Servant by John D. Brown

Author:John D. Brown [Brown, John D.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy, Fiction
Publisher: Blacksword Books
Published: 2014-09-08T04:00:00+00:00

28

Alliances

THE SKIR MASTER Rubaloth stood on the portico, the sun-warmed marble under his naked feet, the warm breeze washing across his legs and bringing the sulfur scent of the hot mineral pools. Behind him in the chamber, the Lord of the Fir-Noy, the one they called The Crab, lay on a couch trying to gather his wits.

“Pour him another cup of the tea,” Rubaloth said to Leaf, the dreadman who was his guide. Rubaloth had just performed a seeking and then a minor binding on this man, forming a link between The Crab and an escrum, a weave that would allow them to communicate over distances. Such bindings disoriented the one bound, made him dizzy and stupid. But Rubaloth did not have the time to let this man sleep it off.

Leaf picked up the tea. Rubaloth heard him fill the cup again.

It would take a few days for the binding to cure completely, but that didn’t mean it wouldn’t be useful before then. Rubaloth had been cold the whole time on the sea and rummaging through this man’s mind made him feel filthy. He ached to submerse himself in the hot water that lay at the end of the marble path.

“This is a bitter brew,” said The Crab.

Rubaloth did not reply. He waited for the clink on the platter that would signal Leaf had returned the empty cup.

“So what is it you want us to do?” The Crab asked.

“I want you to find out all you can about this Captain Argoth. Where his family is from, his business dealings, the types of foods he eats. I want to know if he has a regimen of exercise.”

“Exercise, Great One?”

“I want to know what he puts in his body and what comes out. You’ll dig in his privy. You’ll search his pantry and root cellars. Anyone who uses the lore needed to eat certain foods to keep the body from wasting. They needed to exercise in a certain way to prepare the body for the moment of quickening.”

“Do you suspect him?”

“I suspect everyone, Clansman, including you.”

“Argoth’s sister married a Koramite,” said The Crab. “There are a number of us in the Council who have never trusted him.”

“You will provoke nothing,” continued Rubaloth. “He must know nothing. His wife must suspect nothing. You will take action only upon my command. And that will come through this minor binding.”

“What about questioning the Koramite?”

“Your tower is not secure. You’ll move him immediately. Far from Whitecliff.”

“Yes,” said The Crab.

“Do not touch him.” If the Koramite had anything to do with the rebellion here, if he had any secrets, Rubaloth would seek them out himself. He did not want to risk incompetent men killing or damaging the man.

“You do not want us to press him?”

“What did I just say?”

The Crab bowed. “Please forgive my stupidity, Bright One.”

“Be faithful over these few things and you shall be made ruler over many. Fail me, and you will be cast aside like rancid meat.”

He heard The Crab rise. His voice slurred slightly.

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