Mark Anthony - Crypt of the Shadowking

"I hope you're not expecting me to apologize," Caledan said, refilling his wine glass.

Ravendas regarded him for a long moment, absently fidgeting with the strand of pearls about her throat. "All right, Caledan, what is it you want?" she demanded flatly.

"I've come to warn you, Ravendas," Caledan said simply. "Your lord steward is planning to betray you. While I don't know who he is, I do know that Snake serves another master, a powerful one." He went on in a dire tone. "What Snake and his master are planning, I can't really say, but I think it involves the Nightstone. At any rate, he's gone to great lengths to kill everyone who possesses the shadow magic. You're in grave danger, Ravendas. We all are. What are you going to do about it?"

She laughed, a sound utterly devoid of mirth.

"I would not have expected so feeble an attempt at deception from you, Caledan," she purred. "Have the years been so hard that your wits have left you?"

Caledan felt anger flare inside him. "It's the truth, Ravendas. You're foolish if you don't listen to me."

She rose and paced smoothly before the fireplace, the crimson silk of her dress rustling against the marble floor. "Snake is my servant. I fear him no more than I would a lap-dog. Of course, he is not without cunning. That was why I elevated him to his present position. He has proven quite useful a number of times. But when I first met him he was little more than a common cutpurse. He is hardly capable of defeating me." Her blue eyes flashed.

"You're wrong," Caledan said, standing. "Dead wrong. Do you know what a shadevar is?"

"A shadevar?" Ravendas repeated, a frown creasing her brow. "What, pray tell, is that?"

"An abomination," Caledan growled. "A sightless monster that follows by scent, not by sight, and that can kill in a heartbeat. The shadevari were ancient creatures, maybe older than the world itself. Once they served the god Bhaal, but in the end even he was powerless to control the shadevari, and Azuth himself banished them. It would have taken a sorcerer of incredible power to summon a shadevar into the world again. And that's exactly what Snake did."

"If this shadevar was so powerful, why is it you're not dead, Caledan?" Ravendas demanded.

"I managed to kill it with the help of a few others in the Fields of the Dead. But it was more by luck than anything else. Believe me, this thing was powerful enough to lay waste to an army."

Ravendas sighed. "I'm growing weary of this talk, Caledan.

There's nothing you can say that could make me fear Snake. You see, there's really no time left for him to do any-thing that could interfere with my goal." "What are you talking about?"

"I have found the crypt of the Shadowking," Ravendas replied gloatingly. "In two days' time I will be able to open the doorway into the tomb beneath the Tor. My sorcerers tell me that the dark of the moon is the most propitious time." Caledan stared at her. "In just two days, the Night-stone will be mine, Caledan. Nothing-not you, not Snake, not the Zhentarim-can stand in my way then. With the power of the Nightstone, I will rule this city and a dozen others like it. I will not stop until all the Realms kneel before me.

"But I will need a prince consort to stand beside me and give me strength," Ravendas added in her dulcet voice. Her gaze drifted over Caledan like a caress. "That could be you, Caledan. Would you stand beside me and rule the Realms with me? You have only to kneel and pledge your life to me as your queen."

"You're mad," Caledan said simply, shaking his head. "Besides, what you really want is my shadow magic. I know that you need one with the shadow magic to take the Night-stone from its resting place."

Ravendas laughed again. "You think you're terribly clever, don't you, Caledan? Then again, you always did. However, I'm afraid you're wrong this time. Oh, once you would have been right. Years ago I did seek to win you over for your shadow magic. You see, I first learned of the Night-stone more than a decade ago. I was weaving my plans even then. You proved stubborn, however. Whatever you saw in that fawning sister of mine I cannot say, yet you chose to spurn my advances. In the meantime I have discovered another way in which I might gain control of someone blessed with the shadow magic, and he is mine even now."

Caledan made a sudden intuitive leap. "The boy? Kellen?"

"Indeed," Ravendas purred wickedly. "I think he inherited his coloring from me. But his hair, his eyes, and his shadow magic-all come from his father."

Caledan felt a sudden numbing coldness grip his heart. He stared at Ravendas.

"Yes, Caledan," she said with chilling calm. "Kellen is your son."

Caledan's gaze went to the door where the boy had disappeared. His gut instinct was to shout out in denial, but he remained silent. As unbelievable as it was, somehow he knew it was true. Even when he had spoken with Kellen he had felt drawn to the boy, as if there was some unspoken bond between them. He sank back on the fur-covered divan. "How old is he?" he asked finally.

"Eight. He'll be nine soon." Ravendas's eyes shone. Caledan looked at her, but he could not ask the question that lay bitterly on his tongue.

"How?" Her voice was exultant "It was all very simple, really. It was that last time I met you and my insipid sister, Kera, in Berdusk. After you spurned my advances, I finally realized I was going to have to devise some other plan…" She smiled evilly. "Do you remember the night you spent with Kera at the Running Stag, that inn in Berdusk? You and Kera had separate rooms-she was always such an annoyingly proper young woman-but that night she wasn't able to stay away from you. She stole into your room in the darkness and… well, the natural thing happened."

Caledan watched Ravendas with a growing feeling of disgust. "How did you know that?" It was one of his most private memories. He and Kera had made love the entire night without ever speaking a word. It had been wonderful.

Ravendas's eyes narrowed, like those of a cat about to Pounce. "It was not Kera in your arms that night, Caledan. It was I. I drugged Kera, donned her clothes, and slipped into your room. Earlier that night I had poured something into your ale to make you a bit more… pliable, shall we say? I left your bed before dawn, and nine moons later Kellen was born. And just like his father, he possesses a talent for music-and the shadow magic."

Caledan gazed at her in horror. He could find no words.

"How like Kera, that she never did tell you," Ravendas crooned.

"She knew?" Caledan said hoarsely. His throat tightened; he felt as if he was going to be sick.

"Of course. Sisters cannot hide such things from each other. But she was the sort of fool who chose to bear the pain alone to protect you. Nobility was always one of Kera's most tiresome traits."

The room seemed to be spinning in a haze of crimson. "Damn you," Caledan cried. "Damn you to the Abyss."

"Spare the dramatics, Caledan," Ravendas snapped. Her voice was like a slap to his face, clearing his head. "You see now that there is nothing you can do to stop me. I do not need your shadow magic. But I would still have you stand beside me. You are strong, brave, and not without some charm. Though you should shave more often." Her eyes glittered hungrily. "Will you kneel before me as your queen?"

Caledan gazed at her in revulsion. "Never."

Scarlet blotches bloomed on Ravendas's cheeks. 'Then you will die," she hissed. She pulled a cord that hung from the ceiling. Moments later the door to the chamber opened, and her guards stepped through.

"Take this lowlife to the dungeon," she commanded. "But take care not to kill him right away. I want that pleasure for myself."

Kellen leaned away from the door in the small anteroom adjacent to his mother's chamber. He had been listening to the loud discussion on the other side of the doorway. He had not understood much, but he had understood enough. Tears streaked his pale cheeks, and the look of calm melancholy in his green eyes was replaced by one of deep sorrow. He pulled something from the pocket of his dark tunic. It was the small wooden soldier.