“As much as I would like to, the decision is not mine to make,” said Filfaeril. “It will be for your father to decide when he arrives. Until then, all I ask-no, commandis that you be careful.”
“Command accepted.”
Tanalasta smiled and unfurled the parchment. It was a catalog of the six ghazneths they had identified so far, along with notes on their demonstrated powers and speculations on their motivations for betraying Cormyr. It also included suggestions as to what might satisfy the desires that had caused them to become traitors in the first place.
“This is good work, Alaphondar, they’re all here,” Tanalasta said, scanning the list. When she came to King Boldovar’s name, she could not help glancing at her mother, whom the ghazneth had kidnapped in the early days of the crisis.
“‘King Boldovar, Scourge of Madness, master of darkness, deception, and illusion,’” the queen quoted, guessing which entry had caused Tanalasta to stop reading. “‘He loves the pain of others, and their fear. To win power over him, one must surrender.’”
“Boldovar was the only one I could not figure out,” said Alaphondar. “Your mother’s experience was most useful on that account.”
Tanalasta let the parchment furl itself into a roll. “Mother, I had no idea.”
Filfaeril merely looked away. “When you faced the other ghazneths, I am sure your own distress was just as great.”
Though Tanalasta suspected it had not been, she knew better than to argue the point. Her mother had avoided speaking of the experience before and showed little inclination to do so now.
It was Alaphondar who filled the uncomfortable silence. “The list names the weaknesses of all the ghazneths, but it remains lacking.”
“You have not discovered why Xanthon’s powers return?” asked Owden.
“I fear not.” Alaphondar shook his head drearily. “Until we understand that, I fear we must assume that any advantage we gain over the others will also be temporary.”
“Well, this is a good start,” said Tanalasta, tucking the scroll into her cloak. “At least it will help the advance company detain them until the rest of the army arrives.”
“What will?” asked a young voice at the fringe of the tree boughs. “Have we discovered something good?”
Tanalasta looked up to see Orvendel Rallyhorn, Korvarr’s guileless younger brother, approaching with a tray of drinks. A squinting youth of about seventeen, he was as pale and awkward as Tanalasta had been at that age, which no doubt accounted for the sisterly affection she bore him. When the queen’s bodyguards crossed their iron glaives in front of the boy, he cast a crestfallen look in Tanalasta’s direction.
“I thought the Royal Sage Most Learned might like a refreshment.”
Korvarr gasped at his brother’s slighting of the queen, and Filfaeril herself looked rather surprised, but Tanalasta could not help chuckling. It was just like the bookish youth to be taken with Alaphondar and oblivious to the royals. She nodded to the guards and motioned the youth forward.
“Alaphondar Emmarask, may I present Orvendel Rallyhorn.” She waited for Orvendel to set the tray on the table and bow to the royal sage, then said, “If aptitude and ardor count for anything, he will be Master of the Royal Libraries one day.”
Orvendel’s eyes grew wide. “When?”
“One day, Orvendel,” growled Korvarr. Clearly embarrassed by the youth’s naivete, he stepped to his brother’s side and motioned to Filfaeril. “Perhaps you would like to bow to the queen, Orvendel?”
If Orvendel realized his mistake, his face did not show it. He bowed quickly to the queen and turned back to Alaphondar. “What do you think of Luthax? Because I was thinking-“
Noticing the horror-stricken look on her mother’s face, Tanalasta caught Orvendel by the sleeve. “Don’t you have some supplies to see to?”
Orvendel merely shook his head. “That’s done.”
“I think the princess is saying we would like some privacy,” said Alaphondar, gently shooing the youth toward Korvarr. “If you are going to be a sage, you must start paying as much attention to what people do not say as to what they do.”
A cloud came over Orvendel’s face, but he finally seemed to realize that his presence was something of an intrusion and backed away. “That’s all right, I’ll come back later.” He reached the circle of bodyguards and turned, saying, “Maybe when the king gets here.”
Tanalasta sent Korvarr after the boy with a flick of her eyes, then looked to her mother.
Before she could apologize, Filfaeril asked, “That boy is part of your army?”
“Not really,” Tanalasta explained, “but he knows these woods better than the wolves do. He leads out the supply trains, and quietly keeps Korvarr in good ale.”
A rare frown creased the queen’s brow, and she looked pensively after the boy.
“Really, Mother,” said Tanalasta. “You can’t be thinking that Orvendel-“
“How could I?” interrupted Filfaeril. “I didn’t know about him until now, but Korvarr is still on the list.”
“Korvarr?” Tanalasta rolled her eyes. “That’s not possible. You saw what he did when Sarmon turned him into a hummingbird.”
As Tanalasta finished, the ewer and mugs Orvendel had brought began to shake. Suddenly sharing in her mother’s suspicions, the princess leaped up and swept the tray off the table. The ewer shattered on a stone and spilled nothing but red wine onto the ground.
The whole ridge started to shake and rumble, and an alarm horn sounded in the top of the oak-once, twice, then something crashed into the branches and it came to a strangled halt. The queen’s bodyguards and war wizards started forward, as did the princess’s, and something long and green dropped to the table between Tanalasta and her mother. The princess was still trying to identify it when the thing twined itself into a coil and raised its head to strike at the queen.
“Ghazneths!” Tanalasta screamed.
Tanalasta lashed out and caught the serpent by its coil, jerking the thing away from her mother even as it unfurled itself to strike. Filfaeril cried out and pushed away from the table, tumbling over backward in her chair. The snake’s head hung in the air above the queen, swinging back and forth for just an instant, then shot around in a half circle and planted its fangs high in Tanalasta’s breast.
A torrent of liquid fire gushed through Tanalasta’s chest and spread slowly outward. The arm holding the snake grew weak and numb and dropped limp at her side. She croaked out a surprised cry and staggered back two steps and fell.
The ridge was shaken by a tremendous eruption. Pieces of slope began to slough off the escarpment and crash into the valley below. Tanalasta barely heard the roar, for a terrible ringing had filled her ears. She looked toward the sound and saw a fissure of magma opening down the spine of the ridge, spewing clouds of sulfur- stinking smoke and curtains of churning fire high into the air. The great oak listed across the fiery gap, and its trunk burst instantly into flames.
The heat made Tanalasta feel queasy and confused. She tried to roll away and found herself too weak. She managed to turn her head, then saw a dark silhouette swooping down out of the smoking boughs above her. She recognized the wedge-shaped face of Xanthon Cormaeril-those red, ovoid eyes were hard to overlook, even with a head full of fog-then saw a flurry of crossbow bolts catch the ghazneth in the side, peppering him with so much iron that he veered over the escarpment and sank out of sight.
A distant crackle came to Tanalasta above the ringing in her ears, then there was a red flash and the anguished voices of burning dragoneers. Her vision narrowed and began to darken, and somewhere far away Korvarr began to shout orders and curses.
Owden Foley appeared above her, then she felt something rip free of her breast. It was a pair of fangs. How could she have forgotten the snake? Owden’s rough hand slipped under her weathercloak and ripped it free, exposing her from her collarbone to her swollen waist. He slashed the bite open with his dagger and began to squeeze the blood out, all the while calling upon Chauntea to neutralize the poison and protect her from its effects.
A circle of war wizards rushed up and stood gaping down at her. At first Tanalasta could not imagine why they looked so surprised, then she recalled her enlarged breasts and swollen belly, and the dark line running down
