Lord of the Silent Kingdom

Ghort raised a questioning eyebrow. Hecht noted the gray there.

'I'd rather not be remembered for turning the Connec into a desert.'

Ghort gave him a narrow look. 'What'll you be doing?'

'I'm going to Castreresone. Smolens will try to take Sheavenalle.'

'Castreresone? Even after Roger died?'

'Yes.' It could not hurt to have Sublime V and King Peter nose to nose and fuming. 'The confusion there should work to our advantage.'

'Wish we'd gotten going sooner.'

'So do I. So do I. Go on. You've got work to do.'

As Ghort neared the head of the stairs, Hecht asked, 'Is that daughter of Bit's still healthy?'

'She's recovering.'

'Keep her safe. When you have trustworthy men going back to the city, send her along. I'll warn Anna that she's coming.'

'You think you ought to ask her first?'

Hecht shrugged. 'I should.' But… 'Principate Delari will want his plaything to go back, too. If he can travel.' He would love to have Osa Stile out of the way.

'That kid gives me the creeps, Pipe. They's something stone wrong with him.'

'Then you better be careful he doesn't sneak into your tent.'

'Not funny, Pipe.'

Hecht did wonder, sometimes. Ghort seldom talked about women. That was not right in a soldier.

The Captain-General watched the marching troops from a hillside that had been a vineyard once. 'Pinkus would be disappointed if he knew,' he told Cloven Februaren. The old man had turned up while Hecht was observing the force Sedlakova, Ghort, and Doneto were taking to Antieux. The Captain-General's lifeguards had yet to notice Februaren. The old man showed no sign of the pummeling he had suffered.

'The vines? Yes. I see. Those men seem healthy, trained, and modestly motivated. You've done well.'

'Really? You walked up and none of these men noticed.'

'Not to worry. They'll frustrate mundane dangers. I'll do the same to the Night.'

'You weren't much help with that worm.'

'You weren't paying attention, then. Why did it surface where it did, instead of under your mill?'

Hecht did not know. He shrugged.

'It surfaced where your old amulet was being worn by an unlucky goat. Somewhere, there's a very worried Dreangerean sorcerer.' The old man chuckled.

Hecht did not know how to respond. Februaren had no reason to sidle round the truth.

The Ninth Unknown said, 'You recall me saying that fools might ally with the elder Instrumentalities in hopes of gaining power and favor?' He surveyed Hecht's lifeguards. They were getting nervous.

'Yes.'

'Those fools already exist. The trident ring is their emblem. Rudenes Schneidel is their western chieftain. Lieutenant to er-Rashal al-Dhulquarnen. Who seems to be dedicated to restoring the Dreangerean gods of antiquity.'

Hecht was not surprised. 'There was always a suspicion that the old religion hadn't been expunged. Er- Rashal was marginal in his devotions at best, but too useful to punish.'

'Your brothers in the Sha-lug band have worked this out for themselves. The man Bone has returned to Dreanger. He hopes to warn Gordimer by going through Nassim Alizarin.'

'If Bone convinces the Mountain I foresee a difficult life for the Rascal.'

'Don't forget what er-Rashal is.'

The bodyguards heard ghost voices. They talked about it. But they could not see the old man, nor did they note their charge holding a conversation with something invisible.

'No doubt. They're getting nervous. You need to go soon.'

'Yes.'

'What did er-Rashal want with those mummies?'

'I don't know. But no good will come of him having them. Maybe he wants to conjure the shades of the sorcerers they used to be. Though he'd have to be atop one of the Wells of Ihrian to have enough power. And he'd need the support of the Night. Unless he prepared with extreme discretion, then moved too fast for the Instrumentalities to notice.'

'Not likely, if they see threats two hundred years ahead.'

'He could be in for a painful surprise. If he hasn't made the right alliances inside the Night.' But that was the story of most sorcerers, including those who had infested Andesqueluz. They began to overvalue themselves and underrate the Instrumentalities of the Night. Then the Night devoured them.

The lifeguards were thoroughly unsettled now. None could stand still. But none had yet discovered the ancient in brown.

Hecht said, 'What changed when we crossed the Dechear?'

'What do you mean?'

'We had no trouble with the Night east of the river. Just the mischief you get anywhere. But once we crossed over we started getting pestered. Bad. Like the spirits of rock and brook and tree are more offended by our presence than Count Raymone and his friends. Principate Delari seems indifferent. Or maybe he just can't explain.'

'Might he be preoccupied with more pressing matters?'

'Sir?'

'The Night may be more active but it's still just a nuisance. Precautions you learned while you were crawling will head off most of the monkey business. Expect it to intensify. Yes. The land itself feels threatened. Because it is. And now it's time to go. Yon lad with the fine blond hair just caught something from the comer of his eye. He's going to mention it to someone.'

The old man did a snappy about-face. And vanished as he finished. 'No,' Hecht muttered. 'You don't just disappear.'

'Sir?' Madouc had crossed twenty yards of abandoned vineyard in a blink.

'Thought I saw something. Out of the corner of my eye. But it wasn't there when I looked. Are they coming out in the daytime? Can they?'

'I don't know, sir. You should ask the Principates about that. But I think we should move you down where you'll be less exposed.'

'Maybe so. Lead on.' Hecht wondered why the Night would harass Patriarchal invaders but not those from Arnhand or Grolsach.

'That isn't true,' Principate Delari said when Hecht made the point. 'Arnhanders and Grolsachers alike have encountered a range of significant revenants. Rook and Hilt have been underfoot from the start. Weaver and Shade have turned up more than once. Others are stirring. Death. Skillen. Kint. Someone is freeing their bound fragments. Some may have pulled themselves together enough to start feeding on lesser spirits.'

'I've never heard of those before. Death, Skillen, Kint?'

'Death is death. Personified. A reactive rather than a proactive. Not a claimer but a proclaimer.'

'Huh?'

'Death shows up when it's time for somebody to die. Like a herald. Rook, Hilt, and the others come in to clean up.'

'Skillen? Kint?'

'Misfortune. Despair.'

'Did the ancients have any happy gods?'

'Does anyone? Today's gods range from unpleasant to psychotic. The God Who Is God, the All-Powerful and Merciful, when He bothers to show Himself-and note that He hasn't for several hundred years-only dispenses disasters, plagues, and pestilences. Likewise, the Devedian God and our Chaldarean deity, as currently edited. The Dainshaukin deity is a freak out of pre-history, always in an insane rage. None of them can fend for themselves. They need people like the Society to put words in their mouths and break bones in their names.'

'I'm seeing a new side of you here.'