William King - Shadowblood

“There is more than one way of dealing with that.” The menace was obvious in the Inquisitor’s voice.

“It would be a crime to waste such talent when it could be at the disposal of the realm.”

“Human sorcerers have proven very prone to corruption by the Shadow.”

“In this case, I believe the Terrarch side of his heritage will prove the stronger.”

“Have you any idea of the boy’s parentage?”

“The human mother is known. The father is not.”

“He was raised by humans?”

“An orphanage in Sorrow, and then a soldier of the Queen.” Rik was glad Asea had missed out the long period between when he fled the orphanage and took the Queen’s coin. He doubted Joran would be too thrilled to hear about his time as a thief on the streets of Sorrow. But all it would take would be a little digging for him to find out, and who knew where that would lead?

“He freed the unfortunate Queen Kathea from the Serpent Tower.”

“If she had lived she might have ennobled him herself.”

“It’s a pity she did not then, for that would have saved us some difficulties.”

“Difficulties?”

“These are not tolerant times. There are factions are Court who would not look kindly on the ennobling of one with human blood. The Emerald faction is a power in the land now. I don’t have to tell you that.”

“If there is anything I can do to help smooth the path. I am not without friends or gold.”

“I would be pleased to talk with this Rik as soon as possible.”

“I will make sure he gets the message.”

“What do you think of Lieutenant Sardec?”

“He is a very conscientious young officer.”

“I understand he has a human lover. He fought a duel over her.”

“I have heard some such gossip. I can assure you it in no way impairs his efficiency.”

“He was in command of your bodyguard during your mission to Harven.”

“And before that, when I visited Deep Achenar.”

“That was a mission for which he should have been commended. As I understand it, you prevented Uran Ultar from being resurrected. The return of such a demon at this exact moment could have been very dangerous to our war effort.”

“I think it’s all part of a pattern.”

“I am inclined to agree. We sent people to Achenar. They found the bodies of the Ultari, and the Magisters detected the residual energies of the portal. I read the report. So did her majesty.”

“You have been busy.”

“Not as busy as you. We would like to know more about the disappearance of the Serpent Tower as well. Was it destroyed by sorcery?”

“Ilmarec destroyed it. He intended to use the Serpent Men’s ancient weapons against us. It was a plan that backfired to our advantage.”

“You’ve left quite a trail of devastation behind you this past year, Milady.”

“I was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

“Or the right place at the right time. One thing about this unfortunate train of events works in your favour. All of them have been to the advantage of Talorea. Ilmarec opposed our intervention here in Kharadrea. Uran Ultar’s followers could have tied down our army on the border. I understand there was some business with animated corpses in Halim’s main graveyard.”

Asea nodded. “There’s plenty of work for an Inquisitor here.”

“A dirty business that- done by Jaderac. Another Sardean.”

“Yes. Another Sardean.”

“That place seems infested with dark magicians,” Again there was that slight mocking note in his voice. “If you wanted to make a case for the invasion that would play well with the Temple, you could not have done better.”

“Surely you are not implying that I have fabricated all this?”

“No, dear lady, I am not, but you must understand this- we are both a long way from the Amber city, and many strange theories get thrown about there, by people who have not been on the spot, who would like to believe that you have some ulterior motive, who suspect you perhaps of being as political as themselves.”

“You are not like that, of course.”

“I am a simple servant of the Temple. I seek only to establish the truth of what is going on here.”

Asea laughed outright. “The function of the Inquisition has changed over the past few years.”

Joran joined in her mirth. “No. That is not the case. You know as well as I that the Inquisition has many levels and many functions. Some Inquisitors seek out heretics. Some correct the errors of our human subjects. Some, like myself, are concerned with the realities of politics and seeing that the Temple navigates those tricky shoals without foundering.”

“I have heard that you bear the gift of the cleansing flame.”

“That is another of my functions. In this life we are all called on to play many roles.”

“You have seen how it is here. The dead do not rest, and those that are not burned rise again.”

“You have some theory about why this is happening now?”

“Jaderac performed a dreadful ritual and unleashed strange powers. I think someone else has assayed that ritual on a far larger scale.”

“I have heard reports that the dead walk throughout Kharadrea. Surely no spell can be that powerful, not on this world at least.”

“Who can tell? All winter winds of corruption carried this plague from the East and those who die of it rise again to threaten us. I think someone there has mastered ancient necromancy. I think they are using such sorcery as the Princes of Shadow used.”

“Such magic is impossible.”

“Events have proved that to be untrue. If someone has opened a Gate there are ways of bleeding power from it. With such power, one could perform so powerful a spell.”

“That is not the only thing you could do. If you could open a Gate, you could bring the Princes of Shadow and their armies to our world.”

“I see you grasp the danger of our situation and why I am concerned and think the Queen should be too.”

“You suspect that the Sardeans may be behind this.”

There was an urgency in Joran’s voice now that was obvious even to Rik. For all his earlier questioning they seemed to have come to the point in the interview that held most interest for him. Rik shook his head. Perhaps the Inquisitor merely wanted Asea to think that, perhaps it was a feint designed to hide his true interests and intentions.

“Yes,” said Asea.

“Why do you think that?”

“Malkior was very powerful there, a former Chancellor. He was in a position to encourage the rot.”

“It always comes back to him with you, doesn’t it?”

“Perhaps because that is the way of things.”

“His death begs other questions.”

“I know. Who were his followers? Who will replace him as their leader? How great was his influence?”

“How high does the corruption go? He was the Empress Arachne’s lover.”

“I know that too.”

Rik thought he saw where this was going. If the Taloreans successfully invaded Sardea, there would be purges of all the people under discussion. This was a weapon that could be used to discredit the Queen Empress and all of Malkior’s party and be used to replace them. Tamara would not do well if the Taloreans won.

In many ways it did not really matter whether Malkior was a Shadowblood or not. He could see that it would suit the powers that be in Talorea to believe that he was. The truth was merely incidental to that. Perhaps Joran might prove a useful ally to Asea’s cause. He appeared to be all in favour of the invasion.

Unless, of course, all this talk was merely a method of making him look that way while he went about other business.

“And there’s one more thing about the undead plague,” Asea said. There was something in her tone that made Rik’s hackles rise.