Robert Hughes - The Prophet of Lamath

“That’s impossible!”

“And so I believed, my Lord, until I saw and heard. The two heads compete with one another for control of the beast’s body. They fight with one another as if they are two beings, rather than one! There is only one thing they can agree on.”

“Which is?” the King asked, leaning forward to hear every word of this shocking announcement.

“That Pelmen the player must be found and brought to him. Ah, them.”

“Pelmen!” the King exploded, and he jumped up from his throne to stride across the dais to the railing. The parade stand faced north, and the King now gazed beyond the swirling dust to the northwest and Dragonsgate. Of course he could see nothing but the vast northern plain of the Golden Kingdom, but it was a dramatic posture, and it put him very much into the public’s view. The great crowd below him began to cheer at the sight of their leader, resplendent in sparkling gold vestments. The King raised his fist high above his head and brought it down onto the railing with a crash. “Pelmen!” he bellowed again, and the crowd below him cheered more loudly still.

“I wish you wouldn’t pound the rail like that, my Lord—” Kherda began fearfully, but Talith ignored him, turning to look at Tahli-Damen, who was watching him, mouth agape. The young merchant had not expected such a violent reaction.

“Then I and the dragon agree!” the King shouted, his eyes narrowing menacingly. “I want the player myself!”

“The—the dragon said he would grant a total trading monopoly to the house who brings Pelmen to him,” Tahli-Damen explained, and immediately Jagd thrust him aside and took over the discussion.

“Don’t you see what this means, my Lord?” Jagd asked quietly but urgently. “If we can persuade the dragon that our army is marching to Lamath in pursuit of Pelmen, the beast may allow us free passage through Dragonsgate!” Talith was excited, but cautious. “Our army, is it? This is my army, I believe.”

“Yet we are allies, my Lord.” Jagd smiled slyly.

“For as long as you choose to be,” Talith observed, and Joss nodded grimly. The King was beginning to understand, Joss thought to himself.

“You wrong me, my Lord,” Jagd protested, feigning hurt. Then he smiled again and moved closer to Talith. “But if you truly suspect my sincerity, let me help to clarify the situation in your mind. A trading monopoly for the house that brings Pelmen to the dragon! My Lord, you can be assured of my loyalty on this account alone! I have not the wherewithal to capture Pelmen myself. I must depend on you. Together we will capture the player and reclaim your daughter, and put an end to the house of Ognadzu. You come away with the prize you seek, in addition to the conquest of the Kingdom of Lamath. I come away with my prize—a monopoly on trade! We both have so much to gain!” Talith thought for a minute and looked meaningfully at Joss, then shrugged. “It sounds so easy.”

“And it shall be easy. Instead of a wasteful campaign in the mountain wilderness of the Spinal Range, the golden army can simply march through Dragonsgate and descend on Lamath en masse. The fleet conquers the coast of Lamath, and their army is trapped and crushed between the main army and the troops from the coast! Instead of lasting years, the war could be ended in a matter of weeks.”

“And I would be the King of the entire coast,” Talith murmured, his eyes glazing over with greed.

“I had heard that the purpose of this war was to regain our kidnapped daughter!” Latithia suddenly interjected, dragging Talith out of his pleasant fantasy.

“And so it is!” he growled at her. Then he smiled a conspiratorial smile at the wrinkled merchant of Uda, and added,

“But since they began this war and not I, haven’t I every right to take back what is mine—with interest?”

“With the combined strengths of Chaomonous and Lamath at your disposal, the eventual fall of Ngandib-Mar would be assured.

Then you would be—”

“King of the World!” Talith cried, his eyes flashing. “My father was never that!” He turned to Jagd and clapped him soundly on the back. “Then it is agreed. My ships will sail with the next good tide, and within the month my army marches to Dragonsgate. Let the parade begin!” The King pointed at the trumpeters, who suddenly came to life. Latithia clenched her jaws and covered her ears, but still the noise was deafening. Though there were many parts of official life she had missed during her period of disgrace, this was not one of them. How could anyone enjoy such terrible noise? Talith stood at the railing, his arms stretched wide as if to embrace all of his army and all of the throngs of people who watched below. The trumpet call was picked up by trumpeters on every level of the grandstand, who relayed it to the massed bands on the field. The crowd roared its approval of the Golden King, and he beamed back at them, waving his arms and laughing. Never had Talith been so excited. Never had he felt so powerful.

Jagd pulled his young employee to the stairway and motioned him down. Tahli-Damen attempted to ask a question, but the roar of the crowd was too loud. It wasn’t until they reached the base of the scaffolding that he was able to ask,

“I thought you told me Pelmen was in the west rather than m Lamath—” Jagd spun on his heel and cut him off.

“Silence!” The young merchant quickly shut his mouth. Jagd looked around. The crowd was far too interested in the display on the field to pay any attention to them. He leaned over and whispered in the younger man’s ear. “You show promise, Tahli-Damen, but you are not an Elder yet. You will understand these things when I’m ready for you to. Until then, you will keep your questions and observations to yourself!” They moved swiftly through the crowd to their carriage and were away. Jagd wished to be in his offices by sundown, in the hope that Tohn mod Neelis would yield and make use of the pyramid tonight. What stubborn men these merchants of Ognadzu were proving to be! What a lack of simple business sense! When the opportunity arose, Jagd would use their stubbornness against them. Until that time, they were more useful as allies than as enemies.

The King tired at last of waving his arms to the throng, and he came to take his throne once more. He was chuckling as he leaned over to speak in Latithia’s ear. “I’ve decided to send the contents of my dungeon with the army. A kind of peace offering for the dragon.”

“You seem to be taking all of this rather lightly,” Latithia said tonelessly.

Talith sat back in his chair and gestured at the field below. “Look there! My father never formed an army this large, nor my grandfather either! Isn’t that cause enough for my mood of celebration? Why can’t you let yourself enjoy it along with me?”

“All I can think about is that someone has my Bronwynn in chains! I keep imagining her, languishing in a dungeon somewhere—or worse!”

“As do I! Why do you think I’ve formed this invasion force?”

“To become King of the world!” she spat out bitterly. “What do you know of dungeons? Nothing, save that you intend to feed the unfortunates in yours to the two-headed beast! Well, while you’ve been posturing and proclaiming yourself something special, I’ve been sitting in my locked apartments, a captive in my own palace. I know what my child is experiencing, and it causes me to weep myself to sleep each night!”

“Woman, I have told you I intend to rescue her!”

“Ha!” she snorted. “Rolan-Keshi will rescue her… perhaps—if he can spare the time from conquering the world for you! You haven’t even arrested those who kidnapped her!”

“I assure you, Latithia, that when Pelmen is apprehended he will be thoroughly punished…”