Chris Northern - The Last King's Amulet

That's when I lost my temper.

Tahal was sulking.

I gave him his due. He'd been keen enough to fight, coming up off the cot as I took two quick steps toward him, but the first kick in the face had smacked the back of his head against the wall and that had taken the fight out of him. It had been more or less a one way beating after that. I felt bad about it, but not very. I'd made sure he wouldn't drown in his own blood and then made myself comfortable on the other cot.

When he woke up he lay on the cot glaring at me, nose broken and eyes blackened. “Bastard,” he's muttered at last, the epithet mumbled through swollen lips.

“Best remember that and keep the insults to a minimum,” I'd told him.

After a very long silence, during which I stared at the door and tried to think, he said something else that I didn't catch.

“What?” I asked.

“Is that a stone in your forehead?”

I nodded. I had also been toying with the ten carat stone that was still on my finger and that Tahal had obviously not seen. I knew that Sheo would not have overlooked it, would not have left me with it by accident. I just nodded absently and he was quiet for a while, evidently thinking.

“You don't have any magic do you?” It was an accusation, tone rising in surprised mockery.

“None worth talking about.”

He snorted, then winced in pain. “Typical.”

“Shut up,” I told him absently. I was trying to think.

He was silent for a good while but couldn't let it go.

“I do. Let me attune it and I can get us out of here.”

I thought about it. It wasn't easy to think, as hung over as I was. The dogs had begun to bay some time ago, picking up my scent as I sobered. I could almost feel them getting closer, slowly getting louder. “I don't think that's a good idea.”

“Oh no,” he muttered. “Far better to stay and rot in here.”

“You tried to escape then?”

He didn't answer until I looked at him grimly and made to move.

“Yes, yes, I tried.” He sounded angry to cover his fear of me. He was in no shape to go another round and knew I had it in me to beat him bloody. “I pretended to change allegiance,” he sighed, deciding he had better explain and not knowing where to start. “There is a necromancer,” he began patiently.

“Kukran Epthel, “ I nodded.

“No. Ishal Laharek. He…” Tahal hesitated, deciding how much to tell.

“Tortured? Intimidated?”

He sighed, expression falling into tired and bitter lines. “Tried to persuade me to join his cause. Kept hammering on about freedom, the evils of the city, slavery, how he and his would put us down and make a new free society in our place. As if any society could be more free!”

He paused and I supplied a nod of agreement, though my ideas were doubtless a little better conceived than his.

“There were other persuasions. Examples of what other ways I might serve. I pretended to relent. I was afforded some measure of freedom until I tried to escape; yesterday I think, or the day before, it's hard to tell time in here.”

“What did he have you do?”

He frowned at me. “Write letters. Try and gain support for the cause among the knights. Give false information to the patrons. I doubt anyone paid much attention to them. I worded them carefully.”

I nodded. I knew what he meant. Our grammar is a little complex and the language subtle. One clue at the end of a letter would let you read it and interpret everything anew, gaining a whole new meaning.

“And?”

“Information. I told him a lot of truth, some of which will lead them to underestimate us. Numbers of our army, and so forth.”

I nodded again. The truth is that we have an army of four legions, and right now they were far away and engaged in another war. The fact that we could raise armies quickly was another matter.

“You did okay,” I told him.

His face twisted in contempt. He didn't need or want my approval. Or anyone's. He was a patron of the city. No further vindication was needed.

I let it pass and ignored him for a while, listening to the dogs baying in my head. I had really gained only one thing from what he had told me. There were more Necromancers.

“Is he a lich?”

“What? Who?”

“Never mind,” I told him.

So, Ishal Laharek was not a walking corpse like Kukran Epthel. Not so advanced in the hierarchy? How many where they? How dangerous was Ishal? Had he acquired that mode of thought, that inertia which colored Kukran's actions? Why was I thinking about this? Because Sheo had left me with a ten carat stone, that's why. He had a plan, and I didn't doubt that in some way I was part of it. Or perhaps he just left me with a way out, with Tahal's help.

“How much magic do you have?” I asked him. “What spells?”

He glared at the stone in my forehead and I glared back. “Just tell me,” I threatened.

So he did.

They threw Sapphire into the cell some time later.

The rattling of a key in the lock woke me and I came to my feet. Tahal didn't bother. He just sat with his back to the wall, gazing indifferently at the door.

Kerral stood in the light beyond the doorway. His face was shadowed but I knew him straight away. The size of him, the way he stood. These things were familiar. He had saved my life once, I remembered. What would he do now?

He moved a little, pointing at Tahal. “You, come with me.”

Tahal hesitated, then shifted reluctantly. Getting to his feet seemed an unendurable chore. “Well, goodbye, Sumto. Good luck.” he said, and went.

I just watched him go. He had the ten carat ring and wasn't doing a thing. What could I say? There was nothing. I stared after him, dully horrified, Knowing that the stupid drunken Sumto had been tricked into giving up his one asset, yet still hoping that Tahal was just biding his time.

I wished for a moment that I hadn't beaten him. Then was glad I did while I had the chance.

Kerral moved back into the light, watching me. As soon as he was sure I was watching him he shrugged and moved away from the doorway. Two husky barbarians took his place, carrying a burden between them. They threw Sapphire at my feet and closed the door without a word.

I stood in shock for a moment, looking down at him. I couldn't see much but his clothes were dark with blood and I could hear his breathing. It didn't sound good.

“Well,” I said softly, “you found me.”

It took a time to get him into a position where I might be able to lift him onto a cot. He was heavier than he looked and I was trying to be careful not to hurt him. Not that he would feel it. He had taken more than one crack to the head and was deeply unconscious. I was worried about his ribs, about making things worse. There was a pink blood frothing at his lips as he breathed shallowly. He had taken wounds everywhere and his clothes were drenched in blood. His left arm was broken. I changed my mind about lifting him and instead dragged the mattress off my cot and laid it on the floor, easing him slowly onto it. I tried to make him comfortable. There was nothing else I could do. I stripped his shirt and bound his wounds with care. Some were still bleeding sluggishly. He'd lost a lot of blood. When I had done as best I could I covered him with every blanket in the cell and settled down to watch him.

Tahal was gone. I couldn't believe my stupidity in coming here to rescue him. He had the stone. And Sapphire was dying. I didn't see how things could get worse.

I watched Sapphire. Listened to his ugly breathing. Sometimes he moved in his unnatural sleep, whimpered and lay still. I doubted he'd ever wake.

I wished I could sleep too. I was exhausted, but sleep had never been further away from me. I wondered what they would do with me. Wondered if Kukran would try and Turn me once more or just leave me here to rot. They hadn't brought food or even water. I suspected they would just leave me here to die. Us, I thought; they are going to leave us here to die.