Wolves of the Gods

trace. The next time we hear of him weeks have passed and somehow he's several hundred miles away.'

To Luka's immense displeasure, Iraj smiled at Lord Fari. The demon wizard's calmly put litany of what was already known soothed the king somewhat and his face was back to normal.

'You have summed up our difficulties most succinctly, my lord,' Iraj said. Then he immediately grew angry again, glaring at Luka. 'At least Fari's using his gods given mind,' he said. 'Unlike some fiends I know.'

Fari openly gloated at the demon prince. And Luka thought, you'll never change, you old fraud. First my father, now Protarus. Always posing as the all wise one, trying to appear superior at my expense.

But what he said, was, 'Lord Timura will make a mistake by and by, Highness. They always do. It's the nature of such things.'

Fari shifted tactics and nodded in wise agreement, 'Quite true, my prince,' he said to Luka. 'Quite true.'

But he was thinking, you're just like your father, you young fool. Nothing but cold porridge for brains.

Iraj's dark mood returned and he glowered at them both. Such useless creatures, he thought. Always quarreling and backstabbing. Telling lies to win his favor. If it weren't for the unbreakable Spell of Four that chained them all together, he'd have them taken out by his soldiers and beheaded. That would shutthem up once and for all!

'Enough excuses!' Iraj rumbled. 'The point is we've failed. Despite the fact that I've had an entire army pursuing these peasants. Why, I'll soon be the laughing stock of all Esmir.'

You already are, Luka thought, wishing not for the first time that it was he who wore the crown.

But all he said was, 'I'll fetch some more prisoners, Majesty. Perhaps we'll have better luck with the next batch!'

Iraj slammed his fist on his throne arm! 'Nonsense!' he roared. 'All of it, nonsense! You've turned my tent into a charnel house for nothing!'

He leaned forward in his throne. 'Let me make myself completely clear, brothers mine,' he said. 'We must have this man, Safar Timura, and his ridiculous child. And we must have them immediately. I will brook no more excuses, do you hear me?'

'We hear, Majesty,' both demons muttered, bowing their heads and hating him and each other.

Just then there was the sound of bootsteps, sentries snapped to attention and Kalasariz was ushered into the big tent that was Iraj's traveling palace. The spy master was leading an old woman by a long chain that was locked about her waist.

'I've brought you a little present, Majesty,' Kalasariz said, yanking the chain hard so the old woman stumbled. 'For your afternoon pleasure, if you will.'

Iraj was so surprised that his lower face erupted into a wolf's snout. 'What kind of present is this?' he growled. 'A skinny old woman with bones so brittle I'd choke on them.'

'I'm not for eatin'!' the old woman exclaimed. 'And if yer thinks yer gonner get any fun from tormentin' a poor old soul like me, yer gots 'nother think comin', Majesty! I'm so frail that if yer touched a hair on my head I'd up and die on yers.'

'How amazing,' Luka murmured. 'The gift talks. Not very well, but it's amazing just the same.'

'And now that's she's seen us,' Fari said, 'we'll have to kill her. How tiresome. Like she said, she's so elderly she'll be no sport at all.'

Kalasariz ignored his enemies, addressing his rebuttal directly to Protarus. 'She isn't for sport, Majesty,'

he said, 'but for gain. And as for seeing us, it surprises me that ones so perceptive as Prince Luka and so intuitive as Lord Fari haven't noted the woman is blind. Ergo, she isn't here for killing, but for your Majesty's possible edification.'

Kalasariz shot quick gloats of victory at Luka and Fari, thinking, There you go, you sons of pig lizards.

Root around in that trash and see if I've left anything tasty behind!

Iraj peered at the woman, noting for the first time her disfigured eyes, which were entirely white as if they had been permanently rolled up into her head. The king's wolfish features dissolved into something quite human, featuring the same bright and handsome smile that had once won him so many ardent friends and supporters.

'She really is blind,' he said, smile growing broader. 'I like this. Now the question is entirely open on whether we kill her or not. It's been a long time since precedent was challenged.'

Iraj leaned an arm on his throne, cupping his chin in his palm. He studied the old woman for a moment, noting that although her dress was stained with dirt, the material was quite expensive. 'Tell me, Granny,'

he said, 'What do you have to say about all this?'

'Same as I said 'afore, Majesty,' she replied. 'Old Sheesan ain't for killin'. And never mind I'm blind.

Don't take eyes to know yers're shape changers. Old Sheesan can smell the wolf in yer!'

'Let me kill the old bitch, then,' Prince Luka said. 'Since there's no longer a question of her lack of sight saving her.'

The old woman snorted and turned her blind face toward Luka. 'Beggin' yer pardon, Lord,' she said,

'but that'd be about the stupidest thing yers could do. Yer should count yer blessin's that I'm even here

'afore yers.'

Kalasariz laughed. 'It's true,' he said. 'We didn't capture her, you know. She turned herself in and demanded to see someone in charge.' He tapped his breast. 'Which is when I stepped in.'

He turned to Iraj. 'In case you haven't noticed, Majesty,' he said, 'the woman is a witch. She claims she can use her witchery to help us track down Safar Timura.'

Luka and Fari made derisive noises, displaying rare agreement. Iraj made no comment, but he stared at the old woman in disbelief.

Finally, he said, 'Are you saying that this hag can do what all of us combined haven't been able to accomplish?'

Kalasariz started to speak but the old woman beat him to it with a prolonged bout of cackling and coughing.

'Hag, you say?' she chortled. 'Just an old bag of bones with a hank of hair on top. That's what'cher thinks of me, does yer?'

Then she composed herself, crossing her arms over wizened breasts. 'All's it'll cost yers is a purse of gold, Majesty,' she said. 'A nice fat one, if yer please. And I'll deliver Safar Timura to yers soon enough.'

'I can't believe I'm listening to this,' Luka said. 'An old woman dares to ask a price for what she should give us freely. What is Esmir coming to? Is there no dignity left in this court?'

'If it's dignity yer wantin', Me Lord,' the old woman said, 'it'll cost yers two purses, not one. Dignity spells don't come cheap, 'specially when I gots some fiend like yerself fer a client. No insult intended, I'm sure. I'm only speakin' the facts, here.' She sniffed at the air and wrinkled her nose. 'Shape changers make such a stink,' she went on. 'Can't do nothin' 'bout that. Even if yer was to give me three purses of gold.'

While Luka was choking on this insult-to the vast enjoyment of the others-the witch turned her blind face to Iraj.

'Purse a gold's me price, Majesty,' she said. 'But most of it won't be fer the likes of me, if it gives yer comfort. Be lucky if I can keep a coin fer meself, as matter of fact. The rest'll go to me dear sisters of the crucible.'

Iraj gawked at her, then he looked at Kalasariz. 'What in the blazes is she talking about?' he asked.

'Purses of gold and sisters of cups, or whatever. Is this a jest, my lord? If it is, it's in damned poor taste.'

The old woman started to speak again, but Kalasariz yanked viciously on the chain, silencing her.

'It's quite simple, Majesty,' the spy master said. 'This remarkable woman is not a thing of beauty, I admit; or at least not in any conventional sense. She's beautiful enough, however, when judged by her position and talents.

'It seems that this … this … creature … is quite an influential person in her own sphere. It so happens that Old Sheesan is an elder in the Witches' Guild, which has members in every city and hamlet in Esmir.

'What she proposes to do is to contact every member of her Guild, promising fat rewards for any and all sightings of Safar Timura. The earlier we get notice, the richer the reward. Finally, if a witch should trap Lord Timura, or one of his key people, there will be a special bounty above and beyond all other rewards.'

Old Sheesan raised a finger. 'And I'll be wantin' commissions on all's a them,' she said. 'Includin' the bounty.'

'What a greedy thing she is,' Lord Fari said admiringly. 'But she makes such good sense I'm inclined to