"Never before," Gun agreed, "because the Tarkin always counted the cost of it, in time, in soldiers, and in lost revenues. But what if the cost was immaterial to him? What if it"s the Shadow that comes? The Green Shadow cares only to destroy the Marked."
"What is this Shadow?" Fanryn said. "Is it the Sleeping G.o.d, awakening to destroy us?"
The Cloudman"s bark of laughter brought every head up. "Don"t be misled by the lies of fools. We have nothing to fear from the Sleeping G.o.d, awake or asleep. This is some enemy."
"Enough." The Tarkin"s soft baritone cut across and silenced all other noise. "Dal-eDal, if you have nothing further to add, would you withdraw, and allow me to consult with my advisers?"
"I am entirely in your hands, Tek-aKet," the Tenebro man said. "But I urge you again, waste no time."
Eighteen "SO THE LORD DAL-EDAL is certain." Cullen"s Racha bird Disha had hopped up on the table in front of him, and was eating tiny pieces of hard cheese from the palm of his hand. "I don"t find his certainty altogether rea.s.suring, do you?" He and his Racha tilted their heads at each other, their movement a perfect mirror image. "It"s madness to believe him." Cullen"s quiet tone was at odds with his words. "It is a trick. These men have been sent by the Tenebroso Lok-iKol to lure you into acting before you are prepared."
"Mercenaries?" Tek-aKet looked up from the food lying untouched on his plate.
"What of Karlyn-Tan?" Dhulyn said. "The oaths taken by the Stewards of a House are as binding as those taken by Mercenaries . . . or by Racha Clouds," she added, inclining her head toward Cullen and Disha. "Do you suggest that he has not been Cast Out? A Steward of Walls does not leave his post for a trick, not even so weighty a trick as this one."
"But, Dhulyn." Now it was Thionan who spoke up from her perch on the nearby table. "Demons? Possession by green shadows? We can"t make plans based on such ravings. Has any of us, any we can trust, seen this thing?"
"I have."
In the silence you could hear the rustling of Disha"s feathers as she turned her head to look.
"You, Lionsmane?" Alkoryn"s harsh whisper held the surprise that was mirrored on every other face in the room. Dhulyn almost smiled. Parno was supposed to be the ordinary soul, she she was the strange one. was the strange one.
"In the eyes of a Jaldean priest in Navra. A priest who was standing at the back of a mob while that mob burned down a Finder"s house, with his children still inside."
"I also have seen it," Dhulyn added.
"In Navra?"
"In a Vision."
Cullen and Disha leaned forward, their heads at an identical tilt. Disha half opened her wings and took two rocking steps toward Dhulyn on her taloned feet. Dhulyn hesitated, aware that everyone in the room waited for her next words. Should she reveal what she"d seen of the Scholar, or should she keep it to herself until she"d had a chance to investigate it further? Did Gundaron of Valdomar know that the Green Shadow had also looked through his his eyes? It might be an idea to find out before exposing him. eyes? It might be an idea to find out before exposing him.
"I have Seen a green-eyed Lok-iKol on the Carnelian Throne, his shadow misshapen on the wall behind him."
Cullen and Disha nodded, satisfied, but the Tarkin"s two guardsmen showed by their thinned lips and narrowed eyes that belief was mixing with something closer to fear in their thoughts. Dhulyn sighed, and pressed her lips together. It was exactly to avoid that look that she"d always kept her Mark to herself.
The Tarkin had seen it also. "Let me remind you," he said to his men. "If Dhulyn Wolfshead was not Marked, I would be dead. And you, who gave oaths to defend me to the death, would be either dead as well, or alive and forsworn. She has done us all a great service." Both men had the grace to look shamefaced at their feet. Tek-aKet nodded, satisfied.
"May I have your counsel for action?"
Slowly Dhulyn realized that everyone in the room, Cloudman, Racha bird, Mercenary Brothers-Tarkin and his guardsmen-all were looking at her. She glanced first at Parno, then at Alkoryn. Both men nodded to her.
"The Green Shadow exists," she said. "Whatever its ultimate goal, it begins by destroying the Marked." She glanced around at the faces intent on her words. "That is where it begins begins. We cannot know how it will continue."
"It begins where it fears the most, you think?" Parno had obviously been giving this some thought.
"Very likely," Dhulyn agreed. "If it fears the Marked, it means the Marked can harm it somehow. We need to find out how."
"No." They turned to the Tarkin. "We must remove it from the Throne."
Tek-aKet Tarkin raised his hands, palms toward her, and Dhulyn fell silent. "With respect, Dhulyn Wolfshead, hear me out. Perhaps we can destroy it, but perhaps we cannot. Our first act must must be to remove it from the throne, to regain control of Imrion. At the moment, its power does not extend past Gotterang, and if we act quickly, it will not. Once we have the city, now that we know what we must fight, we will have a position of power from which to do it." He placed his hands palm down on the table. "We must act and act now." be to remove it from the throne, to regain control of Imrion. At the moment, its power does not extend past Gotterang, and if we act quickly, it will not. Once we have the city, now that we know what we must fight, we will have a position of power from which to do it." He placed his hands palm down on the table. "We must act and act now."
Alkoryn was nodding, his fingers tracing lines on an imaginary map. "A frontal a.s.sault will not work. We have not the numbers needed, and unlike Lok-iKol, we"ve no trick to empty the Dome of its Carnelian Guards." He looked up from his tracing to indicate the rock walls around them. "Fortunately, we know a way into the Carnelian Dome that has nothing to do with front gates, or the number of guards. Dhulyn, my Brother, if you would."
Dhulyn bowed and turned to the door. "Rehnata," she called, and waited for the girl to appear in the entrance before turning back to Alkoryn.
"Fetch my maps of Gotterang," Alkoryn said now that the girl was within reach of his voice. "The blue series, not the green, and the plans of the Dome. When you have done that, bring back our guests."
"If you would stand here, Lady Disha," Alkoryn the Senior Brother said in his scarred voice. Thus courteously addressed, Disha was happy to move. There weren"t many who knew the Racha would understand them-as, of course, she could, so long as Cullen himself was in the room. If it were possible, his already healthy respect for the Mercenary Brotherhood increased.
"There are three layers of guards," Tek-aKet Tarkin was saying. "Those here, in the outer perimeter, allow access to the public rooms and galleries where any pet.i.tioner may enter; here the second, letting pa.s.s only those who have business with the Throne. And finally, here, the innermost circle," he looked up. "These posts are usually taken by my own Personal Guard, and they watch the family and private rooms."
"So far as I can tell," the Tenebro Lord Dal-eDal said, frowning down on the drawings, "the guard postings have not changed-though the guards themselves are different." His brows drew down even further. "No, there is is one change. There are now guards here, in the Onyx Walk." one change. There are now guards here, in the Onyx Walk."
Cullen"s eyes narrowed as Disha c.o.c.ked her head to look closely at the Tenebro man. He"d no trust of this one either, cousin to the usurper, a man who stood to gain no matter who died. Cullen shifted his gaze across the room to where Dhulyn Wolfshead stood, relaxed, her eyes on Dal-eDal, her wolf"s smile on her lips. Except for that, and their intent stares, the Partnered Brothers could have been asleep on their feet, there was so little tension in their bodies. Disha transferred her golden eye to the Wolfshead in response to Cullen"s thought.
+SEER+ was the thought that Cullen caught. +YES+ he answered. The balance of power in the room had changed utterly for him when he understood the direction of what had been said. Menders, Finders, even Healers were to be found among the Clouds-and if Lok-iKol was hunting the Marked, that was reason enough for him to help kill the man. But a Seer Seer. His mother had spoken of one that had been known in her her mother"s day. Cullen had no more hoped to be in the same room as a Seer than he would have hoped to fly without Disha. mother"s day. Cullen had no more hoped to be in the same room as a Seer than he would have hoped to fly without Disha.
We are here for you, Seer, he thought, knowing that Disha heard him and agreed. he thought, knowing that Disha heard him and agreed. My soul and I. Yours is the lead we follow. My soul and I. Yours is the lead we follow. He and his soul turned their attention back to the man speaking. He and his soul turned their attention back to the man speaking.
"That need not preclude our using that entrance, though we would lose the element of surprise," Alkoryn Pantherclaw was saying, tapping his gnarled index finger on the plans in front of him. "And there are other secret ways by which we can enter into the Dome, but," and here the old one paused, looked at the Tarkin and at the Tenebro lord. "But I will not take Dal-eDal through these ways."
The Tenebro lord hissed air in through his teeth, plainly displeased, and Cullen smiled, Disha shifting from foot to foot.
"Surely-" The Tarkin broke off in the face of Alkoryn Pantherclaw"s slowly shaking head.
"You objected, Tek-aKet, that the Mercenary Brotherhood knew of ways into your Dome, and now you ask that we tell others? I should not even have taken you you that way, but what"s done is done. As Senior Brother, I must consider the future and not merely the needs of the moment. In any case, we could not take many through the tunnels and pa.s.sages. I advise sending only those who have already been. What say you, Brothers?" that way, but what"s done is done. As Senior Brother, I must consider the future and not merely the needs of the moment. In any case, we could not take many through the tunnels and pa.s.sages. I advise sending only those who have already been. What say you, Brothers?"
Dhulyn Wolfshead grimaced, considering. "It seems to me these pa.s.sages were never intended to be used by soldiers-to the contrary. In many places they are so narrow, that we could pa.s.s only one at a time, considering that we will be carrying weapons. That would likely also be true of whichever secret door we used." She turned to Parno Lionsmane and added, "Remember the engagement at Lashar? Where we used the caves beneath the escarpment? One company of men was caught and slaughtered because of just such a bottleneck in the pa.s.sages. Besides Tek-aKet, I would recommend no more than six Brothers."
"We can"t walk in the front door," Tek-aKet said, rubbing his chin with the fingers of his right hand. "But Dal-eDal can, and he can bring others with him." can"t walk in the front door," Tek-aKet said, rubbing his chin with the fingers of his right hand. "But Dal-eDal can, and he can bring others with him."
"That I can"t do. I was sent for Dhulyn Wolfshead, and I can"t return without her."
"Then Dhulyn Wolfshead you shall have," she said.
Cullen clenched his teeth and remained silent. The Wolfshead waited patiently until the storm of protest died away before continuing as if she had not been interrupted. "We"ll be able to operate from two fronts, allowing us to flank if need be." She looked up, not at her Senior, but at Lionsmane, her Partner. "I"ll be perfectly safe," she said in her honey-rough voice, "until I get to the Green Shadow, and by then you"ll be there."
"We are for you, Dhulyn Wolfshead," Cullen said. "Disha and I. We also should not be shown the secret ways," he added.
"I can"t bring back more than the eight I brought away with me," the Tenebro lord said. "In fact, it would be more convincing if I returned with fewer."
"You would have needed a tracker to find a Mercenary Brother," Cullen said. "I am that man, come with you in the hope of greater rewards."
The Tenebro lord spread his hand. "A good enough notion, but surely there is another way to get our own people into the Dome. Could some of the Mercenary Brotherhood not take work there, to act as spies, if nothing else?"
Disha moved closer to the Tenebro man. +BITE+ was her thought. +NO+ he responded, though he stifled a smile.
"What have I said?" the Tenebro lord said when the silence grew lengthy.
"The Mercenary Brotherhood does not take someone"s pay in order to spy upon them," Alkoryn Panterclaw said. "Not even when it appears to suit our purposes to do so. We are true to our employ, always. This is one of the reasons the Brotherhood is as old as it is."
"And one of the reasons there are so few of us," Dhulyn Wolfshead added.
"Your pardon, Alkoryn Charter." There was a hint of sarcasm in the Tenebro lord"s tone, as if he had himself taken offense. "Ordinarily I wouldn"t argue with a policy that has stood so well the test of time. But as I"ve said, this is no ordinary foe. Now, if ever, is the time to suspend such rules, before you find yourself and your Brotherhood destroyed."
Maybe he should have let Disha bite him. +YES+ she thought.
"What difference?" Dhulyn the Seer broke in. "If we suspend our rules, there is no Brotherhood, we would have destroyed ourselves."
Tek-aKet held up his hands. "Dal, please. I know you are anxious-"
Cullen remembered that these two were also, in some way, cousins.
"With respect, Tek, you didn"t see-"
"No, I didn"t see. But these others have, and yet they are not ready to plunge headlong in. Things are as they are. We work with what we have." He turned to Alkoryn Pantherclaw. "What of loyal guard within the Dome?"
Dhulyn the Seer and Parno Lionsmane both shook their heads. Dhulyn shrugged and signaled to Parno to speak. "In view of what the Scholar Gundaron has told us, I don"t think we can count on any who are still within the Dome," he said. "They may prove to be free of the taint of the Green-eyed Shadow," here Parno paused and looked pointedly at Dal-eDal, "but we can"t be sure enough to trust them with our plans and our secrets."
"Either the Scholar or the Lord Dal might have been touched by the Green Shadow without knowing it." Dhulyn pulled a chair away from the wall, turned it around, and sat down astride it, twisting her spine from side to side; the last thing she needed at this moment was cramping muscles. "The Scholar, I believe, has been."
Parno sat down on the edge of the room"s only bed. "What do you mean?"
By this time in their Partnership, Dhulyn had had a fair amount of practice describing her Visions to Parno, and this one went quickly. "It looked to me," she said finally, "as if there were three Scholars, one the body being used, one a spirit trying to escape, and one a spirit watching."
"If he watched, then he knows." A muscle in the side of Parno"s jaw popped out. "And he made no mention of this."
"Some part part of him does know, I"m certain, but can you be surprised that he would keep this to himself?" of him does know, I"m certain, but can you be surprised that he would keep this to himself?"
Parno looked at her with narrowed eyes. "He is a danger."
"We must warn Alkoryn to keep the boy watched, I agree, and to limit most strictly where he goes, and what he sees."
"If the Green Shadow is looking for you . . ."
Dhulyn folded her arms on the chairback and rested her chin on her hands. "I understand the Tarkin"s wish to regain his throne, but it is the Green Shadow that is the real danger to us all, I think."
"With luck," Parno said, "we will destroy it when we kill the body it wears."
"And Lok-iKol does die by my hand, I have Seen it."
"Then we proceed, and we"re back to my concerns." Parno leaned forward, his elbows on his knees.
Dhulyn shook her head, her eyes shut. "Dal-eDal would be a problem if we did did trust him. We"ve already agreed we don"t, so he"s no more dangerous now than he was before." trust him. We"ve already agreed we don"t, so he"s no more dangerous now than he was before."
"You"ll be bound-"
"I won"t really be bound, you dolt," she said. "I"ll even be on my own horse, as if Bloodbone and I between us can"t confound Dal-eDal and his plans. If If he has any. Now tell me what the real problem is." he has any. Now tell me what the real problem is."
"Then I"ll come with you." Parno spoke through his clenched teeth. "No disrespect intended to your horse horse."
Dhulyn laid her forehead down on her crossed arms. "This has been decided. You"re to go with the Tarkin. I"m to go with Dal, and Karlyn-Tan and two others. And Cullen, don"t forget, which gives us the Racha as well. What can go wrong?"
"You"re the Seer, you tell me. Do you hear yourself? "What can go wrong?" " He threw out his hands and widened his eyes in a parody of innocence. "If I started listing things now, I"d still be talking when it was time to leave."
Dhulyn slammed her hands down on the chairback. "That"s right," she said. "You"d still be talking. The rest of us would be at work." She rubbed her face with her hands. " "Let"s go to Imrion," you said. "We haven"t been there in years," you said. "I miss the smell of my own hills." If we"d followed my advice we"d be in Voyagin even now, helping to plan the summer campaign." She sucked in a deep breath, grimaced, and let it out as slowly as she could. "And the Green Shadow would be destroying the Marked. I"m sorry, my soul. These politicians waste my patience. Come, it"s not the first time a campaign has separated us, and it won"t be the last." still be talking. The rest of us would be at work." She rubbed her face with her hands. " "Let"s go to Imrion," you said. "We haven"t been there in years," you said. "I miss the smell of my own hills." If we"d followed my advice we"d be in Voyagin even now, helping to plan the summer campaign." She sucked in a deep breath, grimaced, and let it out as slowly as she could. "And the Green Shadow would be destroying the Marked. I"m sorry, my soul. These politicians waste my patience. Come, it"s not the first time a campaign has separated us, and it won"t be the last."
"I"m not so sure about that," he muttered. "I"d rather have Dal with me."
She shook her head slowly. "And I"m I"m supposed to be the inarticulate Outlander. Even if you did doubt my own abilities-which I know you don"t, bound and gagged I could still kill him easily-I won"t be alone. The way they feel about the Marked, do you think Cullen and the Racha bird will stand idly by if Dal-eDal threatens me?" supposed to be the inarticulate Outlander. Even if you did doubt my own abilities-which I know you don"t, bound and gagged I could still kill him easily-I won"t be alone. The way they feel about the Marked, do you think Cullen and the Racha bird will stand idly by if Dal-eDal threatens me?"
"They won"t be watching him carefully enough."
"Carefully enough for what what? Why should it prove so much more dangerous for Dal to be with me than with you?"
He stared at her for a long moment before speaking, his breath coming short and fierce through his nostrils. "Because Dal has no reason to want me me dead. He may think he has such a reason for you." dead. He may think he has such a reason for you."
She looked up at him, eyes widened in surprise. "Nice to know I make enemies so easily."
"I told you we met and spoke in the Dome. I didn"t tell you that, like the Fallen House, Dal wants Lok dead, and me to become Tenebroso. I told him I would not leave the Brotherhood. I would not leave you. What if he thinks my answer would be different if you were dead?"
"The old woman," Dhulyn said. "The House-that-was. She thought I would make a fine consort."
"And so you would, if we were not Partnered, and Mercenary Brothers. That life is gone."
She nodded, rubbing the small of her back with both hands. "Parno, my soul. Would you fetch me warm blankets, please?
Parno glanced at the open doorway, sensing the youngster still hovering, obviously torn between courtesy and curiosity.
"You"re Rehnata, aren"t you?" he asked, straightening from the bed and walking cat-footed closer so she wouldn"t have to raise her voice. "Go ahead, ask."
The girl licked her lips, and pulled herself up straighter.
"Two things, Parno."