The doom of Kings tlod-1

by Don Bassingthwaite

  He emerged just as she reached the ground. “So he’s here,” he said. “They found him.”

  “Did you doubt it?” Ekhaas asked.

  “I sometimes doubted that they’d bring him in alive.”

  Ekhaas couldn’t say anything to that. The same fear had nagged at her. She turned away and went to her friends, grateful that death hadn’t been a necessity.

  Ashi was talking more than Geth was, spilling her reasons for being in Sigilstar with a delegation of Darguuls and asking after him seemingly in the same breath. “What are you doing here? Where have you been? Where are Singe and Dandra?”

  “Bear and Boar!” said Geth. “One question at a time! I wasn’t expecting to find you here either.” He pulled himself away from Ashi and gestured to the black-clad goblin who still stood by the lightning rail cart. “This is Chetiin. He’s an elder of the taarka’khesh. Him and his people found me in Lathleer in Aundair. We almost fought until Chetiin explained why they’d come looking for me.”

  Chetiin bent his head to Ashi. He didn’t say anything, but his eyes lingered on the lines of the dragonmark that patterned her face. She bent her head in return, but Ekhaas saw her self-consciously tug her scarf into place as she looked back to Geth. “What were you doing in Aundair? How did they find you?”

  Ekhaas raised her voice. “I told them where to look,” she said. Both shifter and human turned to her. She held her ears proudly stiff and reminded herself she’d done nothing wrong. “It’s good to see you again, Geth.”

  Ashi and Geth both spoke at the same time, Geth greeting her with the same respect, Ashi staring and spitting out, “You? You knew he was coming? Khyberit gentis, why didn’t you tell me?”

  “I couldn’t tell you,” said Ekhaas. “I-”

  “She had orders not to say anything about it,” said Tariic as he joined them. “Not to you, not to anyone. What is happening is larger than your friendship. Chetiin, ta muut.”

  “Cho, chib,” said Chetiin. His voice was thick and strained like a scar. He spoke in the human language, following Ekhaas and Tariic’s example. “It was a small task. Ekhaas duur’kala’s magic guided us to the right area, and the taarka’khesh among my band were able to locate him easily enough. He travels quietly for someone not of the Silent Clans.”

  “High praise from you,” Tariic said. He looked to the shifter. “Geth, I’m Tariic of Rhukaan Taash, nephew and emissary of Lhesh Haruuc Shaarat’kor.”

  “I know,” said Geth. “Chetiin told me who you are.”

  “What else has Chetiin told you?”

  Geth scratched the thick stubble on his chin. “Enough to persuade me to follow him and meet you. That Haruuc needed me”-his hand dropped to the ancient sword at his side-“and Wrath. That Ekhaas was involved, too, which is really why I came. He didn’t say anything about Ashi.”

  “He didn’t know about her,” Ekhaas told him. “None of us did. Ashi wasn’t part of our plans initially.”

  He gave her a long look. “I think it’s time I heard more about these plans. Chetiin got me this far on your name, Ekhaas, but I didn’t agree to go any farther until I know more. I’m not sure I like people making plans around me without asking first.”

  “I want to know what’s going on, too,” agreed Ashi.

  “So,” said Vounn, “would I.”

  The lady seneschal stood behind them, wrapped in a shawl against the night air. Her face, as ever, was expressionless, but her voice was firm.

  Tariic scowled. “Didn’t I tell you to wait in the cart?”

  “You told your people to wait in the cart. Your authority doesn’t extend to me.” Her eyes narrowed. “Nor does it extend to my charge, yet it seems she’s become part of something. Please, enlighten me.”

  “Who is this?” growled Geth.

  “Geth, may I introduce Lady Seneschal Vounn d’Deneith, envoy of House Deneith to Lhesh Haruuc,” said Tariic tightly. “Lady Vounn, Geth.”

  “She’s my mentor,” added Ashi.

  Geth looked Vounn up and down and grunted.

  Vounn’s lips pressed together. “Another figure from Ashi’s past,” she said.

  Color rushed into Ashi’s face. “He’s my friend!”

  “And mine,” said Ekhaas.

  “He may be the one person,” said Tariic, his ears twitching, “who can prevent the collapse of Darguun when Haruuc dies.”

  CHAPTER EIGHT

  For a heartbeat, all Geth-and Ashi and Vounn as well, it seemed-could do was stare at Haruuc’s nephew, then his voice came back and he blurted out, “I may be what?”

  Ashi looked like she had words ready to burst out of her as well, but Vounn silenced her with a sharp hiss before looking to Tariic. “Explain this,” she said. Her voice could have frozen a river.

  Tariic gestured for them to move farther away from the lightning rail carts, and they followed him, Chetiin joining their group. When they were out into the yard and safely away from being overheard, Tariic folded his arms across his chest and said, “There is a succession crisis in Darguun.”

  “You said Haruuc hadn’t chosen his successor yet,” said Vounn.

  “He hasn’t-or if he has, he hasn’t revealed it to anyone. That hasn’t stopped rumors, though, and there are a number of people and groups trying to position themselves for power.” His ears pressed back. “My uncle has indicated to me-and to a few others-that who takes power after him may not be as important as how.”

  Ekhaas took over, and Geth heard her slip into the tones of a performing duur’kala. “The history of our people teaches us that we ourselves are the greatest threat to a stable nation. Before Jhazaal Dhakaan united the six kings and laid the foundations of the empire, we fought among ourselves. When the empire fell and the Desperate Times came, clan fought against clan once more. After millennia, Haruuc has united some of the clans again-enough of them that Darguun stands among the other nations of Khorvaire. But not all of the clans have pledged themselves to Haruuc. Some of the lowland Ghaal’dar clans still stand apart. Many of the Marguul clans of the highlands are restless. The clans under the mountains who have preserved the traditions of Dhakaan largely stand apart, though Haruuc draws closer to an alliance with the Kech Volaar.”

  She spread her hands. “Even many of those clans who have followed Haruuc as lhesh do so only because of his strength and the force of his personality. Haruuc grows old and knows he grows old. What will happen when his power passes to another? Will the clans accept his successor, or will they fight to put one of their own on the throne? Will the alliances Haruuc has forged stand, or will Darguun pass as Dhakaan passed, collapsing into the chaos of clan war?” Her hands squeezed closed as if strangling hope. “Haruuc wants to avoid that future. He wants his legacy to his people to survive. He wants Darguun to prosper.”

  Geth found himself caught up in her words and imagining the collapse of a nation. It wasn’t difficult-the Last War had plunged all of Khorvaire into conflict for a hundred years as rival heirs fought for the throne of the ancient kingdom of Galifar. Darguun was only one nation and a young one, but he could understand the threat it faced. Still…

  “Tiger’s blood, how am I supposed to stop a war?”

  “You don’t have to stop a war, only help Haruuc support his successor,” said Tariic. He unfolded one hand and gestured to Vounn. “House Deneith is doing much the same thing. Their good relationship with a successor will keep wealth flowing to Darguun while their support will give legitimacy to his reign in the eyes of the Five Nations.”

  “Deneith is a dragonmarked house. I’m just one person!”

  Tariic nodded. “And Haruuc has a task that just one person-the bearer of Wrath-can accomplish.”

  Caution stirred inside Geth. “What kind of task?” he asked, but Tariic shook his head.

  “I can’t tell you,” he said. “Partly because I know that Haruuc wants to tell you himself. Partly because”-he shrugged-“partly because I only know the beginning of it. No one knows what will ha
ppen after that.”

  “Geth,” said Ekhaas, “I told you once that Wrath is the sword of heroes. What Haruuc will ask of you is the task of a hero, but you won’t have to do it alone. I’ll be with you. And so will others.”

  “Me,” said Chetiin. Geth looked down at the goblin. His dark stained face was serious.

  “And me!” said Ashi. Everyone looked at her. Her eyes were shining and there was a wide, enthusiastic grin across her face. Her hand dropped to her sword and she squeezed the hilt. “Rond betch, you’re not doing anything without me!”

  “What?” Vounn’s voice cracked like a whip. “Ashi, you’re not doing anything!” She stepped forward, high spots of color appearing in her cheeks, and faced Tariic. “Was this your ‘plan’ for her?”

  Tariic bared his teeth at the confrontation. “No!” he said. He looked sharply at Ashi. “Our only plan was for her to act as a cover for Geth because they already knew each other.”

  Ashi’s grin faded slightly, but the color in Vounn’s cheeks only grew more intense. “A cover?” she asked.

  “There’s already unrest in Darguun,” Tariic answered. “As Ekhaas said, not every clan fully accepted Haruuc’s rule. Some of them are already stirring up trouble again, and some of the groups that want to succeed Haruuc aren’t much better. Haruuc wants Geth brought into Darguun quietly so they don’t take his need for him as a sign of weakness. That’s why he called on the Silent Clans to find and fetch him while we carried on to Karrlakton and met with you. If he agrees to come, Geth will return to Darguun with us in the guise of Ashi’s bodyguard. None of Haruuc’s rivals will suspect anything.”

  “You couldn’t have known that Ashi would be permitted to come.”

  “In which case Geth would have posed as your bodyguard.”

  The ice returned to Vounn’s voice. “It almost seems,” she said, “as if Deneith is merely a convenience for you in this. No wonder your journey to Sentinel Tower was so abrupt.”

  Geth could see the unspoken curse that flickered behind Tariic’s eyes before the hobgoblin answered. “Vounn, Haruuc just saw that the timing was right to fight two battles with one army. Deneith and you are important for all the reasons I’ve already said.”

  “Indeed,” said Vounn, her eyes flashing, “and it seems for our ability to act as a cover as well. As I’ve already said to you, true friends deserve to know everything that’s going on. Is there anything else you wish to tell me?”

  Tariic spoke through clenched teeth. “There’s nothing else I can tell you except that we’ll be meeting someone else at our last lightning rail stop in Sterngate. Don’t worry. He’s traveling openly and has nothing to do with you.”

  “Then we’ll say nothing more about this until we reach Rhukaan Draal and I can raise the issue with Haruuc. He appears to be the one holding your reins. Good evening, Tariic. Ashi, come with me.” She turned and marched to the lightning rail cart. After a few paces, she looked back over her shoulder. “Ashi!”

  Ashi’s face was split between a fierce anger and a frightened obedience. “Vounn, I want to stay. My friends-”

  “Ashi,” Vounn said quietly, “it’s not too late to send you back to Karrlakton-and at this moment I am willing to suffer Haruuc’s displeasure by doing so. Come with me or you’ll be waiting for the next northbound coach.”

  The color drained from Ashi’s face. Geth couldn’t have said whether it was because of anger or out of fear at being left behind. With a last longing glance at him and Ekhaas, Ashi went stalking off after Vounn.

  “Maabet!” said Tariic under his breath. “That one’s going to be trouble.”

  “A dragon like that deserves her own lair,” Chetiin told Geth. “You can sleep in the cart with the Silent Clans during the journey to Sterngate if you prefer.”

  Geth blinked. “I haven’t said I’m going.”

  “Aren’t you?”

  Geth looked at Tariic and Ekhaas, both of them with their eyes now turned to him. He grimaced. “Grandfather Rat,” he said, “this hero thing is ridiculous.” He pointed after Ashi and Vounn. “I’m doing this for Ashi,” he said.

  Ekhaas smiled.

  Tariic nodded in satisfaction. “I don’t ask why,” he said. “That you’re doing it is enough for me. Go to sleep-we join the southbound coach in the morning.”

  Chetiin nudged him toward the cart into which the other shaarat’khesh and taarka’khesh had disappeared. “Settle in,” he said. “Mind the tigers.”

  Before they left the next morning, Geth sent a message by House Orien courier from the lightning rail station, directed to Singe and Dandra in Fairhaven and letting them know that he wouldn’t be meeting them as planned but was instead going to Darguun with Ekhaas and Ashi. Ekhaas couldn’t tell him how long Haruuc’s mysterious task might take-not because she wasn’t permitted to tell him but simply because she didn’t know. Geth had written, Will send word-watch for news of riots in Rhukaan Draal.

  “That will put a twist in Singe’s britches,” he’d told the duur’kala.

  The journey from Sigilstar to Sterngate took only two days, including stops at cities and towns along the way for the transfer of passengers and cargo-two days to whisk them across the remainder of Thrane and along nearly a third of the length of the kingdom of Breland before cutting directly across the country to its southern border. The miracle of the lightning rail never ceased to amaze Geth. Two days to cross half the width of the continent. It barely seemed like enough time for him to catch up with Ekhaas and Ashi, to hear about Ekhaas’s rise within the Kech Volaar and Ashi’s dire experiences under Vounn’s mentoring. For him to tell them about his first encounter with Chetiin and the other shaarat’khesh.

  “They came after me down a dark street and backed me up against a wall,” he told the two women as the countryside sped past outside the windows of the cart. “Chetiin pulled out his dagger, and I thought I was in for a hard fight-until he stepped up and laid the dagger on the ground. He looked at me like I was a recruit on muster, then said in Goblin, ‘Ekhaas of the Word Bearers tells me that, with that sword in your hand, you can understand our speech. By her name, will you listen to what I have come to tell you?’”

  He managed a passable imitation of Chetiin’s scarred voice that brought a faint smile from Ekhaas.

  Ashi sat forward. “What happened?”

  “You could have knocked me down with a Sharn sweet roll. But Chetiin didn’t go for his dagger again, and he had mentioned your name, so I said I’d listen. Have you noticed he always gets right to the point? He said Lhesh Haruuc needed the bearer of Wrath and asked me to come to Sigilstar with him and his people to meet Ekhaas and Tariic.”

  “And you just went with him?”

  Geth glowered at her. “I’m not stupid. He knew details from our time in the Shadow Marches that only Ekhaas could know, and he had a scroll with a message from Haruuc. He got my interest.” The shifter shrugged. “Besides, it was only a trip to Sigilstar. There was no hurry for me to get back to Dandra and Singe-and I wasn’t feeling welcome in Lathleer. It turned out that Chetiin had more of his people shadowing the locals who’d been looking for me. They distracted them, we got out of town with no problem, and joined up with the taarkakhesh who were waiting for us. After that, we just traveled across country.”

  He shook his head in amazement. “I thought I could get a long way in a night, but shaarat’khesh and taarkakhesh can really move. We ran into a border patrol as we crossed from Aundair to Thrane, but I don’t think they even saw us. I don’t think anybody spotted us on the entire journey.”

  “The Silent Clans know their craft,” said Ekhaas. “They’ve lived apart since ancient times, and they keep their secrets. Anyone can hire them with absolute confidence, but they teach their ways to no one. Haruuc paid a lot to have them fetch you.”

  “Maybe not that much.” Geth looked around, then dropped his voice. “Chetiin and I spent time talking while we traveled. He wouldn’t tell me anything about why Haruuc wants to s
ee me, but he’s interesting-I like him. Did you know his first contract was with Haruuc when Darguun was founded? They’re old friends.”

  Ekhaas nodded. “I’m not surprised. The Silent Clans are reliable, but I know Haruuc wouldn’t have trusted just anyone to find you.”

  The sun was only a handspan above the horizon when their coach pulled into the lightning rail station at Sterngate. Geth swung out of the cart and down to the platform to look out at a scene that reminded him more of his time as a mercenary during the Last War than it did of any of the other stations they’d stopped at.

  Sterngate itself was a bulky fortress nestled into the foothills of the Seawall Mountains with only a scattering of buildings- the lightning rail station among them-outside it. Steep earth embankments and wide ditches made it impossible to approach the stopped coach from anywhere other than through the station. Geth could see similar arrangements of embankments and stone walls restricting access to the other buildings and even to the trade road that ran past the station and directly into the fortress.

  “There’s more like this on the other side of Sterngate,” said Chetiin. Geth had stopped trying to keep track of the goblin. The goblin elder’s sparse hair was gray as cobwebs, and yet he still moved like a shadow.

  “What’s it for?”

  Chetiin gave him a rare smile. “To stop Darguuls from getting into Breland unannounced. Sterngate guards the western end of the Marguul Pass.”

  With most southbound passengers on board for the gnome nation of Zilargo, there were few passengers boarding the coach to continue on from Sterngate. Even fewer were disembarking-the delegation of Darguuls were the only ones to come off the coach. As cargo was shifted, a squad of Brelish soldiers came marching out from the fortress to meet them. A lieutenant in a crisp uniform spoke with Tariic and checked papers. Geth was in no way surprised to discover that, aside from Chetiin, there was no sign at all of the goblins of the Silent Clans. It was as if they had simply vanished.

  “How good is Sterngate at keeping Darguuls from getting into Breland?” he whispered to Chetiin.