Thornhold h-16

by Elaine Cunningham

  Her face clouded slightly as she recognized his ploy. "Sememmon is secure in his position," she said firmly. "All the more so now that you plan to establish your own hold. He was growing wary of you, you know." Her voice rose in a coquettish lilt, and one eyebrow lifted in subtle challenge.

  Dag understood, and fell at once into the almost-forgotten rhythm of subtle predation. At this art, Ashemmi was a master. With a few words, the minx intertwined the deadly competition of Darkhold's hierarchy with a tantalizing reminder of her considerable personal charms. A volatile balance indeed. Anything he said, whatever note he struck, could be dangerously wrong. This knowledge quickened his pulse, and rekindled the dark pleasure he had last tasted nine years before. Dag was not a man for simple carnality, but this was a game he appreciated, and this was a woman who played it well.

  His equilibrium restored, the priest strode over to a small table and pulled the stopper from a bottle of fine elven spirits. He poured two goblets and handed one to the elven sorceress. She raised it to her lips, savoring the scent and the taste with tauntingly slow and disturbingly thorough enjoyment-all the while eyeing him over the edge of the goblet. Dag merely sipped his drink and waited for her to have her say.

  Finally she tired of this ploy and set the goblet aside. "You are patient, my poppet. You were always so. Once, I found it rather… charming."

  "Times have changed," he observed in a bland tone that nonetheless managed to convey a dozen shades of meaning.

  A brief; appreciative smile flitted across the elf's face. Next to power and beauty, Ashemmi appreciated subtlety above all else. She came closer, close enough to envelope him in the scent of her perfume-an enticing and incongruous mixture of night-blooming flowers, musk, and brimstone. "Times have changed," she agreed. "I have lately come from another visit to Zhentil Keep. The signs of its destruction are almost vanished."

  "Gratifyring," Dag commented, then took a casual sip of his wine.

  "Very." She reached out and took the goblet from him, turned it and slid the tip of her tongue over the place on the rim his lips had touched. "It is a time to rebuild what once we had, and to seek new… heights."

  "You were always ambitious," he said, deliberately taking her words only at face value.

  This amused her. She set the goblet down and began to walk in a slow circle around him. "Opportunities are great for those who have the strength and wit to take them. You could do very well. Your devotion to the Zhentarim is beyond question, and your spells are stronger than those of any other cleric in the fortress. Indeed, you rival the spell power of all Darkhold's wizards but two!" She paused when she came around to face him, closer than she had been before. So close that he could feel the heat of her, and the ice. He sternly banished the awareness of her from his eyes, even when she reached up to unleash the clasp of his cloak. The dark garment fell unnoticed to the floor.

  He cleared his throat before he could think better of it. "You flatter me."

  "Not at all. I say nothing more than truth." Ashemmi toyed with his medallion, tracing her finger over the engraved sunburst pattern.

  Instinctively Dag clutched the medallion, and the secret hidden behind it. He could not risk her or anyone else discovering the ring. On the morrow, he would have it sent to his daughter for safekeeping. To distract a suddenly interested Ashemmi from the source of his concern, he lifted the medallion over his head and dropped it in a silver vase that stood on the table.

  A flicker of triumph lit the sorceress's eyes. Her hands dropped to his belt, to which were affixed his weapons and his bag of potions and prayer scrolls. From another woman, this would be nothing more than a logical next step. Not Ashemmi. Dag had set aside one sign of power: she sought to strip him of another. Trust Ashemmi, with her passion for irony, to seek to geld him thus.

  Dag captured one of her roving hands. He reached for her wine goblet and closed her fingers around it. "Why these questions, this sudden passion for 'truth?' I never noticed that it held much interest for you before."

  Suddenly the elf's golden eyes turned hard. She took a step back and impatiently flung the goblet aside. "Let us speak plainly. You have intelligence, talent, ambition, and the good will of those who rule in Zhentil Keep. Why do you insist upon besieging a fortress? What have you to prove?"

  So that was it. Somehow, she had heard of his plans, and was puzzled by them. "You ascribe too many complications to my thinking. My motives are simple," he informed her. "I merely wish to command my own stronghold. The fortress I desire is, regrettably, not currently under Zhentish control. Correcting this problem is a small matter." He paused and slid one hand through the silken curtain of her hair to cup the nape of her neck, then tightened his grip just to the point of pain. "But truly, your concern for my well-being is most touching."

  She arched back to lean into his grasp, and her lips curved in a feline smile. "Why would I not be concerned? After all, you are the father of my only child."

  Dag's heart quickened at this second reference to the child that, to his way of thinking, was his alone. Ashemmi had been happy enough to turn over the babe eight years earlier, fearing that her climb to power might be hampered by a half-breed brat clinging to her silken skirts. All she had asked from Dag-no, demanded of him-was a vow of absolute secrecy. This was the first they had spoken of the child, or of much else, in eight years.

  He smoothed his hand down her back and made an effort to steer the conversation onto a safer path. "Your concern is noted, but the reward is worth the risk. The fortress will be a good acquisition for the Zhentanm. It is strategically located on a major trade route."

  "And it is far from Darkhold. Let us not forget that. You could have your precious child at your side and not concern yourself with any need to share her-or the power she carries."

  The priest felt the blood drain from his face. This seemed to amuse Ashemini. Again she cocked her head and studied him. "Now I understand the whispers of the common soldiers," she purred. "Do you know what they say of you, when they feel certain that they will not be heard? You are so pale and austere, so light of step and delicate of frame that you seldom make a sound, barely cast a shadow. You unnerve them. They say that you resemble a vampire in all things but the fangs!"

  Beneath the obvious insult in her words lay several layers more, reminders that Dag Zoreth was a small man, a physical weakling in a fortress of warriors. But he smiled nonetheless. His hand dipped lower, his fingers dug into firm and yielding flesh. "If you desired to do so, you could inform them that my teeth are sharp."

  Her laughter bubbled over again. "It is so much more amusing to let them learn at their own peril." She sobered quickly, and moved beyond reach of his punishing caress. "We were speaking of your plan for an assault on a mountain fortress. Surely you know of the difficulties inherent in a siege! It is a long and costly process. The fortress you desire is but a few days' march from cities unfriendly to our cause, which greatly lowers your chances of success. Do you think Waterdeep would allow a Zhentish army to lay a lengthy siege, when in five days they could muster enough fighters to engage you in open warfare?"

  Dag had considered all of this and prepared for it. He captured a lock of her pale gold hair, let it slide between his fingers, and skimmed his hand down the slender length of her. "Set your mind at ease. I do not intend to lay siege to the fortress."

  "No? What, then? You cannot believe you can conquer it outright. There are not enough warriors in the whole of Darkhold to accomplish such a feat. Nor could you move a force of the needed size without drawing attention. The alarm would be sounded before you left the Greycloak Hills! What then?" she demanded again.

  His eyes grazed the feminine form that Ashemmi's crimson gown did little to hide. "It is dangerous to reveal too much to an enemy. Or have you not heard?"

  She smiled again, darkly, and her arms lifted to twine around his neck. "If enemies are well matched, battle can be a pleasant diversion. Tell me, and then we need talk no more."

  D
ag reminded himself of his vow to have nothing more to do with this viper in elf form. "I have been preparing this attack for a long time. Arrangements have been made to ensure a successful, if unorthodox, escalade."

  "You can do better. I remember well," she breathed in his ear.

  He stepped back while he still could. "Content yourself with this: the capture of this fortress will not deplete Dark-hold's military strength. I do not plan to shatter the Pereghost and his commanders against the fortress walls," he said, naming Ashemmi's chief rival for the position of second-in-command. He inclined his head in a brief, ironic bow. "I apologize for any inconvenience this might cause you."

  They studied each other in silence. Dag Zoreth had no intention of telling Ashemmi that he would gain much more from the assault than the possession of a fortress. She already knew too much, as her presence here demonstrated.

  "You have been forthright. Now it is my turn," she said, as if she followed the path his thoughts were taking. "You are planning to bring the child to your new command."

  Dag's heated blood suddenly cooled. "Why should you care? You gave her into my hands willingly enough. I have kept my pledge. Few know I have a daughter, and no one knows who gave birth to her. No one need ever know, least of all Sememmon."

  Ashemmi's smile was that of a cream-sated cat. "Ah, but perhaps I want him to know. Why should he care whom I bedded some ten years ago? It is of no consequence-unless, of course, the child that resulted is of the bloodline of Samular…"

  Dag had been dreading this revelation since Ashemmi's first mention of their child, but even so the implications staggered him. Why should Ashemmi want his daughter, unless she knew of the power the little girl could command? He fervently hoped that if Ashemmi had received this information from Malchior, it was by theft or magical spying. The thought of these two conspiring together was more chilling than a ghost's embrace. If Malchior learned of the child's existence, there would be no safety for her. But surely Ashemmi would not give up such valuable information, not when she could hoard the girl's power for herself! Unfortunately, with a subtle, treacherous creature such as Ashemmi, there was no knowing for certain.

  He decided to bluff. He closed the distance between them and his hands skimmed down her back, cupping her intimately and drawing her close. "Samular, indeed," he murmured into her hair. His voice revealed nothing more than mild, derisive amusement. "What is some long-dead paladin to you and Sememmon? Perhaps you two are thinking of changing your occupation and allegiance?"

  Ashemmi sniffed, but apparently did not deign that comment worthy of rejoinder. "There is power in the bloodline of Samular, even more than you realize."

  His hands stilled. Her bald claim stunned him, intrigued him. Given what he already knew-and his suspicion that Malchior had not told him all-he did not doubt the possibility that Ashemmi's words held truth. He drew back a little and met her probing gaze. "What precisely do you want from me?" he asked bluntly.

  An expression of distaste darkened Ashemmi's golden eyes. "Must we spell out our terms? Haggle our way to agreement like vulgar merchants?"

  "Indulge me."

  The elf smoldered, then shrugged. "Very well, then. I want the child brought here. I wish to explore her potential. Then we will see between us what use might be made of it, and her."

  This was more than Dag could bear. For years he had bided his time, not risking a possible revelation of his heritage until he was in a position to protect the innocent child who carried, unknowing, the bloodline of Samular. All this, Ashemmi could carelessly undo, and she would just as easily toss the girl aside if there was no benefit to keeping her.

  He thrust the sorceress away from him. "It is a poor excuse for a mother who would so exploit her own child," he said coldly.

  "And a poor excuse for an ambitious warlord who would not," Ashemmi snapped back. "Remember yourself, and while you are about it, bear me ever in mind. This situation presents opportunity to us both, provided we are clever and discrete in how we proceed."

  "And speaking of discretion, how will Sememmon respond, when he learns that you have been keeping this matter from him?" he retorted.

  The blatant threat set Ashemmi's eyes aflame. "If he or any other person in Darkhold learns of the child from you, it will be from conversing with your spirit. I will tell Sememmon, in my own way and at a time that suits my purposes. I! Agree, and you and your misbegotten brat might be permitted to live out your meager, allotted span. Am I understood?"

  Dag Zoreth regarded the elf with a degree of loathing normally reserved for the creatures that occasionally oozed up through the fortress midden. "Of course, Ashemmi. I understand you very, very well."

  "Good," she purred, drawing out the word. She languidly swept her arms high, and her gown dissolved into a swirl of crimson mist. The haze floated out to envelope Dag, as intoxicating as smoldering poppies.

  Ashemmi's smile was hard and enticing. "As long as we understand each other, let us have one more secret to keep from our lord Sememmon."

  For one long moment, Dag wavered on the precipice of indecision. He could step back, he could turn away and quit this room, leaving Ashemmi naked and furious. He could.

  Instead, he breathed in deeply of the mist. He held the enchanted fragrance until the power of it nearly burst him asunder, and then he moved through the crimson cloud toward her.

  On the second day after he had received his quest, Algorind reined his horse to a stop on a hill overlooking a cozy valley. Smoke from the evening fire rose from a snug stone cottage. Geese strutted contentedly near a small pond, and a small herd of rothe cropped at the grass in an enclosed pen. Soil had been turned for a kitchen garden, and already a few neat rows of seedlings rose from the rich soil. He caught the sound of a woman's teasing voice and the bubbling response of happy, childish laughter.

  As he gazed at the homey scene, Algorind marveled that an evil man should have provided such ease and comfort for his child. By all appearances, this was a goodly household, unknowing of the alliance they had made. Perhaps they knew nothing of their fosterling's heritage. But surely, if they were goodly folk, they would see the wisdom in turning the child over to him for her good and that of the order.

  At that moment the cottage door opened, and a tall, brown-haired woman strode out. She held her apron bundled up before her with one hand, and with the other began to strew grain for the chickens and geese. They came running in eager response to her clucking calls.

  Algorind's eyes widened. At first glance, the woman was seemly enough, modestly clad in a simple linen shift draped with a long kirtle. But the color of her kirtle alerted and alarmed him. It was a deep, vivid purple, a color that was expensive and difficult to achieve, and a hue that no simple, decent goodwife would wear.

  Her husband came out of the lean-to that served as a horse barn, and Algorind's hand went to his sword. Not a human at all, but an elf Algorind's practiced eye measured the elf's gait, his way of holding himself; the watchful readiness of his posture and his face. This was no mere farmer, but a well-trained wamOr.

  The truth came to him then. The priest of Cyric had arranged his daughter's fosterage with evil subtlety. Who would suspect a simple farm family of harboring a Zhent's child? Who did not assume that the elves were goodly folk, best left to go about their business? These were no simple folk, happy in the gift of a child that the gods had not seen fit to send them, but hirelings of an evil priest. The deception kindled Algorind's wrath. He drew his sword and urged Icewind into a charge.

  As he thundered down the hill, the woman shrieked and fled into the cottage. The forgotten grain cascaded among the squawking, scattering chickens. Algorind came at the elf with a mighty swing. The elf deftly dropped and rolled aside. He came up with a long knife in each hand and deadly intent in his catlike green eyes.

  Algorind dismounted and strode forward. He met the elf's first darting blow, swept it easily aside, riposted. The elf met his thrusting attack just as easily. For several moments t
hey stood nearly toe to toe, in a ringing exchange of blows delivered with nearly equal skill and passionate conviction.

  In his training, Algorind had learned of many styles of sword play. This elf fought like a Sembian, a two-handed style of quick attack, a street-fighter's technique best suited for a short, decisive battle and a fast retreat.

  "You fight well," Algorind panted out between parries. "But you are far from home."

  The elf hesitated, startled by this pronouncement. The sudden sharp pain in his inhuman eyes brought something rather like pity to Algorind's heart.

  "It is a sad and evil world," the paladin continued, "when goodly men or even elves are drawn into the plans of evil men."

  Algorind barely dodged a vicious slash. "It is the good men who sent me here!" the elf snarled, speaking for the first time. He advanced in a flurry of slashing, darting attacks. For many moments it took all the paladin's skill merely to hold him back.

  "The tanar'ri Vladjick," the elf said, his voice raw with exhaustion and bitter rage. "Do you remember that story?"

  The paladin did, and acknowledged it with a brief nod. A terrible demon, a tanar'ri, had been summoned by an evil man's ambition. Years before Algorind was born, knights of the Order of Samular had marched against the creature. The battle had been long and fierce, and the tanar'ri had fled into the forest north of Sembia. An elven community lay between the paladins and their evil foe. The elves had resisted the passage of the knights through their forest, thus allying themselves with the evil tanar'ri. Many good and noble knights had fallen in the fierce fighting. Ever since, some of the order had remained wary of elves and their unknowable, inhuman ways.

  "I remember it," the elf gritted out. "I will always remember it! The knights slaughtered my family for no better reason than that we were elves, and we were in the way."