'Why can't I talk to Darkend? And why are you making it your business to see that I don't?'
'He's my brother, dearie. I've looked after his best interests ever since we were children together. Listen to me. What do you think Darkend has been doing since he took the throne? And why do you think he was meeting with the thanes of the Klar and Theiwar?'
'What do you mean?' Tarn's voice was dull.
'Perhaps you'd like to have a look.'
Garimeth indicated the door. Sensing the alertness of the two guards and the arrows pointed at his back, Tarn followed her outside. They stood on one of the wide plazas of the great manor, a place with a view of the crescent of Daerforge's waterfront and the broad swath of the sea beyond. There was a lot of activity there, columns of dark dwarves forming on the docks and collecting in the streets beyond the waterfront.
The bay, Tarn saw immediately, was thick with boats. A great, metal-hulled flotilla was in the process of boarding and gathering at the dockside of Daerforge. The scene bristled with armed Daergar. This was the embarkation of an army that could only have one goal, one destination.
Tarn's eyes rose to the spire of illuminated rock in the middle of the subterranean sea. Hybardin stood out like a beacon from the murk of the underworld, torches and lanterns and bonfires lighting the pillar like an outline of distant stars. Specks of illumination reflected in the black stillness of the water. It was his imagination to be sure, but Tarn heard the banter of the dockyard markets, the tapping of kegs, and the searing of grilled meats-all against the backdrop of cheerful Hylar society. He suddenly realized that he missed home very much.
And he wondered if he would ever see it again.
'The Klar? The Theiwar, too? It's a general attack?' he asked, masking his rising panic by the cool disinterest of his voice. He was terribly afraid. All he could think about was Belicia Felixia and her newly-trained company of novices.
'Yes. The Theiwar shall come by boat from the other side of the sea and the Klar are taking the tunnels of the high route. With any luck, they'll be charging into that nest of grand dames and doddering old fools on Level Twenty-eight before the Hylar even know the attack is underway.'
Tarn knew the passages she meant. The great homes of the nobles were on the highest of Hybardin's levels. Many of these had access to passages bored through the great dome of rock that arched over the sea. During the thousands of years Thorbardin had been inhabited, these tunnels had been expanded into a network of passages that could be used to connect Hybardin to virtually any other part of the great dwarf kingdom. Since they granted no access to the outside world, however, they had only peripherally been considered by those who planned for the Life-Tree's defense.
Level Twenty-eight was where Baker Whitegranite's house was, where his mother had lived for decades. The people who lived there now had been his mother's neighbors, her peers, and her companions since before Tarn had been born. He felt a wave of revulsion now at the thought that she could discuss their impending doom with such coldness. At the same time, he sensed that it was important not to let her see his true reaction.
'And Darkend organized this whole attack in the last few days?' he pressed.
'Actually, he's been planning it for some months. Since before he became thane, actually. My brother's a very good planner-not a dull, plodding scholar like your father. Darkend was waiting for a certain piece of news. When he got it, he was ready to move.'
'Word about Thane Hornfel and the Hylar army!' Tarn's eyes tightened on his mother's face. He spoke heatedly in spite of his earlier resolve for discretion. 'And you brought word from your own husband. You betrayed my father, the thane, the whole city.'
'If you don't think the Hylar deserve it, then you've been sleepwalking through life,' she retorted sharply. 'For too many centuries the smug Hylar have been lords of Thorbardin, and the time for their arrogant rule has passed.'
But Tarn's mind was following other paths. 'Planned for months, while Darkend was waiting for word… Then you have been part of this conspiracy all that time. And your divorcing my father had nothing to do with him?'
'It had everything to do with him. But I learned of my brother's ambitions and bided my time until my departure could serve a dual purpose.'
'And the Helm of Tongues-did you take it just as father claims?'
'Of course,' his mother snapped in exasperation. 'The artifact has use to me. Indeed, I have in mind far more practical applications than your father's esoteric research. You might say that it is a key to part of my own little plan.'
Tarn wanted to ask other questions, to probe farther into his mother's schemes. For a moment he considered challenging her, but he lacked the will. He was surprised to realize that Garimeth actually frightened him a little. Instinctively he took a step backward.
'What do you intend to do with me?' he asked. Once again he was suddenly very aware of his dry mouth, of the ache that had settled from his skull to permeate his entire body. His stomach was unsteady, but he now knew it was hunger. 'Can I have something to eat and drink?'
'Of course. I have no wish to punish you. After all, you're my son. But of course, I can't let you go just yet. You're also your father's son, and that part of you will be in a hurry to get back to Hybardin. And as I have said, I cannot allow that.'
The guards ushered him back to his room, where Tarn was relieved to note that the wardrobe door was shut. The two bowmen stood watch until, a few minutes later, Karc brought a pitcher of cold water, another pitcher of beer, and a variety of bread, cheeses, and fungi.
'Thanks, old dwarf,' Tarn said affectionately. 'I don't suppose this beer came from that special batch, did it?'
'I really must apologize for the deception, Master Tarn,' the venerable attendant said with apparent sincerity. 'And no, you will find this repast quite untainted. As long as you must be detained, I shall do what I can to make the time pass pleasantly.'
Karc and the guards departed. Tarn heard the door locked securely after it had closed behind them. He stood and listened carefully for several moments, certain that he heard three pairs of footsteps walk away.
Only after another full minute had passed did he cross to the wardrobe and pull open the thin door. He was determined to vigorously question Regal Wise-Always. Instead, he was startled to find himself staring into a small, empty closet. The back wall was the stone of the room's outer wall, and when he knocked on the surface there was none of the resonance that might have indicated a concealed passage.
Unsettled, he closed the door, then checked the other wardrobes. He was certain this was the one Regal had used for his escape. At first Tarn had assumed the gully dwarf knew a hiding place, but now he was certain that the Aghar used some secret path into his mother's house. And not just her house, but the very room where he was imprisoned.
And, Tarn figured, any way into the house was likely to work equally well as a way out.
Unless he had imagined the whole encounter. After all, his mind was still clouded by toxic fungus, and hadn't the guards said they heard him talking to himself?
He settled down to eat and drink, and for a time he was able to forget about everything except sating his hunger and thirst. He gulped down the whole pitcher of water, and half the beer. After many slices of thick, flavored bread, he began to feel better.
That was when his mind starting asking questions and making insinuations-even accusations. First of all, he saw that Axel Slateshoulders had been right and that he, Tarn, had been wrong. It was a mistake to want to inform the dark dwarves of the Hylar misfortune. Indeed, the matter of Hornfel's predicament and the threat of the Chaos storms had seemed utterly irrelevant to his mother, except insofar as it kept the Hylar army away and opened up the possibility of dark dwarf treachery.
This led him to his next thought: his own gullibility had led him to remove himself from any place where he could do any good. He couldn't help his father, and worst of all, the Daergar plot put Belicia Felixia Slateshoulders in grave danger.
Tarn leaped to his feet and stomped across the room to the door. He pulled at it, straining his shoulders in a futile attempt to bend the heavy bar. He fiddled with the latch, but he could see immediately that it was a steel lock that would only answer to the proper key. Finally he banged on the panel with his bare fist, demanding that someone come and let him out. Soon enough, growling in frustration, he ceased his clamor. He wasn't naive enough to think such a disturbance would have any chance of aiding in his release. It might, on the other hand, bring about
