The villain was
not a Deceiver after all. He did not understand what a Deceiver
was. He being Suruvhija’s son Bhijar, whom Booboo had pulled
in with her “love me” effect, working him only when no
one else was around. She had sent him to a secret member of the
Strangler brotherhood. He had gotten the killing scarf there. That
had happened while we were in the air, coming home from the
glittering plain.
The boy received only what punishment his mother thought was
appropriate. The Deceiver who supplied the rumel, though, soon went
the way of his Goddess. Along with a number of friends. There would
be no mercy for Stranglers until the last was dead.
While others rooted out the truth I stayed busy with Lady and
Booboo. I soon realized that I did not have the skills to save
either. I summoned the best physicans from the Land of Unknown
Shadows. To a man they told me what I did not want to hear.
Sorcery was the only hope for either woman. And Tobo was the
only one with a command of the appropriate sorcery. Arkana and
Shukrat could not help much. They knew little about the healing
arts.
I told Suvrin, “Regardless of my personal motives, the boy
is one of us. We can’t leave him in a Taglian
cell.”
Suvrin had a little too much of the politician in him. Too much
of the kind of mind willing to let an individual go so the rest
will not be inconvenienced. He wanted to avoid a confrontation with
Aridatha Singh.
I continued, “You do need to get into the Annals, Captain.
You need to understand completely what it means to be a brother of
the Black Company.”
“Maybe I do. Until I do I’ll run things the way I am
now.”
I did not argue. I had not expected any other answer. I met
Shukrat outside, shook my head. She tested her sleep spell on the
men Suvrin sent after me to make sure I behaved. That spell worked
perfectly.
Shukrat and I went looking for the Great General.
Arkana kindly flew high cover.
We were going to bust Tobo out.
The flaw in that plan was, we did not know where Tobo was being
held.
So we had to go ask Aridatha. Being more careful than
Tobo had been when it came to invading the Great General’s
quarters. Shukrat prepared the way with her sleep spell. It all
started out so well I was hard pressed not to look on the dark side
and expect a trap.
Singh was not easy to handle unconscious. At least not easy for
a gimp old man and a mite of a teenage girl. Nevertheless, we got
him aboard my post before he was missed, then took him way up high
into the clouds, and through, into the moonlight.
I had Shukrat wake him up.
“We need to talk, Aridatha. And you need to stay calm
while we do. Because it’s almost a mile down to the
ground.”
Singh was a cool one. He collected himself. “What do you
want?”
“Tobo. Where is he? I’m asking, counting on you to
continue being concerned about Taglios. About what new fighting
would do to the city.”
Singh did not say anything.
I told him, “You’re doing a good job of riding the
tiger. But that tiger is going to get a chance to run wild if I end
up having to drop your ass from a mile up in the sky.”
He considered that, suspecting that I might not be bluffing.
“You could start a new war.”
“You could.”
“The man tried to assassinate me.”
“He won’t do that again,” Shukrat told him.
“We’re going to have a talk, Tobo and me. When
we’re done he’ll stop doing stupid things
forever.” She did not sound like she had any doubts. She did
make it sound like Tobo had a surprise coming.
I said, “To lay your mind at rest, it won’t trouble
me a bit if we get into a new fight with you people. I don’t
have much left to live for. I can burn Taglios to the ground
without compunction. Unlike some, I don’t love the place.
It’s done nothing to win my heart.”
Arkana said, “If he kills you there won’t be anyone
to look out for the Radisha.” The Radisha had become regent
despite tradition because Aridatha Singh insisted. Strongly. And
nobody wanted to argue with the Great General. Even out in the
provinces resistance to the new order seemed to be weakening,
almost as if it was just too much trouble to fight over all of this
when things were going so well otherwise.
Arkana did not give a rat’s ass about the Radisha’s
welfare. She just wanted Aridatha to survive this incident.
“Just tell us where Tobo is,” I said. “Shukrat
and I will bring him out.” Slowly, slowly, I tilted my post
forward. Timing its arrival well, a gap in the clouds appeared
below, allowing the moonlight to get through and reflect off the
surface of the river. We discovered that, when he could actually
see how high he was, Aridatha Singh had a fear of heights. It
proved to be one of those fears which evades reason’s
control.
We set him down on the north bank of the river. Arkana stayed
with him. I wondered if she would find the nerve to betray her
interest.
The villain was
not a Deceiver after all. He did not understand what a Deceiver
was. He being Suruvhija’s son Bhijar, whom Booboo had pulled
in with her “love me” effect, working him only when no
one else was around. She had sent him to a secret member of the
Strangler brotherhood. He had gotten the killing scarf there. That
had happened while we were in the air, coming home from the
glittering plain.
The boy received only what punishment his mother thought was
appropriate. The Deceiver who supplied the rumel, though, soon went
the way of his Goddess. Along with a number of friends. There would
be no mercy for Stranglers until the last was dead.
While others rooted out the truth I stayed busy with Lady and
Booboo. I soon realized that I did not have the skills to save
either. I summoned the best physicans from the Land of Unknown
Shadows. To a man they told me what I did not want to hear.
Sorcery was the only hope for either woman. And Tobo was the
only one with a command of the appropriate sorcery. Arkana and
Shukrat could not help much. They knew little about the healing
arts.
I told Suvrin, “Regardless of my personal motives, the boy
is one of us. We can’t leave him in a Taglian
cell.”
Suvrin had a little too much of the politician in him. Too much
of the kind of mind willing to let an individual go so the rest
will not be inconvenienced. He wanted to avoid a confrontation with
Aridatha Singh.
I continued, “You do need to get into the Annals, Captain.
You need to understand completely what it means to be a brother of
the Black Company.”
“Maybe I do. Until I do I’ll run things the way I am
now.”
I did not argue. I had not expected any other answer. I met
Shukrat outside, shook my head. She tested her sleep spell on the
men Suvrin sent after me to make sure I behaved. That spell worked
perfectly.
Shukrat and I went looking for the Great General.
Arkana kindly flew high cover.
We were going to bust Tobo out.
The flaw in that plan was, we did not know where Tobo was being
held.
So we had to go ask Aridatha. Being more careful than
Tobo had been when it came to invading the Great General’s
quarters. Shukrat prepared the way with her sleep spell. It all
started out so well I was hard pressed not to look on the dark side
and expect a trap.
Singh was not easy to handle unconscious. At least not easy for
a gimp old man and a mite of a teenage girl. Nevertheless, we got
him aboard my post before he was missed, then took him way up high
into the clouds, and through, into the moonlight.
I had Shukrat wake him up.
“We need to talk, Aridatha. And you need to stay calm
while we do. Because it’s almost a mile down to the
ground.”
Singh was a cool one. He collected himself. “What do you
want?”
“Tobo. Where is he? I’m asking, counting on you to
continue being concerned about Taglios. About what new fighting
would do to the city.”
Singh did not say anything.
I told him, “You’re doing a good job of riding the
tiger. But that tiger is going to get a chance to run wild if I end
up having to drop your ass from a mile up in the sky.”
He considered that, suspecting that I might not be bluffing.
“You could start a new war.”
“You could.”
“The man tried to assassinate me.”
“He won’t do that again,” Shukrat told him.
“We’re going to have a talk, Tobo and me. When
we’re done he’ll stop doing stupid things
forever.” She did not sound like she had any doubts. She did
make it sound like Tobo had a surprise coming.
I said, “To lay your mind at rest, it won’t trouble
me a bit if we get into a new fight with you people. I don’t
have much left to live for. I can burn Taglios to the ground
without compunction. Unlike some, I don’t love the place.
It’s done nothing to win my heart.”
Arkana said, “If he kills you there won’t be anyone
to look out for the Radisha.” The Radisha had become regent
despite tradition because Aridatha Singh insisted. Strongly. And
nobody wanted to argue with the Great General. Even out in the
provinces resistance to the new order seemed to be weakening,
almost as if it was just too much trouble to fight over all of this
when things were going so well otherwise.
Arkana did not give a rat’s ass about the Radisha’s
welfare. She just wanted Aridatha to survive this incident.
“Just tell us where Tobo is,” I said. “Shukrat
and I will bring him out.” Slowly, slowly, I tilted my post
forward. Timing its arrival well, a gap in the clouds appeared
below, allowing the moonlight to get through and reflect off the
surface of the river. We discovered that, when he could actually
see how high he was, Aridatha Singh had a fear of heights. It
proved to be one of those fears which evades reason’s
control.
We set him down on the north bank of the river. Arkana stayed
with him. I wondered if she would find the nerve to betray her
interest.