Sunset of Lantonne (17 page)

“Tell me your honest thoughts on my city, ambassador.”

Therec’s mind raced with options of how to reply, pinpointing those replies that would cause distrust or disbelief. Those he put aside immediately and instead answered, “You have a city that rivals the wonder of any I have ever…”

“I did not ask you to grovel like one of the magisters,” Cinastin cut in. “I trust your word because you have no reason to lie to me. Cover your words with honey and I will consider you no better than the others.”

Smiling at the bluntness of the boy, Therec bowed and said, “Your city respects you and your rule, but those in charge still scheme for power where they can find it. This is not unique to this city. I am guessing this is what you wanted to know?”

“Precisely, ambassador. You read people differently than my best advisors and are more open with what you are willing to say, even if I have to push a little to get it. Right now, that is precisely what I need.”

“You seek traitors?” asked Therec, stifling a smile when Cinastin’s eyes widened in surprise. “As you said, I read people.”

“I see why your people are heralded as being dangerous.”

“This is not the reason such things are said, Your Majesty. It is simply a different training than your advisors receive.”

Nodding, the king’s attention darted to the door when the heavy wood frame creaked. Once he had become satisfied that no one was about to enter, he told Therec, “We have a traitor, that much I know. Three months ago, a contingent of my soldiers left without warning, supposedly escorting an ambassador. They have not returned, but there are indications that the attack at the quarry used stolen magical tools that no one in Eldvar should have access to other than the dwarves and the magisters.”

“May I ask who the ambassador was or which land sent them?”

Cinastin smirked and told Therec, “From what I am told, it was the ambassador from Turessi. Strange thing is, you had not arrived yet, but this occurred right after I made it known that you were coming. I doubt all of my men intended to betray us, as it only takes one or two high-ranking soldiers to seize control over a troop. I believe that is what has happened here.”

Therec’s stomach clenched nervously. He had not heard of another Turessian coming to Lantonne, so he had to assume this was a lie, but that might also indicate why the council hurried him southward. If there was another man claiming to be from Turessi, who was escalating the war, he needed to find this person and stop him.

“Your Majesty,” Therec said, trying to pick his words while still thinking through all the implications of the betrayal by the soldiers, “what would you have me do?”

“You will do what you already do, but with my blessing. You will search the magisters for a traitor and bring him to me for judgment. I give you the authority to go where you wish, but there are limits. Few trust you, so know that eyes will be on you at all times.”

“Giving your spies a chance to find the traitor, while I am watched,” Therec added, eliciting an impish grin from the king. “They will think me a spy and guard themselves, even as they let their defenses down around your real spies. The current belief that I am trying to take your city from you will flush out the ones who actually would have something to gain by doing so.”

“Correct.”

“I would be honored, Your Majesty,” said Therec, bowing deeply. “I will report whatever I can find. May I assume this was the reason I was brought here?”

“Only partly. Your people are reknowned for their necromantic tendencies. We are at war with a people that have embraced the use of the dead in their armies. A necromancer on-hand for our questions is of great value.”

Therec could not detect any hint of malice or sarcasm in the king’s tone. If he hated necromancers the way others in the city did, he hid it well. From what Therec could deduce, the boy honestly wanted to do what was in the city’s best interests, regardless of popularity. He would be a fine king one day, despite his poor education. Perhaps, if matters went well, the council might allow him to train with one or more teacher from Turessi.

Therec opened his mouth to reply when a rumble through the floor cut him off. As he stood there, trying to deduce what was happening, several paintings fell off the walls and the king put his head in his hands.

“I pray that is not another golem,” the boy said without looking up. Before he had finished speaking, the guards stepped back into the room. “If it is a magister’s experimental project, you have my permission to have him or her flogged. Guards, send someone to investigate.”

The two soldiers at the door nodded in silent acknowledgement and turned together towards the partially-open door. Before they could take a step, the door flew the rest of the way open, knocking the nearer man to the floor at Therec’s feet.

Standing in the doorway were three rotted and somewhat bloated corpses, looking around at the occupants of the room. The moment they had a clear path, all three rushed for the king, running clumsily over the fallen soldier and ignoring the attempts by the other to stop them.

Therec reacted instinctively, stepping between the king and the three undead. Between his previous injuries and the surprise, he struggled a little with finding his concentration to draw on magic to stop them, but a Preserver’s duties required him to always be ready. Before the corpses had gotten halfway to the king, Therec’s spell took hold and all three stopped where they were, slowly lowering their arms and taking a more neutral posture. His hold would not last long, but it would be enough for now.

“Someone is attempting to control them,” he warned the king, while the still-standing guard helped the other stand. Try as he might, Therec could not quite break the hold on the undead to let them be free. Each time he tried, his magic slid off the zombies without quite severing their creator’s influence. “There is another necromancer nearby and they are far stronger than I am. I can hold them, but I cannot seize control. I would guess that whoever was strong enough to lead the force against Lantonne has sent one of their apprentices to strike here.”

One of the soldiers raised his sword, ready to strike down the nearest corpse, while the king past and behind Therec. Cinastin could not hide his fear and Therec did not entirely blame him. Seeing undead reduced to such a barbaric state was grotesque beyond measure, even for one used to dealing with the dead.

“Please do not do that,” Therec warned the soldier, who looked past him to the king for confirmation. “These were someone’s family. I would much rather they be stopped than destroyed. Once we can sever the control, the bodies may be laid to rest properly.”

Apparently receiving agreement from the king, the soldiers lowered their weapons and moved to secure the door. Almost immediately, three more figures appeared down the hallway. The soldiers hurriedly slammed the door shut and fitted the bolt.

“What now, ambassador?” the king asked, standing somewhere behind Therec. “If they are already in that passage, most of my soldiers in the main keep’s halls are dead. The four of us are all we might have.”

Therec attempted to ease his hold on the zombies to see if he could cast more spells at anything else that got through the door, but the moment he let up on them, the zombies turned their attention straight back to the king. He quickly tightened his hold again and the zombies relaxed somewhat. Whatever held them was determined to push them after the king, to the exclusion of anyone else.

A heavy crash against the wooden door drew the attention of both soldiers, who began sliding furniture against it in hopes of slowing whatever was coming. The next impact jarred the hinges and bent the bolt, despite the short cabinet the men had placed in front of it.

“Do you have an escape route?” asked Therec over his shoulder. “I know my people rarely allow themselves to be boxed in.”

“I do,” answered the king. “It has not been used in generations, but hopefully it’s intact. Back up and I will guide you. My men will cover our retreat and come down behind us to seal the tunnel again.”

“How many know of the route?”

The king took hold of Therec’s robe and guided him backwards into the dining chamber, where Therec had previously never been allowed. Meanwhile, the soldiers held their position at the door, clearly ready for anything that might come through. This was what they were trained for, Therec reminded himself, pushing shut the door that separated the rooms. They would die to protect their kind, as was their duty as simple warriors.

The moment the door closed, Therec could hear the telltale sounds of the soldiers hacking at the zombies he had controlled, though he could not entirely fault them. When he was far enough away, the undead would attack again. Much as he would have loved to save their remains from being torn apart, he had to accept that the soldiers were ensuring their own safety.

“Those two and their evening replacements know of the passage,” the king finally answered once they were alone. He made his way into the back of the wood-paneled room and began fumbling with one of the panels, clearly unsure where the hidden passage began. “I’ve only been down there once and they have never used it. It should be obscure enough that we can get to the dungeons without anyone being the wiser. From there, we can regroup with the troops that likely have no idea we are under attack. We may need to retake my keep from the ground floor.”

Therec scanned the room, searching for any other ways in, but the place did not even have a window. That satisfied him that they would be secure once the king found the door, but until then, the one they had come through was the weakness in their defense. He hurriedly grabbed a chair from the nearby table and wedged it against the door, hoping to buy them a few precious seconds. Unlike the outer room’s door, this one was not built for defense.

“Found it,” Cinastin announced, sliding open an unlit stone passage hidden behind the paneling. “I’m afraid I have no torch…”

Therec pushed past the king, summoning a thread of magic to create a small ball of light over his palm. While it lit the first few feet of the passage, the pale blue light did little to illuminate anything more than the stones directly before him.

Setting off, Therec did not even bother to check on Cinastin’s progress once he heard the door click shut behind them. The boy would have to pull his own weight, but Therec would do what he could to protect him and that meant getting as far from the royal chambers as possible. Cinastin would follow his light, as the boy really had nowhere else to go.

The passage wound its way through much of the floor, following the main hallways so far as Therec could tell. Sharp turns took them ever toward the middle of the keep, always paralleling the halls that were likely on the other side of one wall or the other. Whoever had designed the passage had been clever, keeping it narrow and never allowing it to alter the layout of the outside halls. Anyone attempting to map the place would have a difficult time even guessing the tunnel existed. By the time they figured it out, anyone using it would be miles away.

When they reached what Therec believed to be the center keep, the passage split off in several other directions that appeared to allow access to any other important rooms. At the intersection, the floor dropped away into darkness with a rotted old ladder as the only means of descent.

“Four floors,” whispered Cinastin, kneeling at the edge of the shaft. “That ladder should go down that far. No idea where the other passages go…my father never mentioned another room with access to these tunnels.”

“How long since the ladder was mended? It looks older than anything I have seen in the keep.”

Cinastin shook his head, warning Therec not to think too deeply on that topic. The ladder would have to hold or they would be making a faster descent than he would have wished. As narrow as the shaft was, Therec could see that if one of them fell, the other would have no means to avoid them.

“I’ll go down first,” Therec told the boy. He put one boot to the dry wood step of the ladder and felt it creak and shift. “If I fall, avoid the steps that break. If you fall, I will try to keep you from getting past me. You will get to the bottom, Your Majesty, or neither of us will.”

Slowly putting his full weight on the ladder, Therec took a breath to steady himself as the steps bent and crackled. Despite the sound, they did hold his weight. Once he was satisfied that the ladder might not immediately collapse, he turned his hand to let the globe of light fall into the shaft below. It raced away, lighting up a square passage with no other entrances as far as he could see before it was too far away to provide light. He could still make out very faint shapes from its ambient light, but it was no help with details.