love.
At last, the long, dreamy kiss ended, and he held Drex at arms’ length, his heart almost bursting with happiness.
'Everything's all right now, my love,” she said. “I can't tell you how happy I feel.'
'I must ensure the remaining members of the Score pose no further threat,” Grimm said, his heart pounding. “I need to find Thribble and some transport out of this hellhole, but there's no reason why we can't go home after that.'
'The Score won't trouble you now,” Drex said, her eyes gleaming. “Why not rest here a while, so Tordun can heal, and I can regain my strength? The Order will need leadership until a new Prioress can be found. It wouldn't be right to abandon them at this difficult time. Just wait a few days, and I'm sure everything will become clearer.'
Grimm felt a hot flash of astonishment run through him. “After all you've been through, I'd have thought you'd have jumped at the chance of getting out of here, Drex!'
'I feel safe, now,” she said, nestling close to him. “I have my very own Mage Questor to protect me. I feel some kinship with these poor women, and I can't just abandon them.'
The mage blinked, vacillating between the desire to escape this awful place and the wish to please the woman he loved. He buried his face in Drex's wimple and tried to collect his thoughts.
'Drex; I-'
'Lord Mage,” a soft voice from the doorway said, and Grimm looked up to see the dumpy figure of Sister Judan.
'What is it?” he snapped.
'I have communed with the spirits,” the nun said, her face calm, almost beatific. “The scales have fallen from my eyes, and I see how you have been wronged. Your vengeance was just, at least in your own eyes, and I have no right to judge you. Please, Lord Mage, stay a while and help us in our hour of need. You will not be beaten or tortured again; I swear it on my head and on the blessed Names.'
'Please, Grimm,” Drex said, looking up at him with wide, pleading eyes. “Just stay a little longer.'
Grimm, almost drowning in confusion, closed his eyes and looked into himself.
Am I ensorcelled? he wondered. Is Drex still under a spell; is she trying to trick me?
Opening his eyes, he pointed his left forefinger at the far wall and muttered a brief, nonsense syllable. A small, bright globe, spinning and sparkling, formed on the extended digit, detached and flew to the wall, spreading over it until the small chamber was suffused in warm, cheerful luminescence. While he had his power under his control, he knew he was still whole and a formidable opponent.
'Very well,” he said, on pure impulse. “I'll stay a while.'
He stepped back from Drex, so he could look her straight in the eyes. “I'm only doing this for you, my love,” he said. “You know that, don't you?'
She smiled. “Of course, darling,” she said, her voice laden with warmth and happiness. “You have no idea how much I appreciate that. Later tonight, I'll show you just how happy I am.'
Grimm felt a hot flush on his cheeks.
He smiled.
Drex seemed her old self again.
[Back to Table of Contents]
Chapter 17: Suspicion
General Quelgrum had no intention of abandoning Baron Grimm. His first priority was to procure transport and supplies for the journey to Crar, since the party's wagon had been destroyed by the marauding zombies in Merrydeath Road. He also wanted to retrieve his weapons, even though he knew ammunition would be unobtainable.
As three nuns laid the dead Prioress’ shattered body on a makeshift bier in the main hall of the Priory, another group began to mop the bloodstains from the marble floor.
'I don't reckon any of these ladies carry any weight around here, General,” Sergeant Erik observed. “We need whatever passes for an officer around here.'
Quelgrum nodded. “That would be a member of the Anointed Score, Sergeant. Still, I'd rather not deal with them if we can avoid it; I was entertained by one of them when I was first taken prisoner. She told me how she'd take great pleasure in breaking me, and how she looked forward to having me crawl to her, pleading for punishment.'
'Perhaps there's a nun who acts as an ostler or a wrangler, or some such,” Numal hazarded. “If we…'
The Necromancer's voice faded away, and he stared past the General's right shoulder. Quelgrum turned to see a tall, slender, middle-aged nun, and he recognised her as the one who had so enjoyed baiting him.
'Sister Kellen,” he said. “Are you going to threaten me again? Or do you want me to beg for forgiveness?'
The nun did not meet his stern gaze, looking instead at the floor. “I am sorry, my lord,” she whispered. “I was under a spell when first we met; a spell augmented by many years of pain and suffering. After the Reverend Mother's death, things seem much clearer. She was an evil, manipulative woman; I see that, now. I will aid you in any way I can.'
Quelgrum jerked a thumb over his shoulder towards the reverent nuns tending to Lizaveta's corpse. “Is this how you treat a despised slave-mistress, someone who stole your mind?'
'I do not mourn Prioress Lizaveta's passing,” Kellen said, “but the loss of guidance, leadership and stability. Brutal as her reign may have been, I found comfort in its routine and constancy.
'Only we of the Score live with the shame of knowing the acts to which the Reverend Mother drove us, as we revelled in the power she gave us. All the Sisters know the lash and the discipline, but few, indeed, know the inner workings of the Order. That is the shame, the dishonour, with which I must live.'
Kellen bowed her head; her shoulders began to shake. Quelgrum heard a few sobs from under the nun's lowered cowl, but he felt in no mood to comfort the woman.
'Should I cry, Sister?” he asked, with a humourless, contemptuous laugh. “She's dead, and, I say, good riddance to her.'
Kellen stiffened and straightened up, this time looking the General straight in the eyes. “What do you want, General?” she asked, her voice cold. “We are a poor Order, and material goods hold little interest for us; if it is money you want, we cannot oblige you. I did not expect you to understand our traditions, but I do ask you to respect them.'
'I want a cart or a wagon, four horses and provisions for five men for at least three weeks,” Quelgrum said. He knew a direct journey to Crar would not take that long, but he wanted to give Brianston and Yoren the widest possible berth.
'I see,” the nun said, her expression impenetrable. “What else?'
'You say you have no money,” the old soldier said, “but you still have the gold you stole from us-yes, stole, saintly Sister-and our other effects. If such things are unimportant to you, you won't mind giving them back, will you?
'We're not thieves. All we want is transport to replace what your late, beloved Prioress’ undead friends destroyed, and our property.'
Kellen shrugged and nodded.
'Very well, General,” she said in a husky voice. “It will take a few days to arrange food and transport for you; the other mage took our cart, our only pair of horses, and a large quantity of provisions. I have no idea where the Reverend Mother secreted your goods, but I will do my best to return them to you.'
'The other mage?” Numal said, his brows raised.
'Questor Guy,” Kellen said, and the Necromancer nodded.
'I see,” he said, his tone level, slowly nodding. “I suppose it was too much to ask that he share his transport with the likes of us.'
'Your internecine squabbles have nothing to do with us,” the nun snapped, and Quelgrum saw a trace of the
