All Spell Breaks Loose (28 page)

“The last goblin who shoveled souls into the rock was Rudra Muralin,” I said, desperately trying to keep my voice from shaking. “You know how bat-shit crazy he was.”

“Rudra was a boy with little training, and less discipline. His mind was easily controlled and consumed by the Saghred. The only source of surprise was that he managed to survive as long as he did.”

“And he didn’t have his mommy looking out for him. She dropped by your rooms, by the way. Charming woman. I see where you get it. Setting up and killing family and friends must run like a stampede in your family.”

Nukpana stood very still. “Mother and I are of one mind.”

“You both want to rule the world?”

Something deadly flickered in his eyes. “She knows her limitations.”

“And her place?” I met his gaze and forced one corner of my lips to curl into a smile. “She doesn’t seem the type to know either one.”

“She is content to rule at my side.”

I tried a shrug, not easy with my hands chained over my head. “If you say so. You need someone you can trust with you while you’re communing with the Saghred. You gave an all-too-accurate description of what it feels like to have souls pulled through you. I scream and eventually pass out, but then I’m just a puny, little mortal elf, and you’re on the
verge of demigod-dom, so you probably won’t have any problems—especially not with Mommy Dearest there to take care of you and watch your back.”

Sarad Nukpana smiled and showed me his fangs. “I’ve always found it best—and more thorough—to deal with one problem at a time. Tonight, I’ll begin the lengthy and enjoyable process of dealing with you. I can hardly deny my new vassals the opportunity to see the elf they have heard so much about, brought before them in chains, displayed as the prized catch that you are. They need to see you in torment. It will serve the dual purpose of beginning to take my revenge on you, and showing every last man and woman in the temple that I can and will make them suffer just as much if they make the mistake of defying me. It will save me the trouble and inconvenience of proving myself to them. They will witness your punishment and then go and tell others. Word spreads and my position is more easily secured without the bother of having to put on a vulgar display.”

“So you can save your power for the more important—and even more vulgar—things like conquering, enslaving, and slaughtering.”

He smiled. “Precisely. One of my most difficult decisions tonight will be who gets the honor of being the Saghred’s first public sacrifice.”

I froze. “I thought you’d already determined that.”

“Sacrificing Deidre Nathrach would make the most effective statement. Killing the killer of my king, and all that. But would it be truly satisfying? Perhaps your paladin lover or your treasured nightingale would be a better choice.”

“You haven’t caught anyone yet.”

One side of his lips curled ever so slightly. “Do you know this for certain? Just because you haven’t seen them doesn’t mean that one of them isn’t chained to the altar at this very moment awaiting our arrival. How do you know I haven’t ordered that done so you can see him there as you walk down the aisle?”

“You have me confused with the one marrying you.”

“It is my goal to make our unique relationship last much longer than my marriage.”

A pair of Khrynsani entered bearing ornate robes draped over their arms.

“Perfect timing, gentlemen,” Nukpana said. One of the guards held Sarad Nukpana’s shirt for him. As Nukpana buttoned it, he continued to speak to me as if they weren’t there. “Since you will play such a critical role in tonight’s ceremonies, you should know the schedule of events. If we begin at moonrise, and nothing unforeseen delays the ceremony, I should be able to take care of all of your dear ones before dawn. They will go first to ensure that enough remains of your mind for you to be fully aware of every agony they will endure at my hands before they are allowed to die. Then the Saghred will pick up where I left off, to make certain that you share your loved ones’ terror and despair as they realize that their suffering is as eternal as the Saghred. It will be a long night’s work, but worth the effort in so many ways.”

The next guard held up a purple robe for Nukpana that was embroidered in silver.

“Tamnais’s family will go first, including Kesyn Badru,” he continued. “Once I have eradicated the stain of the Nathrach bloodline, I will put an appropriate end to Tamnais. Imala Kalis betrayed me and played the late King Sathrik for a fool, which in all honesty wasn’t that difficult. Traitors deserve to endure a death as long as their betrayal. Imala betrayed us for years, so she will suffer accordingly.”

Nukpana lifted his arms so a scarlet sash could be wrapped around his waist. “As a reward for all of his valuable information, I’m allowing Carnades Silvanus the honor of dispatching one of the sacrifices. He feels that it is fitting—and I agree—that he be allowed to perform a sacrifice himself. It will also show my subjects that even though he is an elf, Magus Silvanus is a valued partner. Carnades
selected Paladin Eiliesor, and I’ve granted his request. He asked for the nightingale as well, but I refused him.” He turned to the guards. “Leave us.”

Sarad Nukpana approached me again. “I have an intense dislike for leaving what I believe are called loose ends. Without your cunning, Piaras Rivalin would not have escaped death that night in Mermeia; even that magnificent voice of his would not have saved him. Thanks to you, he escaped and has lived to cause me no end of trouble, nearly as much as you yourself.” The goblin leaned in to me, his lips soft against my ear. “You will have to tell me what it feels like to have your nightingale’s soul pulled through you as the last of his life’s blood washes over the Saghred. Not only to watch, but to share in his death, then to feel his soul struggle in vain, imprisoned for eternity in the stone.” His voice dropped to caress. “But what I most want you to share with me, through each torment and every death, is what it feels like to know with absolute certainty that there is nothing,
nothing
you can do to save them or yourself.”

He left me like that, shaking with terror and rage.

So much for keeping my fear from turning into mindless terror.

I wasn’t standing outside the temple looking in. No, I wasn’t anywhere
near that lucky. I think Lady Luck was now sunning herself on the same beach as my magic. I was just inside the front doors, my guards prepared to get me into the temple and to the altar by any means possible: kicking, screaming, carried, or all of the above. I thought I’d just walk. I could see outside, but there was no way in a very hot place my guards were about to let me do anything except look.

Not that out there was much better than in here. The temple’s doors looked out over Execution Square. The Blood Moon was rising over the Mal’Salin palace, unless Sarad Nukpana had already ordered it renamed.

The enormity of what the goblin would begin tonight with Deidre Nathrach swept over me, bringing with it a wave of nausea. Innocent people were about to be slaughtered because they chose to fight rather than surrender to the whims of a madman. The men and women now filling the temple, the sheep following Sarad Nukpana, would live
but only because he allowed it. For now. When he ran out of those who had the backbone to oppose him, those sheep would find themselves herded to the slaughter. Some of them had to know it; others were in blissful denial, no doubt thinking that agreeing with everything Nukpana said or did or ordered them to do would protect them. By the time they realized otherwise, everyone who could have saved them would already be dead.

At that point, no one anywhere would be safe from Sarad Nukpana once he eventually killed me and took control of the Saghred. His ego let him believe that he would be the one in charge. I’d had the Saghred living in my head for the past three months and knew differently. Nukpana and the scores who came before him were nothing but slaves to provide for the stone’s needs while believing the stone was there to serve them. The Saghred would make Nukpana its bond servant only because it knew he would feed and use it. The rock would latch onto him like the soul-sucking parasite it was, though it couldn’t steal his sanity. Not because Sarad Nukpana was strong enough to prevent it, but because the rock couldn’t take what had never been there to begin with.

No one else was coming up the temple steps from Execution Square. Everyone who was going to be allowed inside was already there. I still held out hope that Mychael, Tam, and company were somewhere among them.

Princess Mirabai was ahead of me and surrounded by eerily silent guards in immaculate formal armor. The bride would make the big entrance; I was just the flower girl. I glanced down at the manacles encircling my wrists—okay, maybe the ring bearer.

At an unspoken signal, the temple guards around me snapped to attention, and an armored hand in the middle of my back gave me a shove to get me moving. I guess Khrynsani never used words when a shove would do. I started forward, my guards spacing themselves so that they could
get their hands or weapons on me, but still giving everyone we passed a clear view of their new king’s catch of the day.

I had once been inside a cathedral in southern Pengor. The only way I had been able to see the ceiling had been to tilt my head back as far as it would go. Until this moment, it had been the largest indoor space I’d ever been in. The Khrynsani temple was no cathedral; absolutely nothing was sacred about the acts committed here. The lighting was dim enough to be comfortable to goblin eyes, but bright enough that I’d be able to see everything that happened. Sarad Nukpana probably saw to that detail personally.

The floor beneath my feet was dark and polished; I was going to guess black marble, since that seemed to be an all-encompassing decorating theme in this place. Ten gigantic columns, each ringed with huge lightglobes like bands of blue stars, rose from the floor like ancient trees. I could just make out the faint outline of arches reaching like skeletal arms toward the vaulted ceiling.

The temple was completely packed with people. There had to have been thousands of them.

I had no idea Sarad Nukpana had that many friends, or that many people who were desperate that Nukpana think they were his friends. Even if my friends were still free, what could they do against thousands of goblins and probably hundreds of Khrynsani either in the temple itself or within call, all eager to prove how loyal they were to their new king? Our plan had depended on destroying the Saghred before Nukpana began his twisted ceremony, before the place was packed with Saghred-loving goblins. How the hell could we possibly pull this off now?

I didn’t realize I had stopped until I got another shove in the back. I growled over my shoulder. The goblins I could see were either in Khrynsani robes or uniforms, goblin army uniforms, or finery that only nobility could afford. No common people were to be seen. It sucked six ways from
yesterday when your enemy’s support base consisted of a kingdom’s most powerful people.

Princess Mirabai’s passing had caused a ripple. I caused something just short of a tidal wave. Gasps rolled through the crowd, and the goblins I passed drew back in fear as I walked down the aisle. I was chained and still Sarad Nukpana’s allies feared me.

Apparently Nukpana hadn’t told his new subjects that I didn’t have access to the Saghred’s magic. In a way, that made sense; it was even a good call on his part. After all, it wouldn’t be impressive to force a chained mundane to come to the altar and endure eternal torture. Nukpana was having me paraded before his subjects to show how he could defeat and control even one with powers as great as mine. That would have these people thinking that if he could do that to someone like me, someone like them would be smart to shake in their handmade boots. Though what was good for the gander might be even better for the goose. If the chance came to make a break for it, I’d much rather have people too terrified to get anywhere near me, let alone try to take me on.

If you’ve got a reputation, put it to work for you.

I held my head high, met the eyes of anyone who looked at me, and stared them down. I tossed in a contemptuous smile for good measure, a smile that said loud and clear that I was only wearing these chains because it amused me. However, I could become unamused at any moment.

With a phalanx of Khrynsani guards both in front of and behind me, I had no choice but to walk at the pace they set. These guys didn’t walk as much as process. Sarad Nukpana wanted to give his new subjects plenty of time to see what he’d caught. For the first and probably the last time, his motivation perfectly matched mine. I was in no hurry to get to where I was going.

Up ahead, Princess Mirabai stopped and turned toward a goblin couple seated in the front row. She carefully raised her veil, which wasn’t easy to do with her jeweled manacles
and chain. The man stood and smiled, extending his hands to her. With the same care and precision, Mirabai spit in his face.

He must have been the father of the bride.

Mirabai calmly lowered her veil and continued her procession.

I had to admit, the girl had class.

I didn’t want to see the Saghred, especially not like this—chained
, a prisoner, soon to be tortured with the deaths of those I loved until I lost my mind, my worst nightmares come to life.

The altar rose before me as we ascended the final steps.

It was empty.

My knees went weak with relief. If Mychael or Piaras had been captured, Sarad Nukpana would have had one of them chained there. The bastard had been bluffing. It was all I could do to keep from looking up and all around me for some sign that the cavalry was about to make their entrance. If they were, I didn’t want to give them away. If they weren’t, my already shaky morale could do without being kicked.

Trumpets sounded a fanfare from a gallery somewhere above our heads.

Two of my guards each put an armored hand on my shoulders, and forced me to my knees on the final step before the dais. I glanced over at Princess Mirabai. She had been permitted to remain standing but, like me, was one step below the dais.