There had been a time when Sardec would have whole-heartedly agreed, but at this moment, a pistol was the only weapon he could use with even a modicum of skill.
“You think it will come to that,” Sardec asked.
“It might. We do not know why Jaderac is here.”
“I suspect he told us the truth, Lady Asea. I have no doubt that Prince Khaldarus would like very much to get his hands upon his sister, or, failing that, to have her killed.”
“That is part of it now, I am sure. The question is what was he doing here before this crisis arose? I suspect Jaderac is here to stir up trouble in other ways. He is rich and he is one of the Queen-Empress’s many lovers. He often acts as her special envoy. He is just the individual to cause problems for us here- particularly among the landowners who have Purple sympathies.”
“You think he may have been behind Lord Esteril’s attack on us?”
“I would say it’s certainly possible.”
“It would not be a bad thing if an accident occurred to him then.”
“He probably thinks the same about us, Lieutenant. There is something else of which you should be aware.”
“Yes?”
“Lord Jaderac is a sorcerer of considerable power and somewhat sinister reputation.”
“Sinister reputation, milady?”
“There are rumours among that he dabbles in necromancy and other darker sorceries.”
“I will inform the troops, Lady Asea. I shall see all of them are wearing their elder signs.”
“I will take all steps to see that the mansion is protected. Inform the men that there will be wards placed in each corner of the building. They are not to disturb them.”
“It shall be done. May I ask what your plans are for the moment?”
“I will dispatch a messenger to Lord Ilmarec, and see if he will see us. Tonight I intend to dine with Lord Jaderac. I would be grateful if you would attend me.”
“Of course.”
“Then I will see you later. Now, if you will excuse me I have some tasks to perform.”
“I have given the men assigned to be my direct bodyguard leave to see the town,” she said. “They are gathering information on my behalf.”
Knowing those three they were most likely causing trouble and getting drunk. Sardec decided to keep that information to himself.
Rik strode through the streets of Morven, drinking in the feel of a new place. It was something he had come to love. In the first fifteen years of his life he had never strayed far from the streets of the poor quarters of Sorrow. He had possessed no idea of what a pleasure simply being in new surroundings could bring. He found they stimulated the eye and the brain. It did not matter to him whether the changes were small or large, they acted on him like a drug.
The girls here favoured braiding their hair, and many of them used carved wooden clasps to keep it in place. Their features were different from those he was used to; the hair more honey coloured, the noses slightly flatter, the lips thicker, the mouths wider. Many of them had eyes of startling blue. Their dresses were longer and marked with an intricate cross pattern that was local. A serpent motif seemed very common. Everyone was either barefoot or wore clogs save for the richest of merchants. They wore short robes whose hems would not drag in the omnipresent mud.
He noticed other things. The town was not so populous or so prosperous as it had first appeared. Many of the windows were boarded up, many of the doors too. In some places tiled roofs had collapsed, and entire tenements emitted a fusty, unlived in smell. There were the usual beggar swarms and many traders but not much of anybody else. It looked like a lot of people had left town. Given the tales of what Lord Ilmarec was up to, he supposed it was hardly surprising.
As the street reached the river, he noticed there were many bridges and hundreds of small boats. There were barges too, for transporting goods up and down the Mor. Most of them were harnessed to huge river wyrms. They splashed through the river like massive ships, sending ripples of waves behind them as they towed the enormous cargo vessels. The creatures were well trained, ducking their long, snakelike necks as they passed through the arches of the bridges.
“We’ll be heading downriver on those soon, I reckon,” said Weasel. He paused to light his pipe. He used a spill of wood, and a food vendor's brazier and he bought a sausage and some bread in return for the service.
“You think?” asked the Barbarian.
“Use that chunk of meat you call a brain,” said Weasel. “It’s the fastest way into the centre of the country, certainly the quickest way of moving supplies and reinforcements. That river is a wet road leading all the way to Halim, the capital, and then all the way down to the sea at Harven.”
The Barbarian considered this. “Never liked that place.”
“What place?” Rik asked.
“Harven. Passed through it when I first came from the Northlands. Lots of strange temples to the Sea Gods. Elder World demons in the water too. The Quan they were called. Strange things they were, half-man, half-squid. You could see them in the harbour sometimes. They say there is an underwater city full of them just out in the Gulf of Harven. I believe it. There were lights down there as our freighter came in. Sailors kept making elder signs, talked all the time about the Shipbreaker. Some huge demon that'd pull a galleon to the bottom. Take down a dragon in a gulp.” He paused and looked up at the Tower. Its tip vanished into the gathering clouds. Rik guessed there would be rain soon.
“I’m not very keen on Elder World demons,” the Barbarian said eventually.
“Who is?” Rik asked.
“I’m not very keen on those who consort with them either. I don’t know how these people can stand to live in the shadow of that thing. Bloody Serpent Men.”
“Hasn’t been a Serpent Man up there since the start of the New Age,” said Weasel.
“What was that bloody light we saw in the woods then?” the Barbarian asked.
The vendor looked at them. His face paled. It made his massive bushy black moustache look all the more prominent. “You say you saw a light in the woods?” he said.
The Barbarian nodded. “Aye, what of it?”
“Where?” the vendor said. His accent was so thick Rik had to concentrate to understand him.
“Near an abandoned mansion house near a ford, about six leagues south west of here.”
“Out near the old abandoned Abelen Manor?”
“Yes, maybe,” said Weasel. He looked at the man. “What’s so strange about seeing a light out there?”
“The place is haunted. Foresters saw ghosts in the woods near there. Ghosts from the Elder days. Some say they saw them up by the broken towers where the master used the green light too.”
Rik passed the man some money for a sausage. He seemed keen to talk now, and scared. “You say Lord Ilmarec has been using green light.”
“Aye- he’s only doing so to protect his holdings now that civil war has come, but I agree with your big Northern friend there. I don’t hold with Elder World sorcery. It does no good meddling with such things. No good at all.”
“I’m sure Lord Ilmarec knows better than us,” said Weasel.
The vendor touched the wooden elder sign on his breast, then moved his fingers to inscribe its outline on the air. “You’re probably right, sir. You’re probably right but some very strange things has been happening of late and the ghosts of the elder snakes is not the least of it.”
“No?” said Weasel, leading the man on.
“Lock yourself up after dark,” said the trader. He spoke the words with the hint of satisfaction that some people get from imparting bad news.
“Why?”
“People are going missing.”
“Certainly looks that way,” said Rik. “I saw a lot of empty houses as we walked down here.”
The vendor laughed nervously. “Those houses most likely belong to people who left town when Lord Ilmarec started calling on the green light and the runes on the Tower side started to glow. Lot of folk were afraid of it, and
