Steven Brust - Issola

“If you please, Goddess,” said Teldra, “you were telling us what we ought to do.”

“Yes,” she said. “I was. The problem is not only that we do not know everything; it is also that we do not all have the same interests. This makes the problem complicated.”

“Simple things are never problems,” I told her. “Unfortunate, maybe, but if it isn’t complicated, it isn’t really a problem.”

The Goddess nodded. “Very good, Vlad; I didn’t expect such wisdom from you.”

I grunted and didn’t tell her I was quoting my grandfather; I’d rather she stayed impressed.

“The Jenoine,” said the Goddess, “have achieved access to your world on several occasions, most recently just a few years ago. We have beat off attacks on the Great Sea of Chaos, on the Halls of Judgment, on the Imperial Palace, and, lately, on Dzur Mountain. Their efforts have not been successful. I will share with you some of my thoughts.”

I almost said, “Thank you so much,” but caught myself.

She continued, “I cannot think why they are making this effort so recently after their last failure. Two possibilities come to mind: the attack on Dzur Mountain was part of something larger, and this is another piece of it; or they have had a sudden and unexpected opportunity.”

“If they were looking for an opportunity, why didn’t they make their move during the Interregnum?”

“What makes you think they didn’t?” said Verra.

“Oh,” I said.

We fell silent, then, in the Halls of Verra; and for the first time I wondered where we were. Up in a mountain? Beneath the ground? Floating in the air like Castle Black? On another world?

“First of all,” said the Goddess suddenly, “you must free Morrolan and Aliera.”

“No,” I said. “That’s just what they’re expecting us to do.”

“You are jesting,” she said. “But are nevertheless correct.”

I shrugged. “All right. How?”

She frowned. “Describe for me how they are held.”

I did so, and she said, “Very well. I am familiar with the substance. Here is what you must do,” and she told me.

“Oh,” I said. “And that will work?”

“I believe so.”

“You believe so? What if you’re wrong?”

“Then perhaps the Jenoine won’t kill you for trying.”

“Great. All right. Say it works. What then?”

“If Morrolan cannot reach through to his portal, then it is because the Jenoine are preventing him from doing so. You must force them to stop.”

“Force them?”

“Yes.”

“And just how do I go about doing that, or are you going to express confidence that I’ll come up with something?”

“Come, my little Easterner. Have all your years in the Jhereg been wasted? Do you not even know how to threaten and in­timidate?”

Just then, I felt about as intimidating as a norska. I said, “Usually, Goddess, in order to make a threat, one requires the power to carry it out. At least, one requires this in cases where the threat won’t be believed.”

“Very good, little one. You search for the general law that applies to the specific case. You have become a philosopher.”

I hadn’t known it was that easy.

She said, “Once Morrolan and Aliera are free, Pathfinder and Blackwand ought to prove a sufficiently intimidating threat, don’t you think?”

“Okay,” I said. “I mean, they intimidate me.”

“Well, there you have it,” said the Goddess.

“But don’t tell them I said so. What do we do then? I mean, after I’ve released Morrolan and Aliera, threatened the Jenoine into letting us go, and let Morrolan bring us home. I mean, that’s just enough to get us warmed up; you must have a whole plan after that.”

“You will then return to Castle Black and await my orders.”

I opened my mouth to object, and then shut it. Yes, if there was one place I’d be safe, it was Castle Black—there are reasons for that going back to ancient history, but I won’t go into them now.

“All right,” I said. “Sure. No problem. Except that the Jen­oine will have anticipated this, won’t they? And they’ll have made plans for it.”

“Yes,” said the Goddess.

“So you’re saying that this will all be a trap.”

“Probably.”

“But we’re not worried about the trap, because we’ll have secret weapon prepared for them.”

“What secret weapon is that, little one?”

“I was hoping you’d tell me.”

“Your courage, wits, and skill at improvisation, little one. That is our secret weapon.”

“Oh, good.”

“And, my dear Easterner, do not make the mistake of thinking that I jest; I am quite serious.”

“Oh, better.”

“There is no question in my mind that you can do it.”

“Oh, best.”

“Do you doubt me, Taltos Vladimir?”

“Perpetually, Demon Goddess.”

She gave a short barking laugh. “Go now. Make trouble for the Jenoine instead of for me, and I, I will do as I have been doing: watching over your family.”

That was a low blow—there just wasn’t anything I could say to it. I wanted to ask how my grandfather was doing, but I wouldn’t give her the satisfaction.

“All right,” I said.

“Lady Teldra,” said the Goddess. “You may stay here, if you wish.”

“Thank you, Goddess, but I will accompany my friend.” There was something so matter-of-fact about the way she

called me her friend that it caught me up short.

“As you wish,” said Verra. Then she frowned. “Of course, I’m not entirely certain how to get back to Morrolan and Aliera.”

I sighed. “I suppose you could return us to Castle Black, and we could do it all over again.”

“What exactly did you do, little one?”

So I told her that, and her eyes narrowed. “Let me see this chain,” she said, so I let it fall into my hand and held it out to her but instead of just lying there like it was supposed to, it twisted and curled in my hand until it was hanging in midair, my hand providing a base, coiled like a snake about to strike—in particular, about to strike Verra, who drew back with a sharp intake of breath. I almost let go of the chain, but didn’t quite. It had never done that before. “Goddess,” I said. “I didn’t—”

“I know,” she said. She gritted her teeth and said, “You have no idea, do you?”

“I –”

“Never mind.”

She reached out and made motions in the air with her forefinger, and where her finger had been there was a dark line in air, roughly the size and shape of a sword. It quickly filled and I was staring at the image of Pathfinder, hanging in the air in front of me.

“Go ahead,” said the Goddess. “Do it.”

I hated to sound like an idiot, but, “Do what?” I said.

“Make contact between your toy and Aliera’s.”

I swallowed. I wasn’t entirely happy with the way my “toy” behaving, but I couldn’t think of any good way to get out of doing what she wanted. I started to take a step forward to bring the chain into contact with the image, but it was ahead of me—it reached out on its own, and seemed to grow longer. No, dammit, it did grow longer. The end of it wrapped around the image of Pathfinder’s hilt. I braced myself for something to happen when they made contact, but I felt nothing. I concentrated most of my energy on trying to look as if I wasn’t at all disturbed by any of this.

“All right,” said the Demon Goddess. “I’ve found them.”

Teldra came up next to me and put her hand on my right arm.

The Goddess gave an aimless gesture with her right hand, and a rectangular shape appeared to my left—like the frame of a door, glowing a sort of dull red, and just sitting in the middle of the room. The other side of it looked exactly like this side of it, just showing more of Verra’s pasty-white hall.