The others all turned to look at her; she stepped back, her manner defensive.
“You're right,” Geste said. “Why does he feel safe?"
“Or maybe,” Imp said, “we should ask why he's willing to use one now when he wasn't before. What changed?"
“He captured the four there,” Geste said slowly.
“But he already had Khalid and O and Aulden,” the Skyler pointed out.
“That's just three; he must have thought that he needed more hostages before he let it become obvious what he was doing,” Geste suggested.
“Do you really think that's it?” the Skyler asked dubiously.
“I don't know,” the Trickster admitted.
The four stood silently for a moment. Then Bredon cleared his throat and said, “Why don't you ask him?"
“He won't talk to us,” the Skyler snapped.
“Wait a minute,” Geste said. “If he is feeling safe, he might be willing to talk now. It won't hurt to try."
“I don't know,” the Skyler said. “I don't like this. I don't like any of this."
“None of us do,” Imp replied.
“If we're going to talk to him, we should plan out what we want to say. What do we want from him, anyway?” the Skyler said.
“Frankly, what I want is to pack him away somewhere, without any of his external systems, and ship him back to Terra for a little psychological repair work,” Geste said. “The man is deranged!"
“He's not going to agree to that,” the Skyler said.
“I suppose not,” Geste admitted, “but maybe we can coax some sort of concession out of him."
“All I want is Aulden back,” Imp said.
“And I want Lady Sunlight, if she's still alive,” Bredon said.
“I don't want anything from him,” the Skyler said bitterly, “except to be left alone."
“Well, maybe he'll agree to that,” Geste said consolingly.
“Why should he agree to anything? He can do what he pleases, can't he? Brenner couldn't stop him; how can we? He'll just ignore us."
“I intend to be hard to ignore,” Geste said. “Skyler, get this hold of yours moving west; let's see Thaddeus ignore a million tons of rock hanging over his head!"
The Skyler hesitated, then waved a command to a nearby floater. As Bredon watched, the scenery beneath them, which had been stationary for several minutes, began to move again.
“I don't like this, Geste,” she said. She turned and began walking back toward the main house, calling back over her shoulder, “I don't like it at all!"
Chapter Twenty
“…he turned, and found himself face to face with a great winged lizard, as tall as a man and a dozen meters long, with wings that could serve as a roof for the biggest house in the village.
"He sat down and began composing his death-speech, wishing that someone was around to hear it besides this great green lizard-beast.
"But then, to his astonishment, the beast spoke, saying, ‘Greetings to you, sir. Why are you here, in the land of my mistress?'
"And then Helleber knew that he was facing a dragon, and that he was in the domain of the Dragon Lady, and hope blossomed in his heart, for all the tales he had heard of her were happy ones.
"'Why, I am lost,’ he said, ‘and have no food, no water, and no way to get home.'
"'Then climb up on my back,’ the dragon said, ‘and I will take you to my mistress who made me, and I am sure she will be glad to help you.'
"So he approached, full of fear at the sight of the monster, but forcing himself to walk up to it calmly…"
– from the tales of Atheron the Storyteller
The humans aboard the Skyland spent the rest of the secondlight in dismal, nervous anticipation, and when the sleeping dark approached no one slept, or suggested sleep. The sun was sinking in the west, and they were nearing Fortress Holding.
By unspoken agreement, they gathered on the terrace where they had eaten lunch.
“He hasn't done anything,” the Skyler said.
“Are you sure?” Imp asked.
“Of course I'm sure! I've got my machines watching Fortress Holding, just as you do!"
“He hasn't done anything that I've seen,” Geste agreed. “Oh, a few of his machines fought off some of my saboteurs, but that's nothing."
“He must know we're coming,” the Skyler said nervously. “Why doesn't he do something?"
“I don't know,” Geste answered.
They were silent for a moment, and it was not a human who broke the silence.
“Excuse me,” the Skyland said, “but Thaddeus the Black is calling and wishes to speak to, quote, ‘whoever is in charge up there,’ end quote."
“There you go,” Geste said with a wave. “He's doing something. Talk to him."
“Oh, no,” the Skyler said. “You talk to him."
“It's your hold,” Imp protested.
“But it was Geste's idea to come here,” the Skyler insisted.
Geste shrugged. “All right. Put him on, Skyland."
A face appeared in the air, and Bredon studied it curiously.
So this was the infamous Thaddeus the Black! He had seen old pictures back in Arcade, pictures that Gamesmaster had shown him while explaining who Shadowdark and Thaddeus were, but this was the first live transmission Bredon had seen.
The first thing Bredon noticed was that, as the pictures back at Arcade had shown, he was not black, his name notwithstanding. His complexion was slightly darker than most of the other Powers Bredon had seen, but Leila and Hsin were both a good bit darker, and there were people in Bredon's home village who were darker, and the southern traders who came by twice a year selling metal pots and pans and tools were darker still.
His hair was black and curly, but that scarcely seemed enough to justify the name. His eyes were brown, and he was heavily bearded. The face behind the beard was lined and scarred, unusual for a Power, but no more so than many a villager's face was by his fortieth turn of the seasons, and by no means even close to the grotesquerie of Shadowdark's visage.
Thaddeus did bear some resemblance to his father; their eyes were similar, and both had prominent noses, though Shadowdark's was straight while Thaddeus had a definite hook to his.
And his face was oddly proportioned, like Shadowdark's. Bredon remembered that Thaddeus was said to be almost three meters tall. The image was only slightly larger than a normal head; either Thaddeus's height was entirely in his body, or he was using a reduced-size transmission.
It was a strong face, neither a particularly attractive one, nor one ugly or frightening enough to fit the stories told about its owner.
“Hello there,” Thaddeus said conversationally. “Only three of you? Are the rest somewhere else? I'll wait while you call them, if you like."
“There are only the four of us,” Geste replied, gesturing so as to include Bredon with the two women.
“Four?” Bredon was unsure whether Thaddeus's surprise was feigned or genuine. “Who is that, then? Has someone taken a new body, or been rebuilt? I thought that was an android or a primitive."
Geste turned expectantly, to let Bredon speak for himself.
“I am Bredon the Hunter, son of Aredon the Hunter,” Bredon announced, aware how foolish that once-proud declaration of his identity must sound to this unspeakably powerful and ancient being.
“A primitive-so there are just three of you. You will have your little joke, Geste, won't you?” He eyed Bredon warily, however.
“What do you want, Thaddeus?” Geste inquired wearily.
“I just want to come to an understanding."
“What sort of an understanding?” the Skyler asked.
“And where's Aulden?” Imp demanded.
“Aulden is right here, Imp; he's alive and well. As for what sort of an understanding, that's why Aulden is here.” The image of a handsome, rather distracted-looking, outwardly youthful man appeared briefly beside Thaddeus’ image, then vanished again before Bredon could even be sure of the color of his hair. “And Sheila, and Sunlight, and Rawl, and O, and Khalid, and even Brenner.” More faces flashed briefly, then faded. Bredon felt his throat tighten at the glimpse of Lady Sunlight's radiant features.