by Allan Cole
In some ways Luka and Fari were easier to understand, he thought. They were demons. Conspiracy came easily to demons. But Kalasariz-oh, be careful of Kalasariz-was of a different cut. The least of which was that he was human. And humans, Iraj thought, were superior to demons in hatching a conspiracy.
I should know, he thought. I am the result of conspiracy-from whom my father would bed on a royal night, to my mother's scheming against his harem. His mother had been a gentle sort, loathe to use poison. But when it came to her son and dreams of being mother of a clan leader, her hand was steady when she poured.
Iraj's mother had taught him about secrets. Keep your own counsel, she'd said, no matter who tells you what is closest to their heart. They are lying. Know this, son, and build greater lies and you will be safe.
Iraj had such a secret. He'd guarded that secret more closely than even his love for his mother. If she were here he'd lie to her face and know she'd be proud of him.
His secret was that thanks to the witch who desired to be his queen, he had the means to break free of the loathsome bond he'd made with these fiends. He ached for the moment when he could cast the spell she'd taught him and destroy them.
But first he'd have to catch Safar. Oh, yes, I must not forget-and his scarred lip twitched-the child, Palimak. Before she died the witch said the child wasn't really necessary. Although the spell would be more powerful if Iraj had them both-like the heads on Fari's stake.
Then I can be free, Iraj thought. Free!
A winsome demon maid pranced in front of him. She was half again his size and of a form he'd only killed before, not caressed. But he suddenly found himself desirous of her and so he motioned and she came to him, pressing strange but somehow familiar parts against him.
He plunged into her embrace, thinking, I wonder what Safar is doing now?
I wonder how he finds Caluz?
CHAPTER NINETEEN
THE VEIL OF LIES
Leiria and Dario waved their wine cups and chorused-"Long live Queen Hantilia!"
Then Leiria whacked Safar on the shoulder, saying, "What do you think of Queenie, here?" She made curving motions with her hands, then winked. "Nice package, don't you think?"
Dario whacked his other shoulder, then leaned in, sloshing wine into his boots. "She likes you, me lord,"
he stage whispered. He hiccuped, covered his mouth, then said. "Couldn't help but-hiccup! — notice."
Safar smiled, then turned to Queen Hantilia. "Are they drunk or in your spell?" he asked.
"A little of both," the queen answered. She flicked up two talons-rather daintily, Safar thought, considering each was a curved ruby dagger six inches long. "First, you'll have to admit that the wine israther good."
She toasted Safar and drank. He eyed his own glass, cast a spell to search for ill intent, found none, and so he shrugged and drained his glass. It was delicious, as if all the fruits of the Valley of the Clouds had been turned into the rarest of wines.
"Ambrosia!" he sighed. He hooked the jug onto the table, asking, "Shall we have a little more?" She nodded, and Safar refilled their cups.
Leiria and Dario started sniggering and whispering to one another like excited children.
"Now that we have the drunk issue settled," Safar said, "tell me about the spell."
The demon queen shrugged, well rounded bosom lifting her gown most delightfully. "It's completely harmless," she said. "I just didn't want them to have to worry until I talked to you."
She gestured, saying, "The same with them." His men, hardened scouts all, were sprawled next to their horses, laughing and drinking wine served by giggling maids, many of whom were demons. They wore red robes like Hantilia's, although not as fine, also bearing the twin-headed snake symbol of Asper.
"Trust me, it's a harmless spell," she said. "Their troubles and worries have been momentarily interrupted.
That's enough to make anyone drunk-no wine required, my dear Safar. And I promise you there will be no ill effects when they awaken."
Safar glanced around and saw that other than the maids, the queen had no guards, no royal entourage. "I could lift the spell myself, your highness," he said, half-teasing, "and cast a few of my own. Then the tables would be turned. And it would be you and your servants who would be in my thrall." He smiled.
"I'd make it as pleasant as possible, of course."
Hantilia lifted a claw to her mouth, covering pealing laughter. It was quite musical, Safar thought. Strange that a demon should sound so melodious.
"But you are already in my thrall, my dear, dear Safar," she said, chuckling. "Haven't you noticed?"
Safar drank a little more wine, measuring his faculties as he did so. The queen spoke the truth, he thought. He sensed danger, but he felt cheerful about it. He found her company most … stimulating? And he was anxious to learn more.
"You're right," he said. "The wine is good. The spell is good. No harm intended."
Hantilia smiled. "And the company?" she asked archly. "Do you find that pleasant as well?"
Safar grinned, raising his cup. "It was boorish of me not to praise my hostess," he said. "Yes, I find the company most charming. Mysterious though she may be."
Hantilia held out a claw. "Come with me, Safar Timura, and all will be revealed." She gently took his hand and led him toward a shale outcropping bulging from the cliff face. "We'll start with Caluz."
Safar glanced down the caravan road. "I thought it was in that direction," he said, pointing. "Through the Caluzian Pass."
Hantilia shook her head. "That way was barred by the Guardians long ago," she said.
Safar puzzled. "The Guardians?"
"Those ghostly warriors who greeted you," the queen answered. She pointed at the many cave mouths that pocked the walls of the passage. "For generations the people of Caluz buried their mightiest heroes in those walls. They are called the Guardians because their ghosts protect the city from any who might come against her."
Safar made a face. "So they aren't harmless," he said.
"Not at all," Hantilia replied. "As you would soon have learned if your intent was other than peaceful."
Then without further ado she waved at the outcropping and Safar felt a jolt of magic. "Open," she commanded-and the rock face dissolved into a misty curtain.
"This is the new road to Caluz," she said. "In fact it's the only one. Even with the Guardians assisting us, we've had to close off the other pathways to defend ourselves from the nasty business going on these days."
For some reason this comment had a false note to it. But before he could consider further, she let go his hand and stepped through the mist, vanishing. Safar hesitated, glancing back at Leiria and Dario, who were still happily under the spell. He followed.
Safar felt a slight chill, then a tingling sensation and suddenly he was shielding his eyes from a bright sun.
There was a warm breeze carrying the scent of flowers and ripening fruit. His wizard senses were also pleasantly entertained with fragrant spells carried on gentle magical breezes.
"Once again, Lord Timura," Hantilia said, "welcome to Caluz!"
His vision cleared to be treated to a marvelous sight. They were standing at the crest of a road that curved down to meet a small, graceful valley. There were farms and fields and wooded hills nourished by two rivers that ribboned down from high blue mountains. On a bluff near where the rivers joined there was a beautiful city, all silver with a grand palace towering over the walls.
Below the castle was the Temple of Hadin-a huge stone turtle crouched at the end of a peninsula where the rivers met to form a single stream. The turtle was identical to the miniature idol that was home to Gundara and Gundaree down to the red painting on its back of a volcanic isle topped by a fire breathing demon. Blissful magic streamed from the temple, churning out spells of health, happiness and prosperity.
All in all Caluz seemed a wondrous place where birds always sang, butterflies sweetened the air and its inhabitants happily tilled the fields
, tended the markets, or fished the rivers.
As he looked, the warning from the Spirit Rider rose up and he heard her whisper, "In Caluz, all is notas it seems. Look for the truth beyond the veil of lies."
"How perfect this world is," Safar said. And then he couldn't resist adding sarcasm: "The only thing missing is a fat pink cloud hanging over the rivers."
Hantilia grimaced. "I told them you'd ferret it out soon enough."
"I suppose the real Caluz is down that road you told me was barred," Safar said.
Hantilia frowned. "Yes, it is. I'm sorry I lied to you." She shrugged. "My priestesses and advisors were afraid you would turn back if you knew the truth. Immediately, that is. I assure you I had no intention of keeping it from you for more than a few days."
"You mean, until I had brought all my people here," Safar said. "All one thousand of them."
Hantilia sighed again. "Am I so transparent?" she asked.
"No," Safar said, "it's only that I've had much experience with royalty. Even when they have the best of intentions, kings and queens have a certain way of thinking. I merely followed that route."
He laughed. "Also, wouldn't I be fairly dim-witted if I didn't notice such things as the absence of certain large celestial bodies." He pointed to the bright blue sky. "Such as the Demon Moon." Hantilia said nothing. She only looked more embarrassed. "Finally," Safar said, "there's the machine itself." He pointed at the great turtle idol. "That is certainly not what's causing all the misery in the Black Lands."
"Actually, it is," Hantilia said. "Except what you are looking at is a manifestation of the real machine. A mirror image, so to speak. It's the result of a spell the Oracle cast just as Caluz was being destroyed."
She waved at the city and the pleasant valley. "As is all this."
"What of the original inhabitants?" Safar asked. "Such as the priests who asked my assistance long ago."
"They're all dead, it grieves me to say," Hantilia replied. "But you'll be pleased to hear a few of the former inhabitants escaped here. Into this false Caluz."
Safar perched on a rock, then took off his cloak and placed it on a flat spot next to him. He motioned to Hantilia. "Why don't you make yourself comfortable," he said, "and tell me the tale? From the beginning, if you please."
Once she was settled she said, "Just as I told you, I am Queen Hantilia and I really do rule here. I'm also chief priestess of the Oracle. But it wasn't always so. I am a pilgrim like you, Safar Timura. My kingdom was in a distant land, a realm so small and so peaceful that when Manacia was king of the demons he barely knew we existed.
"There, I was also the high priestess of the Cult of Asper."
"Pardon," Safar said. "I've never heard of such a thing."
"There are few of us," Hantilia replied, "but our origins go back very far." She nodded at the temple. "For instance," she said, "one of our myths is that Lord Asper discovered the magical properties of this place and set the forces in motion that led to the creation of the temple and the machine.
"But back to my tale. Scarce as we were, when the barrier fell between demon and human lands the way was opened for our religion to spread. Soon there were small groups like us all over Esmir. We mingled together, humans and demons, all in the spirit of Asper's teachings."
Hantilia blushed-her skin turning a deeper shade of emerald. "Some even became lovers. A few married. Fewer still managed to bring forth a child."
Safar's heart bumped. Hantilia saw his reaction and said, "You have one such child with you, I understand. The Oracle spoke of him."
"Yes," Safar said. "His name is Palimak."
Hantilia frowned. Then her brow cleared. "Ah, now I understand. It is in the Walarian tongue. Palimak means promise, does it not?"
Safar nodded. "Yes."
"A lovely name," she said. Then-"It is quite likely the child comes from just such a union as those I described. In fact it is impossible for it to be otherwise. And I'll tell you why.
"When the Demon Moon rose and ill befell the land many of us were forced to flee our homes because of sickness and starvation and evil things crawling out of the earth. My kingdom was one of the early victims and my people and I became refugees, wandering Esmir, finding our living where we could. The others of our cult did the same. Many did not survive. I suspect Palimak was the child of such a couple-demon and human-who met with misfortune during that time and he eventually came into your care. Someday you must tell me that tale."
Safar bit into the bitter memory of Nerisa and grimaced. "Someday," was all he said.
The queen saw his discomfort and steered her remarks past that desolate trail. "The day arrived when things were at their worst," she said. "I didn't know how I would find food and shelter for my people.
Then the Oracle appeared to me."
"The Oracle of Hadin?" Safar asked.
"The very one. You'll meet her soon enough. At least I pray you will agree to such a meeting. But to go on. The Oracle appeared and commanded me to make my way to Caluz. She said the fate of the world depended on it. I learned later she made many such appearances to members of our cult throughout Esmir.
"Soon all of us were streaming toward Caluz. Our strength grew as we came together and the journey was made easier because we no longer had to fear bandits. We arrived in Caluz just before it collapsed.
The city was in a panic because the Oracle was issuing dire warnings. But the Caluzians only became more hysterical with each passing day. And so all the things she urged them to do were left until it was too late."
Safar frowned, remembering the old Caluzian priest who'd told him his people were of that temperament.
"The last I heard," he said, "the city leaders were going to divert the rivers, which would effectively shut off the machine. It seemed like a good plan to me. What went wrong?"
"The Demon Moon," Hantilia said. "No one took its tides into account. At the time the plan did seem like an artful solution. After the dams were built and the new channels dug the machine fell silent for a long time. Then the influence of the Demon Moon became more powerful.
"The river tides began to rise, overflowing their banks. This went on day after day, the floods reaching higher each time. The people filled bags with sand and stacked them along the riverbanks trying to halt the flow. Finally the currents jumped back into their original courses and the machine returned to life. This time worse than before."
"I saw the Black Lands," Safar said. "I saw what the machine has done."
"As I said," the Queen continued, "the Oracle warned of the disaster all along. She'd urged a course of action, but only the priests listened. This is when I arrived in Caluz with my followers. And at the pleadings of the priests-and the Oracle's command-we did all we could to help construct her spell."
Hantilia paused, lines of sadness creasing her face. She wiped an eye with her claw, then said. "I have seen many things in my life. Horrible things. But the day we cast the spell overshadowed all the horrors I'd seen before. It is too painful a memory for me to recount.
"Suffice it to say, Caluz was destroyed and the priests all died nobly, staying until the end so the rest of us could escape."
She gestured at the lovely scene that was the false Caluz. "And we've been here ever since. Waiting for you."
Safar sighed. "What do you want of me?" he asked.
The Queen's eyes glittered. "Only to save our lives, Safar Timura," she said. "For without your help all of us will be dead within the month."
Leiria was mortified. Although her memory was hazy from the moment she met Queen Hantilia until the spell was lifted many hours later, she had flashes of seeing herself and Sergeant Dario behaving like two tavern sots.
"I don't like this," she said to Safar, who was riding beside her on Khysmet. "We're trusting everything to a complete stranger."
Safar chuckled. "You're only embarrassed," he said. "Don't be angry with Hantilia."
"I'm not angry!" Leiria snapped. "I just don't know the bi-uh, kno
w anything about her. Oh, I understand the spells were the gentlest way she could handle us. And that certain things were done because the Oracle of Stupid Hadin wanted it that way. So I have nothing to hold against her. In fact, I quite like Hantilia. For someone I only met, that is."
She suddenly grinned at Safar, a devil's glint in her eye. "Although a certain friend of mine-who shall remain nameless, but whose seal bears the letters S.T.-seems to have gotten a great deal more out of that first meeting than I did."
"Ouch!" Safar laughed. "Come on. You're just jabbing at me to relieve your own frustration. Go back to being embarrassed. See if I care. You're right. You were a total fool and should be ashamed of yourself.
There. Chew on that, my sweet Leiria."
"You can't get off that easily," Leiria parried. "Admit it. You're attracted to her."
Safar blushed. "A little," he said.
"Even though she's a demon, right?"
Safar's reply was a muttered, "Right."
Leiria snickered. "Now you know how Palimak was made," she said. "First hand, or claw, or whatever."
Another mutter-"Whatever." Then, firm-"Do you feel better now, my dear Leiria? After putting me in my place?"
"Sure I do," Leiria said, eyes dancing with fun. "But what about you? And Hantilia? What do you intend to do about it?"
Safar squared his shoulders. "Nothing," he said. "Except note it as a curiosity of nature."
"Don't make me laugh," Leiria chortled.
"You are laughing."
"Well, who wouldn't?"
"All right! All right!" Safar snapped, switching moods with Leiria. "Let's talk about something else.
Something depressing and morbid like your premonitions of doom and betrayal."
"I didn't say that," Leiria retorted. "I only said we were trusting an awful lot to someone we don't know.
We're fetching the entire caravan to Caluz. Or whatever that place is. You say there's two of them, I'll take your word for it. Anyway, we're throwing ourselves on the mercy of these people." She shuddered, remembering. "And those … Guardians! I'll never forget how helpless I felt when I realized they were all ghosts. And they could hurt me, but I could do nothing to them!"