The Battle for Montjoy by Edward C Patterson

Author:Edward C Patterson [Patterson, Edward C]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2020-01-11T22:00:00+00:00

Episode Eight

Where Parnasus encounters the whisperer; and then a second encounter with the Cetrone maid

1

Fortune spins its web drawing in the blithely ignorant — those folk who would never guess they had more than a foothold in the worlds. But fate is a pirate nonetheless, plundering anyone who looks away and avoids the reality that snares them into a path with heroes. Little loops and sticky drops adhere them to vanity’s web until they are lost in union with all those who move events forward. Still, even when entangled beyond hope, they still bear witness to innocence. In the end, they meld into the core, where they draw in the next batch of ignorant bastards.

2

In the shadow of the Kalugu walls, the injured and the sqwallen-addled were strewn, protected by jupsim sheets near a dozen Loribringus. Dust pervaded the landscape, the suns’ rays failing to penetrate the gloom, although, as dawn approached, a rosier sky gave evidence Yichiyusti was over. Still, the thunderous battle sounds in the Yuganawu and beyond broached the refugees’ attention. Some were injured in the Kalugu while fighting for their freedom, while others were stymied by addiction and now gasped for more sqwallen. However, the order had come down from the Danuwa that sqwallen was proscribed — the days of keeping the Trone in a mental fog were over. The cure was harsh, because there was little of the antidote, pilocarpinus, to go around and the limited doses were applied only to the worst cases — those dying from drug withdrawal.

One great jupsim coated tent clung close to the wall. There the sqwallen spooner Tahlequah, now out of work, stood vigilant, guarding the relics of the Kalugu and the sacred siti. Inside were the Yodanado, the priestess Euforsee and her sisters. The tent was watched from afar by Parnasus, who hovered in the wall’s break. He had fought hard on the previous day, but retreated at Buhippus’ insistence, ostensibly to catch a few hours’ sleep. Now, in the shadow of a new day and the promise of more conflict, Parnasus claimed a quiet place — an unsettling place near to the dead and the dying, sleep never having touched his noggin — only worry and concern.

Parnasus watched Tahlequah carefully. Although the Cetrone was Yustichisqua’s cousin, he was devious and unpredictable. Why Lord Belmundus entrusted the Yodanado to this man, Parnasus could only wonder. Tahlequah worked with the regulati of the Mordanka. He was a purveyor of the drug and a custodian for its administration. And at reaptide, he opened the chamber to the hungry beasts. No, Tahlequah bore watching; so, Parnasus watched, and as he watched, his mind drifted to another matter — another concern.

Since Parnasus’ encounter with the Cetrone woman and her child, her face crowded his mind. When least expected, he would see her fear and heard her humble pleas. She had been afraid of him. That disturbed him. He hoped his status and Cetrone indoctrination was at its root. He understood a Trone

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