Jack Chalker - Lilith - A Snake in the Grass

In thinking of him I’d once used the term Machiavellian. If I remembered my studies at all, that ancient mind was never the leader himself but merely an advisor—an advisor who was the real ruler while his prince took all the heat and did all the dirty work. Was I perhaps his prince-designate? Or were all three of us somehow in that category? With patience and almost diabolical cleverness, could he perhaps dream of controlling the whole sector indirectly through its rulers, then, perhaps with O’Higgins’ discoveries, going on to take the whole planet? What could even a Marek Kreegan do about it? He would only strike at princes, never at the wandering priest and advisor.

It was a good plan, perhaps a brilliant one. I told myself that if I survived all this and attained the knighthood, I wouldn’t be quite the pawn in his game that he counted on.

The council broke up in seemingly good spirits, having arrived at a plan that looked pretty good—at least in theory. We would see how well it worked out when human beings faced down each other.

Returning to the hut where Ti and I were spending our time until the dawn of battle, I was surprised not to find her there. She had little interest in or understanding of the battle strategy, and the witches were only mildly communicative, but she’d certainly gone somewhere and all I could do was wait.

It was close to dark when she returned, looking a little haggard and worried. “What’s wrong?” I asked, concerned. “Where have you been?”

“Spying,” she sighed and sank down.

“Huh? How’s that?”

She nodded. “I don’t like these women,” she told me. “There’s something creepy about ’em.” She looked up at me, concerned. “When is the battle?”

“Three days from now,” I told her. “At dawn.”

She shook her head. “This O’Higgins may’ve been nice an’ all, but she’s real crazy, Cal. I went over an’ got real close to one group havin’ a meeting of some kind. They never saw me, don’t worry. Anyways, I had to listen real hard, but I heard most of it.” She shivered.

I frowned. “What did you hear that upset you so much?”

She leaned forward, whispering as low as she could. “They ain’t gonna keep to their side, Cal. Once they win, they’re gonna kill you and Father Bronz. They’ll give that lady knight whatever she wants to keep her off their backs for a while, but they mean to take Zeis for themselves. They were talkin’ about the beginnin’ of the purge. What’s a purge, Cal ?”

I told her.

She nodded. “That’s kinda what I thought. The purge of Lilith, they said. Near as I can make out, it means they’re gonna kill all the men in Zeis and turn it into a witch’s keep.”

I had the sinking feeling I’d known most of this all along. I just hadn’t wanted to admit it. “Don’t worry.” I tried to console her with a confidence I didn’t feel. “Father Bronz and I aren’t going to allow ourselves to get cornered like that. And that old witch couldn’t do it, anyway. Marek Kreegan and the other top bosses would close in before she could get started.”

Ti shook her head violently from side to side. “You think so, but they know that, too. They’re nuts, not stupid. They say O’Higgins is already more powerful than Lord Kreegan, and with the power juice—potion of Satan, they called it—stronger than any army that could come against them. They say she’s so strong she’s already stabilized two laster guns or something like that from Outside.”

Laster guns… “Laser pistols?” I prompted, sounding a little weak despite my false front.

She nodded. “Yeah. That’s it. Oh, Cal, what’re we gonna do?”

All I knew to do at that moment was hold her tight and hug her and try and make her worry fade just a little. But sometime in the next two days I would have to have a long talk with Father Bronz.

The priest frowned. “She can stabilize laser pistols, huh? Then she is as strong as Kreegan. That poses a problem.” We were far outside the witch’s camp, officially in the danger zone but out of it as far as our current needs went.

“That’s not the half of it,” I told him. “On a world like Lilith, a simple small stungun would make you a king. A pawn could knock off a Lord if there was the element of surprise. I know / could, and this world’s full of expert killers.”

Bronz nodded thoughtfully. “It’s a little late to change our game plan, and Fm not sure she would allow it to be changed now. Still, we’re not without resources.” His eyes brightened a bit and a ghost of a smile came to his lips. “I have to say that I am not totally shocked or surprised by any of this. I anticipated something like it, and I planned for it.”

Instead of cheering me, his comment worried me a little more. “Just who are you, Bronz? What’s your game in all this?”

He sighed. “Cal, you have no reason to believe me, but several to trust me. I could have killed you at any time, particularly in the early days when you were ignorant and helpless. I didn’t. I helped you and Ti, too, —as much as it was in my power to do so. Will you concede that?”

I nodded, not quite conceding the point.

“Then I must ask you to trust me until the battle’s done,” he went on. “You must stay as far away from O’Higgins as possible. She’s the only person that one of your power has to fear. Wait. When it’s all over, all worked out, you’ll know everything, I promise. Know and understand everything, and profit by it.”

“Whose side are you on, Father Bronz?” I asked suspiciously. “Can’t you at least tell me that?”

He smiled. “I’m on my side, Cal. You must understand that But it is fortunate that your side and my side do not conflict but rather converge here. You have my solemn word on that. Trust me now, this one time more, and all will be clear.”

“I’ll try,” I sighed, “because there’s not much else I can do.”

He laughed easily and slapped me on the back. “Come, let’s go back. Why don’t you go in and try to make a baby with that pretty mate of yours? It may be your last chance for a while. In two days’ time that mind of yours will tell you the answer. I won’t even •have to explain it, I suspect. Just remember that I really do like you, son. You’re going to be Lord of Lilith one day if you watch your back.”

I just stared back at him and did not reply, but I couldn’t help wondering if by that time the Lordship would be worth taking.

A prince does not fight commoners. His own battle is reserved for those of equal or superior rank. As a result, my initial job in all this was to stand and watch. Only after the armies had done their worst and the battle decided would I myself face the challenge of entering the Castle through the front door and walking down that forbidden central hallway. Oddly, I would have preferred to have participated in the battle, since this was the sort of thing I’d devoted my life to. As much as it might shock some of the soft elements of the civilized worlds, I enjoyed it. But I’d graduated now, beyond being the lone assassin, beyond the foot soldier and cavalry. Now those others, the soldiers and fighters, sallied forth in my name.

We walked, Ti and I, down the cloud-covered path where, a short tune ago that somehow seemed a lifetime, I had borne her still body past the guards and out of Zeis Keep. We were returning, under our own power and of our own free will, dressed as Master and Supervisor in the same color and design material, indicating we were a wedded pair.

Just after emerging from the clouds on the down-slope, the whole of Zeis Keep was illuminated in the dawn-lit sky. It was the same impressive, fairy-tale-like place I remembered.