Vanderjack and Gredchen stopped shouting at each other and turned. The red dragonarmy highmaster, fully armored, caped, and helmed, stood at the top of the stairs. Behind her were the gaunt albino wizard Cazuvel and the hulking form of one of the Red Watch sivaks.
“Ackal’s Teeth!” swore Vanderjack.
“Ackal’s Teeth? I heard he’d replaced them all with wood near the end of his long depraved life,” Rivven Cairn said. “It’s a pleasure to finally catch up with you, Ergothian.”
Vanderjack instinctively reached for his sword, but gritted his teeth and formed a fist instead. “The pleasure’s all yours, Cairn,” he said. “Believe me.”
“As I am sure you have already discovered, the good Baron has sent you on a fool’s errand. I’m not sure if he’s going senile in his old age or if he truly believed this would work, but you won’t be returning with that painting.”
“Highmaster, please, we’re only here to retrieve what is rightfully his,” said Gredchen, stepping forward with her hands raised and open. “Under authorized contract.”
Rivven cocked her head to one side. “Do you know, Cazuvel,” she said, “Gredchen here actually lied to me earlier? She told me she knew nothing about the Ergothian and was simply on the road within my lands to get supplies.”
“How unfortunate,” muttered the wizard, his violet eyes wandering along Gredchen from crown to heel.
Gredchen shuddered then started to say something, but Rivven cut her off.
“Enough. You’ve made your bed, girl, so now you’re going to have to drag it home to the baron’s manor and lie in it. Say good-bye to the Ergothian.”
“I’m half Saifhumi, actually,” Vanderjack said through clenched teeth. “Some say it’s where I get my good looks.”
“Do they now? But Saifhumi explains a lot,” Rivven said. “The Saifhumi are all pirates, thieves, and liars.”
“Guilty as charged,” Vanderjack said more cheerfully than he felt, glancing around to see if there was any way out of their predicament other than through the highmaster, the wizard, and the draconian thug. It didn’t look likely.
“Sellsword, I am here to collect on debts you have incurred since you signed on with the baron. You have three choices: you can repay me and the highlord of the Red Wing with steel coins, with your services, or in blood.”
“Can I have a moment to think about it?”
“You can have as long as you like. Of course, you will have to do your slow deliberating back in my dungeons under Wulfgar. I’m sure you’ve heard that they are quite secure, unlike those beneath this castle.”
“Your hospitality is legendary,” Vanderjack said. “But perhaps I can pay you back in services, as you suggest. Yes, it almost appeals to me. However, I can’t rightly sign up with your army without proper armor-my armor, which has been taken away from me, and my favorite sword.”
“Your Excellency,” said Cazuvel. “The armor in question once belonged to your captain Annaud.”
Vanderjack shrugged. “He wasn’t using it anymore.”
“That’s enough!” Rivven snapped. “I shall be keeping both your stolen armor and the sword Lifecleaver as partial repayment. You would get suitable replacements in my-the
“Now wait a minute,” said Vanderjack as the sivak advanced upon him. “That sword is a priceless family heirloom.”
“Gredchen, you are free to go,” said Rivven coolly. “I suggest you make haste. I can’t guarantee your safety for long. Apparently,” she looked pointedly at Cazuvel, “some of my officers and draconians have been acting quite independently lately, and I would truly hate to have you suffer under any of their unwarranted misbehavior.”
Gredchen looked apologetically at Vanderjack, who didn’t return the favor. The sellsword’s arms were yanked behind his back by the sivak, and he was forcibly marched out of the room and down the spiral stairs.
“Watch the head!” the sellsword called out, launching into a long string of expletives.
Rivven Cairn moved to stand in front of the baron’s beautiful daughter and pointed at the stairs.
“Go,” she barked to Gredchen, “before I change my mind.”
“What about Theodenes?” asked the baron’s aide, looking at the incapacitated gnome.
“Does it matter?” asked Rivven.
“He is promised to me,” said Cazuvel, stepping forward and hovering over the gnome, fingers laced together.
“I feel responsible for him,” she said in a soft voice. “Moreover, I admit I feel a fondness for him.”
Rivven hesitated, her brows knitted. “Very well.” Rivven turned to Cazuvel. “Sorry, wizard. I’ve had a rare change of heart. You can keep that dragonne creature, but the gnome goes home with Gredchen.”
“But, Your Excellency!” said Cazuvel, noting Gredchen’s look of surprise at the mention of the dragonne.
“Any more complaints, wizard, and you won’t even get that,” she said dismissively. She motioned toward the gnome. “So pick him up and get out of here.”
Gredchen nodded and stooped to lift the gnome up in her arms. “The baron isn’t going to be very pleased,” she whispered.
Rivven looked at her with amusement. Gredchen turned, paused to glare at the wizard, and hurried down the stairs with Theodenes thrown over one shoulder.
When Gredchen was gone, Rivven turned on the mage. “Fetch me that sword. I’m taking it with me.”
“Your Excellency, is that wise? It is highly magical,” said Cazuvel. “My preliminary examination of the weapon was cut short by the necessity of dealing with the dragonne, however, so I have not had time to divine its properties.”
“Leave that to me,” she said. “I may not have your experience with extradimensional forces, but I know magic swords when I see them. Meet me on the tower’s roof in a few minutes.”
Cazuvel bent low and nodded, whispering a few words in the language of mages. They were the command words for a teleportation spell, and Rivven watched as the winds of magic spirited him away, leaving behind only a brief afterimage.
Alone, Rivven Cairn turned to the portrait of the baron’s beautiful daughter. She ran a gauntleted finger down the painted curve of the girl’s jawline and tilted her head to one side.
“Such a terrible loss to the world,” she whispered. “Captured here in your youth and wide-eyed innocence by the skill of the artist. You’re just as I remember you.”
She turned away then. “No time for sentiment now, Rivven. What’s done is done.” She made a mental note to herself to have the painting locked away somewhere. It was an embarrassment, even there in the middle of the Sahket Jungle. She didn’t like how close the baron had come to getting his hands on it, even though there was no way that could have actually happened.
Rivven extinguished the magical lamps with a spell of dismissal. She left the gallery in darkness and went down the spiral stairs. As she alighted on the upper landing, she paused for a moment. She looked over the railing to watch Gredchen carry the gnome out of the huge front doors of the castle and into the late-evening air. She smiled a little at the “Vanderjack” lying on the stairs-that had given her a momentary jolt earlier-then went on through the doors to the great hall.
The sivak had already passed through there with the Ergothian prisoner. The door near the back of the hall that led to the sitting room was still partly open. She passed the cage with its slumbering beast and, curious, stopped beside it.
Sure enough, vivid purple and black bonds of power wreathed the dragonne, keeping it from waking. She looked around the room, following the lines of power unseen to those without arcane talents, and saw that they were tightly bound to the very foundations of the castle. Threads of magically infused energy wove into the walls, along the granite floor, and even around the wooden supports above.
Commander Aggurat stood motionless as ever, and Rivven could see the spell that had been placed upon
