'Who does?'
'Nai.'
Legana turned to the necromancer's apprentice, who remained sul¬lenly silent. Zhia gave a hiss of irritation. 'Perhaps I turned the wrong one? It can be rectified easily enough if you don't start to speak now, and I will know if you lie.'
Nai hesitated a moment, then shrugged, Isherin Purn was once an acolyte of Lord Salens at the Hidden Tower. He used his position with Malith to torment Lord Bahl with dreams of his dead bride.'
'in what end?' Legana broke in, taking a step towards Nai.
'To gain control over him,' Nai said bleakly. 'They made him believe he could resurrect her. It was the only way Lord Styrax could draw Lord Bahl away from his armies and kill him.'
'Oh Gods, of course!' the woman breathed. Mikiss looked at her, surprised at the emotional response, and suddenly realised she was most likely Farlan. Yet another spy caught up in Zhia's games? 'He used the Chetse Krann to remove Lord Chalat, but when Styrax planned it all, the Farlan had no Krann and he had only Lord Bahl's own weaknesses to use against him.'
Nai gave a snort, unable to restrain a proud smile. 'And a remark¬able feat of magic it was too, to confound someone so old and power¬ful,' he said.
'You helped him do this?' Legana demanded.
'Certainly. I helped my master in a-'
Before Nai could finish, Legana had grabbed him by the throat and slammed him against the wall. He gasped in pain and grabbed for her arm, but she whipped a dagger from her belt and clubbed him with the pommel.
Nai howled and clouted her around the head with his other hand, but she retaliated by kicking him in the crotch and, when he doubled over in pain, a knee to the face sent him crashing down.
'Enough!' Zhia shouted, the word echoing through the room with such force that Mikiss winced and strained against his bonds in an at¬tempt to cover his ears. 'Children, children,' the vampire continued, her voice a caress, 'this is no playground, and you will not fight unless I say so. Is that quite clear? There are rather more-' She stopped at a crash from elsewhere in the building; a door was being smashed open, and there were angry voices.
'I fear the subtle hand of our fair ruler,' Zhia sighed. 'I'm surprised it has taken Siala so long to decide that I must be to blame for the events of last night. On the subject of Lord Styrax's conquest, I understood the tunnel under the mountains had been destroyed, and who else but Lord Styrax in those parts has the power to do such a thing? So if he was aware of the tunnel, he was also aware of the Fysthrall; could it be coincidence that Lord Styrax dealt so effectively with the two most powerful lords of the West, while King Emin, the other great ruler in these parts, was attacked by the White Circle over some obscure prophecy? Is he really so adept, I wonder?' A mixture of admiration and puzzlement crossed Zhia's face.
The noises resolved themselves into voices arguing outside the room. 'A discussion for another time, I think. Legana; open the doors so Siala can glide straight in, or the drama of her entrance will be lost while she waits for a servant to do it for her.'
The Farlan woman obeyed, and Mikiss heard another woman bark¬ing orders, followed by the clatter of footsteps coming towards them.
'Mistress Ostia, 1 hope you are not overly taxed by relaxing at home while my city collapses into a Gods-cursed wasteland!' Siala cried as she swept into the centre of the room, ignoring Legana, bowing rather i nelegantly, and the bound prisoners sprawled across the floor.
'On the contrary, Mistress Siala, I have spent the entire night restoring order to large parts of the city,' Zhia said. 'This wretched necromancer had an inordinate number of daemons and local spirits bound to him, and tracking them all down was not an easy task.'
'I hope you have an explanation for all this,' Siala demanded, not in the least mollified.
'An explanation?' Zhia said coldly. 'For what, precisely?'
'For why a necromancer was able to set up residence in my city without you or your agents finding out about it; how you managed to get there so quickly with a detachment of troops and how you never theless allowed the entire situation to spiral out of control, letting daemons run wild through my city.' Siala's face was scarlet with fury; any trace of the calm control she'd once possessed was gone. 'There are still mobs roaming the streets, attacking people at random, accus ing normal people of being daemons and setting fire to them!'
'None of which is my fault,' Zhia replied softly, dangerously. 'I have the entire city guard out trying to regain order. There is very little more I can do without troops, and the only soldiers in the city an- not under my command.'
'Don't you think soldiers would merely exacerbate the situation?' Siala growled, stalking up and down the room, neatly avoiding Zhla's prisoners.
'It depends how they are handled,' Zhia said. 'Without strong con-trol, there will be massive loss of life, but they are still the best way to keep order on the streets.'
Siala paused for a moment in her pacing, then the ghost ol a smile appeared. 'I am glad we are of the same mind. As of this moment, martial law is declared. There will be a strict curfew after nightfall, and I have ordered the Third Army into the city to enforce it.'
'The entire Third Army? The Fysthrall soldiers will panic the popu¬lace even more,' Zhia said quietly.
'I doubt that,' Siala said. 'It might shock them into thinking twice before they riot again. I believe the Appearance and superior discipline of my Fysthrall troops will quieten the city in a way you have proved unable to manage.'
'And my city guard?' Zhia asked, refusing to rise.
'Shall be posted at the Greengate, where all city supplies will now enter the city. That will be the only open gate to the city. Your aides will be based there, in charge of keeping us all fed. These are your prisoners from last night?' she said, rounding on Mikiss abruptly.
'They are. I was in the middle of interrogating them, to discover where the necromancer had escaped to.'
Siala made a dismissive gesture. 'Don't worry about him; I have him.'
'What? How did you catch him?' Zhia's usual calm slipped momen¬tarily, much to Siala's apparent pleasure.
'He made his way to the Red Palace last night, looking for my pro¬tection – specifically, for protection from you. He tells me that your skills as a mage are rather more advanced than you led me to believe – and that you and he have crossed paths before… which prompts me to ask what else you have kept from me.' Siala gave Mikiss a cursory inspection as she waited, then appeared to lose interest. She turned back to Zhia.
The vampire was thinking quickly. The necromancer wouldn't have disclosed her true identity yet; he'd keep that for when he really needed it, so it made sense to say he had come into conflict with her before. Now she needed to know exactly what he had told Siala, and exactly what threat the wretched woman thought she was.
'He must have mistaken me for someone else then; perhaps I over¬estimated the man,' she said after a few moments. 'I was going to suggest we bind him to your service, but if he is so weak as to be afraid of me, then it might not be worthwhile.'
'Perhaps,' Siala acknowledged, refusing the bait, 'but I think I may find some use for a man capable of raising daemons; we are preparing for attack, after all.' Siala turned to leave. At the door she stopped and ran a fingernail down the lacquered surface, tapping it thought¬fully. 'The sun is setting soon, Mistress Ostia. Recall your guard – and do be careful not to wander the streets at night. I have instructed the Fysthrall troops to be most rigorous in the execution of their orders.'
She didn't wait for a response but walked out through the crowd of clerks and Fysthrall bodyguards she'd left in the corridor. Legana was quick to pull the doors closed behind her, anticipating a furious outburst, but Zhia did nothing more than walk to a side table, above which hung a tall rectangular mirror in a frame of gilt leaves.