He had no special fear of Atolgus; but Golgren had to keep his concentration on finding Morgada. He felt that she was an essential part of his plan if he hoped to confront Safrag.
“Lead on,” he murmured to Wargroch.
The Blodian hesitated. “She may not be where I remember, Grand Khan.”
“And it would be foolish for you to see her anyway,” remarked another, familiar voice.
“Tyranos,” Golgren returned quietly in a low hiss. “Your coming was expected earlier.”
Both turned to face the brawny wizard. Although like Golgren, Tyranos was much shorter than Wargroch, there was something in the spellcaster’s steely gaze that frightened the traitor.
“Yes, of course you were expecting me,” Tyranos countered with more than a hint of sarcasm. “I’m ever at your beck and call.” He pointed the head of the staff at Wargroch. “Just like this one used to be.”
Wargroch gave an unsettled grunt. “Do I know you, human?”
“Excellent Common. No, but I know you, ogre. I am surprised you didn’t slit his throat as soon as you found him, oh great Grand Khan.”
“Wargroch still has his uses, as do you.”
Tyranos shook his head. “I think you mistake my reason for locating you. If you want the Fire Rose, the last place you should be looking is here in the palace! All you’ll end up with here is your hide decorating one of the walls”-the wizard sneered at the nearest relief of Safrag’s face-“with this creature forever leering at your fate.”
They were interrupted by the sound of rushing feet and the clatter of weapons and armor; all were coming back from the direction that Atolgus and the guards had taken earlier.
“I can promise you that doom is on the way,” the wizard growled low.
“Take us from here,” Golgren decided.
“Just like that? I planned for more argument and subterfuge on your part-” Tyranos broke off as the sound of the oncoming ogres neared. “Hold tight!”
Golgren suddenly realized something. “Wargroch comes-”
He and the wizard vanished, appearing elsewhere before the half-breed could finish. Paying attention to nothing else, Golgren immediately pressed his maimed limb to Tyranos’s throat.
“Wargroch should have come with us. There was still possible need for him. The Titan Morgada-”
“Welcomes you.”
Both males turned. Tyranos scowled. “This was not where I intended us to be!”
They stood in what was clearly some inner chamber in the transformed palace. Safrag’s countenance was everywhere, as if spying on them. The chamber was otherwise opulent, with golden walls and glittering crystal lamps and arched wings hovering above the pair. The lamps didn’t evidence any link to the ceiling or any other source of light. They resembled starbursts more than anything and burned within as if alive.
The scent of oleander filled the room, the scent of the flower of a plant that was itself very poisonous. A vast, round bed of down with lush cushions and long, silken sheets-all some variation of the same colors as the walls-was the centerpiece of the chamber. Its occupant had an arresting presence. Gracefully sweeping back her long, dark hair, the towering female smiled at the newcomers. Yet her teeth could barely be glimpsed between the full lips, her way of obscuring their sharpness.
“The Grand Khan Golgren,” Morgada cooed, “and an unexpected but certainly interesting friend.”
Tyranos wielded the staff upright, like a sword or axe. “How you seized control of my spell, I don’t know, but you’ll find that’s the end of your good fortune, Titan!”
“Why, I don’t know what you mean. I didn’t seize your spell, human.”
The wizard snorted but Golgren sensed that, as incredible as it might seem, Morgada sounded as though she spoke the truth. With that surprise in mind, the half-breed recalled the signet.
“No, it was not her; it was this.”
“That damned thing plays too many games! It’s as bad as that ghoul controlling the gargoyles!”
Golgren eyed the markings. “Small wonder, as both have pasts that intertwine, I think.”
“High Ogres, you mean.” The spellcaster, his fierce gaze not for a moment leaving the sorceress, shrugged. “I thought as much, but in this case a High Ogre still alive.”
Morgada chuckled lightly. “Alive in some sense, at least.”
The eyes of both males widened in understanding.
“Yes, I know exactly of whom you speak.” Morgada suddenly spun, whirling so fast that she immediately became a blue blur. As she spun, she also shrank in size, quickly becoming less than half her height, slightly smaller than they.
“So much better,” the female Titan commented. She stepped up to Golgren and the wizard, her every movement enticing.
Tyranos let out a low growl and backed slightly away. Golgren did not budge, not even when Morgada stretched forth a hand that almost but not quite stroked his cheek.
“Watch those delicate nails,” the spellcaster murmured, although whether he spoke to her or to the half-breed was not clear.
“I find this height far more to my liking. What about you?” Morgada asked. Despite the fact that she spoke Common instead of the tongue created by Dauroth, her voice was musical. Seductive, deadly music. “He prefers it too. High Ogres were not so tall as Dauroth once led us to believe. In fact, they were about your height, Grand Khan. Certainly, he is.”
“You know him very well,” Golgren stated bluntly.
“Xiryn? Yes, I know him, and I know what he wishes of both of us.”
“Xiryn.” Tyranos’s eyes narrowed. “I know that name. I read it somewhere … in one of the tombs.”
“Xiryn is the lord of the gargoyles,” Golgren said, staring directly, fiercely, into Morgada’s eyes.
Though she still smiled beguilingly, it was she who looked away. “Yes, and so much more. He knows the Fire Rose better than any of us, for it was he who first accepted it as a gift from the god Sirrion.”
“How can that be?” Tyranos demanded. “That was long, long ago! Centuries upon centuries! The only things left of the High Ogre race are their tombs and their decadent descendants! No High Ogre could live so long, save perhaps if he wielded the Fire Rose all that time, which he hasn’t, it appears.”
The temptress laughed at him. “Xiryn is very clever and so very, very determined. Even death fears him.”
Golgren suddenly realized something. “He made you. He is why you are a Titan.”
“Oh, yes. He manipulated the fool who was already one and used him to gain access for me to Dauroth, who found the notion of finally creating a female Titan intriguing, of course. Dauroth had not done so before because he did not want nature to take its course; all Titans were to be his creation, not the cause of a union. That would have lessened his grip on them if they discovered their children would gain from them.” She gestured impatiently. “But what really matters is that he accepted me, just as Xiryn intended! Xiryn works to ensure that nothing will keep him from the Fire Rose!”
The deposed Grand Khan bared his teeth. “But he and you are mistaken if you think I will let him have it.”
His remark only made Morgada laugh again, louder, but still seductively. “Oh, but you are the one mistaken! I’ve no intention of letting Xiryn have it … not at all!” The sorceress placed one soft palm against Golgren’s chest, her talons grazing him so lightly that they almost tickled. “I want to help you.”
XIII
Why do I have difficulty believing you?” Tyranos snarled. “Watch her carefully, oh Grand Khan! Those pretty nails may only be resting on your chest, but you might find them ripping out your heart in the next and last breath!”