Occuda showed the others to their rooms, and
Sparhawk's was the last. 'Wil that be all, Sir Knight?' the
servant asked politely as they entered.
'Stay a moment, Occuda,' Sparhawk said.
'Yes, My Lord.'
"I've seen you before, you know.'
'Me, My Lord?'
"I was in Chyrellos some time ago, and Sephrenia and I
were watching a house belonging to some Styrics. We
saw you accompany a woman into that house. Was that
Lady Bellina?'
Occuda sighed and nodded.
"It was what happened in that house that drove her
mad, you know.'
"I'd guessed as much.'
'Can you tell me the whole story? I don't want to
bother the count with painful questions, but we've got to
rid Sir Bevier of his obsession.'
"I understand, My Lord. My first loyalty is to the count,
but perhaps you should know the details. At least that
way you may be able to protect yourselves from that
madwoman.' Occuda sat down, his rugged face mournful.
The count is a scholarly man, Sir Knight, and he's
frequently away from home for long periods pursuing
the stories he's been collecting for decades. His sister,
Lady Bellina, is - or was - a plain, rather dumpy woman
of middle years with very little prospects of ever catching
a husband. This is a remote and isolated house, and
Bellina suffered from loneliness and boredom. Last
winter, she begged the count to permit her to visit friends
in Chyrellos, and he gave her his consent, provided that I
accompany her.
"I'd wondered how she got there,' Sparhawk said,
sitting on the edge of the bed.
'Anyway,' Occuda continued, 'Bellina's friends in
chyrellos are giddy, senseless ladies, and they filled her
ears with stories about a Styric house where a woman's
youth and beauty could be restored by magic. Bellina
became inflamed with a wild desire to go to the house.
Women do things for strange reasons sometimes.'
'Did she in fact grow younger?'
"I wasn't permitted to accompany her into the room
where the Styric magician was, so I can't say what
happened in there, but when she came out, I scarcely
recognized her. She had the body and face of a sixteen-year
-old, but her eyes were dreadful. As I told your
friend, I've worked with the insane before, so I recognize
Page 130
Eddings, David - Elenium 2 - The Ruby Knight.txt
the signs. I bundled her up and brought her straight back
to this house, hoping that I might be able to treat her
here. The count was away on one of his journeys, so he
had no way of knowing what began to happen after I got
her home.'
'And what was that?'
Occuda shuddered."it was horrible, Sir Knight,' he
said in a sick voice. "Somehow, she was able to completely
dominate the other servants. It was as if they were
powerless to resist her commands.'
'All except you?'
"I think the fact that I had been a monk may have
protected me - either that or she didn't think I was worth
the trouble."
'What exactly did she do?' Sparhawk asked him.
'Whatever it was that she encountered in that house in
Chyrellos was totally evil, Sir Knight, and it possessed
her utterly. She would send the servants who were her
slaves out to surrounding villages by night, and they
would abduct innocent serfs for her. I discovered later
that she'd had a torture chamber set up in the cellar of
this house. She gloried in blood and agonies." Occuda's
face twisted with revulsion. 'Sir Knight, she fed on
human flesh and bathed her naked body in human
%week ago when the count returned to the castle. It was
late one night when he arrived, and he sent me to the
cellar for a bottle of wine, though he seldom drinks
anything but water. When I was down there, I heard
what sounded like a scream. I went to investigate, and
opened the door to her secret chamber. I wish to God I
never had!' He covered his face with his hands, and a
wracking sob escaped him. 'Bellina was naked,' he
continued after he had regained his composure, 'and she
had a serf-girl chained down on a table. Sir Knight, she
was cutting the poor girl to pieces while she was still
alive, and she was cramming quivering pieces of flesh
into her own mouth!' Occuda made a retching sound,
then clenched his teeth together.
Sparhawk never knew what impelled him to ask the
question. 'Was she alone in there?'
'No, My Lord. The servants who were her slaves were
there as well, lapping the blood from those dank stones.
And - ' The lantern-jawed man hesitated.
'Go on. '
I canot swear to this, My Lord. My head was reeling,
but it seemed that at the back of the chamber there was a
hooded figure all in black, and its presence chilled my soul. '
'can you give me any details about it?' Sparhawk
asked.
Tall, very thin, totally enshrouded in a black robe.'
'And?' Sparhawk pressed, knowing with eiry certainty
what came next.
The room was dark, My Lord,' Occuda apologised,
'except for the fires in which Bellina heated her
torturing irons, but from that back corner I seemed to see
a glow of green. Is that in any way significant?'
"It may be,' Sparhawk replied bleakly. 'Go on with the
story.'
"I ran to inform the count. At first he refused to believe
me, but I forced him to go to the cellar with me. I thought
at first he would kill her when he saw what she was
doing. Would to God that he had. She started screeching
when she saw him in the doorway and tried to attack him
Page 131
Eddings, David - Elenium 2 - The Ruby Knight.txt
with the knife she'd been using on the serf-girl, but I
wrested it from her. The thin one in the black robe
seemed to shrink back when we entered, and when I
looked for it later, it was gone. The count and I were both
too sickened and disturbed to go looking for whomever it
might have been.'
'Was that when the count locked her in the tower?
Sparhawk was shaken by the horrible story.
'That was my idea, actually,' Occuda said grimly. 'At
the hospice where I served, the violent ones were always
confined. We dragged her to the tower, and I chained the
door shut. She will remain there for the rest of her life if
there's any way I can manage it.'
'What happened to the other servants?'
'At first they made attempts to free her, and I had to kill
several of them. Then, yesterday, the count heard a few
of them telling a wild story to that silly fool of a minstrel.
He instructed me' to drive them all out of the castle. They
milled around outside the gate for a while, and then they
all ran off.'
'Was there anything strange about them?'
'They all had absolutely blank faces,' Occuda replied,
'and the ones I
killed died without making a sound.'
"I was afraid of that. We've encountered that before.'
'What happened to her in that house, Sir Knightt? What
drove her mad?'
'You've been trained as a monk, Occuda,' Sparhawk
said, 'so you've probably had some theological instruction.
Are you familiar with the name Azash?'
'The God of the Zemochs.'
'That's Him. The Styrics in that house in Chyrellos
were Zemochs, and it's Azash who owns Lady Bellina's
soul. Is there any way she could possibly have escaped
from that tower?'
'Absolutely impossible, My Lord.'
"Somehow she managed to infect that minstrel, and he
was able 'to pass it on to Bevier.'
"She could not have left the tower, Sir Knight,' Occuda
said adamantly.
"I'll need to talk with Sephrenia,' Sparhawk said.
'Thank you for being so honest, Occuda.'
"I told you all this in the hope that you could help the
count.' Occuda rose to his feet.
'We'll do what we can.'
'Thank you. I'll go chain your friend's door shut.' He
started towards the door, then turned back. 'Sir Knight,'
he said in a sombre tone, 'do you think I should kill her?
Might that not be better?'
"It may come to that, Occuda,' Sparhawk said frankly,
'and if you do, you'll have to cut off her head. Otherwise,
she'll just rise again.'
"I can do that if I have to. I have an axe, and I'll do
anything to spare the count more suffering.'
Sparhawk put a comforting hand on the servant's
shoulder. "you're a good and true man, Occuda,' he said.
The count's lucky to have you in his service.'
Thank you, My Lord.'
Sparhawk removed his armour and went down the
corridor to Sephrenia's door.
"yes?' she said in response to his knock.
'it's me, Sephrenia,' he said.
'Come in, dear one,' she said.
He entered her room. "I had a talk with Occuda,' he
said.
Page 132
Eddings, David - Elenium 2 - The Ruby Knight.txt
'Oh?'
"He told me what's been happening here. I'm not sure
if you want to hear it.'
'if I'm to cure Bevier, I'm afraid I'll have to.'
"we were right,' Sparhawk began. 'The Pelosian
woman we saw going into that Zemoch house in
chyrellos was the count's sister.'
"I was sure of it. What else?'
Briefly, Sparhawk repeated what Occuda had told
him, glossing over the more gory details.
"It's consistent,' she said almost clinically. 'That form
of sacrifice is a part of the worship of Azash.'
'There's more,' Sparhawk told her. 'When he entered
the chamber in the cellar, Occuda saw a shadowy figure
back in one of the corners. It was robed and hooded, and
its face glowed green.'
Sephrenia drew in her breath sharply.
'Could Azash have more than one Seeker out there?'
'With an Elder God, anything is possible.'
"It couldn't be the same one,' he said. 'Nothing can be
in two places at the same time.'
'As I said, dear one, with an Elder God, anything is
possible.'
'Sephrenia,' he said in a strained voice, "I hate to say it,
but all this is beginning to frighten me just a little.'
'And me as well, dear Sparhawk. Keep the spear of
Aldreas close to you. The power of Bhelliom may protect
you. Now go to bed. I need to think.'
'Will you bless me before I sleep, little mother?' he
asked, dropping to his knees. He suddenly felt like a
small, helpless child. He gently kissed her palms.
'With all my heart, my dear one,' she replied, enfolding
his head in her arms and drawing him to her. 'You are
the best of them all, Sparhawk,' she said to him, 'and if
you be but strong, not even the gates of Hell can prevail
against you.'
As he rose to his feet, flute slid down off her bed and
gravely came to him. He felt suddenly unable to move.
The little girl took him by the wrists in a gentle grasp that
he was powerless to resist. She turned his hands over
and gently kissed each of his palms, and her kisses
burned in his blood like holy fire. Shaken, Sparhawk left
the room without a further word.
He slept fitfully, waking often and stirring uneasily in
his bed. The night seemed interminable, and the rumble
of thunder shook the very foundations of the castle. The
rain the storm had brought with it clawed at the window
of the room in which Sparhawk tried to sleep, and water
ran in torrents from the slate roof to hammer the stones of
the courtyard. It must have been well past midnight
when he finally gave up. He threw off his blankets and
sat moodily on the edge of the bed. What were they going
to do about Bevier? He knew that the Arcian's faith was
strong, but the Cyrinic Knight did not have Occuda's
iron will. He was young and ingenuous, and he had the
native passion of all Arcians. Bellina could use that to her
advantage. Even if Sephrenia could rid Bevier of his
obsessive compulsion, what guarantee would there be
that Bellina could not reimpose it upon him at any time it
pleased her? Although he shrank from the idea, Sparhawk
was forced to admit that the course Occuda had
suggested might be the only one available to them.
Then, quite suddenly, he was almost overcome by a
sense of dread. Something overpoweringly evil was
Page 133
Eddings, David - Elenium 2 - The Ruby Knight.txt
nearby. He rose from the bed, seeking his sword in the
darkness. Then he went' to the door and opened it.
The halway outside his room was dimly lit by a single
torch. Kurik sat dozing in the chair outside Bevier's
room, but otherwise the hallway was empty. Then
Sephrenia's door opened, and she came hurrying out
with flute directly behind her. 'Did you feel it too?'
'Yes. Can you locate it?'
She pointed at Bevier's door. "It's in there.'
'Kurik,' Sparhawk said, touching his squire's
shoulder.
Kurik's eyes came open immediately. 'What's the
trouble?' he asked.
"Something's in there with Bevier. Be careful.' Sparhawk
unhooked Occuda's chain, slipped the latch and
slowly pushed the door open.
The room was filled with an eerie light. Bevier lay
tossing on his bed, and over him hovered the misty,
glowing shape of a naked woman. Sephrenia drew in her
breath sharply. 'Succubus,' she whispered. She immediately
began an incantation, motioning sharply to Flute.
The little girl lifted her pipes and began to play a melody
so complex that Sparhawk could not even begin to follow
it. The glowing and indescribably beautiful woman at the
bedside turned towards the door, drawing its lips back to
reveal its dripping fangs. It hissed at them spitefully and
the hiss seemed overlaid by an insect-like stridulation,
but the glowing figure seemed unable to move. The spell
continued, and the succubus began to shriek, clutching
at its head. flute's song grew more stern, and
Sephrenia's incantation grew louder. The succubus
began to writhe, screaming imprecations so vile that
Sparhawk flinched back from them. Then Sephrenia
lifted one hand and spoke, surprisingly in Elene rather
than Styric. 'Return to the place from which you came,'
she commanded, 'and venture forth no more this night!'
The succubus vanished with a disjointed howl of
frustration, and leaving behind it the foul odour of decay
and coruption.
*Chapter15
'How did she get out of that tower?' Sparhawk asked in
a hushed voice. 'There's only one door, and Occuda's got
it chained shut.'
"She didn't get out,' Sephrenia replied absently, her
brow creased with a frown. "I've only seen this happen
once before,' she added. Then she smiled a bit wryly.
'We're lucky I remembered the spell.'
'You're not making any sense, Sephrenia,' Kurik said.
"She was right here.'
'No, actually she wasn't. The succubus is not of the
flesh. It's the spirit of the one who sends it. Bellina's body
is still confined in that tower, but her spirit roams the
halls of this melancholy house, infecting everything it
touches.'
'Bevier's lost then, isn't he?' Sparhawk asked bleakly.
'No. I've at least partially freed him of her influence. If
we move quickly enough, I can clear his mind entirely.
Kurik, go find Occuda. I need to ask him some
questions.'
'Right away,' the squire replied, going out of the door.
'Won't she come back tomorrow night and infect
Bevier again?' Sparhawk asked.
Page 134
Eddings, David - Elenium 2 - The Ruby Knight.txt
"I think there's a way to prevent that, but I've got to
question Occuda to be sure. Don't talk so much,
Sparhawk. I need to think.' She sat on the bed, rather
absently laying her hand on Bevier's forehead. He stirred
restlessly. 'Oh, stop that,' she snapped at the sleeping
man. She muttered a few words in Styric, and the young
Arcian suddenly sank back into his pillow.
Sparhawk waited nervously as the small woman
pondered the situation. Several minutes later, Kurik
returned with Occuda. Sephrenia rose to her feet.
'Occuda,' she began, but then seemed to change her
mind. 'No,' she said, almost to herself. 'There's a faster
way. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to think
back to the moment you opened the door in the cellar only
2 - The Ruby Knight Page 27