The two smooth-skinned sorceresses muttered to each other. Utros grew stern and troubled, leaning forward in his sturdy chair. “So we have heard, but the idea is preposterous. We’ve seen no proof.”
“What more proof do you need?” Nicci interrupted in a firm voice. “Where are your tents? Your camp? Your supplies? Everything disintegrated with the passage of time. Centuries have gone by, and history has left you behind. All that you knew has changed.” She hardened her expression. “Surely you realize your bodies have a lingering infusion of stone, because the spell hasn’t entirely worn off. Accept what you know is true.”
As Utros growled, Nathan intervened again, folding his hands together with a small, polite bow. “If I may, Sorceress? Your own conquests are legendary, General. Speaking as a scholar, I’m impressed to talk with such an imposing personage. You are seen as a seminal figure in military history, until you and your army disappeared. Now we know what happened to you. Nevertheless, your battlefield tactics and your conquests have been studied for more than a thousand years.”
Utros remained determined. “I’m not interested in your flattery, Wizard. I conquered those lands for my emperor. I serve Iron Fang, and he ordered me to seize Ildakar. I intend to do so. I would never betray him.”
Nicci scoffed. “Oh? Now that’s an interesting comment, considering you took his wife as your lover. Wasn’t that a betrayal?”
Utros shot to his feet, looming before them in his half-stone body. “That was different! Majel loved me.” His eyes flicked back and forth, a gray gaze that struck Nicci, then went back to Nathan. “How can you even know this? It is impossible.”
Nathan explained, “We know because history knows, dear general, just as history knows everything. All was revealed as Kurgan’s empire crumbled. You and Empress Majel weren’t as discreet as you thought with your affair, and this is a terrible story that was told to students for centuries. After conquering much of the Old World, your army marched away from Orogang, ordered by Iron Fang to capture Ildakar. But then you and your armies vanished, as did Ildakar itself. The complete disappearance of such a vast army was a mystery that historians have debated for centuries.”
Utros knotted his hands as he gripped the edge of the rough-hewn table. On one corner rested his imposing helmet, adorned with curved bull horns. “But what about my emperor? And … Majel? What do you think you know? What happened to her? And to the empire?”
Nathan sniffed. “Alas, I’m afraid that without your military to hold it together, Kurgan’s empire crumbled. It didn’t last a decade after you were gone. The man you served, and betrayed, is long dead.”
Nicci spoke into the silence. “There is a new emperor now, a worthy master for you to serve. His name is Richard Rahl, and we are working to consolidate these lands under the rules of fairness and freedom. That’s why Nathan and I came to Ildakar, only to find ourselves caught in this unnecessary conflict. Lord Rahl is a new, worthy master for a great and honorable military leader like yourself. We hope you and your army will agree to serve him.”
“I serve Emperor Kurgan,” Utros insisted.
“And we serve you, General Utros,” said the two sorceresses in strange harmony, shifting on their bench.
He glanced at them. “These are Ava and Ruva, my advisors and powerful sorceresses. We don’t fear any magic Ildakar brings against us.”
“What you seem to fear is the truth,” Nicci said. “Emperor Kurgan is gone, nearly forgotten. Join the D’Haran Empire as one of Lord Rahl’s greatest generals. You no longer need to conquer Ildakar.”
“I need to conquer Ildakar, because I swore to do so,” Utros said stubbornly. “Kurgan is my emperor, not this upstart Lord Rahl, who is nothing more than a name to me.”
“I assure you, Lord Rahl is much more than a name,” Nicci said with a hint of threat in her tone. “And he is alive and powerful, unlike Iron Fang and your murdered lover.”
Incensed, Utros said, “Murdered? How did she … they die? What happened to them?”
“It didn’t end well, I’m afraid.” Nathan continued telling his story. “Iron Fang’s own people rose up and overthrew him. The mobs killed him because of what he did to…” He hesitated. “It’s rather unpleasant, General. Are you sure you want to hear the full details?”
“What did Kurgan do?” Utros demanded. Then the lines on his face softened. “What of Majel?”
“The emperor executed her,” Nicci said, using the words like a barbed lash. “When Kurgan discovered Majel’s love for you, he skinned her alive in public. Then while she slowly died, dripping blood in the city square of Orogang, he placed flesh beetles on her body, and they burrowed inside her. I understand she screamed for days.”
“No!” Utros cried. “Emperor Kurgan wouldn’t…” His words trailed off as he realized that the story sounded all too probable.
“That is the man to whom you swear your loyalty,” Nicci reminded him.
“The story is true, I’m afraid,” Nathan said. “If you knew Emperor Kurgan as you say you do, then you’ll believe me. Was he not violent and mercurial? What do you think he would have done once he found out about Majel’s betrayal? With his bravest general?”
“It wasn’t a betrayal!” Utros cried in a hoarse voice. “She still loved him, but she also loved me. I gave her what her husband could not, and I also gave the emperor what he could not achieve on his own. I loved her, but remained loyal to him.”
“History has already been written, General,” Nathan said. “Both Majel and Kurgan are spirits now, and the veil has been permanently sealed. No spirits can ever return from the underworld.” He explained Richard’s star shift and how he had ended prophecy and healed the breach forever.
Utros bunched his fists into boulders, but he somehow contained his rage. “I don’t believe you.”
“You know in your heart that we’re not lying to you,” Nathan said. “How else do you explain what you see and feel?”
The sorceresses rose from their bench. One of the women said, “Perhaps we’ll hold these two, beloved Utros, and peel the truth from them, just to be sure.”
“You could try.” Nicci returned their glare. “But I wouldn’t recommend it.”
Nathan said, “You promised us safe passage, General. Are the legends not true about your honor?”
“Go from here!” Utros shouted. “Return to your city walls, while I consider how best to tear them down. I will conquer Ildakar, as I swore to do. It doesn’t matter if Emperor Kurgan is gone. I have my mission, and I must succeed. That’s all I need to know.” He pounded a fist on his table hard enough that the fresh wood splintered. His horned helmet slid to the ground. “Go!”
Nicci and Nathan withdrew as First Commander Enoch pushed them out into the open air again. The sudden gust of wind caught Nicci’s long blond hair. Thousands of soldiers framed the way for them to return to the gates of Ildakar.
CHAPTER 14
Grieve observed from the high wall of the Bastion, pleased by the progress.
Captain Kor’s raiding vessels took only four days to reprovision for the raid against Renda Bay, and soon they were ready to launch from the main island, joined by three more serpent ships. Kor’s previous expedition to Ildakar was secretly to identify the vulnerabilities of the great city for possible invasion.