Shadowbred_ The Twilight War Part 13

"My father is not a murderer," Abelar insisted, anger in his eyes. "It is a lie. Your lie."

Some of those allied with Endren murmured agreement. Hands tightened around hilts.

"The high lord abbot cast the spell himself," Mirabeta said. "Will you gainsay the priests of the Justicar?"

Abelar stood and pointed his sword at Mirabeta. "I would gainsay you, Countess. Who has more to gain from my father's fall than you?" He looked to the other members of the High Council. "There is dark magic afoot here."

"Yes," Mirabeta said. "There is dark magic afoot. And with it, your father murdered my cousin."

"Do not believe her," Abelar said to the members. "You know my father. He is an honorable man. He murdered no one."

Mirabeta's face flushed when several of the members nodded. She turned to the priest. "High Lord Abbot, can you use your spells to detect a lie?"

Jemb nodded.

"Please do so," Mirabeta ordered. "And ask whether I had anything to do with the overmaster's death, and whether I had anything to do with his naming of Endren as his murderer."

Jemb looked at Endren and Abelar, at Mirabeta, at the council members. The highspeaker nodded. Jemb grasped his holy symbol and intoned a prayer to Tyr. When he finished, a nimbus of pale light extended outward from him. Mirabeta stood within its glow.

"None may lie within this light," Jemb said. He looked Mirabeta in the face.

"Mirabeta Selkirk, did you murder Overmaster Kendrick Selkirk, either directly or through an agent?"

Mirabeta let the question hang for a moment before answering. "No. I had nothing to do with it. Nor with perpetrating a fraud in this chamber, as Abelar Corrinthal contends."

Jemb nodded. "She speaks truth."

A susurous rustle moved through the council and the a.s.sembled guards.

"What of her niece?" Abelar said. "Put the question to her."

Eyes turned to look at Elyril.

"My niece is not involved in this," Mirabeta said.

Elyril stood up straight and stepped forward. "It is all right, aunt. I have nothing to hide."

She picked her way through the crowd and stepped within the Tyrran's light of truth.

Jemb said, "Elyril Hraven, did you murder Overmaster Kendrick Selkirk, either directly or through an agent?"

Elyril shook her head. "No. I was not involved."

Jemb nodded again. "She, too, speaks truth."

A rush of conversation filled the chamber. Elyril smiled at Abelar.

"Spells can be fooled," Abelar stated.

"And so can sons," Mirabeta said Abelar stared cold rage at Mirabeta. "I know what you are, Countess. You and your niece. You will not succeed with this."

Mirabeta smiled politely. "What we are, Abelar Corrinthal, are servants of Sembia, both of us. But you, you are the son of a murderer and traitor." She gestured at the city guards. "Take Lord Corrinthal into custody."

The a.s.sembly erupted into protests and calls of support. The guardsmen looked at one another nervously.

Still weakened from Elyril's spell, Endren pulled himself up with aid from his son and spoke on his own behalf. "You do not speak for the High Council, or the city, Mirabeta Selkirk."

Mirabeta's smile never wavered, though her eyes hardened. Without taking her gaze from Endren, she said to Lossit, "Highspeaker, I demand a voice vote on the election of an Overmaster of Sembia."

The chamber erupted. Blades came up anew. Guards rushed forward and disarmed the council members and their wallmen-all but Abelar, who refused to give up his blade, and none dared insist.

"Countess, I am not certain that-" Lossit began.

"I second the demand," Graffen Disteaf said.

Mirabeta raised her hands to calm the brewing tumult and said, "The vote will be to appoint an overmaster for a limited term, until representatives for the vacant seats," she glanced at the bodies of Zarin and Inmin, "can be filled. The appointment shall be valid for nine tendays. Then a new election will be held."

The majority of the members murmured acceptance. Even Lossit said, "A reasonable course, Countess."

The highspeaker called for a new nominee while the priests of Tyr healed the wounded. No one was nominated-Endren refused to allow anyone to stand as his proxy, contending the vote was illegitimate. Mirabeta was left as the only candidate. Lossit called for a voice vote and Mirabeta was elected temporary overmistress by a slim majority. Endren and his two closest allies abstained.

"So noted," said the Highspeaker. "By action of the High Council, Mirabeta Selkirk is hereby temporarily appointed to the office of Overmistress of Sembia for the next nine tendays. The proclamation will go out this evening."

Mirabeta eyed Endren. The elder Corrinthal must have known what was coming. He struck a dignified pose as Mirabeta spoke. "Endren Corrinthal, you are hereby placed under arrest as a suspect in the murder of Kendrick Selkirk."

"No," Abelar said, brandishing his blade. Rosy light emanated from its edge.

"If Abelar Corrinthal interferes, arrest him, too," Mirabeta said.

Five guardsmen hefted their maces and moved toward the Corrinthals. Endren put his hand on his son's shoulder and guided his weapon downward.

"No, Abelar. Not this way."

"You are not a murderer," Abelar said, his eyes fixed on the advancing guardsmen.

Endren eyed Mirabeta. "No. And I will be exonerated."

Mirabeta only smirked.

Abelar looked into his father's face. Endren nodded, smiled, and Abelar sheathed his blade.

Elyril clucked her tongue with disappointment. She had hoped to see Abelar bleed.

Another supporter of Endren, Herlin Sambruar of Urmlaspyr, said, "There are over two hundred citizens on the street outside who will not countenance this, Mirabeta. This is a transparent grab for power."

Before Mirabeta could answer, Endren shook his head. "No, Herlin. We will not turn Ordulin into a battlefield. Unlike the countess, I value our nation too highly as to so casually risk its good order. Highspeaker, I demand that the High Council call a moot for the purpose of electing the next overmaster at the end of Mirabeta's term."

Elyril scowled. So did Mirabeta. A moot would turn the council of twenty into an a.s.sembly of seventy or more. Such a gathering would frustrate all of Mirabeta's plans.

"You are in a position to demand nothing, Endren Corrinthal," Mirabeta said. "The High Council has not called a moot of the n.o.bility in over three hundred years. The point of the representative body is to avoid the need for moots."

Endren stared at Mirabeta. "And it has failed. Ordulin has become an insular hive of political backbiting, of grasping politicians who look to their own interests before those of the state. New blood and new perspectives are what the nation needs. I will accede to this arrest-to house arrest house arrest, at my tallhouse in Ordulin-if and only if my son is left free and the High Council issues a summons for a moot. The next permanent overmaster must be elected by the n.o.bility-at-large, not by this council."

"Seconded!" shouted Herlin. "A voice vote on the question of a moot, Highspeaker."

Lossit, a compromising man by nature, called for the voice vote over Mirabeta's protest. Apparently ready to push the responsibility of electing the next overmaster upon all of Sembia's n.o.bility, every member of the High Council voted for the moot. When Mirabeta saw this, she withdrew her protest and voted in favor of it.

But Mirabeta still had the final word.

"By order of the overmistress," Mirabeta said to the guard and pointed at Endren, "take the murderer into custody."

Endren whispered urgent instructions to Abelar, who nodded while staring daggers at Mirabeta and Elyril.

[image]

Cale dreamed of spirits writhing in pits of liquid fire. Horned devils covered in dark scales prowled the pits, flaying the d.a.m.ned at random with sharp knives, grinning as they did their b.l.o.o.d.y work. Fire rained out of a glowing red sky. Laughter, deep and ominous, boomed over the screaming. Cale found the laughter familiar but he could not place it.

Help me, a voice said.

Cale could not tell if the request was a plea for rescue or an invitation to a.s.sist with punishing the d.a.m.ned.

Help me, Erevis, said the voice.

Cale recognized it then.

Magadon?

Before Magadon could answer, something dark and large and terrible entered the dreamscape. The glowing sky dimmed. d.a.m.ned and devil alike cowered as a shadow fell over the land.

Father, Magadon's mental voice said, and Cale felt the presence of an ent.i.ty as ancient as the multiverse. The power of it stripped him to his core. He wanted to run, to hide, but there was nowhere for him to go. He knew the ent.i.ty's name. It was none other than Mephistopheles, Magadon's father.

He is mine, the arch devil said, and his voice made Cale's ears bleed.

Cale awoke to Varra shaking him. He opened his eyes to find shadows pouring from his flesh, swarming the bed. Varra was shrouded in darkness, screaming his name.

"Erevis! Erevis!"

Cale's heart pulsed in his ears. Sweat soaked him. His head was pounding, far behind his eyes. He seized Varra by her wrists and willed the shadows to subside.

"I'm all right, Varra. It was a dream. A bad dream."

But he was not sure that was all it was.

Varra stared down at him, tears in her eyes, concern on her face. "G.o.ds," she said.

"I am all right," he a.s.sured her.

She blew out a breath, stared at him a moment, and lowered her head onto his chest. He put his arms around her, hoping she would not hear the hammering of his heart, and he inhaled the smell of her hair. It calmed him.

The cottage was dark. It was still night, perhaps a few hours after midnight.

"You were calling in your sleep, tossing about," she said. "The room went black with shadows. I was frightened. I shook you and shook you, but you wouldn't awaken."

Cale stroked her hair absently, his mind still on the dream. His sleep had been troubled for over a tenday. Again and again he dreamed of suffering souls, but none of the previous dreams had approached the intensity of the last.

"Varra, I think one of my friends may be in trouble."

Varra did not hear him, or did not acknowledge hearing him. She said, "You kept saying the same things over and over again, shouting them."

Cale tried not to ask, but could not help himself. "What did I say?"

"You shouted about a storm coming, about the h.e.l.ls, and you kept repeating 'two and two are four, two and two are four.' Does that mean something to you?"

Cale felt chill. Shadows played over his flesh. "Yes. No. I mean, I am not certain."

"Your skin is gooseflesh." She ran her hand across his chest. Shadows wove around her fingers.

He stroked her hair. "It is nothing, Varra. Just a dream."

She nodded and asked no more questions.

Cale stared up at the ceiling beams and pondered the dream, the words he spoke in his sleep. The phrase, 'two and two are four' came from Sephris Dwendon, the mad seer of Oghma. Sephris meant by it that there was no escaping fate.

Cale decided that he had to find Magadon. His friend was in trouble. The dreams were some kind of vision, some kind of plea. Magadon needed his help.

His mind made up, Cale waited for Varra to fall back to sleep. When she did, he stole out of bed and silently gathered his clothing, his boots, and his blades, and shadowstepped outside to the meadow. As he dressed, he pictured Starmantle in his mind, the city Magadon called home. He imagined the row of temples that stared down on the dirty, vice-infested trading hub. He pictured the rickety wooden docks teeming with goods and workers, the streets thronged with wagons and carts.

When he had a clear mental image, he surrounded himself in shadows and used them to leap across Faerun. He traveled leagues in the blink of an eye, leaving Varra and the cottage far behind.

He appeared in a dark alley in Starmantle, his arrival unnoticed by any save a mangy dog. The scruffy pup growled at his sudden appearance and slinked off, tail between his legs.

Cale wasted no time. He prowled the taverns, festhalls, inns, and docks. Sometimes he moved invisibly among the crowds and tables, listening. Sometimes he used coin to pry tongues loose. Other times he used threats to get what he wanted.

All manner of beings filled the establishments in Starmantle. The city aspired to become a great trading center, and so held its gates open to all. Cale questioned not only men, elves, and dwarves, but also towering gnolls, hairy bugbear mercenaries, tusked half orcs, and squeaky-voiced goblin laborers. For the first time in months, he felt like himself, felt like he was doing what he was supposed to do. He met with no success the first night, but his dreams continued, so he returned to do the same, night after night.

He traveled the unnamed drinking holes that festered in the dark places along the docks, ventured into secret drug dens hidden in dank cellars near the city walls, visited the brothels where women and men went for coppers and all manner of tastes were indulged.

And there, as he sc.r.a.ped the bottom of Starmantle's underworld, he picked up Magadon's trail. He heard tell of Magadon as a drunk, a misthead, a babbling madman, or all three.

Cale's worry for his friend grew. The Magadon that Cale had known had demonstrated no weakness for such vices. But that had been before Magadon had melded with the Source. Cale knew that Magadon's contact with the Source had changed the mind mage. But he'd had no inkling of how much.

He followed Magadon's trail to Teziir, and there learned to his relief that his friend-apparently clear headed-had taken work as a guide for the wagons of the Three Diamond Trading Coster. Cale followed that trail from Teziir back to Starmantle. There, he tracked down an overweight merchant named Grathan, the master of the caravan with which Magadon had taken employment. Cale arranged a meeting.

They met across a cracked wooden table in the Buxom Mermaid, one of the few quality inns located in Starmantle's Dock Ward. Cale took the merchant's measure as he sat down. Grathan wore tailored breeches, a dyed shirt, a green jacket, and a threadbare overcloak that had seen much travel. The few pieces of jewelry he wore were of modest quality. Cale concluded that he was well off, but not rich. He wore a gentleman's rapier at his hip, but Cale doubted it saw much use. The man had no hardness in his eyes.

"Thank you for coming, Master Grathan," Cale said. With conscious effort, he kept shadowstuff from leaking from his flesh.

"What is this about, now?" Grathan said. "Are you interested in my goods?"