“We can argue all night over the details of who did what to whom at what minute of what day,” the speaker muttered, “but those facts are lost in the mists of the past. What matters now is the present. You are no longer a goddess, are you, Isu?”
The fire raging in Isu seemed to die down somewhat, and she scowled with impotent wrath.
“No,” she hissed. “I am not.”
“Then everything else is moot, is it not?” the Arachne man said. “You do not have the power to lift the curse. Therefore, you do not have the authority to stroll back into Aith as if you own it and force us to change our time-honored laws. Even if you once wrote those laws. You no longer have any power here, Isu. If you continue to act as if you do, things will not go well for you and your friends. We will present you with our decision tomorrow. That is the last we will say on this matter. Now leave this hall, all of you.”
I had half a mind to jump up onto their platform and beat their asses with my Plague Fists, but we were still attempting to get what we needed through the diplomatic route. As frustrating as that was, it was still a lot easier than turning this disagreement into a war. A war would cost too much time. Navigating this web-riddled city while trying to fight hordes of Arachne and their spider minions would be a monumental effort. By the time we would be finished, my uncle would have accomplished his task.
“Very well,” I growled through gritted teeth. “We look forward to hearing your decision tomorrow. Thank you for hearing us out, and thank you for your hospitality.”
It pained me to say these things to this arrogant asshole—the old me would have flung a throwing star into his eye after what he’d said to us, and how he’d said it—but the new me was wiser, which ultimately meant less impulsive.
I bowed, turned on my heels, and strode briskly out of the hall. My party followed in silence. I could feel Isu’s cold wrath pulsing out from her core. I was impressed, though, that she too had kept her cool. Perhaps the former goddess was also learning the value of self-control.
Though we were all feeling somewhat dejected when we returned to our chambers, none of us planned to mope. Some of us were more concerned about what happened than others though.
“Drok tired, Drok want to sleep,” was all Drok had to say on the matter. He missed his wife, I figured. He’d only had the chance to see her for a short time, then had to leave Hothgrum again. He was sleeping at the far end of the chamber—thankfully next to a window, so he wouldn’t stink out the entire room.
Rollar was perhaps least inclined to sit and wait.
“I smell treachery,” he muttered, balling his big hands into tight fists. “I do not trust these Arachne, Lord Vance. Not one bit. We must set up a watch tonight. We cannot allow them to slip daggers between our ribs while we sleep.”
“I agree.” Elyse’s eyes flittered nervously from side to side, as if the very walls were watching her and listening in on our conversation. “There is evil at work here. I can sense it. A deep and dangerous evil.”
“They have us in a very vulnerable position,” Rami-Xayon muttered, a dark scowl on her pretty face. “Your army is locked outside the city gates, and we are surrounded by tens of thousands of enemies. If they decide to launch an attack on us during the night, I’m not sure how easily we can fight them off.”
“The Arachne may be many things,” Isu said, “but fighters they are not. That’s why they use their war-spiders to do their fighting for them.”
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s them or their war-spiders,” Friya said. “Either way, we’re vastly outnumbered.”
“I know we didn’t get the result we were looking for,” I said, “and that some of those fuckers are clearly involved in something dodgy, or evil, even. But let’s not let paranoia get the best of us. Not all of the Arachne are our enemies. I know of at least one who isn’t, and she’s the most powerful Arachne in the city.”
“Are you sure you can trust the Webmaven, Lord Vance?” Rollar asked.
“I’m absolutely sure I can trust her, yes,” I answered, though perhaps I was 90% certain. But confidence among my party counted for something; that much I’d learned as a leader. “It’s true that my army is locked outside the city gates, but there’s an important factor that you’re all overlooking.”
“What’s that, Vance?” Elyse asked.
“We can’t get troops into the city,” I answered, “but I’m the fucking God of Death. I can turn any living thing in this city into a soldier that serves me blindly, as long as we kill it first. I don’t have troops inside the walls of Aith? No problem, I’ll make some fucking troops.”
Rollar grinned and boomed out a thunderous chuckle. “Brilliant, Lord Vance, as always.”
“A true master of the divine,” Anna said as she suddenly pounced on me and planted a kiss on my lips.
Elyse shot Anna a somewhat jealous look. “We can’t just go around killing random Arachne to turn into zombies though. Regardless of what position we’re in, we’re not murderers, and what you’re suggesting, Vance, is murder. I’m sorry, but I cannot take part in the murder of innocent citizens, even if they are not exactly human-human.”
I flashed her a grin. “Who said anything about killing Arache? The fuckers aren’t decent fighters, as Isu just told us. Who’s up for some spider hunting tonight?”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Isu told us most of the war-spiders—the biggest and most powerful of the fighting spiders, like the one I’d defeated outside the gates of Aith—were kept in stables below the palace. We had some powerful weapons to get there undetected: my assassin skills, Rami-Xayon’s enjarta
