David Dalglish - A Dance of Shadows

“Shouldn’t your mother be the one…”

More grim laughter interrupted her. “Melody?” Alyssa said. “I lost my eyes because of Stephen’s love of her. My torture was punishment for her own. I cannot prove it, but deep down I find it hard to believe Stephen acted on his own. The timing is too perfect. Stephen said it took him a year to discover who my mother really was… but what if it wasn’t a year, Zusa? What if her return and Stephen’s madness as the Widow were connected, and now she clings to John Gandrem, his wealth, his power…”

“If what you say is true, then we house a dangerous threat to you and your family.”

Alyssa’s smile was so bitter, so sad, it made Zusa’s heart ache. “It wouldn’t be the first time,” she said, reaching out and clutching Zusa’s wrist with a grip like iron. “Promise me. Promise me he’ll be your son before anyone else’s.”

Zusa swallowed, and it felt like nails were caught in her throat. “I promise,” she said.

Alyssa leaned back in the bed, and it looked like she relaxed for the first time since her encounter with Stephen. “I need some rest,” she said. “Send Nathaniel in if he’s still upset.”

“Yes, milady.”

Zusa left, and felt a pall settle over her. The walls of the mansion confined her, and she headed for the exit, wanting fresh air, wanting to be alone. At the doors to the mansion, Zusa stopped, for a great commotion had started. Soldiers, at least a hundred, were streaming into the mansion, shouting and joking with one another as if they’d arrived for a feast. Every single one bore the Gandrem family crest. Servants ushered them down various hallways, trying to find spare rooms.

In the center of it all stood John Gandrem, greeting his men. And with her arms wrapped around his waist was Melody.

“Our family will be kept safe,” Melody said, noticing Zusa standing there amid the sea of confusion. “Do not worry for my daughter, nor her son. You’ve done much to protect us, but it’s time we do this the right way.”

Zusa said nothing, just continued to count the men. When the number reached two hundred, she returned to Alyssa’s room and hid above the door, her body awash in shadows, her daggers at the ready.

Never again , she thought.

Tarlak could hardly believe what he was hearing, and even if he believed it, he certainly didn’t like it.

“Are you sure he wasn’t lying?” he asked, plopping down in his chair. Haern stood at the door to his room, hands on the hilts of his swords. “Priests of Karak aren’t exactly known for their truthfulness.”

“Trust me on this,” Haern said, shaking his head. “He didn’t lie. Whoever this Luther is, he’s set his sights on nearly every major player in Veldaren. The Gemcrofts, the Conningtons, myself, the thief guilds…”

“Why Thren in particular, you think?”

Haern shrugged. “The Suns and Thren have a connection, though I know little more than that.”

Tarlak frowned while rocking back and forth. “Every major player,” he said. “Every single one but the king…”

Haern chuckled. “Perhaps he thought the king too inept to pose a problem?”

Tarlak shot him a look. “This is no laughing matter. What you’re talking about is beyond dangerous.”

“I know.”

“I don’t think you do,” Tarlak insisted. “You want to travel all the way to Ker so you can infiltrate the Stronghold, to interrogate a priest whose name you can’t be sure is real, and who might not even be there. And this isn’t some ordinary building, either. This is the dark paladins’ home, their training ground, their own little private fortress. Damn it, Haern, I’ve heard horror stories about their dungeons that make Thren seem like a pretty butterfly.”

He stood, waved a finger. “And most importantly about this nonsensical plan… there’s no money in it!”

The wizard plopped back down in his chair and rubbed his forehead with his fingers.

“I won’t help you,” he said. “None of us will.”

“I thought not.”

Tarlak sighed. “You’re still going, aren’t you?”

Haern nodded. “They wanted us dead, Tar. You know I can’t leave us in danger like that. What happens if he tries again? We still don’t know what Luther wanted to accomplish. The Sun Guild was attached to it, and I doubt we’ve seen the last of them either. But why? What does Karak have to do with any of this? I have to know, no matter the danger.”

“So you’ll go alone? They’ll kill you, you have to know that.”

Something about the way Haern stood there felt off. His determined words belied nervousness. There was something he was missing, Tarlak knew, but what…

“I know it’s suicide to go alone,” his friend said after a pause. “That’s why I’m not going alone.”

Haern stepped away from the door, revealing Thren Felhorn leaning against the doorframe behind him, arms crossed, an amused expression on his face.

“I must say,” he said, glancing about Tarlak’s room. “I think I expected something more. And forgive me if I may be so bold, wizard, but I don’t think anyone has ever referred to me as a pretty butterfly in my entire life.”

He smirked as Tarlak’s jaw dropped open.

“So please… don’t do it again.”