David Gemmell - The Swords of Night and Day

The voice of Memnon whispered into her mind.

‘ We are close, Highness. Is Skilgannon with you?’

‘I killed him,’ she said aloud. Again her stomach knotted.

‘ Excellent.’

A door opened on the far side of the chamber, and she saw Decado step through, the Swords of Blood and Fire in his hands. Blood dripped from the blades.

He looked up and saw her, but did not smile. Behind him came Memnon. He was not wearing his familiar robes, but dressed in riding clothes: a dark blue tunic and purple leggings, and exquisitely designed boots of lizard skin. He advanced into the room, and did not bow.

For all her grief and self-absorption Jianna had not lost her intellect, or her blade-sharp sense of danger.

‘Do I catch the scent of treachery here, my dears?’ she asked, moving to the silver railing and gazing down on the two men.

‘Treachery, Highness?’ responded Memnon. ‘Let us pause for a moment and examine the question.

Would you say that I have served you loyally, and with devotion? Can you offer a single shred of evidence that I have ever conspired to cause you harm?’

‘Not until now,’ she said.

‘Ah, but I did not know then what I know now. All these years you have been murdering my children, preventing me from acquiring the benefits of true longevity. In these last moments of your immortal life perhaps you would tell me why?’

Jianna laughed. ‘You already know why. As a mortal you served me. As an immortal you would have been a threat to me. As with so much else, Memnon, it all comes down to self-preservation. I take it you have already killed my other Reborns?’

‘The last one died an hour ago. Your reign ends here, Highness. An apt place, don’t you think?’

Transferring her gaze to Decado, she smiled. ‘And it will be you, sweet lover, who delivers the death blow?’

‘Is it a difficult choice for me?’ asked Decado. ‘On the one hand there is the treacherous bitch who ordered me murdered. On the other. . oh wait. . it’s still the treacherous bitch who sanctioned my death. No, I can honestly say I am quite looking forward to it.’

Jianna drew her sabre. Decado laughed aloud. ‘We have fenced before, you and I. In happier times.

Fighting me will buy you no more than a few heartbeats of life. However, I am in a charitable mood today. So let us even the odds a little.’ Sliding the Sword of Fire back into its scabbard he raised the Sword of Blood. ‘I shall fight you left-handed. I am marginally less skilled with my left.’

‘That is true,’ said a voice. ‘Like watching a child swatting bees with a stick.’

Jianna spun to see Skilgannon standing in the far doorway, the Swords of Night and Day in his hands.

‘Oh, now my joy is complete,’ said Decado happily. ‘I get to kill the great hero.’

Despite his lightness of tone Decado was troubled. It was not fear that concerned him. Decado feared no living man, and was utterly sure he could kill Skilgannon. It was more the coalescing of doubts that had been growing in his mind ever since Memnon’s spirit contacted him, after the fight with the Shadows.

He had ridden away from Skilgannon and the others, heading up into the hills, to think and to plan.

Later that night, in a shallow cave, Memnon had appeared to him. Decado had seen this magical trick before, and, after the initial shock as the swirling image materialized, he merely added another stick to his fire. ‘Send as many Shadows as you have,’ he said. ‘I will kill them all.’

‘Oh, be calm, my boy,’ chided Memnon. ‘You know how anger brings on your headaches. I sought you because I was concerned for you.’

‘You showed your concern so well last night. They almost had me.’

‘I sent the oldest and slowest. It was all that I could do. The Eternal ordered your death. I have always been your friend, Decado. You know this to be true.’

‘Aye,’ he admitted, ‘you have always been most kind to me, Memnon. When I come for the bitch I will not kill you.’

‘She has become an evil creature,’ agreed Memnon. ‘Her turning on you has stretched my loyalty to breaking point. Together we could bring her down. You and I need to meet. Will you trust me and stay where you are until I reach you?’

‘Trust the man who tried to kill me? I think not, Memnon.’

‘Think on this: I have located you. Had I wished I could merely have sent more Shadows to kill you while you slept. Not so?’

‘That is true. Very well. I will wait.’

It was almost a full day before Memnon rode up the hillside to the cave. ‘How is your head?’

Memnon had asked, even as he dismounted.

‘It has been good.’

‘Excellent. I have brought some narcotic to aid you, should it return.’

Once inside the cave Memnon had given him the jewelled necklet, and instructed him to pass it to the mountain girl Askari.

‘What will it do?’

‘When the time is right I shall — through the magic in the jewel — assist the Eternal to possess Askari’s body. This will place Jianna at the heart of our enemies. It will also separate her from her Guards. You will join with Skilgannon, and assist him in every way.’

‘Why?’

‘Because he just may find a way to bring back the temple. There is so much there that we could use, Decado. Greater artefacts, with incredible power. I will continue to commune with you, and we will make our plans, depending on how the situation changes. And now I must return.’ Memnon rose.

Decado stared up at him.

‘Before you go, Memnon, tell me honestly: was it just her treatment of me that led you to this course?’

Memnon dropped to one knee and laid his hand on Decado’s shoulder. ‘Yes, my boy. It hurt me greatly when you were sentenced. I look upon you as a son.’

The sincerity in his voice had touched Decado.

He had suffered no problem of morality when he joined Skilgannon. There was no sense of disloyalty.

While travelling with the man he had grown to like him, and he felt a kinship with the riders of the Drenai.

Even the merchant, Stavut. They were men on a mission, and it had nothing to do with material wealth, or revenge, or glory. They merely wanted to protect their world from a powerful evil, and were willing to die for it. Decado had found a sense of camaraderie among them, and an emotional warmth he had never before experienced.

Fighting alongside Skilgannon, in a just cause, had been the greatest moment of his life, and he had felt torn when Memnon’s voice whispered in his mind after the battle.

‘ Leave them now, my boy. I have traversed a pass beyond the battle road, and am waiting close to the temple site. Skilgannon will come soon. Jianna will be with him. Victory is within our grasp.’

They had hidden among the rocks close to the crater, and Decado had felt a sinking of the heart when Skilgannon and Jianna rode to the rim. He truly did not want to kill this man, and in that moment wished he had ignored Memnon, and waited with the Drenai for the last battle. None of this had felt like treachery until then. The Queen had betrayed him and sought his death. His hunting down of her was merely revenge. But now Skilgannon was walking into danger, not knowing that the woman beside him was intent on his death, and that two more enemies were close behind.

He had remembered then his last conversation with his kinsman.

‘ Well, good luck to you, Decado.’

‘ No pleas for me to stay? No appeal to my loyalty?’

‘ No. I thank you for your help today. You are a fine warrior. Perhaps we will meet again, in happier times.’

Happier times?

He and Memnon had watched Skilgannon and Jianna make their way across the rim — and then disappear. Decado had run down to the crater, drawn his own swords, and seen the hidden pathway.