by Jason Kenyon
‘Maybe I’ll take you up on that, princess,’ she replied. ‘You and your kind have caused me enough trouble.’
‘You should remember, though, that Master Forseld here is also on a wanted poster,’ Ithalna said. ‘Zillon is a bounty hunter, and I would be surprised if he was unaware of this. Are you certain that he would be content with merely my life? I daresay that it is likely he will continue to pursue you all and take you in, dead.’
‘Ithalna makes a good point,’ Archimegadon said. ‘It is of the utmost urgency that we deal with this Zillon fellow at once.’
‘Your bounty is nothing compared to what I bet he’s getting for killing Unette,’ Mellara said.
‘Don’t use that name!’ Archimegadon said. ‘And how dare you? I shall be sure to have the highest bounty of us all before things are done!’
‘That would be a really bad idea for a contest,’ Anjilo said. ‘Why don’t we set a trap for Zillon instead?’
‘I should expect it to be a work of miracles to lay a trap for a shadow hunter of Zillon’s experience,’ Ithalna replied. ‘Besides, Miss Nightshot’s first suggestion will be to use me as bait.’
‘That didn’t cross my mind,’ Mellara lied.
‘What do you even want anyway?’ Tharanor asked Ithalna. ‘Aren’t you interested in taking back the throne? Why not just stay with Diojin, or actually join the Knights of Valanthas?’
‘Even rulers do not rule themselves,’ Ithalna replied. ‘With my husband and father dead, heart-breaking as it is, I am free for the first time in fifteen years. Or, at least, I would be – but Salestis is determined to be rid of me as a potential threat to the throne, just as you suggest I become. I will need to be rid of Salestis, Malthanes and the Shield of Lut’yis entire, I suspect, before I am able to live as I truly desire.’
‘And how, exactly, is that?’ Mellara asked.
Ithalna rested her chin on the palm of her hand, and gazed longingly up into the rafters of the tavern. ‘Somewhere quiet, by the sea. I could spend my days tending to a garden, with two dogs – I have always fancied raising arenhounds – and I have sometimes thought of writing a book.’
Ithalna’s words made Archimegadon think of the mystical shores of the Isles of Filikis, and he drifted away for a moment himself, imagining lying in a hammock between two palm trees, perhaps with servants on hand to deliver him cooling drinks over a lazy afternoon of idleness. With the money from delivering Ithalna to Arenfel, he would be able to afford an excursion to the Isles of Filikis, and perhaps he would not even need to waste his time with taking care of Salestis or Valia.
That brought him back to reality. As a slice of beef slid off his fork and landed in the gravy with an undignified splat, Archimegadon remembered that he could not very well leave Valia loose to pursue any demon-based conquest, not since she’d only been spared because of him. He sighed.
‘You want to raise dogs too, huh?’ Mellara asked.
‘Erm, no,’ Archimegadon replied. ‘I was just pondering the mess we are all in.’
‘It’ll be fine,’ Anjilo said. ‘We’re not letting anyone destroy the city this time around.’
‘Yeah, Ithalna,’ Mellara said. ‘Try to keep your cultist nature under control.’
‘I have no desire to do what my fellows did to Aldrack or Ferrina,’ Ithalna said. ‘Had I truly understood what it was that my father’s plans would lead to, I would have done all in my power to stop them.’
‘Easy to say now,’ Mellara said.
‘Then let my actions in Arenfel speak for themselves,’ Ithalna said. ‘I will do all I can to help you stop Salestis from murdering the Central Council. I… I will even lay down my life for you, if that is what it must take.’
‘Sure you will, princess,’ Mellara said.
‘Give her a chance, Mellara,’ Anjilo said. ‘And for the love of the Light, stop calling her princess.’
Mellara froze, and then reddened and looked back at her food. ‘Well, fine,’ she said. ‘I just… I don’t want any of us to end up dead, okay?’
Anjilo picked up her plate and went to sit opposite Ithalna, who stared at her with her large crystal eyes. ‘Look, Ithalna, I’ve not known you long, but I liked you before we found out about… you know… and I wanna keep it that way. Maybe you are lying to us, but I’m gonna trust you, so I want you to know you can trust me too. And Archie as well, isn’t that right, old man?’
Archimegadon blinked and looked up at Ithalna, whose questioning gaze had been turned now upon him. He cleared his throat. ‘Ah, well… that is to say… I have a very unreliable past with the Clerics. I also, erm, am not one to particularly get on with people in general. So, er…’
Anjilo’s eyes narrowed. ‘Isn’t that right, old man?’
‘Yes, madam.’
‘There ya go,’ Anjilo said to Ithalna, who had a nervous smile developing. ‘Now, we can’t just fully trust ya right away, but we’ll take it step by step. You understand, yeah?’
‘I do,’ Ithalna said, nodding. ‘Until then, I shall continue to do all within my power to assist you all. Once we have stopped Salestis, Malthanes, and their Syrakh, you can be rid of me.’
‘Gonna have to do something about your hair, though,’ Anjilo said, scratching her own. ‘It’s kinda going back to black, and didn’t you always have long hair before when you were, you know..?’
Ithalna inspected a few stray strands of hair. ‘Ah, I see. Yes, I was using magic before to alter the colour. Perhaps it would be best if we cut it short, maybe to about here.’ She held up a hand to a spot just below her ears. ‘It saddens me, however. I have always liked my hair long.’
‘Or perhaps you could tie it into a ponytail?’ Archimegadon asked. ‘You could then look like Mellara’s evil twin.’
‘I… ah… no,’ Ithalna replied, noticing Mellara’s dour expression.
Chapter Twenty-One: At Odds
Obdo awoke the next morning by jumping out of bed and colliding with Neurion, who had dozed off while keeping an eye on his friend’s condition. Archimegadon and Tharanor had fallen asleep soon after their generous meals, not least because of their comfortable beds, heavenly compared with their roadside or prison cell conditions from the last few weeks.
‘Ouch!’ Obdo said. ‘Oh dear, sorry Sir Shiny. I feel absolutely rotten.’
‘Keep it down,’ Archimegadon said into his pillow.
Tharanor was more eager to check up on Obdo’s condition, and he slipped out of his bed, glowing in the thin sliver of light that snuck into the room between the wall and the curtain. The view outside was mostly of mountainside, unfortunately, but the companions could catch the faintest glimpse of the plains beyond if they leaned in far enough.
‘Obdo, you old rascal,’ Tharanor said. ‘You look a lot better today!’
Obdo checked all his limbs were working in turn, wincing as he moved his left arm. ‘Well, I don’t want to think what I was like before,’ he said. ‘My left arm’s buggered for sure. Now I’m totally useless.’
He waved his right hand in the air, showing off the empty space where Bartell’s clerk Elsim Redrock had cut off two of his fingers. Archimegadon would likely have felt bad about this, had he managed to extract his face from his pillow; while Obdo generally said that he was grateful Archimegadon had stuck it out and saved them all at the Throne of Mirrors, rather than simply blowing them all up to stop Bartell, Archimegadon still felt a certain amount of responsibility for the injuries Obdo, and to a lesser extent Neurion, had suffered at the hands of Bartell’s minions.
‘We should let the lady Anjilo know,’ Neurion said, rubbing his cheek where Obdo had accidentally head-butted him. ‘She spent a long time tending to you, Obdo, so be sure that you thank her!’
‘I most assuredly will,’ Obdo said. ‘What even happened? I remember catching Missy Cultist, at least. Did I fall off the cliff?’
‘I wish you had,’ Archimegadon replied, turning to face the wall and tugging his bed covers tighter. ‘Shut up, I am try
ing to sleep.’
‘You were hit by a dark-poisoned arrow that was supposed to kill Ithalna,’ Tharanor said. ‘It seems that Archie didn’t manage to kill the shadow hunter Zillon after all, and he’s still hunting Ithalna, apparently.’
‘Well, that sucks,’ Obdo said. ‘Sure he wasn’t hunting me?’
Tharanor just looked at him.
‘Do not think too badly of the lady Ithalna,’ Neurion said. ‘She would have worked her magicks to heal you, but Miss Nightshot was quite firm that the anti-magic binding should stay in place.’
‘Oh, I think I can forgive her,’ Obdo said, grinning. ‘She would surely be ready to reward me for taking an arrow in her stead, right?’
Archimegadon’s pillow met Obdo in the face.
‘Be quiet!’
‘I agree with Archie’s response, but for different reasons,’ Tharanor said, chuckling. ‘I’d give it up anyway, Archie – it’s surely time to get up and on the road again soon.’
‘You are all infernal pests,’ Archimegadon said, swinging around into a seated position on the edge of his bed. ‘As is the sun. Bugger off!’ He waved a fist at the faint beams of sunlight that had tentatively crept past the curtains.
‘The lady Ithalna is recently bereaved,’ Neurion said to Obdo. ‘You should not be making propositions to her at this time.’
‘Good point,’ Obdo said. ‘Still, I think she’s quite nice, don’t you?’
‘She’s a bloody cultist,’ Archimegadon replied. ‘I’ll be glad when she’s nowhere near our group any longer.’
‘I agree with you there,’ Tharanor said.
*
The group met up again for breakfast first. Archimegadon, feeling immensely groggy after his rude awakening, ordered some strong ale, which the innkeeper forbade. However, the innkeeper did offer an unusual herbal concoction in its place, and Archimegadon decided to trust him on this one, unwilling to admit he had no idea what any of the listed ingredients were.
Mellara was the first to join them from the other room, and she ordered a large breakfast with a big grin on her face.
‘You are altogether far too cheerful,’ Archimegadon said.
‘Ah, slept great!’ Mellara said. ‘Surely you did as well?’
‘Good sleep only counts when it is followed by two hours of lying in bed,’ Archimegadon replied.
‘Course,’ Mellara said.
‘Where are the other two?’ Tharanor asked.
‘Anji’s sorting out Ithalna’s hair,’ Mellara replied. ‘I think the blonde illusion pretty much disappeared overnight.’
Ithalna did indeed look very different when she re-joined the party with Anjilo later. Where she’d formerly had long, blonde hair that nearly reached her hips, she’d now got black hair that only made it to just below her ears. Anjilo, using unusual scissors from her engineering toolkit, had done quite a decent job of styling it, and given Ithalna a nice wavy look that somehow made her look a fair bit younger. Ithalna smiled nervously on reaching the group, and she turned her head to either side to let them see.
‘What do you think?’ she asked. ‘I feel Anjilo has done a marvellous job.’
‘You look totally wrong!’ Obdo replied. ‘You were all shiny-haired, and… and…’
‘Hey!’ Anjilo said.
‘Obdo, there is no need to be so rude,’ Ithalna said.
‘I don’t know why she asks if she doesn’t want a genuine answer,’ Obdo said to Archimegadon.
‘I would teach you about tact, but I have none,’ Archimegadon said.
As Ithalna took her place at the table, Archimegadon couldn’t help but notice that her new hairstyle made the magic shackle a lot more obvious. Fortunately, the Paladin Order was given to being vain, and the shackle just about passed for jewellery, though it was still a bit larger and more obvious than regular adornments. He only hoped that no paladins would recognise it, and wondered if they’d be able to safely lift the ban on Ithalna’s magic use before they reached the paladin-filled Arenfel.
‘So, what’s the plan?’ Obdo asked.
‘I’ve been thinking about it, and I feel the best thing for us to do this morning is finish our business with Zillon,’ Mellara replied. ‘Before bed I checked about the surrounding countryside with the innkeeper, and I think there’s a good place for us to ambush Zillon in a small forest.’
‘You really think we have a chance of catching Zillon?’ Obdo asked. ‘Far as I’ve heard, he’s a pretty good hunter.’
‘Bah, we will have defeated him before we’ve even had lunch!’ Archimegadon said.
*
Archimegadon was, of course, wrong, and a particularly grumpy group set out from Mellara’s chosen ambush location after several fruitless hours spent waiting for Zillon to appear. To make matters worse, the sky decided to make its displeasure with their failure known, and cast rain upon them as they trudged across sludgy fields on the way towards Arenfel.
‘I didn’t mind it so much,’ Obdo said at one point.
‘Didn’t mind what?’ Archimegadon asked, glowering from beneath dripping eyebrows.
‘Got an extra bit of rest sitting around all day,’ Obdo replied, rolling his left shoulder. ‘This thing is sore as my head on a normal morning.’
‘Yes, we should take some care with Obdo’s condition as it is,’ Neurion said. ‘I would not like for him to suffer in silence.’
‘I can assure you that the last thing Obdo will ever do is be silent, about any matter,’ Archimegadon said. ‘What a hassle all of this is. If only those blasted paladins had never set foot near Ferrina, we could be playing cards by my fireplace still.’
‘But then you would never have met me,’ Ithalna said, sweeping between Archimegadon and Obdo with a radiant smile.
‘You are the worst part of it all,’ Archimegadon said.
Ithalna’s grin only widened.
‘At least one of us is enjoying this,’ Archimegadon said.
‘Ah, Master Forseld, if we ignore all of the troubles we face ahead, is it not nice to be outside for now, free of all responsibility?’ Ithalna asked.
‘At any moment, that bastard Zillon might pop out of the rain to kill you,’ Archimegadon replied.
‘I have faith in Mellara,’ Ithalna said, glancing over at the mercenary, who was a few paces ahead tracking their path between pools of rainwater. ‘Her eyes do indeed possess quite remarkable sight, do you not think?’
‘It didn’t help her back in Anjilo’s cave,’ Archimegadon replied.
‘Truly it is a surprise that your favoured element is fire,’ Ithalna said. ‘You seem to have more in common with this downpour.’
‘Water mages are almost as boring as wind ones,’ Archimegadon said. ‘They just happen to be a damn sight more useful.’
‘Was it really so bad being the Queen that you’d like being out in this rotten storm, miss?’ Obdo asked.
‘Being the Queen was restrictive enough,’ Ithalna replied. ‘However, you should also remember that I was a Cleric, at my father’s command. That being said, I would very much like my old Cleric robes right now – they came with a quite effective hood, which is more than can be said for this travelling gear.’
Ithalna, like the others, was wearing a thin cloak with a hood, and it was not doing much to keep the elements at bay. Mellara was the only one not using her hood, though, arguing that it would stifle her hearing at a time when they could not afford to be surprised by enemies.
‘I am surprised you bothered to follow his instructions after becoming queen,’ Archimegadon said. ‘Perhaps you should have done as Mellara said, and told him to bugger off.’
‘Ah, but it is never quite so simple as that with those who we love,’ Ithalna said. ‘My mother did not survive childbirth, and I had no brothers or sisters. He was all I had.’
‘Surely you must have been surrounded by friends and admirers?’ Obdo asked.
Ithalna’s eyes glittered with amusement. ‘Aha, no, Obdo. I have never had much talent
for socialising, and when I was brought into court matters, I was generally decoration on my husband’s arm – not one with whom others wished to speak. With the exception of this group, the only people with whom I really engaged were the six lead members of the Clerics in Arenfel.’
‘Milady, I am sorry to hear that,’ Obdo said.
‘Don’t believe her lies, oaf,’ Archimegadon said. ‘She merely wishes for you to pity her so that you trust her more. Doubtless she is planning her next Cleric massacre.’
‘Hah.’ Ithalna regarded Archimegadon with her piercing crystal eyes. ‘So, you still distrust me. I suppose that it is for the best that you are being over-careful, since we will be dealing with the Shield soon enough. We shall need to take care in the capital, when they could be anywhere around us.’
‘Do you know much about this Shield of Lut’yis?’ Neurion asked.
‘You do not know of them yourself, paladin?’ Ithalna returned.
‘I mainly learned in one of the schools,’ Neurion replied, colouring red. Ithalna visibly twitched at this; her father had been responsible for the creation of the money-making paladin and mage schools, after all.
‘Do not look so downcast – I do not believe the Shield is well-known even in the regular ranks of the Paladin Order,’ Ithalna said.
‘Yup!’ Anjilo said suddenly behind Archimegadon, making him slip in the slick mud. ‘Careful there, old man. But yeah, can’t say I’ve ever heard about it, and even if I did, it can’t have been much of a mention if I forgot it since.’
‘They are a secretive group dedicated to serving the Supreme Commander,’ Ithalna said. ‘I believe I mentioned this before. They are said to be privy to secrets about their faith that lesser members of the Order do not know. My father found it an interesting topic of study, but I do not believe that he ever learned too much about them.’
‘What did he find out?’ Anjilo asked.
‘That they were often deployed for special missions in wartime,’ Ithalna replied. ‘I believe that they were foremost amongst those who tackled Tel Ariel’s necromancers within the Tarmunath Empire during the old war. Since then, it is said that their hand has also been involved in breaking most cultist and demon crises that have arisen.’