David Cook: Uneasy Alliances

They were in a large room, though one clearly abandoned for some time. Its walls were hung with rich tapestries, but they had been left to the tender mercies of rats and worms. The furniture was sturdy-looking and comfortable, but when Noph, still feeling weak, leaned against a chair, it collapsed with a crash. The room seemed to have been fitted out as a bedroom for someone of high estate, but clearly no one had slept there in a long time. Over everything was a cloying miasma of damp and decay.

On one wall, near the antique bed, was a portrait of a man in the flowing robes of a Doegan high official. Dark hair, tinged with streaks of white, was swept back over a high forehead. Deep, dark eyes looked out from the canvas and seemed to follow the intruders about the room.

Shar joined Noph before the portrait. "That's him again," she whispered.

"Who?"

"Aetheric. I saw a carving of his face in the corridor."

Noph shook his head. "No, Shar. I've seen his face, too, but he's a monster, not a man."

Sharessa shook her head vigorously. "You don't understand, Noph. Aetheric wasn't always that way. The bloodforge made him into what he is. At least, that's the story." She shivered. "When I was a little girl, my father used to tell me stories about him. I think he liked to frighten me."

Noph stared at her. "Why would he want to do that?"

Sharessa shrugged, as if pushing away an unpleasant memory.

"I don't know. I didn't like my father very much. Anyway, he said that when Aetheric first began to rule, he was a man. But after a few years, he withdrew into the palace and no one saw him anymore. Fiends attacked the kingdom, and Aetheric's armies fought them off. But still nobody saw him. Father said the emperor had gone mad from using the bloodforge. But when I got older, I heard other tales that he was deformed." Her eyes widened in horror. "I never dreamed he'd become what we saw behind that wall." She looked around uneasily. "I wonder if at one time this was his bedroom."

Noph sank onto the floor, which was covered by a finely woven rug whose designs swirled before his eyes, combining and recombining into a thousand different forms. He felt dizzy.

"Noph?"

Shar laid a hand on his shoulder. He looked up gratefully, only to see her stiffen and look toward Entreri and Ingrar, busy against the far wall of the chamber.

Entreri turned back to the others. "There's a door here. Come on." Kern came to his side. Noph struggled to his feet as Ingrar pressed against a hidden spot in the paneling. A door swung silently back, and they found themselves staring into the face of a young guard dressed in the livery of Aetheric III.

The guard's eyes widened at the sight of a motley crew of pirates and paladins, some in ragged clothes and one-Artemis-streaming blood from a dozen small cuts about his face and body. He opened his mouth to shout, and then Shares sword was slanting up at his throat.

"Not one word, not one syllable," the pirate woman purred. She backed the guard cautiously into the room, followed by the others. Trandon, the last to enter, shut the door behind them, and they heard a soft click, as of a hidden latch falling smoothly into place.

"What is this place, boy?" demanded Kern of the guard.

"A-An anteroom of the ch-chamber of Aetheric, Lord of E-Eldrinpar, ruler of Doegan, E-Emperor of the Five Kingdoms," recited the boy in a singsong voice. His teeth were chattering in fear. He stared at them and wet his lips.

"I was standing at my p-post, when there was a huge c-crash and shouting. The other guards ran, but I–I stayed behind. I've been here for ages now… My captain h-hasn't come back. I don't know what to d-do."

"Why are you guarding this room?" asked Trandon.

"I don't know. We-we've always guarded it." The boy shook his head vigorously. "Our orders come from high up. Maybe from the m-mage-king himself."

Noph smiled at the boy, who was, he guessed, probably Noph's own age. "What's your name?"

"Althgar." The boy managed a feeble half-smile in return.

"Well, look, Althgar. We were in the dungeons interviewing a prisoner when the fiends attacked."

"An attack from outside?" The boy's eyes went wide. "B-But that's impossible. The city is warded. The m-mage-king himself set those wards in place."

"That doesn't matter," said Noph impatiently. Besides, the mage-king was busy elsewhere." He glanced at the others. "The point is, we were trapped and only got out in the nick of time. We need to get out of the palace." He lowered his voice impressively. "We're on a mission from the mage-king himself. He wants us to bring him the bloodforge."

Althgar stared at him, lips trembling. "Th-the bloodforge? But why?"

Noph lifted a finger to his lips and winked. "Can't say. Top secret. Very hush-hush. But take it from me, the safety of the whole kingdom depends on our getting to the bloodforge as soon as possible. And I'm sure His Majesty would be very generous with rewards for those who help us." He paused for a moment to see the effect his words were having. The boy was thinking hard, something he was evidently unused to. "So. Do you know where it is?"

"Well, it's a secret, you know." Althgar suddenly grinned conspiratorially at Noph. "But 111 bet I've figured it out. See, I've watched where the priests go, and I've listened to the stories that get told around the palace. The others don't pay any attention, but I do."

"So where is it?" demanded Entreri impatiently.

Althgar looked at him doubtfully. "It's all right," said Noph soothingly. "You can tell us."

"Okay. It's-" Suddenly he clutched his head with both hands and bent almost double.

"What's wrong with him? Is he sick?" asked Entreri coldly.

The guard moaned softly. "He's always there now. I can feel him behind my eyes. He wants to look. He wants to see. He wants to see everything." His voice rose to a shriek of despair. "No! No! Get out of my head!" He shook violently and collapsed, groaning, to the floor.

Noph stared at the writhing figure in horror. "What's wrong with him?" he asked Trandon.

The fighter made no reply but bent closer to the guard. Suddenly he started and drew back with an oath. "By Holy Tempus! Look at his eyes!"

The boy's eyes, blue when they'd first seen them, had rolled up into his head. Now they came down again and slowly focused on the faces before him.

They were golden, with deep, dark pupils and no white showing round them at all. Noph stared into their depths, his breath coming in fast, thick pants.

The eyes of the mage-king.

The mad eyes of Aetheric III.

In a swift motion, Entreri drew a dagger from his belt and slashed it across the guard's throat. A spray of blood splashed his clothing in red, and the boy's eyes went blank and fluttered closed. Noph could have sworn that just before they did so, he saw the pupils turn a deep blue again and that Althgar looked at him with a questioning stare. Noph turned away from the group and was violently ill.

Entreri calmly wiped his dagger on the boy's sleeve. "The mage-king must be psychically linked to his guards, or at least to some of them. Probably makes it easier to keep track of what's going on in the palace. And now he knows for certain that we're here, and he knows what we're after. We'll have to hurry."

"You bastard!" Noph stared at the little assassin. "You cold-blooded bastard!"

Trandon put an arm on the youth's shoulder. "Come on, Noph. It's-"

Noph shook him off furiously. "Don't do that! I'm the only one of you who cares!" He glared at Entreri and raised his fists. "Come on, you son of a-"

Entreri cuffed him across the mouth, knocking the youth to his knees. He looked calmly at Noph and spoke to him with no appearance of anger.

"We have no time for this. Behave yourself." He turned away.