'That is the truth, Your Highness. The lie comes from whoever told you otherwise.'
'No.' Jehal laughed. 'No one told me otherwise, Night Watchmen. I saw it for myself.'
Vale's turn to laugh. 'You could not, Prince Jehal. You were far across the palace in the Tower of Air. You could not have seen what you claim from there.'
'Is that so?' Jehal's grin spread across his face. 'I'm afraid you are much mistaken, Night Watchmen. I had eyes all over the palace that night and not all were men. I came up here because I have something to show you.' Slowly, he unwrapped a strip of white silk from around his wrist. 'I know you can keep a secret, Night Watchman. This is a treasure that the Taiytakei gave to me for my wedding, and that I, in turn, gave to the speaker as a sign of my devotion and my trust.'
He held out the silk. Vale looked at it, obviously puzzled. 'Forgive me. Prince Jehal, but I don't understand. What are you showing me?'
'A piece of silk, Night Watchman. Tie it across your eyes. I would sit down first, if I were you. Disorientation is a common first experience.' He watched Vale hesitate. 'I'm hardly in a position to run away.'
The Night Watchman laughed. 'Run away? Prince Jehal, I wouldn't put it past you. I'm more concerned at receiving a knife in my ribs.'
'I'm not really a knife person, Night Watchman. When I have an enemy to deal with, I prefer to watch them build their own pyre and then linger powerless on top of it for a while while I play carelessly with matches beneath.' He gave Vale a toothy smile. 'Put it on. You'll see through the eyes of… of something else. I will not tell you what.'
Slowly, the Night Watchman put the silk to his eyes, although he held it with his hands and didn't tie it. He didn't wobble or stagger either. Impressed? I suppose I have to be.
'What do you see?'
'An eyrie.' Vale took the cloth away from his eyes. 'Drotan's Top. From the top of Hyram's Tor.'
'Yes, you did. And on the Night of the Knives when I put that silk to my eyes, do you know what I saw? I saw you, Night Watchman. I saw you let Shezira go when you should have seized her.'
Vale paled. A crac in your armour at last.
'Yes, Night Watchman, I really did see it all. You let Shezira go.'
'It was for the good of the realms.' His voice had gone husky.
'Didn't really work out that way, did it? Do you want to know something else? It might make you feel a bit better. After all, this is Zafir's toy not mine. I'm imagining she saw everything too.'
'She never said…'
'She never said anything about you disobeying her direct order? It did all turn out rather nicely in her favour.' Jehal shrugged. 'Mind you, letting Shezira go was clear disobedience and I think we both know that our speaker doesn't take too well to being disobeyed. Maybe she wasn't watching after all. I'll ask her, if you like.' He cocked his head in mock surprise. 'How interesting that might be. Tell me, Night Watchman: did every single witness among your men die that night?'
'No, Prince Jehal, they did not. I do not waste my own men. They are posted where they will do no harm.' Vale sounded like he was chewing on gravel.
'Good for you.' Jehal smiled. 'Now shall I tell you something else?' He nodded over the wall towards the cages. 'I saw Hyram go over the balcony with the same eyes that saw you betray your speaker. Shezira never touched him. You beheaded an innocent queen.'
'I followed the speaker's orders.'
'You should really make up your mind, Night Watchman. Are you a guardian of the realms with a sacred duty to preserve our peace and our way of life? Or are you a man who does as he's told, no matter what fool gives him his orders?'Jehal snorted. 'But no, we both know you can't even do that right, can you?'
Vale's face didn't change. 'Should I tell Master Jeiros about the blood-mage who comes to see you, Your Highness? It would probably be wise to consider his advice.'
Jehal shrugged. 'Why not tell the speaker as well?'
'I imagine she already knows.' He shrugged. 'We are the Adamantine Men, Your Highness. We trace our traditions to the earliest days of the Embers. We were the first to rise up against the blood-mages because we had nothing to lose. We were their fodder, their unwilling sacrifices to the dragons. The Embers of today may choose their way, but the first Adamantine Men did not. The alchemists guard the realms against the dragons now. The dragon-kings guard against the alchemists, the speaker guards against the dragon-kings and we guard against them all. We are the last resort, Your Highness. We guard against tyranny. It is a precarious balance at best. People like you are anathema to me. Tell the speaker whatever you wish.'
Jehal stared at Vale as he finished. 'You actually believe that, don't you?' He hauled himself painfully to his feet. The Tower of Dusk felt a very long way away, but at least the stairs from the gatehouse would be easier going down. 'I think I would like to go back to my prison now. You can go first. Make sure you're ready to catch me. I wouldn't want to accidentally slip and break my neck. Oh, and I think, on reflection, I shall go elsewhere for my whores. No offence, Night Watchman, but I would prefer to be a little more certain of their qualities.'
Vale went wordlessly down. Jehal sat on the top step and slid down from one to the next. Which hurt and made him look like an idiot, but he simply didn't have the strength to do anything else. At the bottom the Night Watchman walked away and Jehal watched him go.
First blood was to you, Vale Tassan. But now you see what is coming and I promise all the other victories will be mine. Every single petty little one of them, until tormenting you is simply a bore.
First things first, though. He would see if this blood-mage could deliver on his promises. And after that there was the little matter of heirs and whether he could still father them. Or at least enjoy trying.
36
The dragons flew for three more days, out across the sea, until they found land again. Kemir had no idea where they were but he'd never been so happy to see a bare stretch of sand in his life. He lay flat on his back, stretching muscles that he hadn't known he had.
We are hungry, Snow said. She dropped the half-dead dragon rider a hundred yards down the beach. Then the dragons took off again. The wind of their wings blasted sand into Kemir's face but he didn't notice because by then he was already asleep.
He woke up as the sun was sinking towards the horizon. Stiff as a board again. With creaking joints, he got to his feet. He had no idea where he was. With Sollos, he'd travelled most of the realms. They'd been to the edge of the stone desert to the north of Outwatch. They'd travelled on the backs of dragons over the endless dunes of the Desert of Sand and the white flat lifeless expanse of the Desert of Salt. They'd whored and fought their way through the hills around Evenspire and the swamps and moors of the distant east. They'd travelled the length of the Worldspine from north to south.
But I never crossed the sea. He sat up and looked at the sky, blue and clear. Waves rustled softly at the edge of the sand, swishing back and forth. A gentle breeze blew, soft and warm. A hundred feet the other way, away from the sea, the sand rose up into rolling humps. Dunes covered in long spiky grasses. Beyond that, trees. Lots and lots of trees.
Trees meant game and game meant food. It would be dark soon and he was hungry. The dragons had been gone for hours. He picked up his two bows and went over to the dragon-rider. She hadn't moved. She was conscious though. Could have killed him in his sleep if she'd had the presence of mind to get up and do it. Except when he peered Closer he wasn't sure she had the presence of anything much any more. Her eyes rolled up into her head. She moaned and groaned and had no idea who he was. Probably had no idea who she herself was either. By the looks of her, she wasn't going to last for long. Not so useful after all.
There was a little stream running down the beach. Kemir followed it a little way inland and found a pool. He drank and then brought back some water and tipped it down her throat. Strange thing to do to someone you planned to kill. He mulled over doing just that, slitting her throat here and now while the dragons were away. He
