With the embassy from Greyland a derelict pile of stone and burned timbers, we have no other option than to accept beds at the Arkine embassy. Even Lady Horsta acquiesces to the necessity of this, though she is gritting her teeth as she stares at the priestess of Asa as though staring at an enemy.
‘You are very welcome.’ The priestess, on the other hand, is all smiles and graceful movements of her bare arms. ‘We representatives of the Arkine Empire honour our agreement with Queen Rasārte and provide protection for all those whom the inferni call “outsiders”, though we prefer the term travellers.
‘Given the dangerous circumstances I have to ask that you remain in this compound until called to undertake the epic test. I would also hope that you will agree to assist in fortifying the perimeter wall and taking a place in the guard roster. If the Zeri or Eriba come for this church, we will not run. We will stand and fight.’
Beside the priestess is a soldier wearing the bronze breastplate and horsehair helmet of the Arkine army. Grey in his beard, with strength in his shoulders, this man’s face conveys experience and determination as he nods his agreement with the words of the priestess. While the embassy to Miya had no troops at all, the Arkines have ten men and women, led by this sergeant, Andreos.
‘If I may,’ Andreos looks to the priestess.
‘Go ahead.’
‘I know that Lady Horsta has good reason to refuse us any aid, but a Level Six paladin could make all the difference to whether we can defend the compound or not.’
‘Well, Lady Horsta?’ asks the priestess. ‘What do you say? You are not under any obligation.’
‘Of course we will fight with you,’ our Paladin is snappy. ‘And if you’ll listen to my advice, there are several steps you should take to make this church our strongpoint. The perimeter wall is hopeless. They will be across that in minutes.’
‘Your advice is very welcome. Please consult with Sergeant Andreos and bring me your proposals.’
The audience over, while Lady Horsta takes a tour of the church with Sergeant Andreos, the rest of us go to the building the Arkines call the Travellers’ Welfare. It is simply a large wooden hall with a dozen bunk beds at one end and tables and chairs and a stove for cooking at the other. Sitting at one table are the other refugees from the Greyland embassy, and at another are three people I immediately recognise: Yuliaka, Bazule, and Ghosty. Of course they would show up here. I am immediately uneasy about the fact that Bazule is looking directly at me with a smile.
What would the mage have hold him? Most obviously, that we are from Nekis, and not from Southway. Having proven me a liar, then Bazule would now know that everything else I told him was probably suspect too. My intuition is that this has put me in danger.
‘My dear friends,’ Bazule stands up and starts moving additional chairs to his table. ‘I’m so sorry to learn of the attack on your lodgings. I hope you are all unharmed? How are you Jay, or should I say Crow?’
‘We’ll sit here thanks.’ Lisandra lowers herself into a seat at an empty table and I take the chair beside her. It’s not fair to blame Yuliaka for speaking the truth. All the same, I wish she had not spoken with those two supposed merchants. Now they will have a much better idea about me and our group, information that might give them an important advantage in whatever they are planning.
Near the stove are shelves that not only have pots and pans, but also there is a chess set, some cards, and several dusty books. Belle has gone over to these and is rubbing the dust from their leather covers to read the titles.
‘Anything interesting?’ asks Aarax.
‘Sixty Types of Tree and the Qualities of their Seeds and their Timber. That sounds like something a druid should know.’
‘Sixty!’ laughs Aarax. ‘You’d better bring that over. I only know about twenty.’
Before returning to us though, Belle reads all the covers. ‘I’m going to borrow this one: I Married a Vampire, it’s a story, not a history. And Lisandra, maybe you want to look at The Glowing Place – Where Does Mana Come From?’
‘The title sounds interesting all right. But most books like that are just speculation. Some young sorcerer trying to make a reputation for themselves and giving their opinions but very little of substance.’
Before long Aarax and Belle (their books returned to the shelf as uninteresting) and I are playing cards. At the other end of the hall, Lisandra is stretched out on a bed. I am aware of the presence of Ghosty and Bazule the entire time and can only relax when they leave the Welfare, to what purpose I cannot say.
‘Mind if I join you?’ asks Yuliaka.
‘Please do,’ answers Belle for us all. ‘It’s good to see you again.’
I have a question for the mage, ‘You are next for the dragon’s tooth quest. Do you have any idea of the nature of the test?’
‘I was going to ask you the same,’ Yuliaka scratches at the top of her forehead, near the headband that keeps back her black curls. ‘I was talking to the priestess here about it and I had a meeting with the cleric of Miya. They say no one gets out of the maze and they suspect the inferni of cheating.’ She shrugs. ‘It’s a slow business. Only two people are allowed in the maze at a time and sometimes it takes two months before a body is brought out. Did you know they cut the heads off and keep them for their altar at the top of the ziggurat?’
I shake my head. My valuable head.
Belle reaches across to hold Yuliaka’s arm, ‘You’re very brave. To do this on your own.’
‘When you believe in your cause, it’s not so much bravery. More like…’ she pauses to think, ‘inevitability. I have to do this, so there’s no point being frightened. Anyway, a summoner class is a good class for exploring a maze. I intend to bring ten weeks of food with me, quill and ink and paper, and sit somewhere safe while my elementals roam the maze, triggering the traps and helping me make a map.’
‘That’s smart,’ says Belle.
‘What do you make of Ghosty and Bazule? I suspect them of being somewhat cruel.’ I ask her.
Yuliaka grins. ‘Isn’t it obvious?’
‘What?’ Aarax leans in to hear her answer.
‘I saw it all the time back home in Zatu. Half the merchants who came to Idolobhelikhulu were spies.’
‘Spies?’ says Aarax in a whisper.
With a shrug Yuliaka folds her arms. ‘You can tell. They don’t talk prices and markets and travel. Ghosty gave himself away. As soon as he realised I knew you, that’s all he could talk about. Lady Horsta especially. Bazule is a bit smarter, he tried to change the subject. Too late though.’
‘Why Lady Horsta?’ wonders Belle aloud. My question also.
‘I can think of several reasons. I’d like to know myself why she is working for the Kingdom of Lost Souls. No offence, but you are a dangerous realm with the abhorrent practice of creating undead.’
‘It’s an honour to become a servant of the realm after dying,’ Gerard’s loud voice causes some of those at the next table to look over at us. By way of discouraging him from getting involved, I gesture to him with downward waves of my hand.
‘Ask her yourself, she will answer without strife; to destroy the Arkine Empire is her goal in life.’
And in thinking about the Arkine Empire, all at once the memory comes that I had been close to for days. I am in the Golden Dragon, in Cassikos, eating a meal with my companions. Belle is anxious for us to finish so that we can go and see the night life of the capital of the Arkine Empire, perhaps go dancing. There is a man watching us from the shadows of the corner of the room; Amaris noticed him too. That man is Bazule.
Bazule and Ghosty are not from Northway as I had believed. They have come all the way from the Arkine Empire. And they had been present for the battle in the arena at Rillou. Then what? We made no secret departure from that city; it would have been obvious to anyone watching us that we were going next to the Underworld. So they bought a cart and goods to follow us in the guise of merchants? Probably that means they are here to kill Lady Horsta.
Stumbling over my words, I tell the others about my memory of Bazule. And I have just reached my thought about assassination when I get up and run from the hall. Where are Bazule and Ghosty? Have they already set out to complete their mission?
I hurry into the church, ‘Lady Horsta are you here? Lady Horsta are you near?’
‘What’s the matter Crow? I’m up here.’ to my great relief I hear Lady Horsta’s voice echoing down a stairwell. Even with my nimbleness of foot, it is exhausting climbing so many stairs so quicky. They turn around and around the inside of a tower. In the upper room are Sergeant Andreos and Lady Horsta, leaning over a table on which is an outline of the church and the nearby streets.
‘I’ve run all this way,’ I pant, ‘I’ve something urgent to say.’
‘I’ll leave you; we’ve agreed the main points.’ Sergeant Andreos gives me a nod and walks down the stairs, footsteps resounding for some time.
‘Well?’ the paladin asks.
I shake my head. It would be too easy to be overheard here. ‘Let’s go up and outside, then the wind our words will hide.’
We have to go down a floor, then across to a much larger, square tower, before we can come to a wide flat roof, whose walls, although those of a church, have crenelations. There are good views of the city from here and I am drawn to them. First though, I describe how I saw Bazule keeping an eye on us while we were eating in the The Golden Dragon. And I do not have to state my conclusion.
‘I knew there was something wrong about those two. So they are here to murder me. The emperor is treating me as a threat. That’s something.’ Lady Horsta laughs. ‘They might be out for you too Crow. They’ve probably realised by now I lied when told the emperor I was helping a sorcerer. They will know it’s you who has all the dragons’ teeth.’
She walks over to the north walls and looks over towards the ziggurat. ‘We’re in a tricky spot Crow. Enemies outside and enemies within. I’d like to leave this city as soon as possible.’
There is a questioning tone in her voice.
‘I can enter the maze. My concern would be, that the tooth is withdrawn upon my discovery.’
Lady Horsta sighs. ‘They do seem to know when someone is alive in there. Either by magic or simply by watching. And you’d need a lantern if it’s dark. So you won’t be able to break the rules. Like you did to the Arkines.’
I grin at the memory.
‘All right then. We have to hold fast here until you get your chance.’
‘And what about Ghosty and Bazule? They are a threat. Should we strike first, before they are set?’
‘I may not be the paladin I was, now my god has gone. Still, I can’t just attack someone unprovoked. And if it comes to defending the church, we will have to fight together. That sergeant, for instance, seems a decent sort.’
That is an admirable answer and one I expected from Lady Horsta. It seems to me though, that it is more likely that the pair of Arkine spies would use an attack on the church by the inferni as an opportunity to achieve their mission goals – whatever they are exactly – than to make a stand alongside the rest of us.