“I was. My mother taught me the secrets from my youth. I suspect her husband was not my true father. He died under rather mysterious circumstances. She was very devoted to the Desecrator. I suspect he was my true father. That would make him your grandfather.”
“Who was the Desecrator?”
“That’s an extra question but I will answer it. The truth is that I do not know who he really was. I only know he was originally a Terrarch like me. To tell the absolute truth, I hope someday to become like him.”
“How will you do that?”
“I think it’s my turn for a question. I think you should tell me what Asea knows now. Not what she suspects, what she really knows.”
“She knows you are a Shadowblood. I do not know if she can prove it, but she does not need to. She will kill you if she can.”
“I do not doubt it. That is why I must kill her first. I would have killed her long ago if I could have but she has always been very cautious until recently. Now tell me how she came to suspect what she does!”
Rik told him. When he got to the part about Tamara and the murder of Elakar, Malkior shook his head. He seemed almost angry. “I warned Tamara about using her powers. I warned her about showing off. She would not listen to me.”
“That’s a shame,” said Rik unable to keep the mockery out of his voice. Malkior smiled. It was a frightening smile.
“It is for you. It enabled Asea to put all the pieces together and that ended up with you sitting here. I suppose you could blame Tamara for that too. She’s going through one of her periodic phases of asserting her independence. I suppose I shall have to bring her to heel soon.”
“Do you have any regrets at all about what you have done?”
Malkior laughed. “I can’t afford regrets, Rik. The pursuit of godhood does not allow for them.”
“Is that what you want?”
“Wouldn’t you, if you could get it?”
“No.”
“The difference between us, Rik, is that I am in a position to achieve it and you are not. It makes all the difference in the world.”
“And you would kill anyone who gets in your way?”
“I have killed a lot of people, Rik, and I expect to kill a great many more. Asea, Kathea, Azaar are all on my list. I think I shall start with Asea tonight.” Rik thought he was beginning to understand Malkior a little better now, the vanity behind his boasting was obvious. He must have suppressed this part of himself for a very long time to let it come so off the leash now. It was a pity he could think of no way to take advantage of the fact.
“Are there more like you?”
“Everyone is like me, Rik, or would be if they could get away with it. The difference is that I am strong enough to admit it.”
“To yourself, at least.”
“I keep the most important person informed that way.”
“You did not answer my question.”
“Of course there are more like me. Some I know of, some wear masks, but they are there. I am sure more than a few came over with the First. Anyway, I have found this little chat very stimulating but I can’t think of anything else I want to ask you. If you have a last question, better make it quick. The Quan are waiting, and hunger does not make them any better tempered.”
“Are they really going to devour my soul?”
“Believe me, if there was any way I could spare you that, I would.” Malkior sounded quite sincere, but he still opened the door. Something huge and moist and writhing hovered there, its bulk covered by a cloak, its face covered by a mask. The smell alone let Rik know that he was in the presence of one of the Sea Devils.
Chapter Twenty-Three
Outside it was already dark, although the time was barely late afternoon. Huge fat flakes of snow fell. From the window Sardec could see the ships’ lights reflected in the oil-coloured sea beneath them. They seemed to be mocking him.
“I could not book us passage, Lady Asea,” said Sardec. “I am sorry.”
“Don’t be. At least you were seen looking, which is important. Our enemies will believe that we are stymied, and that they have us where they want us.”
“Possibly because they do, Milady.”
“Perhaps,” she said.
“If we cannot get out by ship, and I am convinced that even if we could hire one we would not get far, how are we going to get out — fly?”
“Keep your voice down, Lieutenant. It is entirely possible we might just do that.”
“You have managed to rediscover one of the lost spells of Al’Terra?”
“They were never lost, Lieutenant. It’s simply impossible to channel enough power to work them in this world, not without the use of certain forbidden practises anyway.”
“You are surely not suggesting…”
“Not now, and not ever, Lieutenant. You are going to have to trust me a little bit longer.”
“You have had a plan since we came here?”
“I have.”
“Why did you not tell me?”
“I thought you would be more convincingly desperate if you did not know.”
“You were correct.” Despite her deception Sardec found his heart had started to lighten. They might get out of Harven after all.
“At the moment I am afraid we have another problem,” Asea said.
“What would that be?”
“My protege has not returned. I made it quite clear he should be back before dark.”
“He may be in a tavern somewhere. I know some of our men are.”
“I have already sent servants out to check.”
“They cannot have gone through every tavern, Milady. I am sure he will turn up soon.”
“I wish I shared your confidence, Lieutenant.”
The Quan floated in. There was no other word to describe the way it moved. Its feet, if it had any feet, did not touch the ground. It drifted slowly. The air around it shimmered, as if a translucent integument surrounded it. Rik thought of the sorcerer Alaryn’s description of the bubble in which he had visited the undersea city. Was this a device that worked like that only in reverse? Were those bubbles of water drifting over the Quan’s cloak? Did some sort of sorcery draw whatever nourishment the creature’s lungs needed from the air and filter it into a cocoon of water?
Malkior stood in the door and gave him a last regretful glance. “Truthfully, I wish things could have turned out differently,” he said.
“I’ll bet you do.”
“Do you have any last words you would like me to communicate to Asea? I will be sure to let her know them just before I kill her.”
“I doubt you will get close enough to use your magic on her the way you did on me.”
“On the contrary, I know my way around the embassy quite well. I have often been Ambassador Valefor’s guest there.”
Rik remembered how Lord Elakar had been killed and his heart sank. The Shadowblood Lord already knew his way into the heart of the embassy. He could get there any time he liked. There was no way he could warn Asea. The way the Quan drifted closer reminded him that he had his own problems.
“Goodbye,” said Malkior, closing the door on his way out. Rik felt a strange tearing sensation in his skull, and a queasiness such as he had felt near the Shadowgate Tamara had used back in Harven. It seemed that Malkior really had left him to his fate or most likely gone off to kill Asea. The Quan drifted closer to Rik. The cloak bubbled. It removed its mask. Rik bit back a scream.
Its face was not in the least human. The thing it reminded him of most was a squid. The head was greenish, leathery, bulbous. The eyes were moist and oddly human, the bottom half of the head was a mass of writhing tentacles. As they moved he saw that at the base of each was a leech-like mouth. Nasty white polyps emerged from the orifices. He had a feeling that he was soon going to find out exactly what they were for.
Malkior had left him with the concealed knife. He felt certain that was not entirely an accident. He let it drop into his hand and aimed a swift stab at the Quan. Fast as he was, it was faster. A tentacle erupted from under the cloak, and looped itself round his wrist. The thing was a mass of muscle. He could not move his hand against its strength. The tentacle constricted. Suckers bit home. He dropped the knife.