King of Swords (The Starfolk) by Duncan Dave

Author:Duncan, Dave [Duncan, Dave]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub, azw3
Publisher: 47North
Published: 2013-10-22T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

Bring forth this witness!” roared the regent.

Supernatural acoustics magnified his voice, but also the spectators’ whispering. It would take thousands of people to make that court seem crowded, but there was no doubt that it now held many more people than it had done at the start of the trial.

Counselor Pleione said, “I assume that this is she being brought in now.”

Kornephoros was red-faced with fury. Talitha was staring very hard at Rigel—for the first time since she came in. Vildiar was watching him also, but his grotesquely elongated features bore no expression. He certainly extended the boundaries of the expression “poker-faced.”

Mira, in her cotton earthling robe, strolled in leisurely fashion along the length of the court, ignoring the efforts of Sphinx Alterf behind her to chivvy her into moving faster. From the way she walked it was obvious that she had discarded her boots and was barefoot, and her bonnet had disappeared also. Her dark hair was longer than the starfolk’s, but it did not conceal her human ears. She was cunning and her motives were obscure. Not wanting to get too close to her, Rigel snatched up his discarded robe and vacated the Star of Truth. She halted with her toes just outside of it and nodded to him with mild amusement.

“Nicely done, sonny,” she said. “How did you work that out?”

“Lots of little things that weren’t right. I wasn’t certain until you gave yourself away on the barge.”

“You will kneel on the Star!” Kornephoros barked.

Mira looked up at him with a mocking smirk. “No, I won’t. But I will tell you this much.” She stepped forward, onto the black granite. “Rigel Tweenling did not provoke the mob to attack us. That was the work of a Cujam, one of those fiendishly evil berserker amulets that affect earthlings but not starborn or tweenlings. It was activated by Tarf Halfling, who was begotten in illegal miscegenation by Vildiar Naos.” She pointed an accusing finger at the prince. “Tarf was reared by some of his many halfling brothers and trained by them in the art and practice of murder. He can pass as an earthling as long as he keeps his mouth shut, and he had extroverted to the crime scene with the express purpose of killing me. Get him onto the Star and see what you can learn.”

The Star was empty. Mira had disappeared.

Aces scored high, and Halfling Rigel had just played the ace of trumps.

The court erupted. Even the sphinxes uttered growls of amazement. Chertan snarled, “Who was that?”

Obviously no one knew, but Rigel heard Electra’s name being repeated. He kept an eye on Vildiar, worried that he might resort to violence. But if starfolk could use violence, they would have no reason to keep halflings around. He grinned at Talitha, who looked stunned.

The regent-heir waved a hand. A gigantic but invisible gong boomed, jangling every bone in Rigel’s body and leaving his ears ringing. It instantly silenced the chatter.

“Where is Halfling Tarf?” Kornephoros demanded. If the long-lost Queen Electra had returned, he would have to be very careful how he proceeded.

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