Margaret Weis - Test of the Twins

“Nothing. I—I just heard some disturbing news. I’ll be all right.” Tanis drew a deep breath, then glanced at the knights. “You don’t look any too good yourselves.”

“Another pledge?” Sir Markham said, raising his brandy snifter.

Lord Gunthar gave him a stern, disapproving glance, which the young knight ignored as he casually quaffed his drink in a gulp.

“The citadel has been sighted. It crossed the mountains. It will be here at dawn.”

Tanis nodded. “About what I had figured.” He scratched his beard, then wearily rubbed his eyes. Casting a glance at the brandy bottle, he shook his head. No, it would probably just send him straight to sleep.

“What’s that you’re holding?” Gunthar asked, reaching out his hand to take the bracelet. “Some sort of elven good luck charm?”

“I wouldn’t touch—” Tanis began.

“Damnation!” Gunthar gasped, snatching his hand back. The bracelet dropped to the floor, landing on a plush, hand-woven rug. The knight wrung his hand in pain.

Bending down, Tanis picked up the bracelet. Gunthar watched him with disbelieving eyes. Sir Markham was choking back laughter.

“The mage, Dalamar, brought it to us. It’s from the Tower of High Sorcery,” Tanis said, ignoring Lord Gunthar’s scowl. “It will protect the wearer from the effects of magic—the one thing that will give someone a chance of getting near Lord Soth.”

“Someone!” Gunthar repeated. He stared down at his hand. The fingers where he had touched the bracelet were burned. “Not only that, but it sent a jolt through me that nearly stopped my heart! Who in the name of the Abyss can wear such a thing?”

“I can, for one,” Tanis returned. It came from a place of darkness. It knows one of its own. “It has something to do with you knights and holy vows to Paladine,” he muttered, feeling his face flush.

“Bury it!” Lord Gunthar growled. “We do not need such help as those of the Black Robes would give us!”

“It seems to me we can use all the help we can get, my lord!” Tanis snapped. “I would also remind you that, odd as it may seem, we’re all on the same side! And now, Sir Markham, what of the plans for defending the city?”

Slipping the bracelet into a pouch, affecting not to notice Lord Gunthar’s glare, Tanis turned to Sir Markham who, though rather startled at this sudden call, quickly rode to Tanis’s rescue with his report.

The Knights of Solamnia were marching from the High Clerist’s Tower. It would be days, at least, before they could reach Palanthas. He had sent a messenger to alert the good dragons, but it seemed unlikely that they, too, could reach Palanthas in time.

The city itself was on the alert. In a brief, spare speech, Lord Amothus had told the citizens what faced them. There had been no panic, a fact Gunthar found hard to believe. Oh, a few of the wealthy had tried to bribe ships’ captains to take them out, but the captains had, to a man, refused to sail into the seas under the threat of such ominous-looking storm clouds. The gates to Old City were opened. Those who wanted to flee the city and risk going out in the wilderness had, of course, been allowed to go. Not many took the chance. In Palanthas, at least the city walls and the knights afforded protection.

Personally, Tanis thought that if the citizens had known what horrors they faced, they would have taken their chances. As it was, however, the women put aside their rich clothing and began filling every available container with water to have available to fight fires. Those who lived in New City (not protected by walls) were evacuated into Old City, whose walls were being fortified as best they could in the little time that remained. Children were bedded down in wine cellars and storm shelters. Merchants opened shops, handing out needed supplies. Armorers gave out weapons, and the forges were still burning, late into the night, for mending swords, shields, and armor.

Looking out over the city, Tanis saw lights in most homes—people preparing for a morning that he knew from experience could never be prepared for.

With a sigh, thinking of his letter to Laurana, he made his bitter decision. But he knew it would entail argument. He needed to lay the groundwork. Turning abruptly, he interrupted Markham.

“What do you guess will be their plan of attack?” he asked Lord Gunthar.

“I think that’s fairly simple.” Gunthar tugged at his mustaches. “They’ll do what they did at Kalaman. Bring the citadel as close as they can get. At Kalaman that wasn’t very close. The dragons held them back. But”—he shrugged “we don’t have near the numbers of dragons they did. Once the citadel is over the walls, the draconians will drop from it and try to take the city from within. The evil dragons will attack—”

“And Lord Soth will sweep through the gates,” Tanis finished.

“The knights should at least get here in time to keep him from looting our corpses,” Sir Markham said, draining his snifter again.

“And Kitiara,” Tanis mused, “will be trying to reach the Tower of High Sorcery. Dalamar says no living being can get through Shoikan Grove, but he also said Kit had a charm, given to her by Raistlin. She might wait for Seth before going, figuring he can help her, as well.”

“If the Tower is her objective,” Gunthar said with emphasis on the if. It was obvious he still believed little of the tale about Raistlin. “My guess is that she will use the battle as cover to fly her dragon over the walls and land as near the Tower as possible. Maybe we could post knights around the Grove to try to stop her—”

“They couldn’t get close enough,” Sir Markham interrupted, adding a belated, “m’lord. The Grove has an unnerving effect on anyone coming within miles of it.”

“Besides, we’ll need the knights to deal with Soth’s legions,” Tanis said. He drew a deep breath... I have a plan, if I may be allowed to propose it?”

“By all means, Half-Elven.”

“You believe that the citadel will attack from above and Lord Soth will come through the front gates, creating a diversion that will give Kit her chance to reach the Tower. Right?”

Gunthar nodded.

“Then, mount what knights we can upon bronze dragons. Let me have Fireflash. Since the bracelet gives me the best defense against Soth, I’ll take him. The rest of the knights can concentrate on his followers. I have a private score to settle with Soth anyway,” Tanis added, seeing Gunthar already shaking his head.

“Absolutely not. You did very well in the last war, but you’ve never been trained! To go up against a Knight of Solamnia—”

“Even a dead Knight of Solamnia!” Sir Markham struck in, with a drunken giggle.

Gunthar’s mustaches quivered in anger, but he contained himself and continued coldly, “—a trained knight, as Soth is trained, and you must fall—bracelet or no bracelet.”

“Without the bracelet, however, my lord, training in swordmanship will matter very little.” Sir Markham pointed out, drinking another brandy. “A chap who can point at you and say ‘die’ has the distinct advantage.”

“Please, sir,” Tanis intervened, “I admit that my formal training has been limited, but my years wearing a sword outnumber yours, my lord, by almost two to one. My elven blood—”

“To the Abyss with your elven blood,” Gunthar muttered, glaring at Sir Markham, who was resolutely ignoring his superior, and lifting the brandy bottle again.

“I will, if I am forced, pull rank, my lord,” Tanis said quietly.

Gunthar’s face reddened. “Damn it, that was honorary!”

Tanis smiled. “The Code makes no such distinction. Honorary or not, I am a Knight of the Rose, and my age—well over one hundred, my lord—gives me seniority.”