Deals and Dangers

by Kay L. Ling

  When she reached the terrace doorway, she touched the knife, opening the link with it, but she left it in the sheath. Then, summoning all her courage, she went to meet the Watcher. The sun glinted off its green-and-gray scales. Its wings were folded back against its body.

  “At last, you’re here,” it said, sounding annoyed. “Come closer.”

  Reluctantly, she crossed the terrace. When it moved its wings, she saw a roll of parchment in one clawed foot. “Take the scroll.”

  She took it and backed away.

  “Have your Council read these laws and deliver copies to the clans.”

  “Elantoth doesn’t have a Council.”

  “You should form one.”

  “I’ve tried. There weren’t enough willing to serve.”

  “Council or no Council, you are obligated to know these laws and distribute them. You must appoint messengers without delay.”

  If she argued with the Watcher she might be the next to lose her memory, her gem powers, or both. “I’ll send messengers, but it will take time to reach all the clans. The Amulet is an undeveloped region. We don’t have many roads, and it’s impossible to Walk With the Wind in many areas.”

  “Excuses, excuses. See that it’s done.”

  Something occurred to Tyla. No one would bother messengers who were following Emanicus orders. They could deliver gems along with the laws. She blinked, suddenly realizing the pythanium had begun to study her in a most unsettling manner.

  “Are you the one I spoke to last time I was here? You look different, and yet your face is familiar.”

  Tyla gulped and didn’t answer.

  “Your name is Tyla, is it not?”

  “Yes.”

  It angled its head slightly, forked tongue testing the air as it studied her. The longer it looked at her the more likely it was to realize she was the gnome it had met on the road. “Well, if there’s nothing else. . . .”

  It rose up, towering over her as it had done that day on the road. “Next time I come, do not keep me waiting. You may go.”

  She stifled a sigh of relief and was about to leave when a voice behind her yelled, “Get outta here, ya big ugly snake!”

  Tyla sucked in a horrified breath and turned to find Ben and Tina Ann with Head Spy’s head on a pole. She made frantic motions for them to go away, but they marched forward, their eyes on the Watcher.

  “Gonna be yer head next, if ya don’t leave us alone,” Ben growled, tilting the pole forward so the severed head was at the Watcher’s eye level.

  “He uster be S’s fav’rite,” Tina Ann taunted. “The smartes’ of the bunch. Look at him now!”

  The pythanium hissed and spread its wings, but whether to launch itself at the breghlin or fly away there was no way to know. Tyla reached for her knife, but before she could draw it from the sheath, the Guardian appeared between her and the creature.

  Oh no, she thought, heart sinking. The Watcher would remember her now, and unlike the last time they’d met, it knew who she was. It would report her to The Emanicus. She wanted to shake Ben and Tina Ann until their teeth rattled.

  “You! I remember you, gnome! You will pay for this insult!”

  So far, the Guardian hadn’t attacked, but if the Watcher made a menacing move, it might, and the Watcher would have one more complaint against her. In the same imperious tone the pythanium had used, she said, “You may go. And I suggest you do so quickly.”

  The pythanium extended all three sets of wings and beat them with powerful strokes that sent the arbor’s leaves flying. As it lifted off, the breghlin charged after it with the severed head, giving it a memorable send off.

  Tyla groaned. She was in big trouble now, and yet she felt a certain amount of satisfaction as she watched it fly away.

  Ben and Tina Ann came up to her, and Ben said with a derisive snort, “Bet it think twice ‘fore comin’ back.”

  Tyla wanted to say that if they ever did anything like this again she’d put them in the dungeon for a month, but they looked so proud of themselves, she didn’t have the heart. “I know you meant well, but when the Watcher reports what you did, we’ll all be in trouble—me in particular.”

  This must not have occurred to them because their expressions immediately sobered.

  “Ya think it will tell on us?” Tina Ann asked.

  “Of course it will,” Tyla said in an exasperated tone.

  The pole drooped in Ben’s grasp. The severed head stared sightlessly at the floor. “Yer knife will pertect ya,” he said, sounding none too confident about that.

  “We won’t do nuthin’ like that again,” Tina Ann promised.

  “Good. The knife doesn’t make me invincible.”

  “S’pose not,” Tina Ann conceded with downcast eyes.

  Maybe it would be better if they knew the knife didn’t produce the Guardian, but she wasn’t ready to tell them yet. “Come on,” she said, herding them inside. “Let’s put Head Spy back on the wall where he belongs.”

  Chapter 7

  One month earlier.

  Felith dropped the crate onto the cart, wincing at the clatter of pots and pans. Sweat dripped from his brow. His arms and back ached. He’d gotten soft since leaving Mierek City’s Outcast District. It was nice living at Emanicus headquarters, but he’d known he’d only be here a few months.

  Sethan looked up from his clipboard and scowled at Felith. “Careful with the crates.”

  Felith rolled his shoulders to ease the stiffness and went back for another crate, giving Sethan a belligerent look on the way by, but Sethan was checking off items on the list and didn’t notice.

  Tabik and Lanimore staggered toward Felith, a heavy wooden trunk between them. “Only a few more to go,” Tabik grunted.

  Let’s hope so, Felith thought gloomily. It seemed the entire contents of The Emanicus must already be on the two carts, but there was more on the lawn, and Team One would take two more cartloads tomorrow. His poor back. It would take a week to recover.

  Havinth came out to see how things were going. Amik was with him, too old and feeble for heavy lifting. Felith frowned in annoyance. Amik should be taking care of the checklist while Sethan hauled crates.

  “Felith, why haven’t you hitched up the erum?” Havinth asked, irritably.

  “It’s not my job.” Felith picked up another crate. “Vink and Gragg are driving Team Two. One of them should do it.”

  “Where are they, anyway?”

  “How should I know?” The erum were a few yards away, grazing, but there was no sign of Vink or Gragg.

  “I want the team on the road before nightfall,” Havinth said as if it were up to Felith to round up the missing members.

  Felith ignored him, carried the crate to the cart, and let it drop with a crash. None of this stuff was breakable. The Parnatti sculptures and other valuables were going with Team One tomorrow.

  Before long, the missing drivers arrived to hitch up the erum, and other gem masters came out to see the team off.

  Felith started back to the building, watching the leaders discretely. Havinth was surveying the loaded carts, fingering his rizumen pendant nervously. Sethan stood beside him, arms crossed, face impassive. Sethan had been calm the last few days in spite of Havinth’s increasingly frantic predictions of approaching doom. The problem with oracle gems, Felith told himself with a wry smile, was that warnings were often correct but too vague to be of any use.

  Felith looked up at the second floor. Havinth’s doom was coming, all right. Too bad Rimwick wasn’t here to help. After all, it was his plan. They were each to break a ward and neutralize a sleeping gem master. What had become of Rimwick? Had he found Sheamathan’s gems? If so, where had he gone afterward?

  Felith’s attention snapped back to the matter at hand as Team Two started climbing into the carts. Their leaders, Tabik and Lanimore, held a last-minute conversation with Havinth and Sethan.

  “Tonight marks the beginning of our long-awaited plan to seize control of Ahmonell,” Lan
imore said. “I can hardly believe the day has come. By the time your team leaves tomorrow, we should be at Site B.”

  “Contact me when you arrive,” Havinth said.

  “We will.” Lanimore touched his rizumen pendant as if assuring himself it was there.

  “Good luck,” Sethan said. “Safe travels.”

  “Same to you. Did you tell Sheamathan she’s leaving tomorrow?” Tabik asked.

  “Yes. She wants us to restore her now, but we told her she’ll have to wait until we reach the hideout.” Havinth’s eye began to twitch. “I don’t know how much longer we can string her along.”

  “Not much longer,” Tabik said. “She’s running out of patience.”

  “We’ll handle her with our usual skill and cunning,” Havinth said, sounding more confident than he looked.

  Felith hid a smile. After tonight, Havinth and Sethan wouldn’t need to worry about Sheamathan—or anything else, for that matter.

  Tabik and Lanimore joined their teammates, and the carts started off toward the open gate. The group on the lawn waved farewell, then went back inside.

  Felith went straight to the kitchen, hungry again despite having eaten dinner before loading the carts. He helped himself to cold mutton and bread and sat down at the table, thinking about what lay ahead. He was nervous about neutralizing Havinth and Sethan, but he was more concerned about the aftermath of the coup. Hopefully, his fellow gem masters would welcome the change of leadership. Havinth and Sethan hadn’t allowed everyone access to Sheamathan, and they had shared things they learned from her with outside operatives like Rimwick, but not with those who lived here. Felith would give everyone equal access to her.

  Sethan came into the kitchen and stopped short when he saw Felith. “Eating again?”

  “Just a snack before going to bed. It’s been a long day.”

  “Havinth asked me to get him a goblet of wine. I could use one, too.” Sethan helped himself from the bottle on the counter.

  “Wine should help you sleep, and we all need a good night’s sleep before our journey,” Felith said. If Havinth and Sethan slept soundly, his job would be all the easier.

  Sethan left with the goblets, and Felith finished eating and retreated to his room. Hoping to pass the time, he found a book to read, but he couldn’t concentrate. His eyes kept drifting to the clock on his bedside table, and its gentle tick, tick, tick wore on his nerves. At two o’clock he was still awake. Surely, the wine had done its job on Havinth and Sethan by now, and he could get on with this unpleasant business. He’d take care of Sethan first, then Havinth.

  Felith put on his nightshirt and dressing gown so if anyone saw him they’d think he’d been in bed. He slipped a pen and a small bottle of permanent ink into his pocket, then tiptoed from his room and crept quietly through the building. He stopped at the foot of the stairs, thinking of all the things that could go wrong, but ambition and greed overcame his misgivings, prodding him into motion.

  Treading as lightly as possible, he climbed the stairs. At the top, he cast a furtive glance down the hallway, then went to Sethan’s door and listened. Good. Sethan was snoring, fast asleep.

  Sethan used a very advanced ward on his room, one he’d learned from Sheamathan. If anyone entered but him, the intruder immediately found himself in the hallway again. Felith had practiced disengaging the ward. He quickly disabled it and stepped inside.

  The gray-haired gem master lay on his back, mouth open, covers up to his chin. Felith immediately projected an immobility gem, and then set to work.

  It took about twenty minutes to wipe Sethan’s memory of critical information, and when Felith finished, he was dizzy and nauseated from using dark powers so long. Unfortunately, he had more to do, and the next process—removing Sethan’s gem powers—would be even worse. Felith had drawn power from the gem in the black bird sculpture, and he hoped he’d infused enough to neutralize both leaders. He took several deep breaths, fighting back nausea, and began the process of turning Sethan into a Nope.

  After the first few minutes, he was trembling all over. His heart pounded and his vision swam, but he pressed on, determined to continue no matter how unpleasant the side effects. He would probably develop new witnesses as punishment for what he was doing, but in the end, it would be worth it. Sweat dripped from his brow, and he felt feverish, but he couldn’t stop now. He had almost finished the job.

  Finally, it was over. He looked down at Sethan, feeling no pity for the former gem master. Then, with a smug grin, he took out the pen and ink and marked a black X over Sethan’s red gem symbol. He was so drained he wasn’t sure if he could repeat the process on Havinth, but he must. “I’ll be back in a few hours. Don’t go anywhere,” he whispered, chuckling at his own wit.

  He listened at Havinth’s door, hoping to hear rhythmic breathing or snoring, but the room was silent. Was Havinth still awake? That would complicate things, but he couldn’t put it off. He had to neutralize Havinth tonight.

  Havinth’s room employed another of Sheamathan’s cleverest wards. It put intruders slightly out of sync with time so they couldn’t interact with anything in the room. Havinth had foolishly taught Rimwick how to create the ward, never thinking Rimwick and Felith would use the knowledge against him.

  Felith disengaged the ward and walked in. Havinth was sitting up in bed, reading. Felith immobilized him, and Havinth remained gaping at Felith in open-mouthed astonishment as Felith approached the bed.

  Curious what the gem master was reading at two in the morning, Felith pried the book from Havinth’s hands and flipped through a few pages. Spells! Spells Sheamathan had shared! Ah, this would come in handy. Very handy indeed.

  Still feeling a bit queasy, Felith sat down on the bed. “Don’t worry. This won’t hurt a bit. And in any case, you won’t remember,” he whispered. Havinth’s doom had come. He would no longer lead The Emanicus, and he would lose his gem powers. Ironically, the former leader would never know his prediction had come true.

  Felith gripped Havinth’s head and pretended to squeeze out the memories. By the time he finished and placed the black X over Havinth’s gem symbol, he was shaking all over, as much from suppressed laughter as from the gem’s side effects. When Havinth saw the mark later today, he would wonder what it meant and where it had come from. Sethan would have an identical mark, and he wouldn’t know, either. They’d have no one but each other for company once Felith left with Team One. Eventually, fortress officers would break in and discover them. Felith didn’t care what became of them after that.

  He patted the immobilized gnome on the shoulder, wished him good night, and picked up the book of spells. He was about to leave when he saw the rizumen pendant on the bedside table. “You won’t be needing this anymore,” he said softly and slipped the chain over his head. “Let’s see what else of interest you have.”

  Havinth had packed a few trunks for today’s departure. Felith looked inside and found books, clothing, and useful articles. Since he wasn’t completely heartless, he would leave Havinth a clean robe or two.

  Felith returned to his room and slept fitfully, troubled by dreams he couldn’t quite recall the next morning. He got out of bed feeling no remorse for what he had done, but he dreaded telling the others. Even if they were glad to be rid of Havinth and Sethan, they would find his methods disturbing and worry about their own safety. After all, the former leaders’ wards hadn’t stopped him. He could say Rimwick had told him how to get past the wards, or he could let them think he had figured it out on his own. Still debating how to handle the matter, he tucked the rizumen pendant out of sight and went down to the kitchen.

  “Finally, you’re up,” said Hoy, the youngest of the group. His brown beard hid a number of witnesses, and there was a lump on his right temple the size of a small onion.

  Everyone had assembled except Felith and the immobilized gem masters, and when Felith looked at the clock and saw it was after eight, he understood why. He’d slept longer than he’d intended.


  Manon, a middle-aged scholar who had written countless articles about rare gems, said, “We’re almost out of raaka. Sethan’s been known to go through the better part of a pot on his own, so you’d better get some before he shows up.”

  “Where is he, anyway? And Havinth, too, for that matter,” Ezar asked irritably. His rectangular spectacles were askew on his nose, and his thinning gray hair looked as if he’d forgotten to comb it. “Havinth was insufferable yesterday. I hope he’s in a better mood today.”

  Narrod brushed breadcrumbs from his black beard. “He’ll be even worse today. He’s nervous about moving to the new site.”

  Yevin, a hot-tempered gnome with a scar on his forehead, rolled his eyes. “It’s not just that. It’s that wretched premonition of his. I’m sick to death of hearing about impending doom.”

  “About that . . .” Felith looked at his fellow gem masters, and for a moment words failed him, but if he intended to take Havinth’s place, he must assert his authority, and he couldn’t mince words. “His doom has come. And Sethan’s too. They won’t be coming with us to the new site.”

  Hoy laughed uncomfortably. “Is this some kind of joke?”

  “Hardly. From now on, I’m in charge, and there will be a lot of changes—all for the better.”

  “Havinth won’t sit still for that!” Ezar said, looking bewildered.

  Felith laughed. “I assure you he won’t try to stop me.” He looked around the table. “Don’t take my word for it. Come with me. I’ll show you.”

  He led the group upstairs.

  Chapter 8

  After removing everything of value from Havinth and Sethan’s rooms and locking the former leaders inside, Felith called a meeting. He’d found Havinth’s to-do list, not that he really needed it. He knew what needed to be done and wasn’t afraid to delegate responsibilities.

  When Lanimore checked in from Site B, Felith would admit what he’d done. Lanimore and Tabik would be shocked, but really, what could they do? Both groups needed to work together, so they would have to make the best of it.