Shadow of a Dark Queen (32 page)

“The Black Sorcerer?” said Robert.

“For the time being,” answered Nakor with a grin. He glanced at the four guards and said, “Tell your men I won't hurt them.”

Calis turned and, with a wave of his hand, said, “Put your weapons away. He's an old friend.”

“Where's Pug?” asked De Loungville.

“Gone,” said Nakor with a shrug. “Left about three years ago. Said he'd be back one of these days.”

“Do you know where he went?” asked Calis. “It's very important.”

Nakor shrugged. “It's always important with Pug. That's why he left, I think. All the troubles down south—”

“You know?” said Calis.

Nakor grinned. “Some. You can tell me the rest. You want something hot to eat?”

Calis motioned yes, and Nakor waved for them to follow. Calis told the two sailors, “Take the boat back to the ship and tell the captain he's to do as I instructed. And have him send word to the
Ranger,
as well.” To Erik and the other three guards he said, “Follow along, and don't be alarmed by anything you see. There are some very odd-looking creatures about, but none will offer you harm.”

The little man named Nakor led Calis and de Loungville up the path. Erik and the others followed behind. They reached the crest of the ridge, but rather than follow the path toward the castle, they paused. Nakor closed his eyes and waved his hand in the air, and the lightning suddenly stopped. He put his hand to his forehead a moment, then said, “Oh, shutting that off gives me a headache.” Then he turned and led them all down another path that led into what appeared to be a small valley overgrown by a thick forest.

Then suddenly the forest vanished, and Erik almost tripped, he was so startled. Instead of thick woodlands, he was now staring at a pasture that stretched away for nearly a mile. In the middle of it sat a large, sprawling estate, a low, white house
with a red tile roof, and several outbuildings, all surrounded by a low stone wall.

In distant fields, Erik could make out horses and cattle, and what might be deer or elk. Around the estate, figures moved, but they didn't appear to be entirely human. But, keeping in mind Calis's instructions, he decided to trust his leader and follow orders.

They reached the small yard before the main house and Nakor opened the gate in the low stone wall. They entered, and from the door of the house a creature appeared. Erik glanced at Jadow, Jerome, and Biggo, and judging by their expressions, all were as astonished as he.

The creature was tall, man-size, and had blue-tinged skin, large ears, and a bony, heavy forehead. It smiled, revealing an impressive array of teeth; its eyes were black and yellow. Erik wasn't sure, but the creature resembled every description of a goblin Erik had ever heard.

But it was dressed in the height of court fashion: a tight-fitting blue jacket cut at the waist, over a loose, billowing-sleeved white shirt, tucked into a wide waistband of black silk. Tight grey hose and ankle-high boots finished the ensemble, and the creature looked like nothing so much as one of Prince Nicholas's court dandies.

“Refreshments are served,” said the creature.

“Gathis,” Calis greeted it.

“Master Calis,” replied Gathis. “It's so nice to see you again. It has been too long between visits. And Master Robert. Good to see you as well.”

Calis said, “Did Pug leave you in charge, Nakor?”

With a squint-eyed grin, the little man said, “No, Gathis runs everything. I'm still just a guest.”

Calis shook his head. “Guest? For what, twenty years now?”

Nakor shrugged. “Lots of things to discuss. Lots of things to study. Let those fools in Stardock become constipated with their rules and vows of secrecy and orders and the rest of that foolishness.” He made a chopping motion with his hand. “This is where the real learning is taking place.”

Calis said, “No doubt.”

Gathis said, “I'll see to your guards, sir.”

Calis and Robert went inside, followed by Nakor. The creature turned to Erik and the others and said, “You men follow me.”

He led them around the building, and Erik was surprised to discover that it was larger than he had first suspected as they had walked down the path from the ridge above. The building was, essentially, a large square, with entrances in all four walls. Through one they passed, Erik could see that the building was also hollow in the center, a large fountain at the heart of a garden glimpsed briefly as they walked past.

Behind the building, a pair of very odd-looking men, black as soot and with eyes of red, hurried by, and as the four guards turned to gawk, Gathis said, “Come along, please.” He led them to the door of a large outbuilding and motioned for them to follow him inside. “You'll see many beings here you might count strange or fearsome, but none will offer you harm.”

That was again reassuring to hear, because within the building they found what could only be called, in Erik's judgment, a demon. Jadow had his sword half out of his scabbard when the creature turned and
struck him across the knuckles with a long wooden spoon. “Put that away,” it said with a deep rumbling growl.

Jadow let out a yelp and released the sword hilt, letting the sword slide back into its scabbard. “That hurt!” he exclaimed while sucking on his bruised knuckles.

“Don't talk with your mouth full,” admonished the creature, motioning for the four guards to sit at a table.

Erik paused and realized he was in a kitchen. The “demon” was a red creature, about as big as Jerome, looking as if its skin was two or three sizes too large. It seemed to droop around the creature's body in folds and creases, and to be thick, like hide. A large head without hair was dominated by two horns, which rose in front of fanlike ears, to arch back to points just behind the head.

It appeared to be nude, save for the large white apron it wore. Pulling a big bowl of fruit from a shelf, it placed it upon the table and said, “I'll have soup in a minute.”

Gathis said, “Alika will care for your needs and send someone with you to show you where you'll sleep.” As the cook crossed to the other side of the room, Gathis lowered his voice. “She's very sensitive, so say something nice about her cooking.” Then he hurried off.

Biggo said, “She?” in low tones. Jadow grinned and shrugged, taking a large pear from the platter and biting deep into it. He closed his eyes as juice dripped down his chin, and made a satisfied sound.

Now Erik noticed the smells. Suddenly he was ravenous as hot spices filled the air, and he remembered
what food not cooked aboard ship tasted like. He took an apple and bit into it, finding it crisp and sweet, and savoring the taste.

Then Alika was back with a large platter of bread and cheese. Placing them on the table, she turned away. Erik hesitated briefly before he said, “Thank you.”

The creature paused and rumbled, “You're welcome.”

Soon the four men were eating as well as they had back in camp, with far more leisure, as the cook produced a thick soup of creamed vegetables with spices, a full roast chicken for each man, and steaming greens piled high, buttered, and spiced. Ale, cold and foaming in pewter mugs, was placed at each man's elbow, and Erik hadn't recalled drinking anything quite so thirst-quenching.

Between mouthfuls, Biggo said, “I don't think I would have believed any man who told me of this place and these creatures.”

Jadow said, “Man, it's far easier to imagine evil spirits and black sorcery than this.

“ ‘And you say the creature could cook?' ” he mimicked someone questioning him.

“ ‘Ya, man, she cooked better than me own mother!' ”

The others laughed. Jerome said, “I wonder why we came here?”

“Wondering's not good for the health,” said Jadow.

Jerome said, “One thing we learned in camp. You follow orders, you stay alive. Don't volunteer, don't cause trouble. Each day after the gallows is a gift.”

Erik nodded. He still had trouble not wincing when he remembered that fall with the rope around his neck. The sour taste of fear in his stomach was one he wished never to repeat.

The cook came back with more bread and Biggo said, “Alika?”

The cook paused. “Yes?”

“Ah, what are you?”

The creature fixed Biggo with a narrow gaze, as if weighing the nature of the question, then she replied, “A student. I work for my instruction.”

“No, I mean, where are you from?”

“Targary.”

“I've never heard of Targary,” said Jadow.

“It is far away,” she said, turning back to her work.

They ate in silence after that.

When they finished, a young girl, no more than ten or eleven by her appearance, but with grey hair and maroon eyes, escorted them to a room. In a voice tinged with alien nuances, she said, “Sleep here. Water there.” She pointed at a basin and pitcher. “Relieve yourself outside,” she said, making a general down-the-hall and out-the-door gesture. “You need. You call. I come.”

She bowed and departed. Biggo said, “I swear that child's feet weren't touching the ground.”

Erik removed his baldric and sat on the nearest bed, a thickly padded feather mattress with two pillows and a heavy comforter against the chill. “I am through with being amazed.” He lay down, with an exaggerated stretch. “This is the first bed I've been in . . .” He stopped and grinned at his friends. “This is the first bed I've been in!”

Biggo laughed. “You've never slept in a bed?”

“With my mother, when I was a baby, I guess, but I've been sleeping in the hayloft as long as I can recall, then prison, the camp, and the ship.”

“Well, enjoy, Erik von Darkmoor,” said Jerome as
he lay down on his bunk. “I plan on sleeping until someone makes me get up to work.” With that he closed his eyes and raised his arm to cover his face.

“Man, that is a fine notion,” said Jadow.

Erik and Biggo followed suit, and soon the room was silent, save for the sounds of heavy breathing and snoring.

Erik awoke to the sound of voices. Sitting up, he was disoriented for a moment, then remembered where he was. The voices were coming through a window, one that looked out upon the garden.

The familiar voice of Robert de Loungville carried through the night as he and someone else approached. “. . . never seen him like this before.”

“He has a great deal on his mind,” said another; Erik recognized the speaker as being their host, Nakor.

“He took that last mission hard. We've had setbacks before, but nothing like that. If he hadn't carried me half the way, I'd have died on the banks of the Vedra River. Of the two thousand of us who went, only sixty returned.”

“Ah, I had heard it was difficult.”

“Whatever you heard, it was worse.”

Erik felt awkward. He didn't think it was proper to eavesdrop, but this was the room he had been assigned and Nakor and Robert weren't taking pains not to be overheard.

“I hear this and I hear that,” said Nakor, and Erik could tell they had stopped moving.

“It was the biggest battle so far. Calis put us in with Haji's Red Hawks and a half-dozen other companies that usually work out of the Eastlands. We
joined up with the other defenders at Kisma-hal, a town between Hamsa and Kilbar. Ran into the Westland army skirmishes as we beat them back. Then their leading elements rolled through us and drove to the gates of the city. We fortified the garrison and beat back three assaults on the walls, and we sallied a few times, burning their baggage train and causing them a great deal of pain. Then the second wave of Westland infantry showed up and we were surrounded.

“Two hundred and sixty-five days of siege, Nakor. And those damn magicians. Nothing like those Tsurani during the Riftwar were supposed to have done, but enough to make a man hate all magic. The King of Hamsa's magicians barely kept us free of most of the worst, the lightning, fires, the freezing spells. But they couldn't protect us from the rest, and it was almost as bad: flies and mosquitoes in clouds appearing out of nowhere. Every barrel of wine in the city turned sour. After the first hundred and fifty days, we ate hard bread and drank foul water and we survived. After two hundred, we ate maggots in green meat, and we ate insects when we could find them and were thankful. We were close to eating our dead.

“Then, when the city surrendered, Calis took the head start rather than sell out the contract and join the invaders.” Erik heard bitterness in Robert's tone. “Half our men were injured or sick. Half of those still living, I should say. We got our one day's grace; then they turned their cavalry after us. If we had headed south along the river, they'd have run us down for certain. We turned east and hid.” Robert was silent for a time, then when he spoke again, Erik could hear the barely held-back emotions in his
voice, as if he had never told the story to anyone before. “We killed our own wounded rather than leave them behind. As it was, the rest of us barely made it to the steppes. The Jeshandi covered our retreat from there, and the snakes were smart enough not to get into a running fight with them in their own territory. The Jeshandi fed us and nursed us, and we eventually got back to the City of the Serpent River.”

Nakor said, “I remember the first visit, twenty-four years ago.” There was a moment of silence. “Calis was very young then. He still is, by the measure of his race. Now he has much responsibility, and lacks Arutha or Nicholas at his side to instruct him.

“And now you plan this very dangerous thing.”

“Desperate thing,” said Robert de Loungville. “It was a long time in the planning, and getting the right men for the job was harder than we thought.”

“These men, these ‘desperate men,' they will be able to do this where so many experienced soldiers could not?”

There was another long silence. Dr Loungville finally said, “I don't know, Nakor. I don't know.”