James Lowder The Harpers 05 The Ring of Winter

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hearing him cry out.
"Bravo," Kaverin cooed. "Just the sort of control I would expect from a man of
your breeding, milord."
He gripped another finger. "This will be a challenge, I think."
"You monster," Rayburton hissed through clenched teeth.
Kaverin smiled a predatory smile. "You don't know the half of it." He broke
another finger, then grabbed a third. "If it comes to it, Lord Rayburton, I
will kill you. Then I'll find your daughter Oh, don't look surprised. The
lovely young woman mentioned her relation to you in T'fima's hut, before my
spy was so rudely slaughtered," Twisting the finger sideways, he added, "Maybe
she'll be more cooperative."
"Why don't you just ask me?" Byrt chimed from his cage. "I'm a regular font of
knowledge. License to lecture granted by the College of Bards on Orlil, order
of fabulists. No literary masterpiece too obscure for our attention. Rules of
grammar enforced with spirit root words are a wombat's specialty, don't you
know."
"Take that idiotic thing outside," Kaverin said coldly. "Give it to the
queen's guards."
As Skuld hefted the cage, Byrt pressed against the bars. His blue eyes were
locked on Rayburton.
"You'll need to keep him alive if you want to cash in on his fountain of
youth, Kaverin." When the stone-handed man ignored him, the wombat added, "Ask
him what it takes to become a bara of Ubtao. The benefits are quite good, from
what his daughter told me."
"No!" Rayburton lurched forward, making the chair scrape ahead a foot or two.
Phyrra's head rolled from his lap and bounced off Kaverin's leg before coming
to rest under a table. "Don't tell him," the bara cried.
Kaverin held up a hand, and Skuld paused at the door. "Why would Rayburton's
dear daughter tell you anything important?"
Glancing up at Skuld, Byrt said. "This will take a while, so you might as well
put me down." When the silver giant didn't move, the wombat shrugged. "Suit
yourself, but don't blame me if one arm is longer than the other three from
holding me up so long."
"Do not try my patience," Kaverin said. "I do not brook fools easily."
"Why would you ever " Byrt swallowed the rest of the retort. "Sanda told me
because she likes animals, has a gift for dealing with them, you might say."
He looked at Rayburton apologetically. "Like her dad, she's a bara of Ubtao a
sort of mystical guardian of Mezro on behalf of the god. In return for serving
the public good, they are granted eternal life."
"Don't tell him anything else!" Rayburton shouted.
"Quiet, old man," Kaverin said. He backhanded Rayburton without so much as
looking at him, then strolled to Byrt's cage. "So why do I have to keep him
alive, now that I know the secret?"
Byrt cleared his throat. "When a bara dies, Ubtao chooses his successor from
everyone who presents himself at the temple in the city's center " he leaned
close to Kaverin and lowered his voice conspiratorially " but you've got to go
to the temple to be considered. You see the obvious problem, of course?"
"Of course," Kaverin admitted. "If I kill him before I'm in the temple, ready
to undergo the ceremony to become a bara, the good people of Mezro would be
sure another candidate got there before me." He paced a few steps, then looked
back to the wombat. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to tell me where the
city is or how it's hidden?"
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Byrt's blue eyes took on a haze of vagueness. "Sorry, I'm just a tourist in
these parts. If you let me go right now, I would be utterly lost."
"Then how did you find the city in the first place?" Kaverin asked.
"Couldn't tell you," Byrt said merrily. "It was all Artus's doing. Lugg and I
were in a daze, but he found us shelter from the storm and put a thatched roof
over our heads. Frightfully bright fellow, Artus. I hear you two go way back."
Kaverin gestured to Skuld. "Give him to the queen."
"I protest!" Byrt cried as he was carried from the room.
"You might show some gratitude. After all, I saved you the trouble of breaking
any more fingers "
The slam of the door cut off any further pleading. Kaverin strolled to a long
couch that faced his prisoner. "I guess I'll have to keep you alive, at least
until we get into the city and test out the pig-bear's claim." He clacked his
knuckles together. "And as far as finding Mezro is concerned, we'll just wait
for your daughter and that idiot Cimber to try to rescue you. Then we'll
simply follow them back to the city."
"Why are you doing this?" "Rayburton rasped.
"I told you before, milord. The key is immortality." Kaverin stretched out on
the couch. "Since I know your secret, I'll share one of mine not anything that
would give you a weapon against me, of course. Just some information that'll
let you know how serious I am about solving this little mystery. . . ."
Kaverin's voice trailed off and his head dropped to his chest. He started
awake instantly and turned his attention back to Rayburton. "I don't suppose
you've ever been dead," he said. "I have, thanks to Cimber and that bloated
mage Pontifax. They murdered me about three years ago. The authorities in
Tantras even called it murder." He covered another yawn with one jet-black
hand. "I don't begrudge them that. We'd been destroying little parts of each
other for years I'd send an assassin after Cimber, he'd gather evidence of
wrongdoings and have all my associates arrested. My killing Pontifax's wife
sent them both over the edge. Looking back, it was bad judgment on my part.
Still, you can't undo the past. Cimber and Pontifax
swore a vendetta against me, caught me in a tavern without my bodyguards, then
blew me into a hundred pieces."
Kaverin studied Rayburton's face, watched contentedly as horror mixed with the
pain. "So down to
Hades I went, to the Realm of the Dead. When you were in Cormyr, the Lord of
the Dead was Myrkul.
Not any longer. That's Cyric's domain now." He snorted. "It's a good thing
that homicidal maniac killed
Myrkul and took his godhood, because he was willing to cut a deal with me: I
get to live out the rest of my life, just as if Cimber hadn't caught me in
Tantras, but only so long as I sow chaos and destruction in the
North. That's why I'm after the Ring of Winter. No other artifact in the
history of the world has such potential for destruction."
"I never found the ring," Rayburton snarled. "You won't find it here."
"But there had to be a reason you were in Chult looking for it," Kaverin said.
He held up his hand. "But that's something we can discuss later. Where were
we? Ah, yes. My deal with Cyric." Lashing out with one stone hand, he
shattered a skull resting atop the couch. "The price for all this was a bit
steep, I've come to find out. When I do die, I go straight back to Cyric for
an eternity of torture."
Rayburton saw a glimmer of some weird emotion flash in Kaverin's dark,
lifeless eyes. It was gone as soon as it had appeared, though.
"That's another reason for me to possess the ring eternal life. But even that
would be a torture of sorts, thanks to Cyric...." Kaverin smiled mirthlessly,
then fell into a drowsy reverie. From the frown on his face, Rayburton assumed
it was far from pleasant.
After a few moments, Kaverin's breathing became regular and deep, his chest
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rising and falling in a steady rhythm. He did not wake this time, though
Rayburton soon wished he had.
The first indication of the horror that was to come was the smell of sulphur.
The stench grew so strong it seared Rayburton's lungs and made his eyes tear.
Next came the sound of wailing. The murmur never became very loud, just [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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