The Staff Of Naught Part 16

A tall human with dark skin and tightly curled black hair looked up from the piece of dried beef from which he just finished taking a bite. He chewed for a few moments and then looked at Seymour, "Mighty Seymour, the horses are our finest royal stock but they cannot be driven hard over such great distances. We must manage their strength for the long journey."

"They are expendable, Levicus, you grow too attached to the horses," said Seymour with his eyes directed at the man. "You love them and that is good but you were not with us back when we first encountered the staff. I must expose the thing to the Icon of Ras and destroy it as quickly as possible. If the spider worshippers are able to learn the secrets of its power they can do much damage."

"If the horses die they are irreplaceable and our journey will be slowed tremendously," replied Levicus and spread his hands. "My advice is aimed at getting us into the heathen lands as soon as possible."

"Your advice is well considered, my friend," said Seymour with a nod of his head. "Oliver, Sutekha, do you have an opinion on this?"

The smallest man of the group whose light brown hair and golden eyes would have made him stand out in any case shrugged his shoulders, "The Golden Worm cares not for horses nor for Dorians," he said as his fingers rubbed a large ring on his left hand that, at first glance, seemed to be a coiled snake but was in reality an homage to the great sand worms that roamed below the surface of The Sands. "Although, great master, I sometimes am confused by your reference to spider worshippers. It applies to both the Dorians and the darklings who, as I have explained, are also involved in this vendetta of yours. Perhaps it would be best to distinguish between the two to avoid miscommunication in the future."

"They are all heathens," said Seymour. "They will all fall to the might of Tarlton in the end, what does it matters how we refer to them, Sutekha?"

The small man nodded his head and shrugged his shoulders, "It is as you wish, Master of Ras, I merely offer advice as you request."

"I asked about the horses," said Seymour with a dismissive wave. "Oliver, what are your thoughts?"

"Our treatment of the lesser beasts is a reflection of our souls," said the tall orc who wore a plain white jerkin, stained gray by the road, with no adornments on it. His boots were likewise of simple design although of quality work and even a simple loop of twine served as a scabbard for his long sword. "I will not ride them to their deaths although your actions are your own to decide."

"Your devotion is admirable," said Seymour with a nod of his head. "But I will never understand exactly what it is you are devoted to. You should join me in my prayers to Ras for you would be a most excellent servant of the G.o.d of the Sun."

Oliver nodded his head, "I thank you for your generous offer, High Priest."

"So, it will take us longer to arrive amongst the Spider Worshipping heathens than I had hoped," said Seymour. "This will give us time to discuss our plans against them."

"What is to discuss, High Priest?" said Sutekha with a shrug of his shoulders and an elaborate wave of his hands. "We will take the staff from their weak hands, bring it to the White Marble Mount, and expose it to the Icon of Ras. It seems relatively simple to me."

"And what if these dark heathens become involved as you suggested, Sutekha," said Seymour. "Our own ruler, my foolish little brother, is smitten with one of them and I imagine has reported my departure to him."

"He is a renegade to his own people, and if the legends are to be believed, from so long ago in the past that he cannot have significant contact with them today. Besides, he is a male and it is well known they have a matriarchal society, I doubt he can hinder us in any significant way," said the brown-haired magician.

"Do you believe the legends, Sutekha, you are of the nomadic people after all?" asked Seymour and looked at him with narrowed eyes.

"That our new warlord is actually the original Demon Rider reborn?" he said with a smile and a little wave of his hand. "Of course not. He is an imposter using the old legends in an attempt to unite the nomadic warriors of The Sands. It is a foolish attempt and doomed to failure. He will die soon enough and your brother will need to find a new warlord. Oliver, have you considered applying for the position?"

The tall orc did not smile nor did he bother to look at the smaller man with the golden eyes. "I have no desire for power, possessions, or t.i.tles. I leave that to those who are insecure with their current station in life."

"Ho ho," said Sutekha, "now I am insecure in my station of life?"

"Those who need possessions, the trappings of power, and the delights of rule are always insecure. The more insecure they are the higher they are driven to fly," said Oliver and stared directly at the man, his hand suddenly caressing the plain sword hilt at his side.

"What of master Seymour, certainly he has risen far in the ranks of the priests of Ras," said the golden-eyed man and turned to face Oliver directly and looked back at him in a battle of wills.

"If Master Seymour had wanted he would have been king, he would have ruled Tarlton, he would have united your meager tribes into a fighting force that would once again sweep the northern continent and conquer the world. Seymour has chosen the path of humility and humbleness as have I," said Oliver his words strong but his tone of voice quiet and with little inflection. "That you do not comprehend this is a testament to the l.u.s.t that has overwhelmed your intelligence. Like a gutter thief who sees the flashing leg of a wh.o.r.e you cannot control yourself, like a dog presented with a cut of beef you slather your intentions for the world to see, you have no self-control, you have no honor, you have no humility Sutekha, and one day I will see to you."

"You will see to me?" asked Sutekha and rose up to his full height of five feet five inches which was still over a foot shorter than the mighty orc. "You will see to me?"

"Enough bickering," said Seymour with a sad little shake of his head. "Our enemies are the Dorians, the vile creature that worship spiders and have long been the ancient foe of Tarlton. We will take this opportunity not only to destroy the Staff of Naught but also to damage their queen. The new warlord is certainly a fake but he is aggressive and, despite your a.s.surances, Sutekha, has gained the support of the Black Hors.e.m.e.n of the Sands. If he can continue to unite the nomads he will have a force capable of sallying out and destroying our desert enemies and eventually the City of Spiders itself."

"When you say *our desert enemies' I a.s.sume you do not refer to the Nomads of the Golden Worm," said Sutekha and turned to glare at Seymour.

"You forget yourself, wizard," said Seymour. "You work for me; your loyalty is to me and me alone. Any former allegiance you swore is void. The Light of Ras is your only guidance and you will adhere to it or Oliver will see to it."

"I forget myself, High Priest," said Sutekha and bowed down almost to the ground. "The vestiges of the training remain. I offer my humblest apologies for my behavior. How might I soothe your worries, oh great Master of the Sun?"

"You can begin by affecting true obedience rather than slavering nonsense," said Seymour looking down at his travel companion. "Secondly you can use your divining powers to try and find the staff and let us look in on the progress our foes have made in deciphering its intricacies. This is the only reason I brought you along and I have yet to see a single reward for my benevolence."

"As I have explained Master of the Sun, High Priest of Ras, Golden Son of the Orb, my powers are limited when I know nothing about the subject to which I am applying myself. We do not know the exact position of the staff, I have never held nor even seen anything other than a representation of the thing, I do not know who is now in control of the staff, or even if it is being used. All of these present significant difficulties in my divining skills. Now, if I could be trusted with a better image of the device, if you might afford me some insight as to its exact location or the nature of these Dorians who now have it, then I might be able to provide you with better results. I explained all this back in Tarlton when you first advised me as to my inclusion upon this endeavor."

"I grow weary of your excuses Sutekha," said Seymour with a dismissive wave of his hand. "We do not know who has the staff, we do not know where they are currently residing, and we do not know anything. It is your job to find these things out for me."

"As I have explained," said the Golden Worm wizard with a deep bow. "This information that you want can be obtained but it will require working with ent.i.ties with whom you are not comfortable. I am happy to begin such an investigation as soon as you allow me to contact the creatures that might be able to provide this information."

Seymour looked at the short man with the golden eyes for a long moment. "I strongly suspect that what you are telling me is a lie, Sutekha," he finally said. "You merely want to bring in your demon allies for your own purposes. That being said, I am willing to allow you to proceed with your summoning provided you give me a detailed a.n.a.lysis as to what creature is being called and what information you hope to gain from it. Also, if I find out that you are lying, then I shall unleash Oliver to do his will upon you. Is all of this clear?"

"Indeed it is," said the wizard with a deep bow and he was careful to keep a smile from his face. "I shall draw up a plan of action this evening and you can go over it tomorrow. If it meets with your approval we can begin as soon as tomorrow night if that suits you."

"Begin immediately," said Seymour and walked out from under the shade of the tree and towards a little gra.s.sy hill nearby. "I must go pray to Ras for guidance in this issue. Oliver, join me."

The big orc warrior bowed his head and followed Seymour towards the hilltop without a further word.

"He will have to be taken care of eventually," said Seymour once they were out of earshot of the two remaining men under the tree.

"Nomads of the Golden Worm are not reliable companions, Master Seymour," replied Oliver his face a mask of impenetrability.

"They are completely reliable," said Seymour. "They will always put their own agenda in front of yours. They will betray you simply for the pleasure of seeing the astonishment on your face. They are without honor, without pride, and without peer as magicians within the realm of Tarlton. Therefore I choose to use them for my own ends until they are no longer needed."

"You're wisdom is of the ages, great master," said the orc as they continued their walk, neither looking back to the other two. "I await your orders, as always."

"I know," said Seymour with a smile. "I know that you do."

Chapter 21.

"How do you know we can trust the trade master," said Lousa to Tanner as the two sat in the commons room of the Camel Sway Inn. Around them at half a dozen other tables were travelers from Doria, the hobgoblin realm of Hakor'lum, and even the lands below the world were represented by dark creatures of various shapes and sizes. "I don't like him at all. There is no doubt in my mind he was behind the original attack on us when Khemer pulled that phony ceremony. If his hired swords hadn't leapt to the attack too quickly we might well have been finished right there and then."

"We can't trust him," said Tanner, "but we have to listen to what he has to say. We don't know a thing about the staff or even the first inkling about how to destroy it. We do know that Lorim wants the staff or has clients who want the staff so we can judge his answer by that test. If we just ignore him then he'll be forced into more violent action."

"I think Shamki can handle himself," said Lousa with a smile and she shook her head a bit that sent her long green locks about in a shower.

"Shamki is a fine warrior but there are sell swords here in Hot Rock that are more than happy to do Lorim's business if it moves them further up the line for one of Edorin's swords. As I've said before, some of the finest swordsmen in all of Doria congregate here waiting for weapons. Besides, there are the children potentially to be used as hostages. I think we have to listen to what Lorim says and if the offer is right simply give up the staff. We don't know what to do with it anyway."

"Ariana seems to have grown quite attached to the thing," said Lousa with a shake of her head and a deep frown. "I think she has developed some sort of link to it. I've heard her talking in her sleep and she said some strange things during that episode with Khemer. She shouted that name at him."

"Have you asked her about it?" said Tanner and reached to put his hand on hers but stopped himself at the last moment and then leaned back in his chair to get away from her intoxicating scent.

"I have tried," said Lousa with a slump of her shoulders. "But she doesn't want to talk about it. I'm afraid she thinks we'll take the staff away from her if she tells us it is influencing her."

"What was it she said to Khemer right before she handed him the staff?"

"That's another problem, I can't remember. I've spoken with Hazlebub and she didn't recognize it either but Khemer did and it scared him."

"That's right," said Tanner, snapping his fingers and leaping to his feet. "Khemer said something back to Ariana, after you were knocked out by the blast. What was it, something about the Mage Kings of Das'von I think?"

Lousa looked up at the merchant, her mouth hung slightly open, "Das'von ... are ... are you sure about that?"

Tanner sat back down for a moment and put his hand to his chin and thought about it, closed his eyes, and moved his other hand in little motions. Then he began to mutter to himself, "she said Illucidoor or something and then the fight started, Hazlebub stabbed him, you shot him with fire, it was dark though, hard to see, then the blue bolt then Ariana was standing over your body and he said, he said, *What do you know about the last Mage King of Das'von', that was it. What do you know about the last Mage King of Das'von?"

"Das'von," said Lousa to herself. "The King of Cities, the Seat of the Empire, the throne of the Emperor, ruled by Mage Kings since the fall. But, it's gone now, destroyed centuries ago, everyone knows that. What would Ariana know of such a place? How could she know the name of the last Mage King or any of them for that matter? I certainly don't."

"I thought the Old Empire was from thousands of years ago," said Tanner, a puzzled expression on his face.

"Yes, that's true. Something destroyed the Old Empire who knows how long ago but people still lived in Das'von just as people live in Doria now. Doria was the southern capital of the Old Empire, although those Tarltonites would claim their city had that distinction but that was so long ago no one remembers. But there were people in Das'von the northern city. They were the greatest mages in the world who knew some of the secrets from the Old Empire hidden in the city. I don't understand how Ariana could have heard of it let alone use the name of one of the Mage Kings."

"The staff has to be giving her information," said Tanner. "That's the only explanation."

"What would the staff know about the mage kings of Das'von? Why would it tell that to Ariana and what possible effect would that have with Khemer? It doesn't make any sense at all. Tanner, I want you to keep a close eye on that girl from now on particularly when she has the staff in her hands."

"She doesn't take it out of the satchel often if anyone is around," said the merchant his eyes looking directly into hers. He felt himself fall into the brilliant green and her face, always beautiful, seemed to take on an even more luminescent glow. She spoke to him, he knew that, but the words seemed to be like small insects that buzzed in the background of his mind.

Lousa, her train of thought causing her to lose focus suddenly looked at Tanner and immediately recognized the look in his eyes, "Tanner! Wake up, this is important."

The merchant shook his head and sat back in his chair. "I'm sorry, just thinking about the kids there for a moment," he replied his cheeks flushed a bit red and his eyes looked down to the table.

"I understand," said Lousa and looked down to check her top for any exposed skin. She slouched down a little in her seat and gathered her hair and tied it up in back. "You must be terribly worried with Tylan and Shalalee here with you."

"I am," said Tanner this time actually concerned about his children. "I don't know how they got all caught up in this mess but they are here and there is nothing to be done about it. Now, who do you think should come to this meeting with the trade master? Obviously I've been invited but so far you are the only one I've told."

Lousa thought for a moment. "We should bring Humbort, that way Lorim might underestimate our strength," she suggested with a smile. "I don't see any reason to bring any of the kids; they seem to have plenty to keep them occupied here in Hot Rock."

"It is a rather amazing town, isn't it?" said Tanner with a nod of his head.

"What do you know about this Edorin fellow?" asked Lousa.

"Now you're beginning to sound like my son. Let's try not to get distracted for the moment. I agree, let's bring Humbort and Hazlebub as well, she has a knack for showmanship and I've a feeling she might be good at spotting that sort of behavior in others as well."

"It wouldn't hurt to bring Unerus along, he's a crafty little fellow, but I'm afraid if we bring one of the kids the others will put up quite a fuss," replied Lousa.

"I agree," said Tanner. "The only other question is if we want Shamki along as well. Lorim already knows about his prowess as a fighter so there is no hiding that and I wouldn't mind having him as backup in case things get violent."

"I'd also like him to stay back with your wife and the children," said Lousa, "in case things do go wrong then there is someone with authority."

Tanner nodded his head. "That makes sense, Lousa. Shall I tell Lorim we'll meet him at his office in an hour?"

"That soon?" asked Lousa.

"Unless you think there is a benefit I don't see any reason to wait," said Tanner. "My experience is that the longer you wait the more time the other side has to make plans. Lorim probably thinks we'll delay for at least a day to consult with everyone."

"You're right, Tanner," said Lousa with a nod of her head. "I'm going to go take one more run at Ariana and see if she'll admit to anything now that I have more information. It's a sad day when I can't get a nine year old girl to talk."

"If she was a thirteen year old boy I don't think you'd have nearly the trouble," said Tanner with a smile as he watched her walk out of the room. She turned to answer him, caught him staring at her backside, and he immediately tried to look the other way but there was no doubt she had seen the direction of his gaze. "Oh well," he said to himself. "It's not like she doesn't know men look at her that way."

An hour later he sat in Lorim's office along with the gnomish trade master, Lousa, Humbort, and Hazlebub. Paintings from some of the finest artists in Doria decorated the lavish office including a beautiful picture almost ten feet tall that depicted the great Maw volcano erupting against a brilliant night sky. The chairs were made from soft leather hide stuffed with down, and the desk behind which Lorim sat was cut from a single piece of oak and was far more grand than the centerpiece to the mayor's office back in Iv's Folly.

"You didn't bring your swordsman then," said Lorim with a smile as he leaned back in his chair and licked his lips with his feverishly active tongue and let his eyes fall upon Lousa's open neckline. The woman wore a green blouse with drawstrings holding it closed at the breast but these were loose enough to allow an easy view of deep cleavage. Her hair was down and carefully managed to be a combination of loose and wild and yet perfectly in place at the same time. Hazlebub wore her traditional ill-fitting smock that smelled of sulfur although that was not necessarily out of place on the mountainside where strange gaseous emissions were all too common. Tanner sat opposite from Lousa and pulled his chair slightly forward so that he could not see her without turning almost fully sideways, and finally Humbort wore a rough made wool jerkin and dark denim pants with holes at the knees.

"Did we need to bring Shamki," said Lousa with a smile and a nod of her head to Lorim. "I heard that you got an ample demonstration of his prowess although I was indisposed at that moment and didn't witness it myself."

"No need at all," said Lorim with a smile. "I just thought you might be somewhat suspicious after our original encounter. I know people tend to think the worst of us who are not as beautiful as others."

"Beauty is in the eye of the beholder," said Lousa with a musical laugh and Hazlebub looked at her out of the side of her eye but then noticed the rather vacuous expressions on the faces of all the men in the room and shook her head.

"But, sadly we are not here to discuss the merits of beauty versus ugliness," said Lorim with a smile. "Although I think we would all know who would win that particular battle. We are here to discuss a proposal I received from a third party interested in that item of yours. Now, I have not a care one way or the other in this matter and I'm happy to act as an intermediary between the interested parties. Naturally I will want some sort of compensation for my efforts in this regard. Perhaps ten percent of the final selling price or maybe you would be more comfortable with a flat fee of, say, 10,000 silver."

"Perhaps we could hear the offer first," said Lousa with a smile and a flip of her head.

"I would prefer to get my fee out of the way up front," said Lorim and smiled back at the woman but his eyes narrowed into cold little slits. "That way there is no recrimination afterwards."

Tanner coughed gently, "I think I can speak for the group when it comes to negotiating trade goods. Ten percent is far too high and a flat fee is out of the question when the value of the item has not been even remotely put to the test. Perhaps three percent would be more in line."

Lorim laughed out loud at this suggestion and smiled with his many teeth at Tanner. "I've done business with you before my friend and I'd think you would show me more respect than to make such a ridiculous offer. My feelings are genuinely hurt."

"I wasn't aware feelings were of any importance when came to a negotiation," replied Tanner and spread his arms wide. "I retract my previous statement. Instead I offer you a heartfelt apology and three percent."

"Your generosity is without peer, my friend Tanner," said Lorim with a smile. "I will accept your apology gladly although I must insist upon at least seven percent or I'm afraid we can't continue to do business."

"Five percent," replied Tanner.

"I'll agree to five if you throw in that hammer you recently acquired. I'm quite certain that I know someone who would like it back as a family keepsake." said Lorim and put out his little hand that was soft with no calluses.

"Six percent and no hammer," said Tanner and put out his own hand.

Lorim smiled brightly and took the proffered hand in a firm grip that belied the soft look to his hand. "Deal."

"Deal," said Tanner.

"Now, my client, who wishes to remain nameless for the purposes of negotiation, is willing to purchase the staff from you for a princely sum of 15,000 value of silver coins in gemstones and sundried other valuables," said Lorim. "This is a fine offer I think but, naturally you must make the final call."

"Fifteen thousand," said Humbort his eyes wide. "I ain't never seen so much silver in my life."

Tanner smiled at Humbort, "It is a nice offer, but I think far below what we were expecting to see. I'll have to talk with my a.s.sociates but I think it is safe to say that your client will have to significantly up their proposal before a serious negotiation can begin."

"I look forward to your counter offer," said Lorim with a smile and the little fellow stood up and made a motion to the door. "Now, if you will excuse me, I have other business to which to attend."