“The assassin loosed one crossbow bolt, then vanished.
We know that thanks to Varthlokkur. He informed us, presumably counting on us to pass it along.” Ragnarson barely suppressed the urge to demand that she tel him, now!
“The initial target was your daughter-in-law but the bolt hit your leman instead.”
“Sherilee?”
“Yes. We won’t be able to bring her here after al .”
“Sherilee.” In a hol ow, lost child voice.
The lifeguards readied themselves to deal with more bad behavior. But Ragnarson just melted. The concept of Sherilee with no life, going on ahead of him, was so alien that, though long experience had hardened him to the loss of comrades and loved ones, this touched him more deeply than had any but the deaths of his brother Haaken and his lover, Queen Fiana. He had visited Fiana’s grave frequently, up til the day he dragged Kavelin’s best off to their doom.
After a dozen seconds of silence, Lord Ssu-ma suggested,
“Perhaps we should step out for a moment.”
“You go,” Mist told him. “You three. I’l stay.” Nobody moved.
Mist said, “I want you three up in the parapet. Varthlokkur is going to deliver that assassin here. Only the Darkness knows why. I’m at no risk here. This is a broken man.” No one moved.
“Do execute your instructions before I become angry. And notify me when the captive arrives.”
The edge on her voice convinced al three. As they went, though, Mist noted, Shih-ka’i dropped a tiny scrol behind a decorative vase on the smal table a step to the right of the doorway. That would be a passive alarm meant to warn him if emotions grew overheated.
Secretly, Mist was pleased.
Bragi did not weep. He just sat there staring into infinity.
Had he begun to think he was the philosopher’s stone of death for those who got too near him? That those who had died around him had done so only because they were near him? A solipsist conceit impossible to refute logical y.
Mist and Lord Ssu-ma had arrived soon after Ragnarson’s breakfast. The day was fading when the Tervola reported the arrival of the assassin. He found Mist settled on her knees two yards from Ragnarson, apparently watching the westerner sleep but probably meditating. Ragnarson lay on the divan.
“The prisoner has arrived, Il ustrious.”
“Lord Ssu-ma? Was it the Unborn? Did it unsettle you that much?”
“It was. It did. And that despite the horrors of the war with the Deliverer.”
Mist said, “You do recal that the Deliverer was the grandson of the man who created the Unborn?”
“I do.”
Maybe he wished that he did not.
Maybe Ssu-ma Shih-ka’i had begun to wish that he had not al owed himself to be seduced away from his quiet life as commander of the Demonstration Legion.
“You would. You’re thorough. So, Lord Ssu-ma. What shal we do with this gift? What do you suppose the Deliverer’s grandfather had in mind?”
“I couldn’t guess his motives, Il ustrious. Surely the kil er wil know nothing useful, and I doubt that the Empire Destroyer would expect us to use his skil s.”
“Could we be expected to turn him over to Ragnarson?” “I doubt that.”
“Then put him into an empty cel . But let me have a look at him first. Maybe I’m supposed to recognize him.” She did not.
The captive was a gaunt, leathery man of advancing years who did not seem noteworthy at al . He was empty and maybe a little mad after his long flight from Tamerice.
Mist directed that he be cleaned up. She did not want parasites colonizing her tower.
...
In moments when he surfaced from grief Ragnarson realized that something was happening elsewhere in the tower. He heard what sounded like construction racket.
He passed several days in communion with despair. He dwelt, to the point of obsession, on what a different world it would be had he just not led his army through the Savernake Gap.
How many lives lost or ruined because of one fit of pride? And the ful tol had yet to be paid. Sherilee was just the latest charge.
“How are you feeling?”
Bragi started. He had not heard Mist come in.
“Better than before. How long have I been feeling sorry for myself?”
“Five days.”
“You’ve been hanging around that long?”
“No. I’ve been attending my duties outside. Other duties brought me back. I thought I’d look in. You seem changed.” In a voice edged with wonder, Ragnarson said, “I think you’re right. I feel different. I’m not al boiling inside. It’s confusing, but I seem to have been stricken by clarity.”
“Interesting.”
“It’s almost like waking up after a long fever.” Mist considered him critical y. “I hope so. You haven’t been you for a long time.”
Ragnarson paced. This was not his caged animal in a rage pacing. This was slow and thoughtful. “I’m probably not myself now, either. Do people get struck sane by tragedy?”
“Worthy thought. We’l watch for a relapse. But do try to cling to the state you’re in now.”
“You’re leaving?”
“Unfortunately, you aren’t the reason for my being here. I just stopped to say hel o.”
“Wel , thank you for that.”
...
Mist went to the room that Shih-ka’i had remodeled.
She looked around. “It looks good. Is that window big enough?”
Shih-ka’i replied, “It is. You aren’t a large woman.” She snorted. A statement of fact, yes, but she was vain enough to
take offense. She knew, though, that the pig farmer’s son would not
understand even if she did explain.
She asked, “Do you suppose he’s watching?”
“I would be if I had dropped that man here and right away you started remodeling.”
Mist heard an odd inflection there. “You have something on your mind?”
“I do. But it’s not germane. We have this project on the table. Shal we begin?”
Mist made another circuit of the room, which resembled Ragnarson’s, several levels below. It now had a larger window. She saw nothing to discourage her. “Have we unraveled the mystery of the attack on the tower yet?”
“No. Al paths lead to dead ends.”
“Michael Trebilcock, then.”
“Every prisoner here was high value and most had friends a lot closer than Kavelin.”
“Could there be another raid while I’m involved in this?” “I don’t know about that. I do know that an assault wil not succeed.” Mist stared at the expanded window. Was she ready emotional y? “My father and his brother made transfers without a receiving unit.
Do you have any idea how they did that?” The inquiry took Shih-ka’i by surprise. “Il ustrious? Is that true? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”
“I don’t know why it came to mind. I’ve never heard anything like that, either. But I just realized, both of them got into Varthlokkur’s
fortress in the Dragon’s Teeth, then got themselves trapped and kil ed.
How did they get there?”
“Is that true?”
Mist paused. Was it true? She had the story from several sources, none quite agreeing. Some claimed to have
