Two of Isak's guards stood at the main door, armed with the shofl handled glaives favoured by the Ghosts of Tirah. On the balcony Sir Kelet prowled, his beautiful silver-inlaid bow at the ready. Perched on the edge of the balcony, her bare toes hanging over the empty space below, was Shinir, Lesarl's sour-faced agent. She was balancing her sickle-like khopesh, a brutal single-edged weapon, on her finger, and her long chain-link flail was draped around her shoulders. She never bothered hiding her dislike of Vesna, but he ignored her as he passed. Shinir could be a useful asset, but she was unstable, too close to being a Raylin for his liking. He knew that if he did get into an argument with her, he'd have to be ready to end it.
In contrast to Lord Isak, who fidgeted like a boy before his In.1 battle, the young woman sitting cross-legged in the centre ol the room was still and calm. Her hair was tinted red, like one ol the While
Circle, but she was undoubtedly a pure-blood Farlan.
Vesna felt a jolt as he realised he'd met her before… it took him a moment to place that beautiful face, then he had it: she'd been at a meeting in Lord Bahl's tent, after the battle of the Chir Plains. She'd been standing silently at the side and he had dismissed her as an assassin. It looked like she was rather more than that.
'Vesna, Tila, this is Legana,' Lord Isak announced. 'She is here to infiltrate the White Circle. Lesarl's orders.' He gave a sour laugh. 'And although we've discovered their plans the hard way, she's unearthed even darker secrets.'
'My Lord?' Vesna stopped. There was obviously more to Isak's agi¬tated state than just the sweltering nights and the magic unleashed throughout the city the previous night.
'The death of Lord Bahl, or so she claims.' Isak finally settled, lean¬ing back against the pillar in front of Legana.
'My Lord, I thought you would want to hear that part of my report first,' Legana said.
Vesna thought he detected a slight northern drawl. 'First the con¬text,' he said. 'I want to know how you have heard such things; how such secrets were brought into the open.'
Legana bobbed her head, a wisp of rusty hair falling across her face. 'Mistress Siala assigned me as an aide to Mistress Ostia – the name assumed here by the vampire Zhia Vukotic, as you know; Siala remains ignorant of her true identity. The night before last, Mistress Ostia – Zhia – captured the necromancer's associates during the assault on his house. One was his assistant, who told us that his master was Menin by birth, and had been trained in his arts by Lord Salen himself. He was sent west to stir up trouble in these parts, and became acquainted with Cordein Malich, later becoming his apprentice.'
'Malich?' Vesna gasped. 'The Menin have been planning their invasion for that long?'
'But how did this necromancer's apprentice bring about Lord Bahl's death?' Isak interjected.
'Did Lord Bahl ever mention his dreams?'
'Not that I remember. Why is that important?'
'Because they used his dreams, his memories of his lost love, against him. Lord Styrax has been planning this invasion for years – how else could anyone have brought an army across the Waste intact? The one thing he had not anticipated is you, Lord Isak.'
'Of course not,' Vesna said, pacing the room himself, 'How could he, when he was working so many years ahead? We knew some form of necromantic power was involved when Lord Charr usurped Lord Chalat. The Chetse were defeated because of this. Lord Styrax has used our own weakness against us: the Farlan had only one Chosen, and we have a history of insurrection, while the Chetse are prone to over obedience. Thotel fell because no one challenged Lord Charr's orders, even though any seasoned soldier could have seen the danger.'
'And Mistress Zhia believes Lord Styrax may have influenced the actions of the White Circle as well,' Legana added.
Vesna stopped his pacing and swung around to examine Legana. 'Thus directing their efforts towards eliminating the other great leader of the West?' he asked.
'So she believes.'
'I can think of no one more able to unravel deviousness, and at this point there is little I could not believe of Lord Styrax. I suspect he would even put our own dear Chief Steward to shame.'
'Impressed, Vesna?' Lord Isak asked.
'Enough to respect him as an enemy,' the count replied. I [e put bis hand on the hilt of his sword as he continued, 'Rather more im-portantly, it means we cannot forget the threat to Lord Isak. We will have to watch for assassins and instruct Mariq-'
'No.' Lord Isak's soft interruption stopped the count, A prickle went down Vesna's spine as he saw a hunted look in his master's eye. As he looked around the room, he saw they too had felt the change,. a sudden cloud crossing the sun.
'My Lord?'
'He will not send assassins.'
'How can you tell?'
'I know, leave it at that.'
Vesna checked his urge to question further. Isak had told them about his dreams, the Yeetatchen girl Xeliath, the soul of Aryn Bwr kept prisoner in his head, even what the dead Ell had claimed about Kastan Styrax being born the Saviour, until he chose his own route Isak had mentioned a connection between the two ol them, but not wanted to go into detail – and only a handful ol people had been told that much. Obviously he would explain no further in the prsence of Jachen or Legana, no matter how loyal they professed thctTW l\ I
Vesna did his duty and changed the subject back, '1 e|;ana, what did
this necromancer do to Lord Bahl's dreams?'
'He used them to torment Lord Bahl with visions of his lost love,
driving him to a certain place on the White Isle, where Lord Styrax
could ambush him.'
'Are we to assume that Zhia is aware of your true allegiance?' Tila asked suddenly, stepping forward from the foot of the stair where she had been observing the conversation.
Legana nodded.
'So she is aware that you are reporting to Lord Isak?'
Legana smiled. 'It is her hope that Lord Isak will kill the necroman¬cer, because he has made some sort of bargain with Mistress Siala and currently resides under her protection.'
'So this could be nothing more than some artifice of Zhia's, to have us do her bidding?'
'I don't believe so,' Legana said plainly, turning to look at the younger woman. 'Mistress Zhia had already come to the conclusion that Mistress Siala was more an obstacle than a help, even before we learned of Lord Isak's presence in the city.'
Vesna watched the two of them. It was rare to see a woman more arrestingly beautiful than Tila. Legana managed to command the room almost as much as Isak, who was a white-eye, and stood a foot and a half taller. To Vesna's experienced eye, Legana was not happy with the attention her beauty brought. White-eyes, he knew, were born to demand attention as entirely natural, and Isak had quickly shaken off the habits of his isolated upbringing, but Legana had obviously never grown too comfortable with the effect she had on a roomful of men.
'You keep saying "Mistress",' Tila observed, as though sharing Vesna's thought and taking it a step further. 'That's the form of address demanded by those of the White Circle, Have you have grown attached to the Sisterhood?'
Legana looked startled at the suggestion. 'It has become a habit out of necessity; it would be too easy to make a mistake if I wasn't careful to always keep to the forms – and the future of the Circle is hardly one I would want to tie myself to. The White Circle suffered grievous losses in Narkang. They have no expansionist plans at present. Shoring up their defences before they are slaughtered by Narkang and the Farlan is their only goal, and it's Zhia who is effectively in charge of four of Scree's five armies. They are finished as a power in the Land.'