‘What are you suggesting?’ asked Thorin. ‘Betraying your own queen? What kind of man-’
‘Please, Baron Glass, let me finish.’ Onikil pressed his dainty hands together and sighed. ‘I will speak truthfully to you. Jazana Carr she is. . now what is the word?’
‘Insane?’ Breck suggested.
‘Heartbroken,’ said Onikil. ‘Because you, Baron Glass, left her, and she has never been the same. She has all of Norvor now, but she neglects it. I’m Norvan. I don’t care at all about Liiria. What I want — what all of us want — is for Jazana to turn her attention back to Norvor.’
‘Where you’ll be more than a count, I take it,’ Thorin grunted.
Count Onikil smiled. ‘Is it wrong to be ambitious, sir? But you are right — if the queen goes back to Norvor — if we don’t all die in this silly escapade, then I might well be a prince in Norvor someday.’
‘I still don’t understand,’ said Breck. ‘What do you want us to do?’
‘It’s obvious,’ chirped Onikil. ‘Baron Glass, you must go to Jazana Carr.’
He said it with such ease, at first Thorin thought he’d heard wrong. But Onikil’s smooth smile told the truth — this fox of a man wanted a meeting between them.
‘What?’ blurted Breck. ‘Onikil, you’re as mad as your queen.’
‘Sir Breck, think for a moment,’ Onikil implored. ‘What could be better than a face-to-face meeting between the two of them? You and I are in the same leaky boat — we are caught between the two of them. But if they meet, if they make peace. .’
‘Peace?’ Breck erupted. ‘How can there be peace between them? How can there ever be peace after what she did to Andola?’
‘Oh, so you would pursue her into Norvor, then?’ Onikil’s voice dripped with sarcasm. ‘You would keep the war going to satisfy some point of honour?’ He waited for Breck to answer. Breck ground his teeth quietly. ‘No, of course you wouldn’t,’ Onikil went on. ‘You’d gladly let Jazana Carr slink back to Norvor. You’d even let her hold on to Andola if it meant peace for Koth. You see, Sir Breck? I am not the dunce you think.’
Checked by Onikil’s logic, Breck stewed. Onikil’s words worked their way into his brain. His eyes shifted toward Thorin.
‘Maybe he’s right,’ he muttered. ‘Thorin? What do you think?’
For Thorin, it wasn’t about peace at all, though he would never let Onikil know that. Rather, a more sinister plan began hatching in his mind. Was it Kahldris pushing him toward it, he wondered? Or did he hate Jazana Carr so much for all she had done to him? Even the thought of seeing her again stirred something deep and passionate inside him.
Good, he thought blackly. Then it will be a crime of passion.
‘Count Onikil, you are a snake charmer,’ he said softly.
The count smiled as if it were a compliment. ‘Thank you, Baron. I admit, it will do me no harm to bring you back from here. What a great prize I’ll be able to deliver!’
‘And be rewarded for it, no doubt,’ Thorin sneered. All the while he’d been careful not to move his enchanted arm. ‘But there is wisdom in your words. There’s no need for this war. Jazana and I parted on the worst of terms. Perhaps I can talk her out of all this madness.’
Onikil’s face shined with promise. ‘Good decision. Why should the rest of us die because of a lovers’ spat?’ He looked at Breck. ‘Now doesn’t that seem silly? Let’s have peace instead, eh?’
Breck’s mood remained heavy. ‘Baron Glass, you should think carefully on this. You may never walk out of Andola again.’
Thorin raised an eyebrow at him. Had he forgotten the armour? He said, ‘I am not afraid, and it’s the right thing to do.’ Because Onikil wasn’t looking at him, he signalled for Breck to get him out of the room. Breck took the hint.
‘Count Onikil, there are men waiting outside the chamber. They’ll take you to your bodyguards. Tell them to make you comfortable. Tell them it’s my order. They won’t question you.’
‘How about that drink?’ said Onikil, still twitching a bit from his predicament. ‘And some food?’
‘Just tell them outside,’ said Breck. ‘You and I will talk more later.’
Satisfied, Count Onikil walked off and left the giant reading room. Thorin heard him outside, talking to the soldiers and snapping his fingers for food and drink. An arrogant man, thought Thorin, but a sly one. When he was sure the count could no longer hear him, he turned to Breck.
‘Jazana knew what she was doing,’ he said. ‘Did you see how frightened he was? That’s the kind of loyalty she gets out of men. She promises them the moon and stars, and they do whatever she asks.’
The meeting had depressed Breck. He took the letter from the table and brooded over it. ‘We wouldn’t have surrendered, you know. We still won’t if you change your mind. You don’t have to go meet her, Baron.’
‘Breck, you’re forgetting something,’ said Thorin.
Breck nodded. ‘I know. The armour. It’ll protect you.’
‘No,’ said Thorin. ‘It will do more than protect me. It will let me get right up to that bitch without a worry in the world.’
Puzzled, Breck looked up from the letter. ‘What are you saying?’
Thorin smiled. ‘I’m talking about the end of all our troubles, Breck. I’m talking about the end of Jazana Carr.’
Breck grimaced. ‘You mean murder?’
‘Murder?’ Thorin chewed on the word. It didn’t really fit. ‘No. Justice, rather. With the armour no one will be able to stop me, Breck. They won’t be able to keep me out, and they won’t be able to keep me from escaping, no matter how many men try to stop me.’
‘So you are talking about murdering her.’
‘Call it whatever you want,’ said Thorin dismissively. ‘I’ll call it righting some old wrongs. I’m going to Andola, Breck. And when I see Jazana Carr, I’m going to cut off her head and nail it to my wall as a trophy.’
39
In all his time as a Liirian noble, Baron Glass had never been to Andola, but he had heard of the city’s splendour. His Andolan counterpart, the Baron Ravel, had been a man of exceptional means and great appetite, and it was said that the city he and his fellow merchants had built could rival Koth in every way. Now, as Thorin’s coach rolled into the ruined city, he knew what a gross overstatement that had been.
Andola was everything Koth had been in its infancy, a small city struggling for greatness, fed by the coffers of ambitious men but still not quite ready to conquer a kingdom. Andola’s roads were fine, solid and made to last. The structures that broke the horizon impressed Thorin; he knew that once they had been beautiful. Yet there were not enough of them, and not of the scale of mighty Koth. Like a little, feisty sister, Andola had tried to challenge Koth. And failed.
Thorin wiped at the fog on the window of his carriage, straining for a better view. Rain had fallen steadily since leaving Koth, obscuring the only thing that might amuse him on his journey — the view. Along with Count Onikil and his men he had ridden out of the library nearly two days earlier. Bored by the unchanging landscape, he had not been able to ride a horse of his own, keeping up the pretence that he really had no left arm. The Devil’s Armour remained on his body; the death’s head helmet rested on the seat beside him. He had done his best to hide the amazing armour from Onikil and his entourage, keeping his cape close around him. Onikil, of course, had noticed the strange armour immediately. Dazzled by its black brilliance, he had asked Thorin of its make, a question Thorin did his best to dodge. Telling him that the armour had been forged in Jador had mostly satisfied the count, probably because he was a provincial man and knew almost nothing about the Jadori, who never wore armour.
Still, Count Onikil had proven a remarkable travelling companion. Glad to be out of Koth with his life, Onikil had not questioned Thorin further about the armour, nor had any of his Rolgan soldiers. Instead, he was completely content to be returning to Andola with Thorin, a price he seemed certain would win Jazana’s favour. Onikil had even become at ease with Thorin, telling him things a less arrogant man would never reveal. The Rolgan had a loose tongue, confidently offering his opinion on Jazana Carr whenever the company stopped for rest or food. Expanding on the things he had said in Koth, Onikil told Thorin how tenuous Jazana’s hold over Norvor was, a point of some annoyance with the ambitious count. He made it very clear to Thorin that he loved Jazana Carr and admired her, and gave Thorin no real reason to doubt this, but he also seemed genuinely concerned about his homeland, a fact which impressed Thorin.