"So you plan to do to Serena what you wish to do to me?" Wulfgar asked furiously. Guilt that he had somehow helped Krassus draw Serena into all of this piled on top of his anger, and he stood again and began pacing the balcony.
"Oh, no," Krassus answered. "When the time comes, that shall be your task. You will most assuredly want to do it yourself, to make sure her arrival into your new world is perfect in all respects."
"But if she is so important to you, why did you make her an outcast from the other slaves, feeding her fine food in their presence while they starve?" Wulfgar asked. "What possible purpose could that serve except to reinforce your cruelty?"
"Ah, yes," Krassus answered. "You see, it is time Serena began learning how to handle what will soon be her new station in life. As you will learn, the unendowed are little more than a natural resource for the endowed to exploit. Mere cattle, as it were. And becoming immune to the pleadings of those of lesser blood is an essential part of that realization. What better way to begin teaching her than to force her to watch her friends starve while she thrives? Besides, as I understand it, it was you who insisted that she receive better nourishment. Perhaps you should have been more careful with your words, Wulfgar. You know what they say: Be careful what you ask for, you might just get it."
Seething, Wulfgar stopped pacing for a moment to glare at the imperious, self-confident wizard. "And that freak of nature named Janus," he said angrily, "what rock did you find him under?"
Krassus gave a soft chuckle. "Interesting, isn't he?" he commented. "Nicholas suggested that I select a Eutracian of unendowed blood to help oversee the slaving operations. Far easier to kill, you see, than someone of endowed blood should something sour in the relationship. So I went shopping for an assistant in Bargainer's Square. That section of Tammerland is literally teeming with criminals for hire. Janus seemed an excellent choice." The wizard took another sip of wine.
"But I can sense how much you hate him, Wulfgar," Krassus added conspiratorially. "So once you have attained your potential, if you wish to kill him, then kill him. Frankly, I couldn't care less. Janus is merely a means to an end. Thugs like him are a kisa a dozen, so to speak."
A short smile finally crossed Wulfgar's lips. "If I can eventually kill Janus, then how do you know that I won't also kill you, and all of your demonslavers?" he asked. "I would enjoy that very much."
Krassus calmly took another sip of wine. "Because by then you won't want to," he answered. "As you will eventually see, you will need the slavers. And by that time, killing me would profit you nothing. As I told you, I now have a preordained life span. It came to me compliments of Nicholas, in the form of my rather inconvenient but very effective lung disease. A creative incentive granted to me by my master, designed not only to hurry me in my work but also to grace me with the greatest reward of alclass="underline" to reside for all of eternity in the embrace of the Heretics of the Guild. So once you can, feel free to kill me. My fate is sealed one way or the other."
Wulfgar's emotions reeled between disbelief and hatred. Could this wizard actually be telling the truth? Or was he simply mad? And if it all really was true, then how could he, a simple blacksmith and livery owner, ever hope to stop it? How could one hope to defeat a madman of the craft?
"Why did you bother to come here to me and tell me all of this?" he asked angrily. "Considering the barbaric, inhumane manner in which we were all brought here, not to mention your horrific plans for the rest of the slaves, drinking wine and engaging in conversation is a bit overcivilized, isn't it? If you're as powerful as you say, then why don't you just get on with it all?"
Krassus only smiled. "If that's how you feel, then tell me, Wulfgar: How would you prefer it be done?" He took another sip of wine.
"You could struggle, of course, and I could have my demonslavers beat and torture you," he went on calmly. "But that would be so pedestrian, don't you think? Besides, I need you healthy. You shall need all of your strength to survive what I am about to do to you. In the end, your struggle would only prove a waste of time and energy for us both-and given my condition, time is the one luxury I do not have. Also, should you be entertaining any heroic notions of trying to kill yourself to thwart me, know that from now on at least two armed demonslavers will be here with you, watching you every moment until my work with you is finished. Then our roles will be reversed, and you shall command me. And I shall gladly obey you for as much time as I may have left. But just now, there is something I must do."
Walking back inside, Krassus beckoned Wulfgar to join him. Realizing he had no choice, Wulfgar reluctantly did as he was asked.
Krassus pointed one hand in the direction of the balcony, and the azure glow of the craft started to appear. As it did, the wizard gracefully moved his hand back and forth, and the glow slowly began to cover the entire expanse of the doorway, creating a thin, transparent wall of blue. Krassus lowered his hand.
"A wizard's warp," he said casually. "Designed to prevent you and Serena from doing anything unpleasantly athletic. Such as a lovers' leap, for example. I have made it transparent, though, so that you might still enjoy the view. Given everything else you are about to endure, it would have been quite heartless of me to have taken that away from you, don't you agree?"
Wulfgar looked through the shimmering azure wall and out into the blackness of the night. "I will fight you; you must know that," he said softly, at the same time wondering how he might ever accomplish such a thing. "So will Serena. Somehow we will reach Tristan and Shailiha, and together we will kill you."
Krassus nodded knowingly. "Yes," he agreed. "You will no doubt struggle against all that is about to happen. At first, your blood will demand it of you. But then the left-leaning nature of your blood signature will take over, turning you toward your true calling. In the end it will not matter how much you struggle, for you cannot win. Nor can Serena. Eventually you will both understand, and thank me for the wondrous world I have lain before you. And then I shall die, leaving the rest of Nicholas' magnificent mission in your very capable hands."
Placing his hands into the opposite sleeves of his robe, he turned to leave, but then stopped. "There is still so much you do not know," he said softly, as if he were speaking to an uneducated child. "Things your unprepared mind and untrained blood are not yet ready to embrace. But they soon will be. In the meantime, I will have Serena sent back to you. Even if you tell her all that we spoke of tonight, in the end it will make no difference. So do with your newfound information what you will, and enjoy your time with her. In a few days we will begin our work together. But first there is research I must complete, and for that I need the R'talis slaves. Then, when I am finished, I will send for you. Be ready."
With that, Krassus called for his demonslavers. The bolt scratched its way across the other side of the door and three of the monsters sauntered in, armed to the teeth. Saying nothing more, Krassus walked from the room with one of them. The twin doors closed behind him with finality, leaving Wulfgar alone with the remaining two slavers.
As Wulfgar turned to look through the bizarre, transparent wall left by the wizard, his thoughts were again drawn to the hideous plans Krassus had for not only the other slaves, but also for the rest of the world.
For the first time since his capture in Farpoint, a single tear overcame the lower lid of one of his hazel eyes and rolled its way down one cheek.
CHAPTER
Thirty-six
S hailiha shifted her weight in the saddle as the bay gelding cantered across the broad, rolling field of barley. The wind created waves in the sea of ripe grain, and the sun, unusually warm for this time in the Season of New Life, lit the tan stalks with sparks of gold and amber. Smiling, she took a deep breath. The field smelled fertile with the promise of a good harvest, and she could hear the rose-colored valley swallows calling out to one another as they swooped through the clear sky, helping to create the seductive but misleading impression that all in the princess' nation was well.