’
Boldar removed his helm. ‘It’s a mantrecoe, in the language of the priests of Ast’hap’ut, a world I’ve visited. I’ve never seen one, but I’ve seen temple paintings.’
Boldar paused, as if considering his words. ‘Other worlds live by other rules,’ he began. ‘On Ast’hap’ut, they’ve had … dealings with these creatures. Ritual sacrifices and invocations, and a sort of worship.
‘On other worlds they’re considered creatures from a different energy plane.’
‘Energy plane?’ said Calis.
Miranda spoke. ‘A lot of beings exist out there in the universe in places that follow different rules than this world does, Calis. You’ve heard your father speak of the Dread?’
He nodded and no small number of the men made signs of protection against evil. ‘He defeated a Dread Master once.’ The Dread were the stuff of legends, along with the Dragon Lords. The Dread were considered the mightiest of the creatures of the void, the soul-suckers and life-drainers. The tread of their foot withered the grass, and only the mightiest magic could defeat them.
‘Well,’ continued Miranda, ‘that creature out there, that demon, is similar; the universe it lives in is governed by different laws from our own.’ She glanced back down the tunnel and said, ‘It’s not as alien to our sense of how things work as the Dread may be, but it is different enough that its presence means some very difficult days are ahead.’
‘How did it come here?’ asked Calis.
‘I don’t know,’ Miranda answered. ‘Perhaps we’ll find out ahead.’ She pointed at the tunnel leading away from the struggle.
Calis nodded. ‘Let’s go.’
He led the way, with Erik, Boldar, de Loungville, and the others trailing behind. ‘At least we understand why we found some untouched pockets of young here and there,’ said de Loungville.
Erik nodded. ‘That thing is too big for some of the chambers.’
Boldar said, ‘It might not always have been that way.’
‘What do you mean?’ asked Calis, not stopping as he moved through the dark tunnel. They had returned to their single torch in the center of the line and Erik found it odd hearing his voice in the gloom.
‘It may be that this creature slipped through a dimensional scission.’
‘Scission?’ said Calis.
‘Rift,’ supplied Miranda. ‘That might make sense. If a tiny demon came through unnoticed and spent some time gathering its strength, preying upon the unwary in these tunnels until it could raid the outlying crèches …’
‘But that doesn’t answer how it got here, or why,’ said Calis.
They moved quickly down the tunnel until it suddenly emptied into a large chamber. A half-dozen other tunnels also entered, and before them rose up gigantic double doors of ancient wood.
The doors were open and they moved through the doorway into the biggest hall encountered so far. Erik’s eyes had difficulty understanding what he saw. It was a temple, but unlike any human temple he had ever encountered. ‘Mother of all gods!’ said one of the men coming into the hall behind Erik.
A full hundred yards of floor stretched out before them, and everywhere they looked, torn and mutilated bodies were strewn. The stench was nearly overwhelming, even to men who had been smelling the stink of dead for days now.
A thousand torches had once lit the room to what must have been brilliance, but presently only one torch in ten still burned. The hall was rendered into gloomy darkness and flickering shadows that danced on every surface, giving the room an even more terrifying aspect than it would have held.
And that aspect would have been frightening at the light of noon.
The rear wall was cut to form a statue of heroic proportion. A regal-looking woman sat atop a throne, a figure measuring over one hundred feet from toe to crown. Her robes flowed down from her shoulders, leaving her breasts bare. In two arms she held life-size creatures, one obviously Pantathian, the other resembling the Saaur, though of smaller stature than any Saaur Erik had seen. The entire statue was green, as if cut from the largest single piece of jade in the universe.
Before her a huge pit yawned, and Erik picked his way through the litter of bodies to glance downward. ‘Gods!’ he whispered.
He couldn’t begin to estimate the number of humans who must have gone into that pit to fill it, because he had no concept of the depth. But just from what he could see, it had been a staggering population. Then he realized the dark railing wasn’t that color from paint or stain but from generations of human blood.
Boldar came forward and said, ‘This begs repayment. I thought you a rather cold-blooded crew when Miranda told me where we were headed and why, but now I understand why you must destroy these creatures.’
‘This is only a part of it,’ said Calis from behind. He pointed to cases used to display artifacts arrayed on both sides of the huge statue. ‘There. That is where we must go.’
Erik looked around. He didn’t much like the idea of attempting to walk across the mountain of bones. Then he spied an entrance near the base of the pit. ‘Maybe that way?’
Calis nodded. ‘You, Boldar, and Miranda, with me.’ To de Loungville he said, ‘Spread out the men and search. Anything that looks as if it might be remotely important is to be carried back here.’
Miranda said, ‘But carefully. Do not let alien devices or objects come into contact with one another.’
Boldar echoed that. ‘There can be nasty consequences if the wrong sorts of magic come into contact.’
De Loungville ordered the men to spread out, and torches were distributed so the men could have more light to inspect the ruins of this temple. Calis led the others to the small door Erik had seen, and it was indeed an access to the altar, so that they could get to the huge idol without crossing the pit.
As they reached the large dais upon which the idol sat, Calis motioned for Boldar and Erik to stand back while he and Miranda cautiously approached the nearest case. Looking like nothing so much as bookcases, thought Erik, these were fashioned of stone, blackened by what he knew now to be centuries of human blood. He saw Miranda and Calis were indifferent to the cases. They studied the items displayed within them.
Erik didn’t see anything remarkable about any of them; they mostly consisted of jewelry, a few weapons, and some other nondescript items. But Calis and Miranda approached them as if they were repositories of evil.
Quietly they looked, moving toward the cases and away, then barely touching them. Suddenly Calis said, ‘They are wrong!’
Miranda said, ‘Are you certain?’
‘As I know my own heritage!’ He picked up a dagger and said, ‘The helm that we carry brings sounds, tastes, ancient visions. There is nothing of that here.’
Miranda took another weapon, and examined it, then she tossed the shortsword to Erik, hilt first, and said, ‘Von Darkmoor: strike something.’
Erik glanced around, and saw nothing close by that looked a likely target. He moved to the other side of the huge idol and struck the edge of one of the large stone cases. The sword shattered as if it had been fashioned of base metal.
‘Not very well made,’ said Erik inspecting the hilt still in his hand. Having been a smith for years, he said, ‘The blade wasn’t even steel.’
Calis knelt and picked up a piece of shattered metal. ‘It wasn’t supposed to be steel. It was supposed to have been something … far more deadly.’
Erik tossed away the hilt.
Calis moved around the statue, inspecting it. ‘This is supposed to be the Green Mother of All,’ he said quietly. ‘In a strange fashion, she would be my aunt.’
Erik’s eyes widened slightly, and he glanced at Miranda and Boldar. Miranda watched Calis’s face closely, as if she were anxious about something. Boldar returned Erik’s questioning glance with a shrug.
Miranda said, ‘These are … stage properties.’ She waved her hand at the artifacts in the cases. ‘It’s as if a company of actors were staging this.’ She looked around the vast hall. ‘This is a theater more than a temple.’
Boldar looked at the carnage on the floor and the bones in the pit. ‘The murder is real enough.’
Calis said, ‘Look here.’
Erik came over and saw a faint crack along the back of the huge idol. He put his hand over it and felt a draft of air. ‘There’s an entrance behind here.’
Calis put his shoulder to the idol and Erik pushed as well. Rather than the enormous resistance they expected from an idol this massive, it rolled away a few feet, being hinged on the opposite side from where they stood. A man-sized opening was visible in the wall behind the idol, an entrance to a flight of stairs leading downward.
Miranda knelt and examined the base of the idol from behind. ‘This is marvelous engineering,’ she observed.
Boldar looked at the metalwork. ‘Nothing like this was forged on Midkemia.’
Erik also looked at the marvelous wheels, pulleys, and hinges and was forced to agree. He wished for enough time to linger over these items – he was still fascinated by the smith’s arts – but Calis was already moving down the stairs.
Erik gripped his torch tightly in his left hand, his sword in his right, and called over his shoulder, ‘Sergeant!’
De Loungville shouted back, ‘What?’
‘There’s a passage down here. The Captain’s heading down it.’
‘Understood!’ said de Loungville as he continued to have the men look over the corpses for anything that might shed light on what had happened in this strange underground city of serpent men.
Erik stepped on the top step and followed the others downward.
Duncan knocked on the gate and was quickly answered by a servant; he assumed the gateman had been waiting for Roo to arrive.
‘Yes?’ asked the servant.
‘I bear a message for Lady Sylvia from Rupert Avery.’
Seeing the rider was dressed in fine clothing, the servant opened the gate, asking, ‘And who might you be, sir?’
‘I am Duncan Avery.’
‘Very well, sir,’ said the servant, closing the gate behind Duncan as he rode up to the front of the house.
Duncan dismounted and gave the reins to another servant, and walked to the door. He knocked loudly.
A few moments later the door opened, and Sylvia stood regarding Duncan. She wore another of the stunning evening gowns only the boldest young women of Krondor would dare to display themselves in; she was one of the few who could do justice to it.
Duncan smiled his most charming smile.
She said, ‘I was expecting Rupert.’
‘He sends his regrets. I thought it far more civil to bring word in person, rather than letting an impersonal note serve.’
She stepped aside and said, ‘Do come in.’
He entered and said, ‘He regrets that the press of business and family matters conspire to keep him away this evening. He is devastated.’
Sylvia allowed herself a slight smile. ‘I somehow find it difficult to imagine that Roo said it in quite that fashion.’
Duncan shrugged. ‘I thought perhaps if you had no objection, I might offer you my poor company as an alternative.’
She laughed. Taking his arm in hers, she pressed her bosom hard against him as she walked him to the dining hall. ‘I doubt women find your company poor, dear … Duncan, is it not?’
‘It is indeed, Sylvia. If I may presume?’
Reaching the dining room, she said, ‘You may presume a great deal, I think.’ She led him to the chair at the end of the table and motioned for him to sit, as a servant pulled out her chair. ‘We met that night at the party; now I remember.’
Duncan smiled and she studied his face awhile.
‘Let us eat,’ said Sylvia. ‘And drink. Yes, I find I’m in the mood for a great deal of wine.’ Motioning to Duncan’s goblet, she told the servant, ‘Some of Father’s best.’
As the servant disappeared to fetch a bottle of wine, Sylvia fixed Duncan with as penetrating a gaze as she could. ‘Good cousin Duncan. Yes, Roo has spoken of you.’ She smiled again. ‘Let us drink a great deal, dear Duncan. Let us get drunk together. And then, later, we’ll think of some other things we might do.’
Duncan’s smile broadened. ‘Whatever your pleasure, I am at your service.’
She reached over and scratched the back of his hand with her nails. ‘Pleasure and service; my, what a treasure you are!’
The servant arrived and poured wine, and supper commenced.