On the last word, the Ambassador raised his eyebrow and quirked his mouth, indicating it would be an interesting story before gesturing toward a large tent. The walk was not long and the tent resided in the lee of a large rock formation. Its placement cut down on some of the wind and sand that was blowing through the area. Though it got them out of the sun, it was only partial relief. The lower quarter of the walls was rolled up, letting air circulate, but the tent itself seemed to trap and amplify the stench from the distant tanners.
“Ugh, I think it’s worse in here, isn’t it?” Valeran said, commenting on the smell as he slid into one of the chairs set around the long table.
“Indeed,” The Ambassador said, shrugging. “I have to say I was not overly surprised when we arrived a week ago. The men that directed us to this location were rather too gleeful. The Grand Steward seems to delight in causing us inconvenience. He will feature prominently in some of our recent happenings.” The man looked over at the two mysterious locals who had accompanied them.
Duke Valeran looked at the two, following the ambassador’s gaze. The woman was still wrapped up and had her hood pulled low over her face. Ashrak could see her lower jaw, which looked familiar somehow. The other man was equally as baffling but for other reasons. His fidgeting made Ashrak frown slightly and Chari was visibly bristling at the man, suspicion clear on her face.
“Well, introductions are clearly in order,” Valeran said, pulling his eyes back to the Ambassador and then over to Ashrak and Chari. “But first, I should probably introduce the ones that I know before we meet our mysterious guests.”
Ashrak nodded, smiling before lightly kicking Chari’s foot with his own. The action achieved the desired result, getting her to shift her gaze from the small, greasy man and back to the Duke.
“This,” Valeran said, gesturing to the elder Ambassador, “is Lord Mendor Bathom. He was a good friend of my father's, and I was fortunate enough to keep his services. He’s been kicking around this part of the world for the past decade, and of all of my people, he probably understands the Brunish the best of us. Mendor, this is Ashrak and Chari as I am sure you guessed.”
Lord Mendor bowed from his waist, giving Ashrak and Chari each a warm smile. “It is a pleasure to meet you, Ashrak and Chari. I suspect we’ll be working closely together for quite a while.”
Ashrak and Chari both bowed from their seats. Chari spoke, smiling a suddenly charming smile at the man. Ashrak just watched her, marveling at her easy mannerisms and admiring her beauty. He knew he should be paying attention, and he would, but for the moment he just smiled. She noticed, her eyes crinkling up on her face as she took his hand and squeezed before she kicked him back and made him chuckle.
Fair’s fair. He smiled and turned his gaze back to Lord Mendor and Valeran.
“Now, let me introduce our other guests,” Lord Mendor said turning to the two that were sitting next to him. “One, I believe, you are expecting. He is Nilesh Perekh, an Agent of Severan Romald, the spymaster of Riften. I’ve worked with him several times in the past.” Lord Mendor smiled at Chari who had returned her suspicious gaze to the pair. “Nilesh, please stop playing your game and show the good lady your true face.”
As the ambassador spoke, the small man suddenly stopped fidgeting and almost seemed to unfold. He also lost several years as wrinkles disappeared while his face changed to reveal an almost handsome, if large nosed, countenance. Straightening up, he nodded cordially to Ashrak, Chari, and the Duke and smiled with a twinkle in his eyes.
“Please forgive; I tend to wear one of my many guises as a matter of course. It’s difficult to break the habit when your life depends on it.”
Ashrak and Chari exchanged a look before the silver-eyed girl leaned forward. “How did you do that? I’d have sworn you were an old man. Now you don’t look much older than Ash or I do!”
“Ah ha! The method involves using muscles in a certain way.” Nilesh said, a bright grin flashing to them all. That and some judicious use of the right clothes and some makeup and you’d be surprised. The trick is holding it for hours or even days.”
“Spies and trickery,” said the cloaked woman sitting next to Nilesh, disgust clear in her throat. “It’s these reasons our land is in as bad a way as it is.”
Nilesh shrugged, clearly unbothered by the woman’s comments though Ashrak nodded in agreement. His father had allowed no other way to do business except backstabbing and betrayal. Something he’d barely escaped from by being sent to Terek. He was turning back to the Ambassador to wait for him to introduce the other until something clicked about her voice, and he heard himself exclaim in disbelief.
“Ellian?”
The woman froze and then lifted her hands to her hood, slowly lowering it. Her eyes sought his with a challenging look. Clearly, she was uncertain about what he would think of her presence, but Ashrak could only look on his sister’s beautiful if scarred face with a sense of surprise.” “Hello, Ashrak,” She said, staring at him intently.
Chari looked back and forth between the two, frowning. “Who is she, Ashrak?”
“She’s,” Ashrak began, then paused and blinked at the surprising turn of events, “my sister.” He finally finished. The uncertainty was clear in his voice and in truth, he had no idea how to feel. He and Ellian had never been close when he’d been growing up. He had been too busy trying to forget about the family he belonged too, and his sister had always been off in town drinking, partying, and fighting, most likely for the same reasons.
“Don’t worry, dear brother,” Ellian said, smirking softly at him. “I’m not here to try to hurt you. That’s been a bad bet by several family members already, and I’m not a fool. Besides,” she continued, looking at Chari and letting her eyes rove over her, “I’ve heard the stories of how dear brother Belor died. It’s not just you I have to worry about.”
“What are you here for, then?” Ashrak asked slowly, watching his sister as Chari bristled beside him.
“Protection,” Lord Mendor answered before Ellian could say something else. “She’s here for protection, Ashrak.”
“Yes, dear brother,” Ellian said sardonically. “It seems your grand idea of killing off most of our family has given some of our loyal lord's ideas that they may not need us. For some reason, I’ve had to dodge several assassins in the night. I’ve decided I like my skin, however, so asked the dear ambassador if I might stay in his armed camp.”
“Now wait a minute,” Chari snapped, leaning forward and pointing her finger at Ellian. “It wasn’t like we planned all of this just to inconvenience you!”
“Oh, she’s got teeth,” Ellian purred, grinning at Chari and licking her lips.
Chari half rose from her chair, a snarl on her lips but Ashrak pulled her back, shaking his head. “Don’t bother, Chari. She’s just trying to pick a fight so she won’t appear weak despite the fact she’s come begging for aid. Besides, if it hadn’t of been for her putting the idea into my father’s head, I wouldn’t have been sent to Terek, and I’d probably be dead.”
Ellian sneered unkindly, nodding. “Exactly, you owe me Ashrak. I saved your life.”
“Enough,” Valeran said, his booming voice heading off the strange back and forth. “Ashrak may owe you a debt of gratitude, but this is my armed camp, Lady Ellian. If I choose to let you stay here, it will be because I wish it. Now tell me why I should be sticking my neck out for you?”
Ellian’s flashing eyes met the Dukes, and for a moment, she looked like she might stand and storm off. Surprisingly it was Nilesh who spoke next.
The younger man’s eyes looked nervous as he spoke. “Eh, I would rather you didn’t, Your Grace. I went to an awful lot of trouble to talk her into coming here. She was in greater danger than even she realizes, and I believe it’s important to keep her out of our enemy’s hands. They would just use her as a pawn against our getting Ashrak onto the throne.”
Valeran eyed Nilesh for a moment before he shrugged. “Fair enough. That does bring
up another point that you and Mendor should be able to answer. Who are the players in the game at the moment? What are our obstacles in getting Ashrak onto the Ducal throne?”
Nilesh was about to answer when the flap to the tent opened and was thrown back. One of the guards walked in, waiting for permission to approach. Valeran waved for the man to come over and when he did, he bowed. “Sorry to bother you, Your Grace, but there’s a courier at the front gate.”
“A courier? From whom?” Duke Valeran said as he accepted the small envelope, opening it and perusing the contents. Ashrak didn’t like the way the Duke’s brows had lowered as he continued reading through the missive.
“I believe the man represents Count Stavix,” The guard said. “He indicated he would await a reply.”
“By the gods, he’ll get one, too,” Valeran said hotly, his eyes thundering as he looked up from the message and passing it to Lord Mendor to read. “We’ve been ordered to appear at the Citadel. Ordered! Cheeky devil. He’s lucky I don’t fly the Skywitch over there and blow the minarets off of his pretty palace!”
Lord Mendor looked up cautiously. “Your Grace…”
Valeran waved his hand in the air and looked away. “I know, I know. No, I won’t do that, as fun as it might be to see them all come scurrying out of the Citadel.” He paused and then looked at the guard. “Tell the courier we’ll be at the Citadel tomorrow in the afternoon after we have a chance to clean up. We will not be bringing the bodies with us. Tell him that we will be prepared to discuss how they will be handed over.”
The man nodded before bowing and leaving quickly.
Nilesh grinned into the silence, slapping his hand together and rubbing them quickly. “Well! That saves some time. Count Stavix is one of the people I was going to mention! Charming fellow! I believe he’s only eaten about half of his young to date.”
Valeran eyed the man warily before settling back in, making a come-on motion with his hands. “Alright, might as well go into the others. We’ve got all night to talk about it before walking into the viper's den tomorrow.”
By the time they were finally able to retreat to their beds late into the night, Ashrak had realized that Nilesh liked to talk and warmed to his subject quickly and thoroughly. Some of what he mentioned, Ashrak had already known having grown up in the courts of Brun, but the way the man put the information together helped Ashrak to make more connections about the information that he already knew. It was both sobering and angering at how corrupt the lords of Brun were. One that he was surprised to see reflected in his sister's eyes.
Tomorrow would be the first, dusty steps on a long and painful road, he was sure.
Chapter 3
The baneworm and its brothers emerged from the large earthenware vase into the cool night air. It sensed the warmth of a creature retreating rapidly though it was too far to be of concern. There were other heat sources nearby as well. Much more than the creatures were used to, but still not in the immediate vicinity, so it only made the large, multi-legged insects stiffen restlessly rather than going into an immediate hunt mode.
Then the pheromones impacted their senses.
All of them turned, their backward facing antennae arching up into the night air to hone in on the female. It didn’t take long for them to determine the direction and as one they began to move quickly across the sand before diving underneath, leaving long runnels as they moved toward their goal. It was in the direction of the large group of heat sources, but at this point, they didn’t care because their small insect brains were incapable of resisting.
They were all about average for their species, being about thirty to forty centimeters long with hundreds of legs spaced evenly along their length. Their shells along their multi-segmented bodies were dark purples and reds, designed to warn other creatures away. If that didn’t work, the long stinger on the tail was perfectly capable of curling up along their body and being thrust forward to strike, injecting a nasty, very deadly, poison into anything not fast enough to get away. It didn’t help that they were aggressive, being known to chase anything that moved until it left their territory.
No one ever wanted to see an agitated baneworm with half its body raised like a striking tail and all those legs wiggling in the air. It usually meant you were in striking distance, and shortly after that, very dead.
Tonight, the baneworm and its brothers weren’t interested in territory as they raced under the sand towards their goal. Occasionally one or the other would stop, raise its thickly chitin-armored antenna above the sand to re-orient toward the female before racing on.
None of the few Terek guardsmen that the creatures raced past were remotely aware of the danger under their feet. They were watching for man-sized trespassers and had no experience with the creatures of the deep desert. They might have noticed the bulges moving in the sand if it were daytime, but not during the darkness of the night even with one of the moons still full.
Fortunately for them, it allowed the baneworm and its brothers to remain fixated on the female. Somehow, the scent appeared to be diminishing which just made the creatures move faster towards its source, not even realizing they passed underneath a tent wall and were now moving under carpets within the large tent where the Duke and his entourage were sleeping.
They stopped a meter or so within one wall of the tent, milling about under the sand before finally working their way up through the cracks in the carpets and arching their multi-segmented bodies up in the air. They were striving for the scent of the female which was rapidly diminishing. It caused confusion since there was nothing to climb that they could sense, and the pheromones were coming from a few meters above them. They didn’t know the sponge lobbed onto the top of the Duke’s tent was specially designed to attract them or that its payload would fade quickly into nothingness.
All they knew was that there was no longer a female to pursue and that suddenly they were surrounded by multiple warm bodies well within their territory limits. It didn’t matter who the intruders were; they simply knew they had to drive the interlopers away.
***
Nilesh woke for no reason he could say. Normally, he slept lightly if he even got to sleep at all. It was a fortunate night that he could rest for even two hours at a time. However, in his line of work, it served his purpose well. Listening quietly to the breathing of the others within the spacious tent, he could hear something else moving along the carpets. It took him a few moments to remember the sound, but when he did his blood froze.
Baneworms.
He’d seen them kill before, and it was a horrible sight. The person stung would die swiftly and in massive amounts of pain as the poison ripped through their system and triggered all of their muscles to spasm uncontrollably. He’d watched men break their backs before being released by death.
It was not a way he wanted ever to die. Nilesh knew that just jumping up and running was not the smart option. They keyed on movement as well as body heat, and he didn’t want to be their target though he couldn’t just lay here either. They were still clustered in toward the center of the tent and out of the corner of his eye he watched them straining upwards.
That told him the rest of what he needed to know. These insects were an assassination. Nilesh sneered as his professionalism kicked in. Whomever the assassin was, they were lazy since this technique was never guaranteed to get who your target was, and very likely would kill many bystanders. Amateurs. Even so, he only had a few moments left.
Slowly, he moved his hand within his robes and pulled out a small, carefully sealed vial. Nilesh had learned many skills in staying alive from the academy in Riften, but one of the most subtle had simply been the instruction to keep as much of his tools on him at all times, even when sleeping. Much like a warrior sleeping in his armor, it had saved his life on more than a few occssions.
This time would, hopefully, prove no different. Nilesh used one hand to unstopper the vial before flicking it toward the center of the room. The small man made sure the movemen
ts of his hand stayed hidden by the bulk of his body. The liquid in the vial would cause some confusion with the baneworms for a limited time and he had to be careful. It wouldn’t do much good if they focused on him before it could take effect.
He listened as the vial made a dull, tinkling thump as it landed. The spin he’d put on the vial when he flicked it would have spread the liquid all over, and he took the risk of turning his head. Most of the worms were writhing, reacting to the chemicals he’d released but even as he looked, he saw Ellian turn in her sleep and her hand slip down the side of her bedroll.
Of course.
It attracted the attention of one of the baneworms which began an immediate, furious beeline directly for her hand. Nilesh’s heart froze in his chest. Before he knew it, he’d twisted his slim body and half-rose, a knife flickering through the dull light inside the tent. It slid with a sickening thunk into the body of the baneworm, pinning it to the carpet. The dagger didn’t kill the thing right away, causing its body to thrust forward and stab its stinger at the small hilt of the throwing dagger while it hissed loudly in its death throes.
The Glimmer Steel Saga, Boxed Set, Books 1 - 4 Page 91
