Viper's Kiss (House of Serpents) by Lisa Smedman

Author:Lisa Smedman [Smedman, Lisa]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
ISBN: 9780786957057
Publisher: Wizards of the Coast Publishing
Published: 2010-04-12T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

Where have you been?” the baron growled. “My daughter is ill—she may be dying—and instead of finding her, you—”

Arvin bowed. “I apologize, Baron Foesmasher. I was poisoned.”

The baron blinked. “Poisoned?”

“The ambassador kept me waiting all day. I decided to confront him in his basking chamber. I didn’t realize it was filled with poisonous smoke. I only recovered from its effects a short time ago.”

That wasn’t strictly true, of course. His interlude with Karrell had followed. It had been brief—both of them felt the urgency of what was now a shared goal. But time had been lost; it was now nearly the middle of the night.

The room in which they stood—a chapel with one of the enormous, silver gauntlets of Helm standing on a dais near one wall—was lit by a single lantern. The baron had been standing in prayer, his left hand raised and head bowed, when Arvin was ushered in. Karrell had been detained outside the room by the soldiers who served as palace guards. She stood at the end of the hallway, waiting.

Baron Foesmasher glanced at her. “Who is the woman?”

“Another tracker,” Arvin said. “She’s going to help in the search for your daughter.”

The baron’s eyes narrowed. “You have told her Glisena is missing?”

“Yes,” Arvin acknowledged.

“What else have you told her?”

Arvin met the baron’s eye. “Only that Glisena has run away,” he said. “And that she is most likely hiding in the Chondalwood, among the satyrs. And that her flight from the palace was aided by minions of Sibyl, who hope to exploit your daughter for their own, ill purposes.”

“By the sound of her accent, she’s from Chult,” Foesmasher said. “Is she yuan-ti?”

Arvin met the baron’s eye. “Yes.”

The baron grunted and turned back to Arvin. “You promised to be discreet. And now I find you’ve told a complete stranger. Another serpent.”

“If you want me to find your daughter, Lord Foesmasher, you’ll have to trust my judgment,” Arvin told him. “I trust Karrell. It was a stroke of Tymora’s fortune that she turned up here, in Sespech. Karrell knows a great deal about Sibyl; the abomination has had her people under her thrall for some time. Karrell was already investigating what Sibyl’s minions are up to in Sespech. She would have learned, eventually, of your daughter’s disappearance. By including her now, we gain some valuable assistance.”

The baron glowered. “You assured me your mind magic would locate Glisena.”

“It’s already narrowed the search,” Arvin countered. “We’ve learned she’s in the Chondalwood.”

“That tells us very little,” the baron said. “The Chondalwood is enormous. It’s nearly as wide as Sespech is long. Were I to send an entire garrison into it to search for Glisena, they could wander for a tenday and never meet a soul, let alone find a band of reclusive satyrs. And ordering in a garrison is something I can’t do. Lord Wianar has laid claim to the Chondalwood; he hopes to cut off the supply of wood I need to build my navy. Sending troops into it would only give him the excuse he needs to invade.

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