perceptions remain undulled. Besides, if all goes well, soon no one in Kolbyr will need to worry about resisting the Fury any longer.'
Zivon took a long sip of wine, and when he put his mug back down, the veins in his eyes looked thicker and more purple than they had a moment ago. 'You speak of course of your friend the priest.'
There was something in the way Zivon said your friend that made Yvka uncomfortable. Half-elves were known for their silver tongues, and Zivon was no exception. He used words with rapier-like precision. He was undoubtedly making a comment about Yvka getting too close to her companions.
Zivon lifted an oyster to his mouth and swallowed it in a single deft motion. He set the empty shell aside and took another sip of wine. Half-elves tended to be thin, though not as ethereally slender as full-blooded elves. With his hybrid metabolism Zivon could regularly eat twice as much as a human without putting on excess weight, which made the Culinarian a perfect place for a devotee of fine dining like him to serve the Shadow Network.
'We were aware of the priest's vow to lift the curse on the House of Kolbyr moments after he made it,' Zivon said.
The half-elf was exaggerating, Yvka thought, though probably not by much. The Shadow Network knew virtually everything that happened in the Principalities-in some instances, before it occurred. 'Then you also know that Diran stands a good chance of succeeding.'
'You're not eating,' Zivon said, the merest hint of disapproval in his voice. 'Try the mussels. They're delectable.'
Yvka wasn't especially hungry but tried a mussel for the sake of not offending her host.
'Well?'
Yvka chewed, swallowed. 'It's good.'
'Good? I have some of the finest cooks in the Principalities working in my kitchen, and all you have to say in response to experiencing their art is 'good'?'
Yvka shrugged. 'Very good.'
Zivon shook his head and laughed. 'Fortune save me from uneducated palates!' He took yet another sip of wine, set his mug down, then pushed his plate aside-an indication that he was ready to get down to business. 'You truly believe the priest is capable of dispelling the Fury?'
'His name is Diran, and I've seen him do remarkable things.'
'Rumor has it that you've seen his partner do a few remarkable things as well.'
Yvka felt her own rage take hold at Zivon's remark-a rage that had nothing to do with the House of Kolbyr. But before she could say anything, Zivon held up his hands in a placating gesture.
'You've managed to maintain our code admirably-until the night you met Diran Bastiaan and his companions in a seedy tavern in Port Verge. At first you joined them in order to discover the secret of the Black Fleet, for information is the Network's lifeblood, is it not? But it didn't take long for you to come to admire your new companions and, despite your many years of experience at maintaining professional distance from others, for the first time in a long time you found herself becoming close to others, didn't you? Especially the half-orc.
'Oh, you made excuses, told yourself that the best way to gain your new companions' trust was to appear to become friends with them, and your association proved even more beneficial than you'd hoped when, after you'd defeated Erdis Cai, you informed us about the vampire's hidden lair in Grimwall. We were quite pleased with the treasures we discovered in the ancient goblinoid city. And if you'd had a little fun with the half-… with Ghaji in the process of performing your duties, what was the harm? You received a new assignment not long after that, and when you were forced to say goodbye to Ghaji, you pretended that parting from him didn't hurt. And you almost managed to make yourself believe it.
'But a few months later you learned that Aldarik Cathmore, one of Bastiaan's former teachers in the art of assassination, had come to the Principalities, and you used that information as an excuse to rejoin your new friends once more… as an excuse to see Ghaji. Once again, your association with the others benefited you: you informed us of the existence of the creation forge within Mount Luster, and our artificers are even now investigating the facility to ferret out the delicious secrets it holds. You've done well, Yvka. Quite well, indeed.' Zivon paused a moment before adding, 'All things considered.'
Zivon's tone remained pleasant enough, but his words sent a chill rippling down Yvka's spine. 'You're speaking of the Zephyr.'
'A valuable asset. One that we are disappointed to have lost.'
'Makala took it.' It was as much a question as a statement.
'Yes. Though she wasn't alone.'
Yvka frowned. 'Who else was with her?'
'A lich and a barghest. The same barghest, we believe, who stole the wand of your artificer friend.'
'A lich?' Could it be the same one that Diran, Ghaji, Tresslar, and Hinto had slain in the mountains outside Perhata? How could it be any other? The barghest had been her servant, after all. But how had the lich been resurrected, if that was the right term to apply to the reanimation of an already undead creature? Had the barghest somehow used Tresslar's dragonwand to perform the task? Yvka supposed it didn't matter how the dark deed was done. A more important question was why Makala had joined forces with the lich and her servant, and most important of all, where were they bound aboard the Zephyr? Aboard her ship?
Anticipating her question, Zivon said, 'The three set sail from Perhata in the dead of night, appropriately enough, bound for the open sea. They did not make port here in Kolbyr, but otherwise I cannot say where they went. Given their last heading, my guess is that they intended to leave the gulf entirely, but it is only a hunch, based on no solid information.'
Yvka smiled. 'Your hunches are better than most people's facts.'
Zivon acknowledged the compliment with a slight nod.
Yvka decided she'd gotten all she was going to from Zivon, and she'd better not push her luck any further.
'My thanks. Knowing that the Zephyr and the dragonwand are together will make things simpler. If we find one, we'll find the other.' She started to stand, but Zivon gestured for her to remain seated. Yvka gritted her teeth. She didn't like being told what to do, but the Culinarian was Zivon's domain, and so she had little choice but to do as he wanted.
'I wish you all success in regaining possession of the Zephyr. But before you leave, there is another matter we need to discuss.'
Yvka didn't like the sound of this. 'If it's about my companions, I assure you-'
'It isn't,' Zivon said. 'At least, not primarily. As I said earlier, we are greatly pleased with the treasures that you've delivered unto us, thanks to your most profitable association with Diran Bastiaan and his friends. But you know our philosophy: too much is never enough, not when it comes to information and power. In the end, they're really both the same, are they not?'
Yvka was disturbed by the sudden turn this conversation had taken, and she dreaded Zivon's next words.
'If you wish to find yourself in our good graces once more, not only will you recover the Zephyr, you will bring us two things more: the artificer's wand and the psiforged called Solus.'
CHAPTER SIX
I didn't know what to expect, but this surely wasn't it,' Ghaji whispered.
Diran couldn't help but agree with his friend. The two companions, led by Asenka and flanked by a pair of guards, walked down a corridor in the palace of Baroness Calida. Up to this point, the architecture they'd seen in Kolbyr had been austere at best and forbidding at worst, and the outside of the palace had been no exception. The face it presented to the world was that of a severe-looking edifice of gray stone bereft of ornamentation or humanity. No windows or battlements, no towers or crenellations… nothing but featureless cold sterility. The air around the palace felt heavy and stale, making every breath an effort, and worst of all, the palace itself exuded an aura of sheer malevolence, as if waves of hate emanated from the stonework.
But inside was a very different story. The walls were painted soothing colors-soft yellows, placid greens, and
