Roo smiled.
He had slept a long night, and had awakened to a house full of noise. But rather than irritating him, the noise delighted him. The baby squealed and made cooing noises, while Abigail talked her baby talk.
Karli seemed her usual subdued self, but smiled at whatever small comment he made. He lingered over breakfast, and finally, when he left for the office, she walked with him to the door, where he paused.
‘Would you like to live in the country?’ he asked.
‘I hadn’t given it any thought,’ answered Karli.
He looked out the door across the street to Barret’s and said, ‘When I was a child I used to run for hours, or at least it seemed like hours, without seeing another person. The air is clean and there’s a silence at night. I think I’d like to build us a house outside the city – a place where the little ones can run and play and grow strong.’
She smiled at his reference to the children, for he rarely spoke of them. ‘Will you be able to conduct your business from so distant a home?’
He laughed. ‘I now control the company. I think I can delegate more day-to-day business to Dash, Jason, and Luis.’
‘And Duncan?’
‘Of course,’ he said. ‘He’s my cousin.’
She nodded.
‘I would have to come in from time to time, and you and the children would come with me for holidays, and we’d stay in the city during winter, but when the weather’s warm, a place a day’s ride from the city wouldn’t be much of a hardship.’
‘Whatever you think best,’ she answered, lowering her eyes.
He reached out to touch her chin, gently lifting it. ‘I want you happy, Karli. If you don’t wish to live away from the city, we’ll stay here. If you think it would be nice, we’ll build another house. You decide.’
She seemed genuinely surprised. ‘Me?’
‘Yes,’ he said, smiling. ‘Think on it. I’ll be across the street if you need me.’
He crossed and entered the building. Kurt practically fell over himself opening the gate for him as he said, ‘Good morning, Mr Avery.’
Roo almost tripped, he was so surprised by the usually surly waiter’s politeness. He turned to discover men who had barely glanced at him since he had become a member rising to greet him. ‘Good morning, Mr Avery,’ was repeated by men whose names he could barely recall.
When he mounted the stairs, he discovered a new railing had been put across the last third of the upper balcony, and on the other side sat Luis, Jason, and Dash. Dash nimbly jumped up and with a dramatic flourish opened the swinging gate in the rail.
‘What is this?’
Dash grinned. ‘I arranged with Mr McKeller for us to take a permanent position here, with an option for the rest of this side of the balcony area in the future.’
‘Really?’ said Roo, fixing Dash with a baleful look. ‘And what was all this business below?’
Dash attempted to look innocent. ‘I merely let it be known yesterday afternoon, after you left for the day, that you were now controlling owner of the Bitter Sea Company.’ Lowering his voice, he added, ‘You’re probably the richest man in Krondor this morning, Rupert.’
Dash held out his hand, and Jason produced a fist full of papers. He handed them to Dash, who passed them along to Roo. ‘The trading fleet from the Free Cities returned on the evening tide last night!’
Roo grabbed the sheets and looked them over. ‘This is fantastic!’ Not only had they sold the last shipments of grain at far above the projected market value – the locust plague had crossed the Grey Towers and struck hard at the Far Coast – the ships had returned carrying cargo brilliantly selected at prices sure to realize a profit. They had projected the ships returning empty, so indeed Rupert was far more wealthy than he had imagined.
‘There you are!’ said Crowley, hurrying up the stairs.
Roo said, ‘Good morning, Brandon.’
‘Don’t you good-morning me, you thief.’
‘What?’ said Roo, his good humor vanishing.
‘You knew that fleet was coming in, yet you sat there and cozened us with babble about risk and –’
‘Cozened!’ exclaimed Roo. He stood up. ‘Brandon, I offered to sell you my share of the Bitter Sea Company!’
‘Part of a clever plot to cheat us all, obviously.’
‘Oh, mercy,’ said Roo, turning toward Dash.
‘Don’t deny it,’ challenged Crowley.
Roo turned. ‘Brandon, I have no patience for making denials.’ He looked at his former partner. ‘Here’s what I will do. You have a choice. I will tell Jason to account the profits on the fleet and give you what would have been your share of the profits from this voyage had you not sold me your share in the Bitter Sea Company last night.
‘If I do this, do not ever again expect me to invite you into any business with the Bitter Sea Company. The gold we account you today will be the last you will ever see from us. In fact, should fate put us at odds, I will ensure you’re crushed.’ He smiled as he said this. ‘Or you can simply accept that you bet the wrong way on the turn of the card and leave with some attempt at good grace. If you can manage that, I will be sure to invite you to join with the Bitter Sea Company on other ventures in the future when I seek partners. Those are your choices; what do you prefer?’
Crowley stood there for a long moment, then said, ‘Bah! You’re giving me a fool’s choice. But I wasn’t here to beg favors. I want no part of your ill-gotten profits, Roo Avery. A bargain’s a bargain, and you’ll not hear otherwise from Brandon Crowley.’ He turned and left, muttering under his breath.
After he’d gone, Dash laughed. Jason said, ‘If he’d taken but a day to think on your offer, he’d have been a far wealthier man.’
Roo nodded emphatically. ‘That’s the whole point of his complaint. He’s mad at himself.’
‘Do you think you’ve made an enemy?’ asked Luis.
Roo said, ‘No. Brandon just enjoys complaining. He’ll be back the second I invite him, to make sure he’s involved in any rich deals, but he’ll keep complaining.’
The other partners showed up later that morning, but unlike Crowley they simply congratulated Roo on his good fortune, and themselves on their increased profits on the portion of the company they still owned.
Roo spent the next hour exchanging pleasantries with other men of note in the coffee house. About midmorning, the last social visitor departed, and Roo asked, ‘Where is Duncan?’
‘I haven’t seen him since yesterday,’ said Dash.
Roo shrugged. ‘I asked him to run an errand for me after leaving here. Knowing Duncan, I’d wager he went out after that and found some woman to tumble.’ Roo then glanced about to ensure no one else was close by, then motioned to his three companions to come closer so he could speak softly. ‘Someone has betrayed us.’
Jason looked at Luis and Dash. ‘How do you know?’
‘Someone knew more about this company than would be possible without inside communications; that party sent word to the Jacobys.’
He explained how he had agreed to run Jacoby and Sons for Helen and her children. ‘Jason, go over to their office and introduce yourself to anyone who might still be there; most of Tim’s hired men are in prison today, so there may not be anyone around but a clerk or two. If they need convincing, have someone go to Helen Jacoby’s home and get confirmation as to our arrangement.
‘Go over the books and see what is due and what is needed, but also keep an eye out for any hint of who our betrayer might be.’
Jason nodded. ‘I’ll go at once.’
After he left, Roo said, ‘Very well, gentlemen, what else concerns us today?’ He sat and began attending to the duties of being the richest man in Krondor.
Duncan stood at the door while Sylvia gave him a long kiss. ‘Stop that,’ he said, ‘or we’ll be back upstairs.’
She smiled, and closed the sheer night-robe she wore, which had fallen open. ‘No, sorry to say. I must get some sleep and the morning is half-over. Now go.’
She closed the door behind him as he walked down to where a groom brought his horse, and waited until she heard the horse moving away. She walked to the left hall and continued down to the office. Opening the door, she stepped through.
Jacob Esterbrook looked up and, seeing the open robe, said, ‘Cover yourself, Sylvia. What would the servants say?’
‘Whatever they say,’ said Sylvia, ignoring his instruction and letting the robe stay open. She enjoyed outraging her father. She sat down on the other side of the desk. ‘There’s not one of them who hasn’t seen me undressed from time to time.’ She neglected to mention that several of them had shared her bed over the years as well. Both she and Jacob pretended he didn’t know of her indulgences.
‘Was that young Avery?’
She grinned. ‘That was the other young Avery. Duncan came in his cousin’s stead. So I decided he might as well fulfill all of Roo’s duties.’
Jacob sighed. ‘You create potential difficulties, Sylvia.’
She laughed, leaning back, allowing the robe to fall even farther open. ‘I always create difficulties; it’s my nature. But this Duncan is as venal as any man I’ve met, I’ll wager, be the price gold or flesh. I think we can use him, especially if we offer him both gold and flesh.’
‘Really?’ said Jacob, ignoring his daughter’s brazen attempt to embarrass him.
‘He could prove a useful weapon,’ she said with a smile.
Jacob nodded. ‘Well, having an ally inside the Bitter Sea Company is very useful. Having two would be even better. But considering the situation, I’d like to remind you what disaster might befall us should you blunder and let the two discover each other.’
She stood, stretching and arching her back, like a cat. ‘Have I ever made a mistake where men are concerned, Father?’
He sat back in his chair. ‘Not so far, daughter, but you are young.’
‘I don’t feel young,’ she said, turning and leaving his office.
Jacob considered for a moment the creature who was his daughter, then dismissed such musing. He had never understood women, not Sylvia, not her dead mother, not the occasional wench he tumbled down at the Sign of the White Wing. To him women were to be either used or ignored. Then he thought again of his daughter and realized that ignoring such a one as she could prove deadly. Sighing at what he saw her to be, he refused to assign blame to himself; he had never intended for her to turn out as she had and, besides, she served the needs of Jacob Esterbrook and Company admirably.
Erik pointed. ‘What is that?’
They had found a long tunnel leading away from the bottom of the flight of stairs behind the idol. De Loungville reported finding nothing of interest among the slain above, and Calis ordered the rest of his company down to the tunnel.
Seeing how tired the men were, Calis had ordered a halt. They slept for what Erik judged to be several hours on the landing at the bottom of the stairs, before moving along the large tunnel that led away into the gloom.
While waiting, Erik had noticed what appeared to be a large pipe leading along the ceiling of the hall. ‘Drainpipe?’ offered Praji.
Erik tried to inspect it, and finally said, ‘Hand me a lantern.’
Vaja obliged and Erik looked closely. Erik held the lantern close and said, ‘It’s no pipe. I think it’s solid.’ He took out his sword and gently tapped the blade against it.
A shriek loud enough to cause those awake to cover their ears and to jolt every sleeping man to alertness echoed down the tunnel while an angry green flash nearly blinded Erik.
Praji, who had been standing next to Erik, said, ‘Don’t do that again,’ while Miranda waved her hand, her mouth moving as she softly spoke an incantation.
Erik felt his arm sting to the shoulder and said, ‘Don’t worry, I won’t.’
Miranda said, ‘It’s a conduit.’
‘For what?’ asked Calis.
‘Life.’
Erik frowned and looked to Boldar, who stood next to his employer. The alien mercenary shrugged. ‘I have no idea what she’s talking about.’
Calis said, ‘We move out, now!’
The men formed up and they moved down the tunnel. Erik heard Alfred mutter, ‘Given that shriek, no one’s going to be surprised when we show up.’
Erik said, ‘Given what we’ve seen, anyone who’s surprised by anything down here is an idiot.’
‘There is that,’ agreed the former corporal from Darkmoor.
Erik said, ‘Take the rear, Alfred. I need someone with a steady nerve back there.’
With a faint smile at the praise, the one-time brawler stepped aside to let the other men pass.
They followed the tunnel until they came to a large wooden door. They carefully inspected the door, listening for noise, and when they heard nothing, Calis put his hand against the wood. He pushed and the door swung inward.
Calis and Erik stepped into a large chamber, and Erik’s hair bristled, even down to the hair on his arms. The room was filled with strange power, energies that swept through him, filling him with a giddy feeling.
Everything was illuminated by a series of lanterns in the ceiling, recessed so the source of the light couldn’t be seen unless one stood directly underneath. The soft glow was tinged with green, and Erik suspected that the green flash of light he had seen when his blade had touched what Miranda called a ‘conduit’ and the alien light in this room were related.
Five figures turned as they entered, and instantly Calis’s sword was out and he was charging. Erik, Praji, and Vaja didn’t wait for orders, duplicating the Captain’s attack.
Miranda shouted, ‘Back!’ to those behind her while she began casting a spell.
Five Pantathian serpent priests began casting spells. A sixth priest, in ornate robes, sat motionless atop a large throne, observing without any change of expression. Erik dove under the outstretched arm of a priest as a blinding blast of energy exploded off the creature’s hand. Erik rolled over on his back, just catching a glimpse of Miranda using some type of mystic shield to deflect the blast down toward the floor.
Calis, Praji, and Vaja were standing together when another ball of energy exploded in their direction. Praji and Vaja took the blast full in the face, and both men fell backward, their bodies erupting into flames. Erik judged them dead before they hit the stone floor.
Calis turned and took part of the blast on his left side, stumbling and howling in pain as the energies flamed around him. For a tortured moment he seemed a living candle, alight and being consumed. Then the magic fire vanished, but the entire left side of Calis’s body was smoking char and weeping wounds.
‘Calis!’ shouted Miranda, while Erik continued to roll, right into the first serpent priest. He knocked the creature over and slashed past it as he stood, killing another priest. Without hesitation he slammed his boot heel into the throat of the creature he had knocked over, leaving the serpent priest thrashing in pain as it suffocated, trying to breathe with a crushed windpipe.
A third priest turned to face Erik, attempting to conjure, but it died before any spell was realized as Erik severed its head from its shoulders.
Suddenly a shout from the other end of the tunnel alerted Erik that more trouble was likely to descend upon them. He turned toward the remaining three priests. One also was about to conjure a spell when a thin stream of light, a blinding white and purple pulse, slammed into its head as Miranda attacked.
The creature hissed in agony, then its head erupted in mystic flame; a brief flash, and the head was gone. The decapitated body slumped to the ground.
Calis pulled himself upright by force of will to kill the fifth priest before Erik could reach him. Even injured, Calis was powerful enough to drive his sword completely through the priest.
Erik spun to face the door as de Loungville cried out, ‘Saaur! They’re coming!’
Erik turned to face the seated priest. Miranda also came forward, first to grip Calis and help him to keep standing, and second to protect him. She spared the smoking corpses of Praji and Vaja only a momentary glance, as it was obvious they were far beyond mortal help. Then she joined Calis in turning to confront the last Pantathian, preparing to defend Calis should the High Priest launch an attack.
But the seated Pantathian only blinked as he regarded the carnage before him.
Erik slowly approached and saw that the five priests had been protecting something, an object that sat in a stone well in front of and a few feet below the base of the throne. Erik moved slowly toward it, shifting his gaze back and forth between the object and the figure on the throne.
The object looked like a large green emerald, but one aglow with a fey light. ‘Gods!’ said Miranda in a voice hoarse with fear.
‘Your gods have nothing to do with this, human,’ said the figure upon the throne, what Erik took to be a High Priest. Its speech was sibilant but otherwise understandable. ‘They are newcomers to this world, trespassers, and pretenders.’
Erik glanced up and saw a faint shimmer of green energy pouring from a metal rod, falling in a faint cascade upon the stone. He followed the rod back to the wall above the door and surmised it was the same one he had struck. The sounds of battle rang out in the hallway.
Erik glanced at Calis, who weakly said, ‘Get that door closed and block it off somehow.’
Erik ran to where de Loungville stood. ‘Captain says to get this door closed and blocked off,’ said Erik.
De Loungville shouted out, ‘Fall back!’ He turned to Erik and said, ‘We’ve got one advantage. They’re so damn big they can’t come through the tunnel but one at a time, and we’re hacking them down as they show their ugly faces.’
The men fell back and Erik saw that most were covered in blood. He imagined it must have been grim work at the end of the line. The last man through was Alfred, who thrust and parried at an unseen opponent. Then Erik saw a huge green head as a Saaur warrior, attempting to fight while half hunched over, pushed forward. Erik didn’t wait but took out his dagger and threw it with all his strength at the creature over the shoulder of the retreating Alfred. The blade took the Saaur in the neck, and it clawed with one hand at the blade as it fell forward, half blocking the door. A shout from behind the creature told Erik the creature’s allies had seen him fall.
De Loungville didn’t hesitate but shouted, ‘Drag him inside!’ Three men on each side grabbed the creature, nearly twelve feet tall, and pulled it through the portal, while another soldier duplicated Erik’s action and threw his dagger at the next Saaur. It had the desired result, causing the creature to retreat long enough for them to get the door closed. There was a large wooden bar, and Erik motioned for other soldiers to set it across the door, into two huge iron supports. A moment later came the sound of a large body hitting the door followed by an angry exclamation Erik assumed to be a Saaur oath.
‘Block the door!’ shouted Erik.
Four of the men dragged the dying Saaur away from the door, while others took some idols of stone, lizard figures crouching as if guarding something, and pushed them before the door. Erik turned to see Miranda and Calis slowly approaching the green gem.
‘What is this thing?’ Miranda asked.
The seated figure said, ‘Your lowly intellect is incapable of understanding, human.’
Calis hobbled with Miranda’s help to stand next to the object, letting the green light bathe him. The burns he had received from the magician’s blast must have been causing him incredible pain, but he showed no sign of it. He said, ‘It is a key.’
The serpent said, ‘You are more intelligent than you look, elf.’
Calis shook off Miranda’s support and reached over the edge of the pool in which the emerald rested and the Pantathian stood up slowly, as if infirmity or age were weighing heavily upon him. ‘No!’ he commanded. ‘Do not touch this! It is nearly finished!’
‘It is finished,’ said Calis as he put his hand upon the gem and closed his eyes. Green pulsing light seemed to crawl slowly up his arm. Calis’s wounds were still terrible, raw flesh and singed hair, but the green light seemed to strengthen him. He removed his hand from the gem’s surface and walked toward the creature, who now stood upright, looking at Calis with amazement upon its face.
‘You should be dead,’ said the priest. ‘This is decades of work, the life force of thousands of slaughtered creatures, and it is the key that will bring back our Mistress.’
‘Your mistress is a fraud!’ shouted Calis. He came up to the Pantathian, weaving slightly, and said, ‘You are snakes lifted up and given arms, legs, speech, and cunning, but you are snakes!’ He leaned forward until he was nearly nose-to-snout with the creature. ‘Look into my eyes, snake! See what you face!’
The old priest blinked and stared into Calis’s eyes. Mystic communication passed between them, because suddenly the priest fell to its knees, turning away, holding up its arms as if shielding itself from Calis’s gaze. ‘No! It cannot be!’
‘I carry that blood within me!’ shouted Calis. Erik wondered where the strength to hold himself that way came from; a lesser man would be dead from the burns.
‘It is a lie!’ screamed the lizard man, turning away.
‘Your Green Mother is the lie!’ shouted Calis. ‘She is no goddess! She is one of the Valheru!’
‘No! They were lesser kin. None were as great as She Who Birthed Us! We labor to bring her back so that in death we will be born again to rule at her feet!’
‘Fools!’ said Calis, and Erik could sense the strength leaving him again. Miranda took careful hold of his right side, helping him stay erect. ‘Murderous fools, you are nothing but what she made you, bent creatures of no natural root, the makings of a vain thing who knew only her own pleasures. You were dust under her feet, and when she rose with her brethren during the Chaos Wars you were forgotten!’ Calis stumbled, and de Loungville came to help hold him. ‘If there was any possible way to redeem you and your kind, we would not be here.’
Then Calis took a deep breath. ‘You are a pawn and have always been a pawn. It is no fault of your own that you must be destroyed, but you must be obliterated, root and branch.’
‘You are here to do this?’ said the High Priest.
‘I am,’ said Calis. ‘I am the son of he who imprisoned your Alma-Lodaka!’
‘No!’ shrieked the High Priest. ‘None may speak the most holy of names!’ The old serpent rose, pulling a dagger from its robes. Erik didn’t hesitate, but ran two steps up the dais and hacked as hard as he could at the High Priest. The old creature’s head sailed from its shoulders, landing a short distance away, while the body collapsed.
Erik looked at Calis who said, ‘You did well.’
‘What now?’ asked de Loungville, as the thudding against the door became more rhythmic. ‘They’ve gotten themselves a ram. That’s a heavy bar on the door, but it won’t hold forever. Those Saaur are strong.’
Calis said, ‘Find us another way out, or we have to fight back the way we came.’
De Loungville turned and ordered the men to start searching for another exit. ‘Here is what their temple was about,’ said Calis, as Miranda helped him sit upon the steps. ‘Tens of thousands of lives given up over the last fifty years in vile sacrifice so they could create that.’ He pointed weakly at the green stone. ‘It is a thing of captured life.’
Miranda said, ‘Your father spoke once of the false Murmandamus using the captured lives of those who died in his service to shift into the same realm as the Lifestone. We should have suspected they would again use such means.’ She pointed at the stone. ‘This is a far more powerful tool than that simple deception.’
‘What do we do with it?’ asked Erik.
Calis groaned in pain. ‘You,’ he said to Miranda, ‘take it. You must take it to my father. He and Pug are the only two men on this world who might understand how to utilize it.’ The pounding on the door served to underscore the urgency of his words. ‘If the Emerald Queen gets this key to Sethanon, joins it with the Lifestone …’
Miranda nodded. ‘I think I understand. I can get a few of us out of here …’
‘No,’ said Calis. ‘I’m staying. I’m the only one who might begin to understand what else we might find here. Take the Valheru helm we found, and this key. Try for the surface.’ He looked at Boldar and said, ‘Take the mercenary with you. He’ll keep you alive until you find a place you can use your arts to get home.’
Miranda smiled. ‘You bastard. You told me you don’t know anything about magic.’
Calis said, ‘There is no magic, remember?’
‘I wish Nakor were here,’ said Erik.
Calis said, ‘If Pug couldn’t find the Pantathians after looking for them for fifty years, it follows this place is very secure, and I suspect that using magic to get in or out is equally impossible.’
‘Damn you,’ she said, a tear running down her face. ‘We do need to climb up to the surface, or near it.’
‘Well, then we’d better hope there’s another way out.’
A few minutes later, de Loungville reported they had found a stairway at the rear of the hall leading upward. ‘There you go,’ said Calis, trying to smile. ‘I need to rest a bit. And the men need to look around.’
Miranda took his hand and gripped it. ‘What do I say to your father?’
‘That I love him, and say the same to my mother,’ said Calis. ‘Then tell him that a demon is loose and there’s a third player in this. I think when he looks at this gem he will find it is not what it seems to be.’
‘What do you mean?’
‘Let the Spellweavers examine this thing without my theories coloring their opinions.’
Miranda approached the object with caution and gently touched it. She muttered and cast about with her hands, then picked up the object. ‘I don’t like leaving you.’
Calis managed a brave smile. ‘I don’t like it much either. Now, if you can manage to give me a kiss without touching my injured side, do so, and get out of here.’
Miranda knelt and kissed the right side of his face, then whispered, ‘I’ll come back for you.’
‘Don’t,’ said Calis. ‘We won’t be here. We’ll find our own way out. I’ll get to that Brijaner ship, somehow. Get Duke William to send someone our way, just in case, but don’t you dare come back here for me. There are still other priests in these mountains, almost certainly, and even if we’ve killed their inner circle, they will be powerful enough to find you when you use your magic to return.’
Then he fingered the magic ward she gave him. ‘Besides, how will you find me?’ His question was punctuated by another assault on the door.
She gripped his good hand with her left, while holding the glowing gem with her right. ‘Stay alive, damn it!’
‘I will,’ he promised. ‘Bobby!’
De Loungville said, ‘Captain?’
‘Take a dozen men and go with them.’
De Loungville turned and shouted, ‘Squad two and squad three, come here!’
Twelve men left their searching of the hall and reported. ‘Go with the lady,’ he instructed.
Calis said, ‘You too, Bobby.’
De Loungville turned and with an evil grin said, ‘Make me.’ To the twelve men who waited, he pointed to the door and said, ‘Take the lady and the mercenary and get the hell out of here!’
The twelve men glanced at Miranda and Boldar. Boldar nodded once and set off in the van, and six men followed, while the other six waited until Miranda gave Calis’s hand one more squeeze and set off. Then they followed her.
Erik turned to Calis. ‘What do we do now, Captain?’
‘How many men do we have left?’ asked Calis.
Erik didn’t have to count. ‘Now that two squads are gone, we’re down to thirty-seven, including you.’
‘Wounded?’
‘Five, but they can still fight.’
‘Help me up,’ said Calis.
Erik gave him a hand up, then slipped his arm around his waist – keeping his hand on Calis’s belt, avoiding his burned flesh. Calis leaned his good side heavily upon Erik and said, ‘I need to see anything that may be an artifact of the Ancient Ones, the Dragon Lords.’
Erik had no idea how he would know if he stepped on such an artifact, but Calis said, ‘Remember how that helm felt when you touched it?’
Erik said, ‘I can’t forget that.’
‘That’s what we’re looking for.’
For a tense fifteen minutes they combed the hall. A door with a large bar on it was discovered behind a tapestry. Once it was open, Calis said, ‘Stand back.’ He forced Erik to let go and hobbled to the entrance. Inside sat a suit of armor. It glowed with a green light, and Erik felt the hair on his arms rise up once again.
Calis said, ‘This is the true repository of her power.’
Erik assumed he meant the goddess or lady Dragon Lord, or whatever she might be, but he was distracted by the creaking sounds of wood and groaning hinges as the Saaur continued to pound methodically at the heavy door.
Bobby said, ‘What do we do with it?’
‘We destroy it,’ said Calis.
He took a staggering step forward, and both Erik and de Loungville hurried to help him walk. Erik felt his skin tingle and fought back the urge to scratch as he came nearer the artifacts. Besides the armor, a set of emerald jewelry was displayed: a tiara, a necklace that was a full choker of huge stones, matching bracelets, and rings. Calis gently reached out and touched the breastplate. Then he snatched his hand back, as if his fingers had been burned.
‘No!’ he said.
‘What?’ asked de Loungville.
‘It’s … wrong.’ He quickly touched each item in the room and said, ‘It’s all contaminated. Something has … changed this.’
Suddenly, and for the first time since Erik had known him, Calis revealed fear in his expression. ‘I’m a fool! Almost as big a fool as the Pantathians.’
To Bobby he said, ‘We must destroy this as quickly as we can, but most of all, we must escape.’
De Loungville said, ‘You’ll get no argument from me, Captain.’
Calis said, ‘Erik, you were a smith. How best to destroy this armor?’
Erik picked up the breastplate, a shimmering thing of green metal with a serpent depicted in bas-relief upon it. As he touched it, strange images, haunting music, and an alien rage flooded through him. He dropped it to the floor. It rang as it struck the stone. ‘I don’t know if it can be destroyed, at least by normal means,’ said Erik. ‘To forge metal, great heat is needed; great heat can also rob steel of its temper. If we could build a hot enough fire …’
Looking around, Calis said, ‘What can we burn…?’ Then he collapsed, and Bobby lowered him to the floor.
Looking at Erik, he shouted for Alfred. When the corporal reached them, de Loungville said, ‘To my distress, I find myself suddenly in command. At this moment, I would appreciate any suggestions either of you might have.’
Alfred said, ‘We should get the hell out of here, Sergeant Major. That door won’t hold much longer.’
‘What about these damned things?’ Bobby asked Erik.
Erik tried to think as quickly as he could. ‘I know nothing of this magic business. I know armor, horses, and fighting.’ Then he continued, ‘All I know about these things is Miranda’s warning not to let them come into contact with one another. If each man wrapped a single item, we might bring them with us. At least that would keep them out of their hands.’ He indicated the thudding door.
‘Do it.’
Erik gave orders and the men grabbed tapestries and wrapped the armor, jewelry, and other objects in cloth. Erik said, ‘Each man is to watch those around him. If any other man looks … different – lost, confused, or distracted – tell me at once!’
He distributed the items among different men, no one man carrying anything, no matter how small, without another standing next to him. De Loungville said, ‘You start. I’ll follow. If they don’t break in the door, I’ll leave in ten minutes.’
‘See if you can jam this other door after you get through it,’ suggested Erik.
‘Get out of here,’ said de Loungville with a mocking smile.
Erik lit a torch and hurriedly led the men carrying the artifacts through the second door. A flight of stairs led up into the gloom and he began climbing.
Nakor lay under a tree dozing when he suddenly sat up. Glancing around, he saw Sho Pi sitting a short distance away, watching him. The mad beggar also sat watching him.
’What is it?’ asked Nakor.
‘I didn’t wish to disturb you, Master, so I waited; Lord Vencar has arrived. The Prince has sent him to take control here.’
‘Not that,’ said Nakor, standing. ‘Didn’t you feel it?’
‘Feel what, Master?’
Nakor said, ‘Never mind. We’re leaving.’
Sho Pi also stood. ‘Where are we going?’
‘I don’t know. Krondor, I think. Maybe up to Elvandar. It depends.’
Sho Pi followed Nakor as he hurried toward the large building that dominated the island. Near the building, the mad beggar hurried off toward the kitchen. The bandy-legged Isalani gambler entered the building and headed straight to the central hall, where he found a well-dressed man sitting at the head of the table, Kalied, Chalmes, and the other magicians sitting there as well.
The Earl of the Court said, ‘And you must be Nakor.’
Nakor said, ‘I must be. I have to tell you a couple of things. To begin with, these here are all liars.’
The other magicians gasped or objected, but Nakor simply kept talking. ‘They don’t mean to be, but they’ve become so used to doing things in secret they can’t help themselves. Don’t believe anything they say. But otherwise they mean well.’
Arutha, Lord Vencar, began to laugh. ‘Father said you were remarkable.’
‘I think Lord James is pretty unusual, too,’ said Nakor. ‘Hell of a card player.’ He winked. ‘Only man I’ve ever met who could cheat me at cards. I admire that.’
Arutha said, ‘Well, we can talk about this over supper.’
‘No, we can’t,’ said Nakor. ‘I’ve got to leave.’
Arutha, who looked something like his father but with lighter hair, said, ‘This minute?’
‘Yes.’ Nakor turned toward the door. ‘Tell these stubborn dolts that something really bad is going to happen soon and they’d better stop fooling around and get serious about helping the Kingdom or there won’t be any point to anything anymore. I’ll be back in a while.’
If the Prince of Krondor’s representative had anything more to say, Nakor didn’t hear it as he turned down a hallway and almost ran, he was walking so fast.
Sho Pi said, ‘Master, I thought you said we were leaving.’
‘We are,’ replied Nakor as he started to climb a flight of stairs.
‘But this isn’t the way to the docks. This is the way to –’
‘Pug’s tower. I know.’
Sho Pi followed Nakor as he climbed the circular stairs that led to the top of the tower. When they reached the top floor, they were confronted by a wooden door with no apparent lock. Nakor pounded on it. ‘Pug!’
A strange shimmer covered the surface of the door, and the wood flowed and twisted, forming a face. ‘Begone!’ said the face. ‘This room shall not be entered.’
Nakor ignored the admonition and pounded upon the door even louder. ‘Pug!’ he shouted.
Sho Pi said, ‘Master, he’s not here –’ He stopped speaking when the door opened.
Pug looked out. ‘You felt it too.’
‘How could I not?’ said Nakor.
Sho Pi said, ‘But they said you weren’t here.’
Nakor narrowed his gaze as he looked at Sho Pi. ‘Sometimes I despair, boy. Are you stupid or just too trusting?’
‘How long have you known?’ asked Pug, motioning for them to come inside.
They moved inside and the door closed behind them. ‘First day I got here. You make a lot of noise coming and going.’ Then he grinned. ‘One day I came up the stairs, really quietly, and I heard you and your lady friend.’ His eyes grew wide and he shook his hand as if touching something hot. ‘You two!’ He laughed.
Pug looked heavenward. ‘Thank you for not disturbing us.’
‘No reason to. But we’ve got to go.’
Pug nodded. ‘We risk attack.’
Nakor said, ‘I don’t think so. Whatever we feel is making enough noise out there that even if anyone is looking for you, they won’t notice you moving the three of us. Where are we going? Krondor?’
Pug shook his head. ‘No. We’re going to Elvandar. I need to speak with Tomas.’
Nakor motioned for Sho Pi to stand close and took his student’s hand. Pug linked hands with the two of them and the room shifted and shimmered; then they found themselves in a forest glade.
Pug said, ‘Follow me,’ and led them a short distance to a shallow river. ‘This is the river Crydee,’ said Pug. Then he called out in a loud voice, ‘I am Pug of Stardock. I seek counsel with Lord Tomas!’
A few minutes later two elves appeared on the other side of the bank. One called out, ‘You are bidden enter Elvandar!’
They waded across the stream and Pug said to Sho Pi, ‘None may enter Elvandar unbidden.’
Once they were on the other bank, Pug said, ‘I hope you don’t mind if I hurry along.’
The elf said, ‘Not in the least.’
Pug smiled. ‘Galain, isn’t it?’
‘You remember,’ said the elf.
Pug said, ‘I wish I had the time to be social.’
The elf nodded. ‘I and my patrol will return to the court in a few days’ time. Perhaps then we may visit.’
Pug smiled. He took Sho Pi’s and Nakor’s hands again and moved them to another location in the forest.
Sho Pi’s eyes widened, and Pug remembered his first reaction to seeing the heart of the elven forest. Giant trees, dwarfing the most ancient oaks, rose to form an almost impenetrable canopy. Some of the trees showed leaves of the deepest green, while others had leaves golden, red, or silver in color, a few white as snow; a strange soft light bathed the area. Giant boles rose with steps cut into the living wood, and branches broad enough to serve as walkways spread in all directions.
‘It’s a city of trees,’ said Sho Pi.
‘Yes,’ said an old man who stood nearby, leaning on a long bow. His hair was pure white, and his skin showed years of aging, but his body was still erect, and he wore the green leathers of a hunter.
‘Martin!’ said Pug, stepping forward.
The old man took Pug’s extended hand and shook. ‘It’s been a long time.’
‘You look well.’ Nakor grinned.
‘You old card cheat!’ said Martin, gripping Nakor’s hand. ‘You don’t look a day older.’
Nakor shrugged. ‘For one not gifted with long life, Martin, you look remarkable.’
The old man smiled. ‘For a man my age, you mean.’ He glanced around. ‘Here I linger. Elvandar has been kind to me. I think the gods decided to let my final years be peaceful.’
Pug said, ‘You deserve some peace in your time.’
Martin Longbow, once Duke of Krondor, brother to King Lyam and uncle to King Borric, said, ‘Seems that once more peace is at risk.’
Pug nodded. ‘I need to speak to Tomas and Aglaranna. Is Calis here?’
Martin picked up his bow. ‘I was sent to wait for you. Miranda arrived an hour ago, with the strangest young man.’ He began walking. ‘Tomas said you’d be here shortly. Calis is … well, he may not return.’
‘Ill news,’ said Nakor.
‘Who is this?’ Martin motioned to Sho Pi.
Nakor said, ‘Sho Pi. A disciple.’
Martin laughed as he moved through the trees. ‘Seriously, or are you doing the mendicant holy man act again?’
‘Seriously,’ said Nakor, looking injured. ‘I never should have told Borric about that scam. He’s told everyone in his family about it.’
Martin’s brown eyes narrowed. ‘There was a reason.’ Then he laughed. ‘It’s good to see you again.’
‘Are you coming?’ asked Pug.
‘No, I rarely sit in the Queen’s Council anymore. I am content to be a guest here, waiting out my time.’
Pug smiled. ‘I understand. We’ll talk this evening, after supper.’ He gripped Sho Pi’s and Nakor’s hands, and closed his eyes, and again the air shimmered and they were someplace else.
They stood in the center of a large platform set high in the trees. A voice said, ‘Welcome, Pug of Crydee.’
Pug couldn’t help but laugh. ‘Thank you, old friend.’
A large man, easily six inches over six feet in height, approached and took Pug’s hand, then hugged him. ‘It is good to see you again, Pug.’ His features were youthful, but his eyes were ancient. His features were a blend of human and elf, with high cheekbones, pointed ears, and blond hair. To any who had seen Calis, there was no doubt this was his father.
Pug slapped his friend on the back. ‘Too many years, Tomas,’ he said with genuine regret.
Sho Pi and Nakor were introduced to Tomas, Warleader of the Elven Host of Elvandar. Then they were presented to a stunning woman of regal bearing, Aglaranna, Queen of Elvandar. Nakor smiled and said, ‘Nice to meet you, Lady,’ while Sho Pi knelt in greeting. The Elf Queen was a young-looking woman, despite her centuries of age. Her hair was a fine red-gold, her eyes a deep blue, and her beauty breathtaking, despite being alien.
An elf who looked young by human standards came to stand next to Tomas. ‘This is Calin,’ said Tomas, ‘heir to the throne of Elvandar and brother to my son.’
Prince Calin greeted the two newcomers, then said to Pug, ‘Miranda arrived an hour ago.’
‘Where is she?’ asked Pug.
‘Over there.’ Tomas indicated a second platform, off to the side of the first.
Sho Pi followed in awe. The trees themselves were alive with lights and magic. There was a profound sense of peace and rightness here that he had not imagined possible.
They came to the indicated place, where Miranda was inspecting a strange glowing gem, as well as a helm. None of the elves gathered near her touched anything, but they peered closely at the objects.
Pug hurried over. ‘Miranda!’
She turned and, upon seeing him, nearly flew to him, throwing her arms around his neck. ‘It’s so good to see you again.’
‘Calis?’ asked Pug.
‘He’s been injured.’
‘How badly?’
‘Badly.’
Pug held her a moment, then said, ‘Tell me where to find him.’
‘I can’t. He wears a ward that protects him from magic sight. It shields him from the Pantathians, but it shields him from us as well.’
‘Tell me about it,’ said Pug.
Miranda reconstructed the events of the journey, the discovery, and the escape. ‘I left six men, those who survived the fights on the way out, in a frigid cave in the peaks,’ she finished. ‘I pray they’ve gotten down from the mountains, but I fear they are all dead.’
Pug said, ‘Every one of us knew the risks.’
Miranda nodded, clutching his hand, but her face was drawn. ‘There is this,’ she said, ‘and Calis judged it critical I bring it here.’
Pug looked at the key. ‘What is it?’
‘A Pantathian thing. A key to free the Green Lady from the Lifestone,’ said Miranda.
Pug looked dubious. He looked at the object for long minutes, placing his hand over it, but not quite touching it. He closed his eyes several times, and his lips moved. Once a tiny spark of energy leaped from the palm of his hand to the stone. At last he stood upright and said, ‘It’s a key of some sort, that’s certain, but to free the Valheru
He looked at the assembled Spellweavers of Elvandar and addressed the eldest. ‘Tathar, what do you see?’
‘This is something of those whose name may not be spoken,’ said the senior adviser to the Queen. ‘But there is an alien presence here as well, one of which I have no knowledge.’
Pug said, ‘The demon you spoke of, Miranda?’
‘No. It was a nearly mindless thing, a killing device, pure and simple. I witnessed it at work, and while it was powerful and able to hold a dozen serpent priests at bay, it had cunning but no intelligence – at least not enough to have conceived this device. Whatever fashioned this thing was more than that simple being. Someone sent it through a rift into the heart of the Pantathian home to wreak havoc and destroy them, the same intention as ours.’
Pug said, ‘Once before, we dealt with duplicity; why not now?’
Tomas stood next to his friend and said, ‘What do you think?’
Pug stroked his beard. ‘As Murmandamus was but a false icon, to manipulate the moredhel to rise up and capture Sethanon, a Pantathian ruse, so might not this be a demon ruse to use the Pantathians to capture the Life-stone?’
‘Toward what end?’ asked Aglaranna.
Pug sighed. ‘Power. It’s a powerful tool, no matter who wields it.’
‘Weapon,’ said Nakor. ‘Not a tool.’
‘What of the Valheru?’ asked Tomas. ‘Can some other force imagine they can do anything with the Lifestone, use it somehow, without having to deal with those trapped within the stone?’
Pug said, ‘The problem is that the only source of lore we have is what you remember, from the memory of Ashen-Shugar.’ Tomas possessed the memories of the ages-dead Dragon Lord whose armor he had donned during the Riftwar. ‘But he alone of the Valheru had nothing to do with the creation of the Lifestone. He knew something of its nature, something of its purpose, that it was to be a weapon to destroy the new gods, but beyond that he was ignorant of its nature.’
‘So you suspect that someone else, whoever is behind this demon’s entering our world, may have a purpose for the Lifestone that hasn’t occurred to us?’ said Miranda. ‘Could they simply grab the Lifestone and use it as a weapon, the way a man might use a sword or crossbow?’
‘That,’ said Pug, ‘I do not know. It’s clear, though, that someone is prepared to try.’
‘What do we do?’ asked Miranda.
Pug said, ‘We wait and study this thing, and see what they do next.’
Miranda said, ‘What about Calis?’
Tomas said, ‘We wait.’
Miranda said, ‘I want to return to look for him and the others.’
Pug said, ‘I know you do, but it would be foolish. They will have moved on, and whoever we face, whoever is left alive there will be on guard and looking for him as well. The second you pop into existence there, whatever magic is left will fall on you like a burning house.’
Nakor said, ‘I’ll go.’
Pug turned and said, ‘What?’
‘I will go,’ he said slowly. ‘Get me to Krondor and I will get a ship and I will sail down to that place he left his boat and I will get him back.’
Pug said, ‘You’re serious?’
Nakor said, ‘I told this one’ – he motioned to Sho Pi – ‘we had to go on a trip. This is just a bit farther than I thought.’
He grinned a moment, then the smile faded. In the most serious tones anyone had heard Nakor use, he said, ‘A great and terrible storm is coming, Pug. It is black and deadly and we don’t understand yet what is behind it. Everyone here has a duty. I do, too: to find Calis and the others and bring back whatever they’ve learned after Miranda left.’
Aglaranna said, ‘Take from us whatever we can give if it will help you find our son.’
Nakor said, ‘Just get me to Krondor.’
Pug said, ‘Any particular place?’
Nakor thought a moment. ‘The court of the Prince will do.’
Pug nodded, then to Sho Pi he said, ‘You too?’
‘I follow my master.’
Pug said, ‘Very well; join hands.’
They did, and Pug wove a spell, and suddenly they were gone.
Calis was unconscious and Erik carried him as he would a child. Bobby was barely conscious, and leaned on Alfred’s shoulder. Of the thirty-seven men who had left the deep temple of the Pantathians, nine were alive. Three times they had encountered hostile forces and had to fight. At Calis’s insistence, they had continued on. Despite his demand they leave him, they carried him.
Erik had found a deep fissure in the mountain, from which heat rose in shimmering waves. He had ordered the armor and other items thrown into the fissure, certain that even if the heat wasn’t sufficient to destroy the Valheru artifacts, no mortal would be able to retrieve them.
A few minutes after he had done this, the mountain shook with a terrible quake, and rocks fell, killing one man, injuring another. A howling wind shot through the tunnel they were in, knocking them down and deafening them for nearly an hour afterward, and a crackle of angry energy shot along the ceiling of the tunnel, as if mad lightning were seeking a way upward, back into the sky.
Erik judged that even when they attempted to destroy those magic items, it was wise not to let them come into contact. He hoped the violence heralded the destruction of the Valheru artifacts.
Then they had been attacked, first by a ragged band of Pantathians, who appeared to have been survivors of the demon’s raid on one of the crèches, and twice they had been forced to confront the Saaur. The only reason they were alive was that those other forces were trying to get out of the mountains as desperately as Calis’s company, and didn’t pursue once combat was broken off.
But the attacks had forced them upward, higher into the mountains. Alfred came from the head of the line and said, ‘There’s a cave ahead.’
They entered the cave and Erik looked out its mouth. Arrayed at his feet were the snow-covered peaks of the mountains as the late afternoon sun struck rose and golden highlights across the ridges. For a brief moment he thought that despite his pain and fear, beauty endured, but he was just too tired, hungry, and cold to enjoy it.
‘Make camp,’ he ordered and wondered how long they could survive. Men broke torches out of a backpack and used them to make a small fire. Erik took inventory and judged they had enough food and things they could burn to keep them alive for five or six days. After that, no matter how damaged the men, they would have to start down from the snow line, trying to avoid detection from whatever Pantathians had escaped the destruction of the Dragon Lord artifacts, and find forage enough to keep them going.
He wondered if the horses were still in the valley, and if he could even find that valley. With both Calis and de Loungville hurt, Erik was now leading the survivors.
‘Sergeant,’ said Alfred. ‘Better come here.’
Erik worked past the men struggling to light a fire and knelt next to Alfred. De Loungville’s eyes were open.
‘Sergeant Major,’ said Erik.
‘How’s the Captain?’ asked de Loungville.
‘Alive,’ said Erik. He marveled at that simple fact. ‘Any lesser man would have been dead this morning. He’s asleep.’ Erik looked at the pale complexion of his immediate superior and said, ‘How are you?’
De Loungville coughed and Erik could see blood fleck the saliva running from his mouth. ‘I’m dying,’ said de Loungville in the same matter-of-fact tone in which he would have asked for another helping of supper. ‘Each breath is … harder.’ He pointed to his side. ‘I think I have a piece of rib sticking me in the lung.’ Then he closed his eyes in pain. ‘I know I have a piece of rib sticking me in the lung.’
Erik closed his eyes and fought back regret. If the man had been allowed to rest and if the bone fragments had been discovered, something might have been done, but a fragment sticking him while he was being half carried, dragged, forced to walk … it must have been sawing into that lung for half the day. The pain must have been incredible. No wonder de Loungville had been unconscious most of the time.
‘No regrets,’ said de Loungville as if reading Erik’s thoughts. He reached out and took Erik’s tunic in his hand. Pulling him close, he said, ‘Keep him alive.’
Erik nodded. He didn’t need to be told whom de Loungville spoke of. ‘I will.’
‘If you don’t, I’ll come back and haunt you, I swear it.’ He coughed and the pain was enough to cause his body to spasm, and his eyes filled with tears.
When he could speak again, he whispered, ‘You don’t know, but I was the first. I was a soldier, and he saved me at Hamsa. He carried me for two days. He raised me up!’ Tears gathered in Bobby’s eyes; Erik couldn’t tell if it was from pain or emotion. ‘He made me important.’ De Loungville’s voice grew even weaker. ‘I have no family, Erik. He is my father and brother. He is my son. Keep him –’ De Loungville’s body contorted in spasm, and he spewed blood across his chest. A great racking attempt to breathe brought only tears to his eyes and he pulled himself upright.
Erik wrapped his arms around Bobby de Loungville, holding him close, tightly so he wouldn’t flop on the stones, but as gently as he would a child, and listened with tears running down his own cheeks as de Loungville tried to take a breath that would not come. Only a gurgling sound of lungs filling with blood was heard, and then de Loungville went limp.
Erik held him closely for a long minute, letting the tears fall without shame. Then he gently lowered him to the stone. Alfred reached out and closed the now vacant eyes. Erik sat unable to think, until Alfred said, ‘I’ll find a place where the scavengers won’t get him, Sergeant.’
Erik nodded, and looked back to where Calis lay. Feeling the bitter cold, he began pulling Bobby’s heavy cloak off his body. He said to a soldier nearby, ‘Help me. It’s what he would have done.’
They stripped the Sergeant Major’s body and piled the clothing upon the unconscious half-elf. Erik looked at his color and wondered. If he survived the blast in the Pantathian hall, he might survive this cold, provided he could rest and heal.
Erik knew that the only possibility would be to rest a few days, and then cold and hunger would force them out of the cave and down the mountain. He turned as Alfred and another man picked up de Loungville’s body and carried it out into the snow, and he returned his gaze to Calis’s face.
‘I promise, Bobby,’ Erik said softly. ‘I’ll keep him alive.’
A short time later, Alfred and the other soldier returned, and Alfred said, ‘There’s a small ice cave over there.’ He pointed slightly to the west. ‘We put him in there and piled some rocks over the entrance.’ Sitting as close to the fire as he could, he said, ‘I don’t think it ever thaws out up here. He’ll be safe there, Sergeant.’
Erik nodded. His mind pleaded to fall into black despair, and he felt as if he needed nothing more than to lie down and sleep. Instead he knew he had to plan and to work, for there were six other men, and one very special being who was more than a man, who were now dependent upon him to survive, and he had made a promise, a promise he would honor. He took a deep breath, pushed aside fatigue and failure, and turned his mind to getting everyone out of these mountains.
Roo looked up as a commotion broke out downstairs. Several voices were raised in protest. ‘What…?’
‘Nakor!’ he said as the Isalani gambler hurried up the stairs, a step before three waiters trying to halt him.
‘You can’t go up there!’ shouted Kurt, trying to overtake Nakor.
Roo stood up and said, ‘It’s all right, Kurt. He’s an old … business associate.’
‘I tried to tell him,’ said Nakor. He grinned at Kurt as the now disgruntled waiter turned and descended the stairs.
Roo said, ‘What brings you here?’
‘You do. I just came from the palace, and Lord James tells me he can’t give me a ship. I need a ship. He said you have ships, so I came here to get a ship from you.’
Roo laughed. ‘You want me to give you a ship? What for?’
Nakor said, ‘Calis, Erik, Bobby, the others, they’re stuck down in Novindus. Someone has to go get them.’
Roo said, ‘What do you mean, “stuck"?’
Nakor said, ‘They went down to find and destroy the Pantathians. I don’t know if they destroyed them, but they hurt them badly. Calis sent Miranda to his father on some important business, and now they are all stuck down there with no way to get home. Lord James says he can’t spare the ships and is going to keep them here to defend the city. So I thought I’d get one from you.’
Roo didn’t hesitate, but turned to Jason and said, ‘What ships of ours are in the harbor?’
Jason consulted a sheaf of paper. Thumbing through the pages, he said, ‘Six, of the –’
‘Which is the fastest?’
‘Bitter Sea Queen,’ answered Jason.
‘I want it outfitted for a six-month voyage and I want fifty of the toughest mercenaries we can hire ready to go with us at first light tomorrow.’
‘With us?’ asked Nakor.
Roo shrugged. ‘Erik is the only brother I’ve known, and if he’s down there with Calis, I’m going.’
Nakor sat down and helped himself to a cup of coffee from a pot on the corner of Roo’s desk. He sipped the hot brew and said, ‘You going to be able to do this thing?’
Roo nodded. ‘I’ve got people I can trust I can leave in charge.’ He thought of Sylvia and Karli, and then Helen Jacoby, and said, ‘I need to say a few good-byes.’
‘I need to eat,’ answered Nakor. ‘Oh, Sho Pi is downstairs. Being more polite than I, he believed them when they said he couldn’t come up here.’
Roo motioned to Jason to fetch Sho Pi and said, ‘And then I must go find Luis and Duncan. I need to work out who’s in charge of what while I’m gone.’
Jason nodded and departed, and Roo said, ‘We’ll get them back.’
Nakor smiled, nodded, and drank more coffee.