„Oh, he'll win on the field. I'm talking about off it. We can't keep this quiet. Suppose he does fleece the Estates? They're going to smile about it? What'll people say about him risking public moneys?"
„So don't do it."
„You kidding?"
„Actually, yes. I do hope to get out of Kavelin with a whole skin once my work is done."
„So what do I do?"
„I can't help you." Prataxis pursed his lips thoughtfully. „You're right. He's getting strange. We have to rein him in. We have to convince him, first, that he's not favored of the gods, and, second, that he can't keep laughing in the face of fate. What's happening is, he's got a touch of that old royal megalomania. Since he wasn't raised to it, it's taking some odd twists."
„Can we educate him? He hasn't learned from his lapse with the succession."
„Uhm." Prataxis rose. „Let's get you that money."
„That's it? Go ahead?"
„What can we do?" As they neared the doorway, Prataxis mused, „His biggest error may be the way he's handling his wife." He looked Trebilcock directly in the eye.
„You're onto that too, eh?"
„It's pretty obvious. It's just as obvious that he knows. And he's doing nothing. Nothing."
„Think somebody should act for him?"
„That would be between a man and his conscience. Maybe. If the somebody could be sufficiently circumspect. But not right away. Let it ride a while."
Michael nodded. He respected Prataxis's political sense. Timing was everything.
Since returning from Al Rhemish he had been trying to come up with a way to carve out this cancer without getting carved himself. Maybe Varthlokkur would help... .
Bragi was having dinner when Dahl intruded, apologizing profusely. He bore a note. Bragi read it, frowned.
„What is it?" Inger asked.
„Mist is back. Wants to see me. All right. Bring her up, Dahl." The woman arrived a few minutes later. She looked older by a decade. „Been rough?" Bragi asked.
She nodded. „Could you spare a meal for a tired old woman?"
Inger gestured. A maid departed. Bragi eyed Mist uncer tainly. He'd planned on a heart-to-heart with Inger. Mist's appearance had killed the chance. Something always got in the way.
Or was he just finding excuses?
Mist sagged into a chair uninvited. „I'm exhausted."
„You asked for it." Ragnarson frowned. This was out of character. What was she up to? „Excuse me if I'm blunt. What're you doing here?"
„Looking for help. Again."
„I thought you got what you wanted."
„It's that mess in the east, Bragi. I didn't know how bad it was till I got a closer look. Now I know why the Tervola are spooked. It could mean the end of the world."
„Come on!" Inger said. „That's too much to swallow."
„You haven't seen it. I have."
„Start at the beginning," Ragnarson suggested. „All I know is what you've already told me. All Varthlokkur will do is threaten me about shooting my mouth off to Nepanthe."
So Mist told a tale about her predecessor, Lord Kuo, having had a presentiment about the great desert east of Shinsan. He had sent men to investigate. They had wakened some force terrible and ancient, that acted through a creature who called himself the Deliverer.
„Armies of dead men?" Ragnarson murmured in horror. „It raises up the dead against the living?"
That was the heart of it. The force behind the Deliverer empowered him to raise the recently dead to lead in battle. Those fighting him had to do more than battle: they had to keep their own fallen from coming under the Deliverer's sway and had to burn his casualties too, lest they be reanimated again and again. To Bragi it sounded like a struggle that could not be won by the living. A parable of the inexorability of death.
„It's a Trolledyngjan draug tale come true," he said. „Terrible. But why do you come to me?"
„Because when he's done with the empire the Deliverer will come for you."
„I don't understand," Inger said. „I missed something. You two know what you're talking about... ."
Bragi said, „Mist claims this warlord of the dead is Ethrian. Mocker's missing son. Nepanthe's son."
Mist said, „And you killed his father, Bragi. The real power that makes the Deliverer run is his obsession with revenge. First the empire, then you. Then the rest of the world."
„I think I understand why Varthlokkur doesn't want Nepanthe to find out. If what you say is true."
„It's true. Something in the east saved Ethrian from the Pracchia, made him over, and gave him immense power. I think it lost control. I saw him, Bragi. There is no describing him in words. He's like a natural force gone made. And if he isn't stopped it'll be the end of the world."
Inger croaked something. Bragi groaned. „I believe it. I don't want to, but I do. Look at Mist. She's scared silly. A princess of the Dread Empire terrified."
Mist admitted it. „You're right. It's got me so scared I can't think."
„And Varthlokkur knows all this."
„Probably. There is little that escapes his notice."
„Uhm. He knows. Maybe even more than you. But he wants to stick his head in the sand because Nepanthe might be upset. I can't put up with that. Let's go see him."
They found Varthlokkur in the castle library, reading an ancient book he closed too quickly when he noted Bragi's approach. He looked dismayed when he noticed Mist. „What is it? What do you want?" His voice threatened to squeak.
„I think you know. Tell him, Mist."
Mist repeated her story. The wizard's expression grew more and more distressed, then gradually hardened. Before she finished, he interrupted. „The answer is no. Find another way. I've finally gotten Nepanthe satisfied that her son is dead. As he is, in his way. Leave him in the grave."
„How about sending the Unborn?" Bragi asked.
„No. Aren't you listening? I won't help. Neither will Nepanthe. You deal with it yourself, woman. Bragi, I've warned you. You tell Nepanthe about this... ."
„I don't plan to. You're going to do it."
„You're not thinking rationally," Mist said. „What if I can't stop it? And the Council tells me there's a good chance I can't with the resources available. Then what? Where do you go to hide when the bulwark of Shinsan is gone? The Deliverer will find you in the Dragon's Teeth themselves."
Varthlokkur spat, shocking Ragnarson. „I'm going to protect my wife... ."
„I think that's what she's asking you to do," Bragi said.
„My way. Ragnarson, recall what the Thing did. With that law in place you're a dead man if you don't have me."
„Damned stubborn ass. What the hell is it with you? You want trouble with me? You know I don't stand still when people try to twist my arm."
„You'd better."
„I got along without you before I met you. I can live without you now." Ragnarson was getting heated. The wizard had been from the beginning.
„Stay away from my wife. Mist, the Deliverer is your damned problem. Ethrian is dead. And I'm going to keep it that way."
Mist smashed a fist into a stack of bookshelves so hard a dozen volumes tumbled to the floor. „You're not only being bullheaded, you're being stupid. Don't you understand? He won't stop with Shinsan."
Bragi took her arm. „Come on. We're wasting our time. He's gone goofy." He headed for the door. Over his shoul der, he said, „I'll remember this."
For a moment it almost seemed Varthlokkur would stick out his tongue.
Outside, Mist asked, „What now? There's not much hope without him."