system he abhors, while a defender of Akhbreed rule stands
accused of being a mastermind that the colonials will die for.
Which would you believe? Remember, too, that you are a
sorcerer yourself and you work for Boolean. If you were a
neutral party with only a stand-off knowledge of the pair, you
might feel differently. Klittichom's domain is cold, poor, and
remote, and he has done many favors for his brethren in the
other kingdoms and never asked much in return. Boolean is in
the middle of the richest and most powerful kingdoms on
Akahlar and he's not been known for doing favors for anyone
nor being particularly nice or even civil. You see where this
leads?"
"Yes," Dorion muttered angrily. "To Klittichom's victory
and me destruction of Akahlar.''
Still, it presented him with several immediate problems and
WAR OF THE MAELSTROM 53
many decisions to make. Until now, he's never really under-
stood how Klittichom could be so brazenly successful and
Boolean so ignored. Now it was at least clearer—the Homed
One had laid his groundwork well, being the wonderful fel-
low, the man with great power and knowledge who would
always help, always share, and demand nothing but cordiality
in return. Boolean, he knew, had a less than wonderful and
outgoing personality and tended to lecture those who, whether
they were or not, considered themselves his equals, and he
had little or no patience with stupidity, nor had he ever been
quiet about his contempt for the system. Now Klittichom's
glad-handing was paying off. He was moving his forces
openly, making low-level attacks and high-level threats against
the kingdoms in the most brazen manner, and because they
liked Klittichom and considered him a good-fellow-well-met
who said all the right things, and they had a personality
problem with Boolean, who always spoke his mind, it was
the latter who was getting the blame and taking the heat!
If mis was really becoming official policy in Covanti, then
if they stayed, they'd stay. Grotag. the chief sorcerer of
Covanti, was known as a pretty genial fellow, but strong.
Dorion knew he'd not be a match for the power in one of
Grotag's hairs. He'd take no chances; he'd turn Dorion and
maybe Boday into a pair of pet monkeys and give a re-enslaved
and newly bewitched Charley to Halagar as his pet.
Damn it, it was time to use what powers and abilities he
had and get the hell out of here!
He was heading back to tell Boday to make arrangements
for their immediate departure when he ran into Halagar.
"Hold, old friend! Where are you going in such a hurry
and with such a wretched expression?" the courier asked.
"We've been here long enough," Dorion answered care-
fully, "and if we're here much longer I'm afraid we'll be
interned until the duration."
Halagar shrugged but did not deny the possibility. Instead,
he argued, "Would mat be so bad? This is not exactly the
worst place in Akahlar nor a bad place for withstanding a
siege, either."
"That is true," the magician admitted, "but I'm afraid that
such safety would be very short-lived. I have been talking
with various officials here and they have told me the, uh,
52 Jack L. Chalker
political situation, as it were. They are fools to be taken in by
a popularity act; the objective situation is upside down from
their view. They are too safe, too fat, too confident that the
way things are are the way things will always be and that no
one can change that."
To Dorion's amazement, Halagar didn't seem offended by
the remark nor defensive about it as well. Instead he replied,
"Yes, I agree. The massive coordinated movement of raw
colonial troops who have theoretically never been schooled in
the military arts shows much cunning and long work. One
would have to be incredibly clever to have organized that sort
of thing, and someone clever enough to do that and brazen
enough to do that is not stupid enough to make the old
mistakes. You only come out in the open to this degree if
you've found a massive chink in the enemy armor. Still, what
is the percentage in moving? What can any of us do about it?"
That was a stumper. "Not much, perhaps," the magician
admitted, ' 'but if a great war is upon us and if the power of
the Akhbreed is so threatened that even the hubs are not safe,
I think at least I would rather be with one of power who will
fight to the last. Perhaps there is nothing we can do. Perhaps
there is nothing Boolean can do. But, so long as there is a
chance of anything I prefer action to complacency. I know
Boolean, although he and I are not exactly on close terms
right now- It is true he would not lift a finger to defend the
system unless it was threatened with replacement by a system
far worse—or even direr consequences. Imagine a wizard
who could control the Changewinds, Halagar."
The big man had considered it. "I am most troubled by
that, and it is clearly the object," he admitted. "However, it
might not be as clear-cut as you think. Do you really believe
that Grotag and the King and all the high advisors are that
dense? Or that the other kingdoms and Akhbreed sorcerers
can't figure out the plot? They are scared—make no mistake
about it. They are still unconvinced that it could occur on a
global scale, though. Many see it as a basically localized fight
between old rivals. Klittichom with his Storm Princess versus
Boolean with his, if he can ever find her or she him. One on
one. The greatest colonial rebel massing is against Masalur
and the approaches to it; that is clear. Klittichom's ambassa-
dors have been going around assuring everyone that it's a
WAR OF THE MAELSTROM 53
local fight, and that he is considering a preemptive attack
with all his powers on Boolean before Boolean can attack the
rest of them. The sorcerers and kings are mostly willing to sit
it out, perhaps rooting a bit for Klittichom, seeing who wins-
Then if the winner moves against any of the others the rest
will take him on. Because of his views, they consider a
Boolean victory more of a threat to them than a Klittichom
one.*'
"I don't know how the homed one is going to do it, but 1
am convinced mat this will be no localized quarrel. If Klittichom
can sit off safely with his Storm Princess in his remote
northern citadel and still somehow draw and guide the
Changewind through Masalur, then he already has the means
to hit anyone, anywhere, that he wishes. Boolean may wish
he could do that, but if he could, he would."
"There is currently a wait-and-see attitude among the sor-
cerers," Halagar told him, "but once they see how things are
developing they will most certainly mass on the victor to
force him to share his new powers or be taken on."
Dorion considered that. "But if they take him on, they will
have to mass together to fight him. What a tempting target for
a Changewind to blow through!"
"Huh! I hadn't thought of that! I'm a fighting man, not a
sorcerer. I take your word for it, though. You have convinced
me, Dorion, although we would never convince the others.
They are, as you say, too sure of themselves. As for me, I
would rather die fighting than sitting here with the winds
blowing." He thought for a moment. "The odds of getting a
train towards Masalur are slim right now. Few are willing to
risk ambush by the colonials, particularly with Mandan cloaks
in such short supply and the colonials practically holding
some roads hostage. Armed escorts would only be good to the
Tishbaal Null. We could make better time going overland
ourselves, avoiding the main roads and routes."
Dorion's head looked up at the courier in surprise, " 'We?' "
"Why not? With my gun and sword arm and your sorcery
we ought to be able to stand up to any minor colonial
backwater irregulars we might be unlucky enough to come
across. And I can have the maps and learn the roads and
routes straight to Masalur, particularly if you can navigate at
54 Sack L. Chalker
the nulls. With any luck at all we might reach your Boolean
in, oh, three weeks."
"The King is not going to like your change of loyalties,"
Dorion noted, not at all enthused by the prospect of having
Halagar along, nor all that happy that he might well be called
upon to show how hollow his own boasts to the big man were
about just what magical powers he might have. He wondered,
too, if Halagar was that infatuated with Charley or if he was
instead leading them into some sort of double-crass. "Nor am
I that comfortable with someone who would shift loyalties so
casually," he added bluntly.
Halagar shrugged. "I am a mercenary, an employee. I
have been such almost all of my life. I give my utmost loyalty
while I am in anyone's employ, but this will not be the first
time I've quit a job. I am sick of arguing myself hoarse for a
solid and unified defense of the hub with fat generals who
have never fired upon anyone who could fire back. When I
must commit to dull and stupid minds, then it is time I sought
a different employ."
"Boolean or Masalur would certainly welcome your ser-
vices, but I have nothing with which to buy your loyalty and
arms."
Halagar looked at the magician, a strange, crooked smile
on his face. "You have command of Yssa," he noted. "Del-
egate that command to me."
Dorion was shocked but not really surprised. "How can I
do that? She and the other belong not to me but to Boolean
personally. And she has an overriding compulsion to seek
Boolean with or without me. I can not give what is not
mine."
"That is understood. The commission is to get the three of
you to the sorcerer Boolean, and that I will do and in the most
direct manner. My fee is that she will be mine absolutely
during that period only. Once there I must negotiate a new
commission with Boolean. Once there, she is of no more
value either as decoy or lure. I have sufficient money spread
around and reserves hidden for when I truly need them. I
have no wish for political power; ( have seen what it does
to men like me. I am certain mat your Boolean will find my
fee quite reasonable and affordable, and I will give my all
for it."
WAR OF THE MAELSTROM 55
Dorion was amazed. "She attracts you that much? You
who have all the women swooning over your every move?
Are you certain that you are not under an enchantment?'*
"Sometimes I think so," Halagar replied. "And it is true
that I can lie with most any woman I choose, although a few
have eluded me. I have lost count of the number of women,
free and slave, noble and common, that I have lain with, but
she is, somehow, different. I have never married, not out of
lack of suitable candidates, but rather because my life and
chosen occupation would make it unfair to any woman and
subject her to either far too much danger and strange places or
force me to give up the life 1 love and settle down. Any such
woman would also be a sword my enemies could use at my
throat if all else failed. Courtesans of her caliber were always
the best, but they always belonged to someone else and were
heaven for merely a night, and not a one can hold a candle to
her. She is blind, yes, but it hardly slows her, and she can see
magic, which I cannot, and that gives me an advantage I did
not have before."
"How did you know that?"
Halagar shrugged. "She remarked on the color of some
charms I have carried for some protection that first night back
in Quodac. I knew then that she could see the magic, al-
though she did not understand what it was."
"Oh." Dorion responded, interested that Halagar had still
never seen or experienced, nor even suspected, the real Chariey.
"She would be always loyal, totally obedient, would be
uncomplaining no matter what the conditions or situation, yet
she would serve me in all ways and ease my loneliness. She
is the best of her class that I have ever seen and the first
within reach. She is a pretty jewel who can neither be pur-
chased with money nor taken by force, and, with her, I need
not compromise my lifestyle nor situation."
Dorion nodded. "I see. And this period would be a sort
of—trial run, as it were." He only wished Charley could
have heard the way Halagar was describing her. He envi-
sioned a time when a lustful Halagar would bring another
woman to his tent and order Chariey to serve them both. Still,
the deal wouldn't be made unless Boolean okayed it, and
Boolean knew just who and what she really was. In the
meantime, perhaps three weeks or so as Halagar's "prop-
56 lack L. Chalker
erty" might reveal his true nature to her. Either way, this
seemed the only reasonable chance of reaching Boolean under
current conditions. He just hoped he wouldn't go mad watch-
ing the two and listening to them from the next bed.
"What occurs once we reach Boolean is your affair," he
told Halagar. "I will accept your bargain as much as I can in
the meantime, though, provided we leave as quickly as
possible."
"It is late now. and there are preparations to make,"
Halagar noted. "Still, if you all can be ready, we could leave
just beyond first light tomorrow. 1 will have everything ready
by men, and will have cleared things here as delicately as
possible. Is that soon enough?"
"I would as soon leave tonight," the magician told him,
"but it will have to do."
Boday was no longer the first destination. He turned and
decided that he'd better inform Charley.
She emerged from-the harem, where men were not permit-
ted, into the anteroom where he waited for her, looking
puzzled but expectant. She no longer looked merely gor-
geous; after some time and a make-over by the Imperial
courtesans, she looked spectacular. Dressed in the light, gauze-
like finery of the harem, with long, painted nails perfectly
manicured and toenails to match, her hair streaked with blond,
her lashes long and luxurious, she was the epitome of male
fantasy. By the gods! How he wanted her, and how he hated
himself for this!
"We leave tomorrow, just past dawn," he told her in
English. "Be prepared."
"I am prepared," she replied. "I don't exactly have much
to pack. They don't have riding outfits for people like me, but