by Dave Duncan
Kornephoros scowled as if he were about to flare back, but then subsided into sulks again. “Vildiar also let me know, without actually saying so himself, why we were dangerously short of Naos. He indicated that I would be the next to go if I gave him any trouble.”
“So you let your daughter be legally raped to save your own skin. Great stars! Did nobody in the realm suggest you gang up on him?”
“Of course they did,” Kornephoros snapped, straightening up. “Several tried. We gave each of them a state funeral and waited to see who would be next.”
The bead curtain clattered and flashed; Zozma marched in, seeming to crowd the room with his presence. He bowed to the queen like a cat stretching, touching his beard to the floor and extending his claws.
“Zoz!” she cried, extending a hand. “You great pussycat! How are you?”
The sphinx stalked over to her and kissed her hand. Or possibly licked it—Rigel did not see which.
“Much better since I heard Your Majesty was back.”
“How are your mates and cubs?”
“All very well, thank you, ma’am. More of both since you left.”
“I would have been shocked to hear otherwise. It has come to my attention that we have had some troubles, Zoz.”
Zozma glanced briefly at the regent-heir and his tail twitched. “Indeed we have, ma’am.”
“I understand,” the queen said, “that an unidentified starborn masquerading as an earthling testified today on the Star of Truth that a certain Halfling Tarf not only extroverted without royal permission but unleashed a Cujam amulet. Those horrible things have caused some of the worst massacres in earthling history.”
The sphinx looked much happier than he had in the courtroom earlier. Even the curl at the end of his beard seemed to jut forward more aggressively. “Yes, she certainly accused him of using a Cujam. There were many noble starfolk present, and no one has yet explained to me why her real name and appearance did not become evident the instant she stepped onto the Star.”
“Mm?” Electra frowned. “Good question! As I recall, my Greatfather Rastaban told me once that the Star only works on spoken words. The intruder could still dissemble her appearance, but if she had been asked her true name she could not have lied. The question is this, Zoz: Where is this despicable Tarf Halfling now? Forget the Star of Truth; I want to hang him up by his ears and ask penetrating questions, with the aid of penetrating instruments!”
The captain’s smile was now much more scrutable than a sphinx’s was reputed to be. “He arrived in the city with his sponsor and Halfling Tegmine on Saidak this morning and the barge has not left yet. I know the prince went to his residence on Front Street after he left the court.”
“Find out if he’s still there,” the queen commanded. “If Tarf or any other halflings are present, arrest them immediately. If Vildiar is there, tell him that he is summoned to court, and that he must bring Tarf. I’d very much like to question that long moonbeam on what he knows about the deaths of all of these Naos. Can you do that for me, Zoz?”
Talitha looked aghast, but only Rigel was watching her.
The sphinx nodded his great head. “I will gladly attempt it for Your Majesty, but that residence is the root portal of the prince’s domain, Phegda. If the birds have not flown already, they will certainly have done so by the time we gain access to the building.”
The queen used more of her roustabout language and drummed fingers on the arm of her chair in frustration. “The portal is active? Most root portals are kept well sealed.”
“When he entertains at Phegda,” Kornephoros said, “guests from Canopus walk straight through.”
“Mm. It has been ages since I was there. Talitha, child, you were paired with that oversized horror for years. Can you show us what you recall of the house on Front Street?”
Talitha licked her lips. “It is a small residence, Your Majesty,” she said. “Long and narrow.” She gestured with her hands and a foggy outline began to take shape on the floor beside her. “The gate from the street opens into the central court at this end, and there are buildings around the other three sides, like this.”
The dollhouse model became clearer, revealing a rectangular, two-story structure enclosing a long courtyard. An internal balcony gave access to the upper-floor rooms, and all the windows seemed to overlook the court. Uninvited, Rigel walked closer to watch the details develop: trees and shrubs and water, but nothing intruded on the central line, so he had guessed where the portal must be before Talitha told them.
“The portal is here, ma’am, at the far end from the gate. Guests coming in from Front Street can see straight through into Phegda, into whichever subdomain the party is being held. When the portal is not active, it is the door to a small storage area for tables and chairs.”
“Very well done! And how many people live in this residence? What is it used for?”
“There is no permanent staff there. It is just treated as part of the domain, ma’am. I used to escape there with Izar sometimes, when he was very small. We often had it to ourselves.”
“So the prince may still be there with his henchmen or there may be nobody there?”
Talitha nodded.
“So!” Queen Electra bared her saw teeth. “Can the guard come in over the roofs? Do any of the adjacent buildings overlook the courtyard?”
Surprisingly, Talitha blushed scarlet. “Only the upper rooms do.”
“Likes that sort of party does he? Well, Commander Zozma? Why don’t you storm the place? Take control of the portal so they can’t escape and arrest anyone you find there. If the mice have fled, seal the portal. That ought to get their attention!”
“Gladly,” Zozma growled. “But I expect it will be empty by the time I break in.”
The queen grimaced. “I suppose so. Well, from now on, Commander, arrest any Vildiar halfling you can get your claws on. We’ll put them all on the Star. What will you need?”
“Your royal warrant, ma’am.”
“You shall have it as fast as a scribe can… Tweenling, go and haul on that bell rope.”
“And…” Zozma sat back on his haunches and raised a front paw to inspect his black dagger-claws. “And some nimble hands, Majesty. We are permanently short of hands in the palace guard. My kind can’t open doors; we can only knock ’em down. We have harpies for communication, but we’ll need first-class magical defense in case we meet with booby traps or active resistance.”
Pause.
Here was the problem. Presumably only a Naos could defend against another Naos, so the queen was waiting for offers—Talitha, who knew the house, or her father, who had let the prince practice his evil ways for so long. Or was Electra prepared to take on the rebel mano a mano herself?”
“Greatson?” she inquired sweetly, but without turning. “You are being uncommonly silent.”
Kornephoros looked at her back with a scowl. “You really want my opinion?”
“Let’s hear it anyway.”
“You are about to kill a few fine servants, members of your guard. The front door will certainly be booby-trapped. Yes, it can be defanged, but that will take time. By then the rats will have fled. And the portal itself will be loaded to the lintel with venomous magic. At the end of the day you will have made a fool of yourself and gained nothing except casualties.”
Her Majesty was not amused. “I can see why Vildiar has gotten away with so much for so long.”
Talitha still looked frightened. Any minute now she was going to be press-ganged onto the assault team, and Rigel could not allow that, not even if this was a setup, which he strongly suspected it was. He had been the kid with the bracelet and now he was the kid with the helmet too, and that fortunate coincidence was much too cute to swallow. He had been manipulated into this, but he would have to see it through or he would despise himself evermore. Returning from the bell rope, he inserted himself into the meeting.
“Let me go in first, ma’am.”
Four pairs of e
yes turned to him and all of them managed to look surprised, which must have been no small feat. He said, “Halfling Wasat assured me that this salad bowl on my head makes me invisible to magical booby traps. That should allow me to walk through the front gate unchallenged. Once I’m in, I’ll run to the far end, and use Saiph to stop anyone from leaving. That should give your mage enough time to clear the traps on the gate, and let in Commander Zozma and his team. If Saiph holds the portal, nobody leaves. Simple.”
Without talking her eyes off him, Electra said, “Testicles at last! How much for his bond, Greatdaughter?”
“I’ll give him to you, ma’am! Take him off my hands and good riddance.” Talitha, regrettably, was not glowing with pride at Rigel’s romantic courage. She looked ready to order him flogged. Could she possibly be dissembling that rage? Could she possibly not be party to the conspiracy?
But the queen was smiling. “What you are proposing will be extremely dangerous, halfling. I must hear your motives.”
Because I was hoping to get royally lucky this evening? True, but not diplomatic to mention and not at all likely now, given the way Talitha was looking at him. “According to the witness Mira, this Tarf tried to kill me two days ago, and caused me to kill three men, probably more. Maybe they were ‘only’ earthlings to you, but they were fellow human beings to me, ma’am, and had done me no harm. Yesterday he, or one of his litter, tried again to kill me and four other people. This morning he openly threatened me. It would give me great pleasure to loose the wrath of Saiph on Halfling Tarf.”
The eruption of hair-raising noise beside him was Sphinx Zozma laughing. “If the halfling can do what he says, we shall have no trouble. I’ll try to get Bellatrix to back him up. She can get him there fast and get him out again fast if he meets a watchdog he can’t handle. I’ll throw a cordon around the house and deploy a flight of harpies for air cover. But we shall still need magical protection, especially if the prince himself is present. He will not readily give up one of his halflings, ma’am.”
“You mean his sons?”
“Yes, ma’am, and daughters.”
Electra pulled a face. “Disgusting! We need a mage, at least a red. I wonder if Fomalhaut is still in the city?”
“All right!” Kornephoros bellowed, leaping to his feet. “I still think it’s a stupid, dangerous waste of time and prestige, and I am not at all sure that I can undo any spell that Vildiar set, but I’m willing to try. Does that please you? You’ve degraded and insulted me in front of my daughter, a halfling, and the commander of the guard, but where were you when all the trouble was going on? I never wanted the regency; I told you that, yet you insisted. I had no authority to start a civil war. If I’d tried to squelch Vildiar, he would have killed me and appointed himself regent, and then where would you be? Where were you then? You vanish for twenty years with no explanation, and then come back and start bad-mouthing me. But if you want me to take part in this madness, just say so!”
Electra’s smile was as deadly as Saiph. “I do say so. Help, then, but for stars’ sake, let Zozma call the shots.”
Chapter 24
Zozma bounded out the door as if he were chasing wildebeest. Rigel, attempting to follow, caught a glimpse of a mousy human male leaping aside on the stairs to avoid being run over, spilling a shower of paper, pens, and ink bottles. The sphinx’s tail vanished around a corner at the bottom, and Rigel was about to barrel after him when he was stopped in his tracks by a bellow from behind him.
“Halfling!”
He turned. “My lady?”
Talitha was red-faced and spitting fire. “A retainer does not go plunging into suicidal adventures without asking for his sponsor’s permission or giving her advance warning!”
To which the best answer he could find on the spur of the moment was, “You ordered me to defend your son, my lady.”
“My son is not in the house on Front Street!”
“But his enemies are. Have you never heard that the best form of defense is attack? You expect me to sit around waiting for those goons to keep trying to—No, let me finish! I will not wait to be slaughtered at their pleasure. It is time to teach them some respect for the law. And respect for Saiph, which is what you wanted all along, not me. Saiph is needed and it cannot go without me. Now, by your leave, I am on Her Majesty’s business.”
He tried to leave and she grabbed his arm, digging in her fingers with surprising strength. “You idiot, you don’t know what you’re getting into! I doubt if any of the amulets Wasat gave you will do any good at all against Naos Vildiar if he’s there, and his thugs will be armed beyond anything the law allows.”
“Saiph is a Lesath too. It slices sphinxes, remember? Now,” he added recklessly, “if you won’t give me a good luck kiss, at least show me a smile so I can die happy.”
She gaped at him, speechless, her fingers still digging into his arm. Just then Kornephoros emerged from the Dolphin Room. “Can’t you ever keep your hands off that mongrel? Stay with Her Majesty but don’t gossip. I’ll take the halfling down.”
So ended Rigel Estell’s first romance…
A few minutes later, Rigel was standing under a lemon tree in a shady corner of the sphinxes’ courtyard, wishing he had not shouted at Talitha so stupidly and that he had more experience with women so he could understand why she had been so angry with him if he was no more than a servant. Zozma was conferring with three of his officers, while a dozen or so harpies lined up on the opposite wall were screeching complaints and obscenities at everyone.
A centaur trotted in through the arch. She was jet-black all over, except for her lips and two large human nipples and areolas, which were blood red—Rigel was too polite to check if she had a mare’s teats as well. As a horse she would have measured at least sixteen hands and her human part could have matched a Russian wrestler in sheer muscle, yet her ears were elfin-shaped and bore jeweled studs. Her hair was thick and straight and bound in a ponytail long enough to brush her back.
Horseshoes clattering loudly on the paving, she headed straight for him and stopped a little too close for comfort, looking down at him with undisguised disgust. She set her hands on the part of her body that served as both human hips and equine shoulders; Rigel noted her many rings and bracelets, as he was no doubt supposed to. Her name was Bellatrix.
“I understand I have to help you be the freakin’ cavalry,” she said.
“Not my idea. Is there another way?”
“If there was, I’da’ found it. You’re the Saiph-bearer?”
“This is Saiph. What are all your trinkets for?”
“Enif, my bow. Wezen, my sword. Daggers, fireballs, paralyzer, et futon cetera. You done much police work?”
“None.”
“Ridden a horse?”
“Never.”
“That’s a relief.” She looked over at the sphinxes and Kornephoros, who had disappeared earlier and had now returned. The harpies were jeering at him because he had shed his golden collar, probably to prepare for battle, but of course they were accusing him of having been stripped of his office. If that ever happened, Vildiar and Talitha were the only Naos available to replace him.
“Stars, I hate those shitty birds,” Bellatrix said. “Looks like Zoz is almost ready. You’d better practice falling off a few times.” She turned with a clatter of hooves to put her left side toward Rigel, then twisted her human torso around to offer him her right arm. She raised her left rear knee, or whatever that part of her was called.
Taking the hints, he gripped her wrist, put a foot on the step-up offered, and… and very nearly fell flat on his face. The harpies shrieked, momentarily averting their attention from Kornephoros.
“Hold my other arm too, you idiot.”
Rigel tried again. Inspired by thoughts of what the harpies would say if he failed a second time, he mounted successfully. Or Bellatrix hauled him aboard, whatever.
“Keep your knees higher,” she said. “And hold on to my hair. If I tell you to hold tig
ht, you can put your arms around me, but touch my breasts and I’ll throw you off and kick your head in. Ready?” She walked slowly around the courtyard.
The harpies continued shrieking insults at him. He ignored them, and then survived a brief trot and even a few gentle swerves and bounces.
“Not bad,” the centaur admitted over her shoulder. “Great reflexes. Thighs need work, but you’re doing well for a first-timer.”
“Thanks.”
“Now tell me exactly what the helmet does.”
He repeated what Wasat had told him.
“That’s impressive! Never heard of one like that. So you’re really going to walk up to the front door and just open it? Are they paying you or blackmailing you?”
He couldn’t see the centaur’s face and had only her tone of voice to go on. Was she mocking him or not? “I volunteered.”
“Is there much insanity in your family? How will you deal with the lock?”
“Hadn’t thought of that. How would you deal with it?”
Bellatrix chuckled for the first time. “With my back feet, if I had to. But I also have this. Take it.” She passed him a gold ring with a white stone. “Turn the handle with whichever hand you wear that on, and you’ll get through most doors. Vildiar may have double-hexed his, o’ course. Here comes Menkent at last.”
Another centaur came cantering in through the gate, a young male. “Hey, pussycats!” he yelled, cavorting around the sphinxes and kicking up his heels. “Wake up! Where’s the mouse hole? Cough up your hair balls and let’s go.”
“I do hope we’re ready,” Bellatrix said. “Any more of his crap and the sphinxes will surely eat him.” She carried Rigel over to join the group.
So now he’d joined the Mounties. His life just kept getting stranger and stranger.
Chapter 25
About twenty minutes later, Bellatrix said, “Call a harpy and tell Zozma we’re ready.”
“Why don’t you?” Rigel retorted grumpily.