Kaanyr cocked his head to one side, considering. 'I'm listening,' he said quietly.
Tauran continued. 'The price you will pay is steep. You must earn this blessing, Vhok. You must redeem yourself in some fashion, not only for your trespasses against the Court of Tyr, but for your very base nature itself. Only by serving me for a time that I choose and in a task I designate do you fulfill your end of this bargain. In exchange for that service, I will persuade the Court to permit you full access to the Lifespring.'
'What type of service? What duration? I will not agree to vagaries, angel. Your terms must be explicit. I will not succumb to trickery.'
Aliisza had to turn her face away to keep from letting Kaanyr see her smile. So he thinks, she thought. How little he knows.
'You must aid me in stopping whatever scheme Zasian Menz, priest of Cyric, plots within this realm. You must assist me in hunting him down, capturing him, and putting a stop to his machinations.'
'That could take but a few hours or tendays on end!' Vhok exclaimed. 'I do not have the luxury of limitless time to devote to this.'
'Then you have no accord with me,' Tauran replied with cold finality. 'That is the price you must pay for claiming the benefits of the Lifespring. And know this, Vhok. I will bind you to this service once you agree to it of your own free will. You will be coerced to comply with your end of the bargain.'
Vhok rubbed his chin with his hand. 'What if Zasian succeeds with whatever scheme he has developed before we catch him? What if he accomplishes his plot and returns to Toril before we can put a halt to it?'
'If we come to a point where your services are no longer beneficial, I will release you from your servitude and permit you to return unharried to your home, but you will not so much as set eyes on the Lifespring in that case.'
There was a long silence then, as the angel and the cambion eyed one another, each waiting for the other to flinch, to falter and give the other the final upper hand.
'Think of it this way,' Kael spoke at last. 'He offers you a chance at revenge against your betrayer. I know your kind, Vhok. You'd like nothing more than to hunt Menz down and ruin his plans. That's what you do, isn't it? Disrupt and depredate?' It was the first time Aliisza had seen Kael smile. It was Pharaun's smug smirk, and it unnerved her.
Kaanyr mused a moment longer, then turned to Aliisza. 'Walk with me,' he said, and he took her by the elbow and led her away. They followed the edge of the pool of water, passing through the mist that wafted from its surface until they were almost out of sight of the other two. Aliisza began to wonder if Kaanyr had deemed their chances higher if they simply fled right then. She cast a glance back, at Kael in particular. She was not yet ready to abandon her son, despite the strange nature of his behavior. Whatever his upbringing, he was still her child.
'What do you think of the idiot's offer?' Kaanyr asked as he stopped and turned her to face him. 'You've dealt with him before. How cagey is he being? What tricks will he try to play upon us?'
Oh, no, Aliisza thought. You must run this gauntlet on your own, just as you forced me to do. Aloud she asked, 'What's so important about this bath?' It had better be damned exhilarating, she thought, to send me through all I've endured just to get yourself here. 'What is this Lifespring you keep speaking of?'
'It is a wellspring of golden waters that brims with the energy and power of godhood. Though it would not make me a god, it would grant me the power to rule like I have never had before. With that magic at my command, I could enter Sundabar not as a mere conqueror but as a beloved leader, a sovereign worth worshiping. The people would cast out Helm Dwarf-friend, pull him from his throne, and kneel before me in adoration, never wondering why at all.'
Aliisza looked upon Kaanyr's face, so full of rapturous, fervent conviction, and had to keep from shuddering. His preoccupation with unseating the Master of the Hall of Sundabar had gone beyond sensible. He was edging close to the abyss of unreason.
So be it, she thought. 'Everything he will tell you is truth. Every promise he makes to you will be honored. He cannot help it. It is his nature.'
'That's not what I asked you. Can you see any trickery in his offer? Have I established the parameters solidly enough? Is there anything I am missing?'
It's not what you think you see that gets you, she thought. That's only what he distracts you with. It's what you never expected that will be your undoing. And you'll deserve every last bit of misery from it, you bastard. 'Only that the timing is so vague. All the impetus is on you to help catch Zasian quickly. Succeed admirably, and you gain all that you seek. Falter or fail, and your prize becomes less and less valuable.'
'Yes,' Kaanyr replied, stroking his chin again. 'And though the angel has every impetus to accomplish this quickly-at least based on his comments to Micus-your whelp has every reason to interfere, to watch me fail spectacularly. In truth, he might already be instructed to trip me up, just at my moment of glory. We can't have that,' the cambion said with a chuckle. 'I'll just have to make sure that sabotage is prohibited in the contract.'
With that, he turned and strode back toward the other two, leaving Aliisza without so much as a thank you. The alu stared daggers into his back then followed after him. She couldn't wait to see how Tauran yanked the rug from beneath Kaanyr.
'You have my solemn word,' Tauran was saying as Aliisza rejoined the group, 'that neither Kael nor I will do anything to thwart you from completing your duties, nor will we urge anyone else in the service of the Triad to do so. If you succeed in helping us stop Zasian, you will have nothing but our gratitude.'
'And the right to immerse myself in the Lifespring,' Kaanyr added.
'Yes,' Tauran said.
'Which will grant me the legendary powers it is renowned for. I will gain preternatural leadership qualities. All mortals who look upon me will wish to worship at my feet.'
'I cannot promise that each and every one of them will be enslaved to your charms, but your influence and charisma will be august.'
'And the freedom after that to return to Sundabar and claim its throne, with no interference from you or anyone else within this realm.'
'You may leave here unmolested at that time, but once you return to your home, how you choose to wield your newfound powers and the Court's reaction to it are beyond the scope of this agreement.'
'Good enough,' Kaanyr said. 'I accept.'
Tauran nodded and closed his eyes, as if in prayer. When he opened his eyes again, Aliisza wondered if he had woven the coercive magic upon Kaanyr. 'It is done,' he said. 'You are now bound to serve me until your appointed task is complete.'
The cambion frowned as the angel turned to the alu.
'And you?' Tauran asked.
Aliisza shrugged. 'I have no need to bathe in the Lifespring,' she said, smiling in bemusement. 'I see no reason to agree to anything other than what you offered me before. In exchange for what I know of Zasian-which is quite little, actually-I am free to return to Toril.'
Kaanyr gaped at her for several seconds. In return, she smiled at him. 'How does it feel?' she asked in her sweetest, most innocent voice.
'You treacherous, conniving little-'
'Help us anyway.' It was Kael who had spoken, and he looked at his mother with a strange expression.
Aliisza wasn't certain what it conveyed.
'Why?' she asked, a sense of caution sweeping over her. 'What's in it for me?'
'The chance you wanted before, back in the garden,' the half-drow replied. 'The chance to know me.' Aliisza wasn't sure how to respond. It was almost as if he were baiting her. 'If you return to Toril, to your home, that will be it. Whatever chance you have of showing me your maternal love will be lost to you. I will be lost to you.'
Aliisza peered into those garnet eyes and felt a deep pain in the core of her being. Despite the notion that her transformation into a being of goodness had all been a lie, a deceit of Tauran's from which Zasian's magic had shielded her, there was still some truth in that message of selflessness. If she walked away, no matter how much fun it would be to spite Kaanyr, she would never see her son again.
'Very well,' she said in a small voice. 'I will remain here and help you.' Then she quickly added, 'But of my own volition. I do not submit to any magical coercion, Tauran,' she said, giving Kaanyr another smug smile. He only glared at her in return.
