Терри Брукс - Jarka Ruus

«There won't be any mistakes," she said.

She moved over to the table with the wine carafe and poured herself a glass. His room was rich with tapestries and rugs, with wine and sweets, and with good smells. It contrasted sharply with her spare and unassuming quarters some floors below. She felt no jealousy, finery and comforts were a sign of weakness. They made demands that caused one to lose focus on what really mattered. She would not allow that in herself, but was more than willing to allow it in him. It would make it easier to break him down and destroy him when the time to do so arrived.

«How do you know that the potion you have brought me works as you think? What if you have been betrayed?»

She watched for a reaction. He merely shrugged. «I haven't tested it myself, but I am assured it is lethally effective.»

«Assured by whom?» she asked. «Who gave you this 'liquid night', Prime Minister?» she pressed. «You didn't mix it up yourself. Such a potion requires magic, and you have none. Who do you know who has such magic? Did someone at Paranor assist you? Someone not allied with me? Do you play us against each other?»

His leonine features lifted slightly. «I don't discuss my alliances. What does it matter, anyway? If it doesn't work, what have you lost? Only a little of your time. I will have lost your trust completely. I am the one at risk, Shadea.»

He lifted his own wineglass and toasted her. «But it will work. By morning, the Ard Rhys will be a memory and all the talk will be of you, the new Ard Rhys. I know something of how this works, Shadea. I know because it happened to me when I coveted the position of Prime Minister. The order will be frightened and confused. It will be looking for direction and for someone to supply it. No one else has the backing you possess. The matter will be settled quickly. I salute you, Ard Rhys to be.»

She ignored his patronizing, wondering how she could find out who had given him the potion. She would find out, she had decided. But short of torturing him on the spot, she would not find out immediately. She would have to bide her time, something at which she had gotten quite good.

«Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Prime Minister.» She finished the wine and set down her glass. «What will you do when the news comes? Stay or go?»

«I will depart immediately, the expected reaction for a head of state when someone as important as the Ard Rhys disappears. It will give you a chance to consolidate your power before we have our meeting to arrange an alliance. Perhaps by then you will have discovered evidence of Free–born participation in the matter, and I will be able to use that discovery as a lever for pressing the war.»

«Something you intend to do by any means possible.» She made it a statement of fact.

He smiled. «The fortunes of war are about to change for the Free–born and their allies, Shadea. With your support, the change will come about much more quickly.»

She nodded. The room, with its rich smells and opulent feel, was beginning to wear on her. As was this fool. «We have our understanding, Prime Minister. No need to discuss it again. No need to talk further at all, this night. Do you have it?»

He rose and walked to the bookcase at the far side of the room, moved several of the books aside, and extracted a small glass bottle with its stopper set firmly in place. The contents of the bottle were as black as a moonless night. Nothing of the room's light reflected from the surface of either the bottle or its contents.

«Liquid night," he declared, and handed her the bottle.

She took it gingerly and studied it a moment. The liquid night had an opaque texture to it that reminded her of chalk or black earth. It made her feel decidedly uneasy.

She looked back at him. «This is all there is?»

«A little is all that is needed. Nevertheless, use the whole of it. Do it while she sleeps. Do not let even a single drop touch your skin. Then carry the bottle away and destroy it. There will be no trace of what has happened, no sign of anything different. But the Ard Rhys will be gone. As if she had never been.»

«You make it sound so easy," Shadea said, giving him a sharp look.

«It will be easy, if you do it right.» He stared back at her. «You will be able to do it right, Shadea, won't you?»

«If there is any treachery attached to this gift, Prime Minister," she said carefully, «it will come home to roost on your doorstep.»

He reached over for a set of notes he had been writing and began leafing through them. «A word of caution. The Ard Rhys has a brother who possesses the gift, as well. His magic is said to be the equal of hers. You might want to consider what he will do when he discovers that his sister is missing. I understand he went through quite a lot to save her during that airship journey west twenty years back, when he discovered they were related. If not for him, she would still be the Ilse Witch. That makes her an investment he might not be quick to give up on.»

«He has little contact with her these days," she replied irritably. «He has little to do with her at all.»

He shrugged. «Sometimes a little is all that is necessary where families are concerned. Brothers and sisters are funny that way. You, of all people, should understand that.» His smile was smug and indulgent. «It just seems to me that where a potential problem exists, you would be smart to find a solution early.»

He studied her momentarily, then lowered his gaze to his notes. «Good night, Shadea. Good luck.»

She held her ground a moment longer, thinking how easy it would be to kill him. Then she tucked the bottle into her dark robes, turned away without another word, touched the wall to release the hidden catch, and left him behind.

When she was behind the wall panel and out of Sen Dunsidan's room, Shadea a'Ru stood in the darkness of the passageway beyond and breathed deeply to calm herself. Any encounter with the Prime Minister was unsettling, but it was the task that lay ahead of her that gave her pause now. She touched the hard outline of the bottle inside her robes, to reassure herself that it was safely under her control, then gathered her thoughts. It would have to be done that night, while the Ard Rhys slept. She believed herself safe in her chambers, and she had been until that night. Rock Trolls under the command of Kermadec stood at her doorway day and night, and her own magic warded the chamber against intruders. The passageways that honeycombed the Keep behind its stone walls had been closed off long ago so that, aside from the windows, there was only one way in or out.

But Shadea had found a way to get around all that. The Rock Trolls outside the door were of no use if the attack came from within, which it would. The magic that warded the chamber was of no use if the attack was not something it could protect against, and in this case it wasn't. Finally, although the passageways had been closed off some time back, Shadea had opened a few very recently in expectation of what was planned for that night. She had started with the passageway leading to Sen Dunsidan's quarters, so that they could meet secretly. She had ended with the passageway that led to the chambers of the Ard Rhys. The latter had taken her nearly two weeks because not only was it physically sealed, but it was warded with magic, as well. She had broken down that magic, a painfully slow process, then restored it at its perimeter to give the appearance of still being intact.

She stared into the darkness around her, her eyes adjusting, her thoughts settling. Everything was in place. Everything was as ready as it was ever going to be. Her careful planning and preparation were about to be rewarded.

She allowed herself a fierce, predatory smile and started walking.