Steven Brust - Dzur

Telnan stared at Mihi. Mihi looked smug.

At last, Telnan said, “What?”

“No, no,” I said. “Don’t make him repeat it. My heart couldn’t take it. I’ll have the palaczinta.”

Telnan’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times.

“Bring him the mousse cake,” I said. “He’ll like that.”

“Uh, sure,” said Telnan.

Mihi nodded happily and walked off

A palaczinta is nothing more than a wafer-thin griddle cake, suitable for having preserves spread on it, or maybe butter and sweetened cinnamon, or to be rolled up with meat and baked. But at Valabar’s, they’d stack them in layers with a delightful assortment of things on each layer—and then slice it like a pie. It is a joy and a delight; it’s one of those things that makes life worth living.

I watched the sweat run down the side of the wine-bottle and waited for Mihi to return, meanwhile thinking pleasant thoughts.

He was back in a few short minutes. Holding a small white plate in his left hand, with another cradled in his left arm; from the expres­sion on his face, you’d think he had not only prepared the delicacies, but had invented the whole concept of dessert. I’ve always liked Mihi.

The sitting room was dominated by a long, dark table, with or­nate, high-backed wooden chairs placed all around it. They were all standing, waiting for me; the Demon stood in a corner, flanked by his bodyguards and staring off into space as if he were bored by the whole thing. There were six sorceresses in the room, all of them wearing some form of black and gray. One of the sorceresses said, “Sit where you please, Lord Taltos.”

I picked one of the chairs and sat in it, then gave them all a big smile, and said, “Well! Isn’t this grand!” They all sat down as well, one of the sorceresses I didn’t know sitting at the end to my right, the Demon on the end to my left. His bodyguards stood behind him.

“Tell Rocza not to grip so hard.”

“We’re both a little nervous, Boss.”

“Why ?”

“Couldn’t say.”

The pain in my shoulder went away.

The sorceress at the end of the table said, “My name is Caola, Lord Taltos. I would welcome you to my home, but I try to avoid blatant hypocrisy. Why did you wish to speak with us?”

“Which of you is Triesco?”

“Why?”

“Just curious.”

“I am,” said the one seated to the right of Caola.

“Okay.”

Caola said, “I ask again, why did you wish to speak with us?”

“This area,” I said. “South Adrilankha.”

“What of it?”

“I’d like to propose a bargain.”

“Very well, we’ll listen. We’re curious about what you believe you have to bargain with.”

“That’s a reasonable question.”

She nodded and waited for me to continue. I wasn’t sure what sort of relationship there was between her and the other sorcer­esses; I knew nothing about the structure of the Left Hand. But it was different than in the Right Hand, at any rate; none of them said a word, or even made a motion. They just sat there and stared, sometimes at me, sometimes at Caola.

It was actually pretty creepy.

“What I have to bargain with, is letting all of you out of this room alive, and with your souls intact.”

A couple of the sorceresses stiffened, the Demon raised an eyebrow, and Caola shrugged. “I think it would be more to the point to ask how you are getting out of here alive.”

“If you turn down my offer, I don’t expect to.” My hand was about two inches from Lady Teldra. I tapped the hilt. “How many of you will go with me?”

“I don’t think you’d—”

“You’re wrong,” I said. “That’s why I wanted the Demon here. You know him, he knows me. Ask him.”

Caola turned him an inquiring glance.

He shrugged. “I believe he’d do it, yes.”

“Interesting,” she said. “All right, Lord Taltos. Let’s hear your proposal.”

“You pack up and leave South Adrilankha, and agree to stay out until the end of the next Dragon Reign.”

“Go on.”

“Your plan for the Council of the Jhereg—pardon me, of the Right Hand—has fallen through. You recognize that, and agree to make no objection to the Demon taking that position.”

“I’m still listening.”

“That’s it.”

“Okay. What do we get?”

“Like I said, that’s it.”

She stared at me. “That’s it?”

“Yes.”

“You ask us to abandon our projects, and, in exchange—”

“Your lives.” She started to say something, but I interrupted. “Lady Caola, you never intended to let me out of this room alive to begin with, did you? So, what’s changed? Let’s start the dance.”

She stood up and raised her hand, by which time I was out of the chair and rolling on the floor. Loiosh and Rocza launched themselves into the air. I stood up, Lady Teldra out and in front of me. My hand was steady as I held her; my breathing was slow and easy. What would happen, would happen—no point in wor­rying about it.

Now would be a good time, I thought.

“Loiosh, wait!”

“Hunh?”

“Get back here, both of you.”

“We’re not going to—”

“No. We’re not. We wait.”

“You’re the boss, ” he said.

They circled the room once, making everyone, even the De­mon, flinch a little, then landed on my shoulder again.

I became aware that a spell had gone up somewhere in the area; a teleport block, no doubt; they didn’t want to just seal the house, they wanted to seal the room. Lady Teldra could break it if I were willing to put some concentration into doing so, and then more concentration into the teleport, as well as removing all my protections.

Just how effective would the Phoenix Stone be? Of course, it wouldn’t help at all if they decided to drop several hundred pounds of masonry on my head; the most obvious way to sorcer­ously kill someone protected from sorcery. I resisted the tempta­tion to look up.

These thoughts were removed from me, though. I considered these things, but they didn’t matter—what mattered was the waiting.

One of the sorceresses put herself between me and the door. Now would be a very good time.

The Demon was watching me. He hadn’t moved, but his bodyguards had shifted just a bit closer to him. The sorceress called Tri­esco made a very slight motion of her right hand. I shifted the point of Lady Teldra, and the motion stopped.

Now. Now would be good.

I tried to watch everywhere at once. Even with Loiosh and Rocza helping, that was difficult. Someone was going to move, and then I was going to move, and then there would be blood. They must know about the Phoenix Stone, they had to take it into account. Either they could get around it, or neutralize it, or outright destroy it.

I watched myself stand there, waiting, and wondered why I wasn’t scared.

There was a sound somewhere behind me, outside the room; a scuffle, a muffled cry, a thud.

Could it be ...?

I heard the door opening.

Everyone’s attention was suddenly focused on a point behind my left shoulder. And then I felt the presence of his weapon, and there was longer any doubt: the pure raw essence of the predator. I had been in the room when Blackwand was unsheathed, and I had always thought of that as being some sort of limit—that nothing could strike the mind as more vicious, more powerful. But this was something new.

Everyone felt it; even the Demon tensed up.

All the sorceresses stood up, stepped back, and began making various sorts of motions with their fingers, in some cases with ornate-looking daggers.