The Great General
picked up a snail shell, considered it. “More of these things
around here all the time. But nobody ever sees a live
one.”
Ghopal said, “I’d bear down on my household staff if
this was my place.”
A distant crash echoed through the hallways. Greys and Guards
had begun demolishing walls at random, to make it more difficult
for the Deceivers to hide. And in areas they felt confident were
clear they had masons sealing doorways and walling off entire
hallways. Additionally, several self-anointed psychics and ghost
hunters had joined the hunt.
Mogaba said, “You’re probably right.” He
gestured to one of several young men who had been trailing them.
That fellow snapped a slight bow and disappeared. Before long every
domestic in the palace was involved in a massive housekeeping
campaign. Mogaba observed, “We can’t have this place
looking a mess when our enemies get here.”
A messenger huffed and puffed into the presence. The search had
stumbled onto some corpses. From long ago. Three men wearing
nothing but loincloths. They appeared to have gotten lost in the
maze of the Palace, but had perished of wounds suffered earlier.
The searchers were troubled because the corpses had not suffered
much from vermin or normal putrefaction.
“Don’t do anything with them,” Mogaba said.
“Don’t even touch them. Just seal them up where they
are.” He told Ghopal, “Those would be some of the
Deceivers who tried to assassinate the Liberator and the Radisha
when you were still wearing diapers.” He sighed. “No
matter what we do to hurry this it’s going to take an
age.”
“They do have to eat.”
“Eventually, yes. We’ll guard the kitchens at all
times.” And, he said aloud to no one, because these days it
was more secure to communicate by passing notes, any food easily
reached during quiet hours would be poisoned.
“Keep at it here, Ghopal. Day and night. Use as many
people as we can spare.” The Great General expected his
enemies to come for him and he was making preparations to welcome
them.
Mogaba withdrew to his own quarters. There he invested an hour
in one of his hobbies before he moved on to the Protector’s
quarters to nap. He used her apartment now because no one ever went
there. No one but the Great General dared. No one but the Great
General could pass through the warding spells the Protector had
left in place.
It had become his sanctuary.
Mogaba’s scouts and spies had reported that Croaker and
all his mob had rejoined the Company, back from wherever they had
gone, with even more tools of deviltry.
The crisis could come any time now.
The Great General
picked up a snail shell, considered it. “More of these things
around here all the time. But nobody ever sees a live
one.”
Ghopal said, “I’d bear down on my household staff if
this was my place.”
A distant crash echoed through the hallways. Greys and Guards
had begun demolishing walls at random, to make it more difficult
for the Deceivers to hide. And in areas they felt confident were
clear they had masons sealing doorways and walling off entire
hallways. Additionally, several self-anointed psychics and ghost
hunters had joined the hunt.
Mogaba said, “You’re probably right.” He
gestured to one of several young men who had been trailing them.
That fellow snapped a slight bow and disappeared. Before long every
domestic in the palace was involved in a massive housekeeping
campaign. Mogaba observed, “We can’t have this place
looking a mess when our enemies get here.”
A messenger huffed and puffed into the presence. The search had
stumbled onto some corpses. From long ago. Three men wearing
nothing but loincloths. They appeared to have gotten lost in the
maze of the Palace, but had perished of wounds suffered earlier.
The searchers were troubled because the corpses had not suffered
much from vermin or normal putrefaction.
“Don’t do anything with them,” Mogaba said.
“Don’t even touch them. Just seal them up where they
are.” He told Ghopal, “Those would be some of the
Deceivers who tried to assassinate the Liberator and the Radisha
when you were still wearing diapers.” He sighed. “No
matter what we do to hurry this it’s going to take an
age.”
“They do have to eat.”
“Eventually, yes. We’ll guard the kitchens at all
times.” And, he said aloud to no one, because these days it
was more secure to communicate by passing notes, any food easily
reached during quiet hours would be poisoned.
“Keep at it here, Ghopal. Day and night. Use as many
people as we can spare.” The Great General expected his
enemies to come for him and he was making preparations to welcome
them.
Mogaba withdrew to his own quarters. There he invested an hour
in one of his hobbies before he moved on to the Protector’s
quarters to nap. He used her apartment now because no one ever went
there. No one but the Great General dared. No one but the Great
General could pass through the warding spells the Protector had
left in place.
It had become his sanctuary.
Mogaba’s scouts and spies had reported that Croaker and
all his mob had rejoined the Company, back from wherever they had
gone, with even more tools of deviltry.
The crisis could come any time now.