'Only the usual protection amulets,' Malygris said as he raised his claw, freeing Galaeron, 'and the mammal is not even as powerful as the others. The cult is beginning to run out of priests.'
'That would be good,' Telamont said. 'Not that I have ever been displeased with the splendor of your gifts, Malygris.'
The dracolich spun around in a great clatter of bones, nearly crushing Galaeron with a carelessly placed rear foot and upending a dozen of Telamont's bodyguards with his long tail.
'How could you? They came from a dragon.'
Malygris sprang into the air and departed the Marshaling Plaza over the heads of his two assistants. Telamont motioned for Prince Clariburnus to keep watch over Galaeron, then exchanged gifts with the other two dragons, promising to undermine the walls of an annoying castle for the one that had captured Aris and to reroute a caravan trail closer to the lair of the other.
As the agreements were made, Galaeron had a chance to see that while Aris had suffered no wounds worse than the talon punctures in his shoulders, the heat and thirst had taken its toll. The giant lay on the floor half conscious, with glassy eyes, a flushed face, and limbs as white as chalk. His hands were trembling and his breath was coming in fast, shallow pants.
'Aris needs water,' Galaeron said. He was surprised to find his own throat swollen and raw from thirst. 'We haven't had any since last night, and the desert-'
'He can wait,' Clariburnus replied. 'After the trouble you two caused us, I hope he chokes on his tongue.'
'I am sure that would make the Most High very happy,' mewled a familiar voice. 'Especially after he has waited all this time for you to recapture them.'
The dumpy form of Malik el Sami yn Nasser pushed between the waists of Clariburnus and Brennus and stepped into view. Dressed in a gray tunic with a tabard of black shadow over the top, he seemed an unwitting parody of the imposing forms of the two princes-especially with his weary, bloodshot eyes and his cuckold's horns proudly displayed atop his head.
Malik turned and called back between Clariburnus and Brennus, 'Go and fetch a few barrels of water, and hurry. If the giant is harmed, I will see to it that the Most High has your heads.'
To Galaeron's amazement, half the troop turned and scurried to obey. Any doubt that Malik had meant his message to lure Galaeron into a trap vanished at once.
'I see you've come up in the city,' Galaeron said.
'No thanks to you.'
The little man came forward, and brushing aside the black pike Clariburnus put out to keep him from getting too close, stood over Galaeron.
'How could you leave Vala to suffer so long? Your cruelty nearly got me killed!'
Putting aside for the moment how one might be connected to the other, Galaeron asked, 'Then she's still alive? Your message said-'
Clariburnus used the pike to push Malik away. 'It is not this lizard's place to discuss the slave of a prince.'
Malik shrugged, spread his hands, and said, 'He is right. Perhaps, if you please the Most High, he will intervene and let you see for yourself all the terrible things that Escanor has been visiting upon her at night.'
Galaeron would have smiled at Malik’s cleverness, had the answer itself not filled his head with so many terrible images. The bones in his broken hand began to throb, and he thought of the crimson stain Dove had placed on it and how he would explain that to Telamont Tanthul.
The water arrived, and without leaving any for Galaeron, Malik led the soldiers carrying it over to his friend Aris. Clariburnus seemed to take delight in watching Galaeron lick his lips as he watched the little man trickle it down the giant's throat. Finally, Telamont Tanthul returned from his gift-making, and seeing where Galaeron's attention was fixed, motioned him to his feet.
'Come, you must be thirsty as well-and curious about your friend's condition.'
He waited for Galaeron to rise, then placed an icy sleeve across Galaeron's shoulders and started toward the giant.
'I'm sorry for the difficult journey,' Telamont continued. 'It was my intention to bring you here in a more pleasant fashion, but you know dragons… I fear Malygris and his consorts may have been somewhat rougher on you than necessary. That young blue you killed in the Saiyaddar?'
Galaeron nodded, scarcely able to believe that the Most High was speaking to him as though he had just returned from a short trip outside the enclave.
'It was one of theirs,' the Most High explained, just as they reached Malik and the water barrels and stopped. 'To tell you the truth, you're lucky you made it here at all. They kept giving us beholders and asabis and demanding that we help hunt down the murderers.'
Galaeron's throat grew even drier. Blue dragons were not particularly family oriented, but he had talked to enough of them while serving along the Desert Border South to know that it offended their sense of magnificence to have a warm-blood kill a wyrm of their own line.
'Then I'd say we were very lucky,' he said.
'We arranged something,' said the Most High. He lifted an empty sleeve and pulled an ebony dipper out of the shadows, then filled it with water and passed it to Galaeron. 'They really can't tell the smell of one moon elf from another, and it was a simple matter to sneak the hide into a camp one night'
Galaeron found the water going down the wrong passage and choked, spraying it out in a cone of silvery droplets.
'You didn't!'
'What choice did you leave me?' Telamont said. His voice had assumed that cold levelness it acquired whenever he struggled to contain his temper. 'They kept bringing gifts, and I could hardly tell them it was you.'
Galaeron looked at the empty dipper and wondered if he dared fill it again. Having tasted water, he could think of little except his thirst, but he had seen Telamont in moods like this and knew how risky it could be to presume in his presence.
On the other hand, what was the worst the Most High was going to do? Certainly not kill him, and angering him might make it easier for Galaeron to resist his will. He refilled the dipper and drank.
Telamont watched, platinum eyes burning with fury, but his empty sleeves folded calmly in front of him.
When Galaeron had finished, he asked, 'Good?'
Galaeron met the shadow lord's gaze and smacked his lips.
'Have another.' Telamont took the dipper and refilled it, then passed it back and said, 'I insist.'
Galaeron found himself gulping the water down like a drunkard breaking a long abstinence. Once the dipper was empty, Telamont took it and refilled it.
'You left Arabel with a caravan bound for Iriaebor, did you not?'
'That's so, but we were bound for Evereska.' Galaeron told the lie quickly, trying to get it out before Telamont's will began to press down on him and force the truth. 'To join the fight against the phaerimm.'
Telamont passed the dipper back to Galaeron, and again he found himself gulping the stuff down as though it might evaporate before he could finish.
'That is what our agents suggested, and yet Yder's point troubles me. What was it he said?'
Before Galaeron could answer, a pair of yellow eyes appeared in the darkness behind Telamont.
'That starting a beggar's riot does not seem a very good way to sneak out of a city.'
Yder's gaunt face took form around his golden eyes, then he emerged from the shadows and stood at father's side.
'I also thought it strange,' Yder added, 'that they announced their departure by selling all of the giant's work.'
Yder glanced over at Aris, who lay stretched out on his back, unaware of his surroundings, with Malik kneeling astride his chest dribbling dippers of water onto his cracked lips.
Telamont refilled Galaeron's empty dipper, and Galaeron began to gulp it down. He was no longer thirsty-he could already feel Alustriel and Dove sloshing around inside, banging off the walls of his stomach-but he could not
