Orbelon's World (Book 3)

by Martin Ash

  'Hardly. You’ve said it yourself.'

  'I am your only hope. But here, deprived of the Soul of the Orb, I’m scarcely better than helpless.'

  'But you admit that the Orb's Soul may lie anywhere within Enchantment, or even beyond.'

  'But if you can take me to Triune . . . .'

  'Yes?'

  'We have certain things in common, Triune and I. A mutuality of interests, if Triune can only be induced to see it as such.'

  Issul stared at him, torn. His figure was vague; he seemed composed of little more than shadow - a bulking, uncertain mass of shadow thrown from no discernible objects. She shook her head, forcing back tears. 'I cannot leave.'

  In her mind an image formed, of Leth and her two small children wandering, lost, in a hostile, alien world. She stifled a sob that threatened to break her in two, and turned away so Orbelon might not see her face.

  'You are noble,' said Orbelon, 'and brave, so brave. But you are tragically mistaken. You believe that by staying here you are helping your people and the kingdom, and that this is your duty over and above your devotion to your own family. You have it wrong. Yes, your duty is to do all you can to save your people. But stay here and you will be sacrificing them and your family too.'

  Issul shook her head. Her voice quavered. 'I need evidence.'

  'Am I not evidence enough?'

  'All I have is your word. You say you want to help me, but Fectur would say the same thing. I know nothing of you, yet I am expected to follow your bidding, and in doing so entrust the kingdom to Fectur. I need more, Orbelon.'

  She almost choked on her tears. My babies, Leth, am I forced to abandon you?

  'This is taking a terrible toll on you, child,' said Orbelon softly. 'I can give you nothing more than I already have, but I can only reiterate: there is no alternative. And we must go now, for the Karai are almost upon us. Soon there will be no way out of Enchantment's Reach.'

  III

  Until now Issul had felt that a meeting with the man known as Grey Venger was more than she could bear. He was reckoned to be dangerously insane, and Pader Luminis had attested to the unnerving power of his mental state and the effect it had had on Leth during their meetings. But with Leth no longer here, and Fectur desperate to have Venger in his grasp once more, Issul knew that she could avoid him no longer.

  Pader Luminis had brought her up to date on everything that, to his knowledge, had passed between Venger and King Leth before Leth's disappearance. Much defied comprehension, verging on deranged babble. Yet, as Pader carefully pointed out, there were in Venger's pronouncements uncanny correspondences to the circumstances that embroiled Enchantment's Reach, particularly in regard to the True Sept's prophecy regarding the coming of the Legendary Child. And Pader knew nothing of Orbelon or the Orb's soul. Issul, like her husband before her, thought she saw a particular possible connection which set a question clamouring in her mind: Is it possible that Venger holds the key to everything that is happening here?

  She knew she could avoid Grey Venger no longer.

  With some trepidation she approached the door to the chamber where Venger was held. A male voice rang out loudly, 'The Queen!'

  Sentries stiffened to attention. The sergeant-of-the-guard, breastplate and helmet gleaming, marched forward to meet her. He tilted his head smartly and saluted. 'Your Majesty!'

  'I wish to enter.'

  The sergeant swivelled and beckoned to a pair of guards further along the corridor. They came at the run and stood rigid behind him.

  'No,' said Issul. 'I am going in alone.'

  The sergeant's jaw went slack. 'Your Majesty?'

  'I don’t require a guard. Simply remain on station close outside the door.'

  'But, Your Majesty, the prisoner--'

  'Please unlock the door, sergeant.'

  The blood had drained from the unhappy guardsman's cheeks. He hesitated, swallowed, found the courage to speak again. 'Your Majesty, I beg you to forgive me, but I would be negligent in my duties if I failed to point out to you that the prisoner is not restrained in any way. He is considered unpredictable and highly dangerous.'

  'Thank you, sergeant.' Issul gave a wan smile of reassurance. 'Your concern is right and proper. I will call for you if I require assistance. Now, unlock the door please.'

  The sergeant hesitated, then gave a stiff nod and moved to comply. Inside the apartment Issul could at first see no sign of the man she had come to interview. The main chamber was silent and still; from outside she could hear the gentle hiss of drizzle upon rooftiles and stone. She wondered if Grey Venger was asleep in the bedchamber beyond. She stepped towards the door of the bedchamber, then stopped, spying a lean-limbed figure crouched upon a chair before one window.

  'Grey Venger.'

  The figure did not move. She could make out little of his features due to the light at his back. She took three steps in order to position herself where she might view him better.

  'Who are you?' Venger's voice was harsh and, even in such a blunt question, tinted with mockery.

  'I wish to talk to you.'

  'Talk? Talk?' He gave a derisive chuckle, tugging at his grey beard. 'What would the Grey Venger want with talk with a miltpot? Are you not sent to give comfort to the Grey Venger?'

  Issul stood calm. 'I am not. I’ve come only to talk, to share knowledge, which is the reason you agreed to come to Orbia.'

  'What new trick is this?' Grey Venger uncurled his legs, placing his feet upon the floor, and leaned forward from the waist. 'Leth sends me one of his splashers, to talk? To 'exchange knowledge'?' He snorted, then his face became still and he peered suspiciously at Issul. 'Or is it the High Lord Spectre who has sent you?'

  'Neither. I am the Queen.'

  'The Queen?' Venger sprang out of his seat and thrust himself at her. Surprised, Issul drew back. Grey Venger pushed his agonized features close to hers, inspecting her as though she were no more than a whore, a slave or a workbeast up for sale. 'The Queen! Issul! Godless spouse of the godless mouse! Yes, yes, it truly is! I didn’t recognise you, but then why should I? I make no apology for you are of no consequence. Am I required to bow?'

  'I won’t insist upon formality if it displeases you.'

  'Displeases!' Venger laughed briefly and mirthlessly, stroking his chin and appraising her with haughty insolence. 'What do you want?'

  'You came to Orbia, I am informed, to talk with King Leth, one to one, as equals. I ask only the same.'

  'Equals? Hah!' With a guttural bark Grey Venger threw himself from her. He crossed the chamber with long bounds, stabbing at the air with bony hands. 'Leth! Low, skulking Leth! He still thinks himself my equal? Bah! He is nothing. Nothing! He is less than a beetle's droppings which I am not even aware that I crush beneath my feet. And you, Queen Issul - ' Grey Venger spun around and bounded back. He thrust his hooked nose almost against hers, hands poised as if to seize her. Issul recoiled, readying herself for defence, but the fingers did not make contact. ' - lesser men deem you beautiful, but they see with the eyes of the Unclean. Grey Venger's eyes have been opened by the One Truth. The Grey Venger sees what is real. He stands before 'beauty' such as yours and sees only the sputum of a louse that he plucks from the crotch of a diseased dog!'

  Venger's breath was sour, the reek of his sweat pungent and foul. Issul did not flinch. 'I trust you are being treated well, Master Venger. I passed orders that you were to be accorded every hospitality.'

  Venger's upper lip curled into a smirk.

  'Have you eaten and drunk your fill? King Leth was anxious that you be made to feel welcome. Is the apartment to your liking? Certainly more comfortable than the dungeon you’ve recently vacated, I would think.'

  ''All one to me.'

  To Issul's relief Venger moved away again, head forward, scowling. 'What subterfuge is this, Issul?'

  'There is no subterfuge.'

  'I never doubted that Leth would break his word. That is the way of the godless. Has he understood now that he cann
ot break me? Not even the Spectre, the scourge and terror of ordinary mortals, can instil fear into the heart of the Grey Venger.'

  'Leth didn’t break his word, Venger. The Lord High Invigilate acted without authority. He has been severely reprimanded. Did he harm you?'

  'I have already said, he cannot.' Venger stood squarely facing the Queen, contempt etched into his face.

  Issul was hard put to withstand his gaze. This man she could not fathom. By Pader's account he had permitted the execution of his two sons, in the full knowledge that with a word he could have saved them. They had been implicated in Venger's and the True Sept's plot to assassinate King Leth - a plot which was never meant to succeed. Venger had known this; he had engineered it. He had deliberately faked a murder attempt on Leth in order to promote the True Sept's beliefs regarding the coming of the Legendary Child. Ignorant of the deception, Leth had outlawed Venger and the True Sept and granted orders for the arrest of the Sept's leading members. Venger's sons were located and taken into custody. Under intense pressure from the other major factions and prominent persons in certain sections of government Leth had pronounced the death sentence upon Venger's sons, to be commuted to imprisonment upon Venger's giving himself into custody. Venger did not show and Leth found himself with little choice but to sign the death warrant.

  Issul felt a sudden, overwhelming sense of desolation. What hatred you must feel, Venger, for Leth and everything he holds dear. And, oh! I see so clearly now, over and above all else, how you must loathe yourself. I pity you, Venger. Truly. How you must crave oblivion.

  'Where is Leth?' demanded Venger, his gaze wavering for an instant, as though disconcerted by her thoughts. 'What does he hope to gain by sending his miltpot to me? I am of the Righteous and Faithful, immune to the temptations to which lesser men succumb. The charms of the King's harlot will not move the Grey Venger.'

  'Leth has sent no one. I have come, as I said, in the hope that we might talk, that is all. That we might profitably exchange information.'

  'No information you possess can be of interest to me.'

  'Then I shall trouble you no further.' She turned briskly, her head high, and made for the door. Her fingers closed around the handle and she closed her eyes. Was all lost? Her heart was in her mouth. She twisted the handle and drew the door towards her. Had she failed to judge him correctly?

  'Wait!'

  Issul almost slumped with relief. She half-turned, her hands still on the open door.

  Grey Venger had not moved. His eyes burned. 'I will hear what you have to say.'

  Slowly Issul eased the door closed, noting the solicitude on the faces of the soldiers in the corridor outside. 'First you will answer some questions.'

  'You spoke of information.'

  'Yes.'

  A peevish note crept into Venger's voice. 'Yes. Then speak.'

  She concealed her anger. Enjoy your arrogance, Venger, for the tables are about to turn.She stepped slowly towards him, pensive as she considered her words. Then, deliberately, she raised her eyes and met his gaze. 'I have spoken with the Legendary Child.'

  The effect was extraordinary. Issul savoured the moment, brief though it was. The muscles in Grey Venger's taut face twitched in a sudden spasm, all virtually at once. His wiry body gave a jerk and he could not prevent a sudden, audible intake of breath. Momentarily all self-control deserted him. His face flushed, and he grew stock still, his eyes wary, boring into Issul.

  'It is a lie!'

  'Would your Queen feed you falsehoods?'

  His thin lips quivered. It seemed he came close to showing a grim smile as he acknowledged the irony of her challenge. Some of the tension slipped from between Issul's shoulderblades. This man is arrogant and remote beyond belief, but he is not untouchable, much as he would have me believe otherwise.

  'You must give me proof,' Venger said.

  'There is no proof. You have only my word, but I think it will convince you. And I will tell you something more: I was present at his birth.'

  Again, pure shock on Venger's face, and then resentment in his pale grey eyes. Denial, then outrage and envy, and denial again. He shook his head. 'No.That is impossible.'

  'Oh yes. I didn’t fully realise then, for I had scant knowledge of the secret the True Sept holds. More than that--' Issul halted, rendered mute by the terrible image of her younger sister, Ressa, Mawnie's twin, outstretched upon the grass on Sentinel's Peak, bloodied and all but lifeless, mounted by the vile monster that was Moscul's sire.

  'Yes?' demanded Venger hungrily.

  Issul shook her head. 'Before I tell you anything more, I have questions for you.'

  Grey Venger smirked, folding his arms across his chest. 'Do you think I’m so foolish? Leth tried the same trick, luring me here with empty promises, then telling me only that the Child had been found then lost again. And now you try to beguile me with more spurious claims.'

  'Are you so certain that you can disregard them?'

  Venger pursed his mouth into shrewd grimace. 'You said your word could convince me. So far it has not.'

  Issul nodded to herself. 'What do you seek?'

  'You were present at the birth, you say? So, tell me, that I may know whether we have more to discuss.'

  The memory pained her, but Venger's demand could not be considered unreasonable under the circumstances. She said, wincing, 'The Child was born out of Death.'

  Grey Venger's shoulders and head jutted forward, his mouth hanging open. He nodded, urging her on.

  Issul glanced beyond, seeking solace from the awful image her mind's eye beheld. 'It gave birth to itself, out of the womb of a mother who had been dead for three days.'

  Grey Venger appraised her venomously for several moments, then stretched his lips tightly across decaying teeth in a bestial grimace. He gave a single nod. 'We will talk.'

  He re-seated himself in the chair, folding his legs beneath his buttocks, his hands gripping the carved chair arms with whitened knuckles. Issul could barely see, so affected was she by the memory of her sister's body being ravaged by the unnatural child that fought its way free of her womb. She pushed back the tears and nausea, and remained standing, though she was faint and would have preferred to sit. Gathering her thoughts she said, 'Tell me about the King Without A Soul, Venger.'

  'I have told Leth.'

  'I seek to know more.'

  'Where is Leth?'

  'Engaged in vital matters of state.You know there is an unprecedented crisis upon us. He considers that my experience of the Child makes me better equipped to speak with you at this juncture.'

  Grey Venger mulled this over but made no comment.

  'Your teachings tell of the coming of the King Without A Soul,' Issul continued. 'And you have declared Leth to be that King and that he is to be overthrown by the Legendary Child, who will establish a new faith and a new domain.'

  'That is so.'

  'You say also that the Soulless King can’t be killed, at least not by any mortal. That he must live to witness the extirpation of his people and his kind, and then be destroyed by one qualified to perform that act. Who do you deem to be that one? The Legendary Child, or some other?'

  'It is written, but is for the eyes only of the most trusted of the True Believers.'

  'The Soul that has been cast away, where might it be found?'

  'Sealed within a crucible of shining adamant inside the high fortress sanctum of the One True God, within Enchantment.'

  'Does the True Sept know the location of the fortress sanctum?'

  Venger looked at her with mocking eyes, but said nothing.

  'If the King were reunited with his Soul. . . ? What then?'

  'That cannot be.'

  'Why not?'

  'Ha!'

  'Can you be so sure, Venger?'

  Grey Venger held her gaze but the taunting smile that adorned his face began to waver. He glanced away. She nodded inwardly. Something here disquiets him. I have penetrated his armour again!

  'Remem
ber,' she said, 'I have spoken with the Legendary Child.'

  'Then ask the Child about the Lost Soul.'

  'I have. And now I am asking the leader of the True Sept.'

  A measured tone crept into Venger's voice. 'Why?'

  She sensed that the idea of her having actually had contact with the Legendary Child was almost intolerable to him. He did not want it to be true, probably doubted that it was true, but could not be sure. 'To compare answers,' she said.

  Venger shifted in his seat, stretching the muscles and sinews of his neck and flexing his fingers. 'I am the Grey Venger, a mere servant who prepares the way. I know secrets, many secrets, and The One and True Sept has custody of many more. But you are of the Soulless, not worthy or deserving. I tell you only as much as I tell.'

  'You’ve said that the Legendary Child is the scion of the One True God and that they are to rule, as one, in Unity?'

  'That is so.'

  'How is this to come about?'

  'Ha!'

  Again contempt, and such defiance, such godly superiority in his eyes. Issul grew angry.

  'Venger, you say you are a servant of the Legendary Child and the One True God, and that you and the True Sept have prepared the way.'

  'That is so.'

  'What will be your reward for this service?'

  'Righteous peace,' he sneered. 'When the last of the Unbelievers and Corrupted have been wiped from the world.'

  'Intriguing.' She smiled blandly at him and saw the wariness creep back into his gaze. 'Are you truly certain that the Child will know its followers? Are you certain that it even knows itself?'

  She was gambling. She had gained so little from her conversation with Moscul at Lastmeadow, in part because she had hardly known what questions to ask. Her priority then had been to bring him back to Enchantment's Reach, where he could be observed, questioned further, if necessary . . . if necessary, yes, she would have had him killed. She had been in no doubt that Moscul was an extraordinary child, and that he knew himself to be extraordinary. But she had not been sure that he knew precisely what he was.