The Spell of the Black Dagger by Lawrence Watt-Evans

Author:Lawrence Watt-Evans [Watt-Evans, Lawrence]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Published: 2012-06-03T20:15:50+00:00

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Chapter Twenty-Four

It was Alorria of Dwomor who rousted Lord Torrut out of his bed; the soldier who had guarded the bedchamber door stood nervously beside her, holding a lamp.

“She said it was an emergency, sir…”

“It is an emergency,” Alorria said, tugging at the bedclothes. “There’s an uprising!”

Lord Torrut was not a young man any more, and did not wake as quickly as he once had; he looked up blearily at the unfamiliar but unmistakably attractive face and smiled. “Ah, young lady…” he began. Then his head sank a little, and he saw the rest of her. His eyes widened. “Is it the baby?” he said. “Soldier, go fetch a midwife!”

“No, it’s not the baby,” Alorria snapped. “The baby’s fine and not due for sixnights. There’s an uprising! They’re marching on the Palace!”

Torrut sat up and shook his head to clear it; then, speaking as he reached for his tunic, he asked, “Who’s marching? What’s going on?”

“There’s a woman named Tabaea who has just declared herself Empress of Ethshar, and she’s raised an army of the poor and discontented from the Wall Street Field. They’re marching here to take the Palace and kill the overlord.” Alorria stepped back, to give the commander of the city guard room to stand.

“From the Field?” Lord Torrut said, astonished; he stopped with one arm in its sleeve and the other bare. “You don’t need me for that! A hundred men and a magician or two should be able to handle it.”

Alorria shook her head. “Tabaea’s a magician—a very powerful one, the one that Lady Sarai’s been looking for for months, the one who’s been murdering other magicians.”

“Well, but surely…”

“The magicians are trying to stop her, and Captain Tikri’s getting the Palace Guard ready to defend against her, but so far nothing’s working. She’s already walked right through a squadron of guards, out on Wall Street; she crippled a warlock and brushed aside the wizards’ spells as if they were mere illusions.”

Torrut stared at her for a moment, then turned to his door guard. “Is this true?” he demanded.

The guard turned up an empty palm. “I don’t know, my lord,” he said. “This woman was sent by Lady Sarai and Captain Tikri, but that’s all I know.”

“Damn.” Torrut slid his arm into the empty sleeve and then reached for his kilt. “Who are you, young woman? Why wasn’t one of the regular messengers sent?”

“My husband’s a wizard,” Alorria explained. “Everyone else was busy, and I wanted to help, so they sent me to fetch you.”

Torrut nodded. “Good of you. Listen, I want you to take this soldier to vouch for you, and go wake the overlord. I don’t know what’s going on here, or how much danger there really is, but I’m not about to let anyone say I didn’t do my best to protect Ederd. While you do that, I’ll go down and see what’s happening for myself.”

“Wake the overlord?” Alorria squeaked. Even though she was the daughter of a king herself, she lived in awe of the three Ethsharitic overlords.

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