perhaps Asea was right. “Still, your father made a great effort.”
“Thank you. I am sure he will appreciate the fact that you said that.”
“Please pass on my regards to him when next you see him.”
“I will be sure to do so.”
“I have always regretted that the Queen-Empress replaced him with Lord Xephan as Chancellor. Xephan seems so much more… aggressive.”
“Xephan follows the Old Ways very strictly,” said Tamara. “He wishes to see the Empire united once more.”
“With him as Chancellor, of course,” said Jaderac sardonically. It was evident he had no liking for the Terrarch they were talking about.
The servants brought in the main course, of river fowl in dreamberry sauce. It was very good.
Lady Tamara looked over the table and said, “You must have seen a lot of action, Lieutenant.”
“You mean to have lost my hand,” he said, deciding not to let the unspoken part of her statement hang in the air. Jaderac winced at his crassness. Tamara met his gaze without embarrassment.
“Yes.”
“Enough.”
“There are already tales doing the rounds about how you held off Lord Esteril at the old Abelen house. He quite sang your praises when we dined with him the other evening. He said you were a true son of your father.”
So there had been contact between Esteril and this pair. Sardec wondered whether it pre-dated Esteril's attack. He was tempted to ask but instead said; “He is too kind. I merely did my duty.”
“There are other stories,” said Jaderac. “About how you lost your hand in combat with an Elder World demon. Perhaps you would care to tell us about that.”
“I am surprised such tales have made it across the border,” said Sardec.
Jaderac’s smile was cold. “I make it my business to keep track of such things. I understand the Lady Asea was with you. Please tell us the whole story. It’s been a long time since one of the First rode to battle with the spawn of Uran Ultar. Surely that is a tale worth the telling. They say you killed the Prophet Zarahel yourself, is that true?”
There was a goading note in Jaderac’s voice, and Sardec wondered at how well informed the Easterner was. Of course, given his position, Jaderac most probably had his own intelligence network in this part of the world, and in Talorea as well.
“One of my men killed him.”
“The half-breed?” Jaderac’s gaze switched to Lady Asea now. Unconcernedly she forked some of the bird into her mouth, and then dabbed her lips with a napkin.
“Exactly so.”
“If you will forgive me for saying so, it’s a sad day for the Talorean army when its heroes are half- breeds.”
The tone was deliberately provocative even if the words were not. Sardec wondered whether Jaderac was merely arrogant and prejudiced or whether he really wanted a duel. Asea smiled at him calmly. Sardec recalled that it was not so long ago that he would have agreed with Jaderac. Now he found himself being forced to defend the half-breed. Truly the world was strange.
“The man is a brave soldier,” he said. “His deeds won commendation from Lord Azaar himself.”
“On my estate half-breed children are exposed on the mountainsides.”
Sardec smiled just as coldly as Jaderac. “So there are half-breeds on your estates, Lord Jaderac? I can see you come from a family with strong appetites.”
Tamara coughed. Lady Asea covered her mouth with her hand.
“What exactly are you implying, Prince?” Jaderac was using his title now. Such formality was usually a precursor to a challenge.
There was silence among them for a moment. The summer rain tapped lightly on the windows.
“Someone must be breeding such children- or are you implying that your neighbours are sneaking onto your estates and abusing your thralls? I have heard such things happen in the East.” Sardec kept his tone light and lazy.
“You have heard incorrectly.”
“Then it is members of your house that you must blame, I fear.” Sardec was now being deliberately obtuse.
“I think this is rather an indelicate subject,” said Tamara.
“Please forgive me then, Lady Tamara. I apologise for my boorishness.”
Seeing Jaderac’s look Sardec felt like he had just had a close escape from a duel. He wondered why Lady Tamara had thrown him the rescue line. If their mission here had been to provoke a fight she had just defeated the purpose of it.
“I understand some of your men claim to have encountered a Serpent Man in the woods,” said Tamara. “Is this true?”
This pair seemed extraordinarily well informed. He wondered which of his men has been gossiping. Perhaps he should issue a warning against that.
“It seems unlikely,” said Asea. “Perhaps they are telling tales inspired by the old stories. Soldiers can be a very superstitious lot.”
“Perhaps they are less superstitious than you believe, milady. This is not the first tale of such I have heard since coming here. If you listen to some of the locals, Serpent Men or their ghosts stalk the streets by night, carrying off babies and killing late night strollers.”
“I doubt Serpent Men would do such things,” said Asea. “They are carnivores but they do not like the taste of human flesh. Just more tales, most likely.”
“Or perhaps Lord Ilmarec has used the necromantic arts to conjure up the shades of the Elder Race.”
“If I did not know better, my Lord, I would say you were trying to frighten me.”
“What has one of the First to fear from mere ghosts, Lady Asea?” said Jaderac gallantly. “I am merely seeking your opinion as an acknowledged expert on the supernatural.”
“We both know that ghosts usually only appear at places of power. Sometimes the death of a powerful sorcerer will imprint his presence on the aura of the place where he fell but such events are rare. The death has to be particularly traumatic.”
“The Serpent Men are known to be powerful sorcerers.”
“I think if their ghosts were going to appear they would have done so before now, Lord Jaderac. They have had several millennia to do so and no one seems to have spotted them in those long centuries.”
“Not unless their spirits were disturbed by something. Or they are guardians or harbingers.”
“You are suggesting that Lord Ilmarec may have unleashed something that was best left undisturbed.”
“Precisely. We do not know what guardians the Serpent Men may have left behind to protect their secrets.”
Asea looked thoughtful for a moment. “You may be right,” she said. “But these are gloomy thoughts. Surely there must be something lighter we can talk of?”
“I fear all conversational avenues lead in distressing directions,” said Jaderac. “However I will do my best. Have you heard what befell Lord Belezar in Askander?”
He went on to tell a long droll incident concerning a famous old rake in the Eastern capital and how he was bilked of a small fortune by scheming sorcerers who claimed to have the secret of transforming lead into gold. Sardec had to admit the story was well told. Asea followed it with a similar tale set at the Amber Palace, and for a short while it felt like a normal Terrarch gathering, full of amiably spiteful gossip and sardonic wit. Under the influence of the wine he found it was almost possible to forget that Jaderac and Tamara were enemies.
Sardec noticed that Asea was looking at the windows. When he looked closer he could see why. A thin green glow leaked into the room through the gap in the curtains.
“What is it, milady?” he asked. Asea frowned.
“Lieutenant, I would be obliged if you would open the curtains.”
Sardec rose to obey. He opened first the curtains and then the shutters. As he did so a baleful green glow
