Hall of the Mountain King by Tarr Judith

Author:Tarr, Judith [Tarr, Judith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fantasy
ISBN: 9781611382600
Publisher: Book View Cafe
Published: 2013-05-28T07:00:00+00:00

FIFTEEN

“Precipitous fool.”

Odiya had no patience to spare for the son she had borne. “If you had curbed your hounds, if you had seen fit to rest upon your victories—”

Moranden whirled upon her. “Curb my hounds? They were not mine!”

“They followed you. You made no effort to silence them.”

“And who encouraged them to speak?” He stood over her. “No masks now, Mother. No pretenses. I know whose mind conceived that web of deception in Umijan. I know who stands behind tonight’s madness. And so, madam, does the king.”

“So did the king.”

His hand gripped her throat. “What have you done? What have you done to him?”

“I,” she said, “nothing. He wished to die. That gift was given him. When she chooses, the goddess can be merciful.”

“The goddess!” He spat. “And who asked her? Who danced the spells? Who brewed the poison? It was poison, wasn’t it? My lordlings, my anger, my exile—diversions, no more. The little bastard was right. You were using me!”

“Of course I used you,” she said coolly. “You are an apt tool. Attractive, malleable, only intermittently clever. Yon interloper is a hundredfold the king that you will ever be.”

“You are no mother to me, you daughter of tigers.”

“I am giving you the throne you lust after.”

His eyes narrowed. His grief was deep and rending, but his mind was clear, doing its cold duty. In that much he was his mother’s son; and perhaps his father’s. “The throne,” he muttered. “It’s empty now. And the boy—I heard him plead for me. He’ll revoke my sentence. I’ll challenge him; he’ll fall. By tomorrow’s dawn I’ll be king.”

“By tomorrow’s dawn you will be riding to the Marches.”

“Are you mad? I should leave now that you’ve thrown all Ianon in my face?”

“You will go into exile as the lord your father has commanded. You grieve, you are justly angered, but you are a man of honor; you do as your king has bidden. If the new king calls you back, why then, is he any king of yours? You have sworn no oaths to him, nor will you, slayer of your father that he is.”

“You slew my—”

She slapped him. He stood with his mouth open, staring.

“Fool,” she said to him. “Idiot child. It is no man you face. It is a mage, the son of a god. All Ianon’s Vale lies under his spell. Every man he meets learns swiftly to worship him. Remember the ride to the west; remember how he was, effacing himself among your men, subverting them with a look or a smile, winning their souls with his magic. And he was the great victor in the war that never was. He conceived the race to Umijan; he ran it and won it while you tarried for dull duty. You were but the lord commander; he was the great hero.

“And you would stand up in hall before the king’s body and dare to contend with him for the throne.” Her lip curled. “Think! You were loved by some, respected by all, looked on as king to be.

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