Issola (Vlad Taltos) Read online

  And I’ll mention again, because it impressed me so much, that they were very big.

  I hated the idea of trying to fight them. I felt Loiosh draw himself up and do the jhereg dance—which is what I call it when he tries to make himself look bigger. It is one of the things I don’t make fun of him for, because I’ve caught myself doing the same thing in my own way, although just at the moment I’d have liked to make myself look smaller. Vanishing would have been even better.

  “Don’t draw a weapon,” whispered someone, and it took me a moment to realize it was Teldra. I wasn’t certain what good a weapon would do me, so I saw no reason to argue with her. Besides, if she had some inkling of an idea about what to do, she was a long way ahead of me. The thought did flash through my mind, in light of what Sethra had told me, to grab, say, Pathfinder from Aliera’s side; but laying hands on another’s Great Weapon is as close to certain death as you can come without having Mario after you.

  But the thought did make me realize that neither of the Jenoine appeared to be armed. It didn’t take a genius to realize that if they didn’t carry weapons, it was because they didn’t think they’d need any. This was not a comforting thought either.

  At some point in there, it hit me that I was now in the presence of the Jenoine, of those half-mythological creatures that were spoken of in whispers, and the subject of as much ignorant speculation as Sethra herself. I had never truly believed in them, and now, here they were, and here was I, and typically, I had to worry about what to do about it, and I didn’t have a clue.

  Evidently, Lady Teldra did.

  She took a step toward them, holding both hands in front of her, palms out, and emitted a series of sounds midway between a cat screeching and a hyena with hiccups.

  “Be damned,” murmured Morrolan.

  I could see that, whatever else was happening, she had their attention. One of them moved a step closer to her, and, in a deep, rasping voice, spoke in the same language. If I could read the expression on that one’s face, I’d guess it was mildly startied—its eyes, at any rate, had widened a little. Do facial expressions translate among species? There was another question for later contemplation. I was getting quite a collection of them. Evidently, I had thought it a good idea at some point to put Spellbreaker away; it was once more wrapped snugly around my left wrist. Amazing how light it felt that way, and how much heavier it got once I let it drop into my hand.

  “Loiosh, why does my mind wander whenever I’m terrified?”

  “It doesn’t, Boss; your mind wanders whenever you’re frustrated because you can’t do anything.”

  “Oh.”

  “Or maybe it just always wanders and I don’t notice it the rest of the time.”

  Teldra spoke again, the Jenoine responded. I waited patiently, like a prisoner whose fate was being settled by a magistrate while he stood helpless. It was enough to bring on the headache. I feel very fortunate not to be subject to the headache. There were many questions I should have liked to ask Morrolan and Aliera, but I was afraid it wouldn’t be polite to carry on a conversation while Teldra was involved in screeching and coughing with the Jenoine, so I remained patient and tried to look tough and imperturbable—not for the Jenoine, who probably couldn’t tell the difference, but for Morrolan and Aliera, who probably wouldn’t care.

  The conversation continued. I couldn’t tell if Teldra was negotiating for our lives, laying down conditions to the Jenoine under which she wouldn’t lay waste to their world, or asking if they knew any good recipes for klava.

  I was just wondering if I’d be willing to try their version of klava, when the two Jenoine and Lady Teldra abruptly vanished. No fading, as of a teleport, and none of the shimmering and twisting of form that accompanied necromantic transportation, so this was something else entirely, and what should be surprising about that? Whatever it was, it was fast and neat—there wasn’t even the rush of displaced air that I’m used to, which indicates to me that natural laws were being suspended, and that didn’t surprise me, either.

  “They’re gone,” said Morrolan, which was too obvious even for me to make a crack about how obvious it was.

  “Now,” said Aliera, “might be a good time to get us out of these.”

  “Good idea,” I said. “How do we do that?”

  Morrolan ignored me. “If Teldra is involved in negotiations,” he said to Aliera, “we may jeopardize them by—”

  “If Teldra is involved in negotiations,” said Aliera, “it is in order to give us time to get out of here.”

  “What makes you think so?”

  “Don’t be a fool.”

  “Here we go,” said Loiosh.

  “Lady Teldra,” I cut in, “did not leave our presence willingly.”

  That stopped them, at least for a moment. “How do you know that?” snapped Aliera.

  “She vanished suddenly, without saying a word about it. It was rude.”

  “Good point,” said Morrolan.

  Okay, Vlad, I told myself. Teldra has just been taken away by all-powerful, legendary demigods; Sethra and the Necromancer are so far away that the term “distance” is meaningless; and Morrolan and Aliera are chained to a wall by some no doubt magical substance impervious to everything. That leaves you. Do something.

  Morrolan and Aliera were looking at me, as if they expected the same thing. Well, fine. I tried to figure out what I needed to know, before I could even start formulating a plan. There were so many things. I didn’t know what powers and abilities the Jenoine had, or, except in the most general terms, what their goals might be. Of course, I knew a bit about what Morrolan and Aliera could do, and Teldra—now, Teldra was a nice little mystery herself. I should have insisted on an answer from Sethra about why she was along. What is it she knew, or what skill did she have that …

  Hmmmmmm.

  “Morrolan, would you mind telling me, just because I’m curious, exactly what Lady Teldra does for you?”

  “I don’t understand, Vlad. You’ve seen her. She greets guests, she sees that they get where they are going within the Castle, and that I am informed about arrivals and departures. I thought you knew that.”

  “I did. I do. What else does she do?”

  “Isn’t that enough?”

  “No.”

  He shrugged. “Well, that’s what she does, enough or not.”

  I shook my head. “I’m missing something.”

  “He’s an Easterner, Morrolan,” said Aliera.

  I bit back a smart remark, because Aliera’s observation seemed to elicit an “Oh” expression from Morrolan. He said, “That’s true.”

  “Okay,” I said. “What is obvious to you that isn’t to me?”

  “The gods,” said Aliera.

  “What about them?”

  “We consider them guests as well,” said Morrolan. “Permanent guests of our homes, at all times; I had forgotten that you don’t think of them that way.”

  “I don’t see the point.”

  “Teldra,” said Aliera, “is, in your terms, Morrolan’s High Priestess.”

  “Ah ha.”

  “Ah ha?” said Morrolan.

  “That’s what I was looking for.”

  “Why?” said Morrolan and Aliera together, and I felt Loiosh asking the same thing.

  “I don’t know exactly. But I knew there had to be some connection there, and some reason Sethra agreed to send her, and because I need to understand all of these connections if I’m going to do anything useful.”

  Morrolan shrugged again. “Okay,” he said. “Now you understand the profound truth that someone who knows how to be polite to a Dragonlord, a Teckla, or an Emperor might know how to be polite to a god as well.”

  “Not to mention a Jenoine,” I remarked.

  “Yes, a Jenoine, too.”

  “And she speaks their language.”

  “Obviously.”

  “What has that to do with her duties as High Priestess, or whatever?”

  “Nothing,” he sa
id. “But she knows many languages. Many Issola do. It’s a custom, such as Dragons knowing how to fight, and Jhereg knowing how to offer a bribe.” I let that go. He said, “Is any of this important?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “Then, perhaps, you might turn your attention to doing something useful.”

  “Two problems, Morrolan. First, I’m stumped. Second, as Aliera said, if Teldra is talking to them, we may not want to irritate them during her negotiations.”

  “But as you said, Vlad, she didn’t leave willingly.”

  “I know. But are you certain she can’t talk them around? She’s evidently used to dealing with beings who are far more powerful than she is; can you think of a better negotiator?”

  He thought about that.

  Loiosh said, “I don’t know if we ever want to cross them, Boss. I’m scared of those things.”

  “They’re worth being scared of,” I said. “They’d kill without a second thought.”

  “I hate to say this, Boss, but so would you.”

  “Yeah, but I’m a nice guy.”

  “Try Spellbreaker,” said Morrolan. I looked at him. “On the chains,” he said. “Try Spellbreaker.”

  I looked at Aliera, who shrugged.

  “Can’t hurt,” I said.

  “What are you worried about, Boss?”

  “Looking ridiculous.”

  “It was his idea.”

  I let Spellbreaker fall into my hand. It was only about a foot and a half long and the links were nearly an inch long. I took a step forward, and struck the length of chain connecting Morrolan’s right wrist to the wall. The ringing sound was loud, though hearing the sound made me realize the room didn’t echo as much as I would have thought it should. Nothing else happened. I felt ridiculous. I wrapped Spellbreaker up again. Morrolan shrugged; evidently he didn’t feel ridiculous.

  “If Spellbreaker is still changing, Loiosh, there’s something that is still happening, I mean, something magical, even though we’re no longer at home.”

  “Seems reasonable, Boss.”

  “And why am I so heavy? It’s like I have to work to lift my arms.”

  “Yeah. Don’t expect me to fly anywhere.”

  “So, okay, Sethra was wrong. There’s sorcery here. Or, if not sorcery, something else; something that can make us feel heavy, and that makes it so hard to breathe. I’d really like to avoid having to fight here.”

  “Okay, Boss. But just for the record, where is it you haven’t wanted to avoid fighting?”

  That didn’t deserve an answer, so I didn’t give one. About then, I noticed something else, and cursed.

  “What is it, Vlad?”

  “I’m starting to get light-headed.”

  “Oh, that.”

  “What does ‘oh, that’ mean?”

  Aliera said, “Try to take shallow breaths.”

  “Uh …”

  “Try it. If you don’t, you’ll get dizzy.”

  “If you say so.”

  I tried to make my breaths shallow. At least it didn’t make things any worse. I said, “Are they poisoning the air?”

  “Not on purpose,” said Morrolan.

  “What does ‘not on purpose’ mean?”

  “It seems to be the nature of the world. Just make your breaths shallow and you’ll be fine. Soon you’ll stop needing to think about it.”

  “Oh, good.”

  I took Aliera’s hand and weighed the manacle in it. It was heavy, and seemed not too dissimilar to cast iron, maybe three-quarters of an inch thick. The chain seemed to have been made as one piece of it, and I saw no way to break it, or separate the chain. I studied where the chain joined the wall again, and still saw nothing. I probably would have started to get frustrated at that point, but before I had the chance Loiosh said, “Boss, they’re back,” which gave me other things to think about.

  “They’re back” wasn’t entirely accurate; only one of the Jenoine was back, but Teldra was with him, looking none the worse for wear, and holding something small and black in the palm of her hand. I permitted myself to hope it was a key to the manacles.

  I held my tongue as she walked up to us; there’s something about courtesy that’s contagious. She said, “I have negotiated with the Jenoine.”

  I studied her face at that moment, I suppose feeling something momentous about to occur, and I couldn’t get anything from her expression.

  “They will release you, Morrolan and Aliera, if Vlad agrees to perform a task for them.”

  “I can hardly wait,” I muttered, but either no one heard me, or they all ignored me.

  “They want Vlad to perform a killing, a murder.”

  “Did you explain that I’m no longer in that line of work?”

  “I made no agreement of any kind,” she said. “I merely spoke to them, and they stated the conditions.”

  “And otherwise we’ll be killed, I assume,” said Aliera, as if she were being threatened with not being allowed to dinner.

  “That wasn’t specified.”

  “That’s why we were taken,” said Aliera, giving me a look. “In order to coerce Vlad into doing what they want.”

  “You’d think,” said Morrolan, “that if that was true, they’d have taken Cawti, or better yet—” He broke off abruptly and scowled.

  “They’re separated,” said Aliera.

  “So?” said Morrolan. “Who knows how the Jenoine think, and what they know? They may not know much more of our customs, not to mention emotions, than we know of theirs.”

  “They know enough to have us here, bait for Vlad. You’ll notice he’s here.”

  “Makes me wonder what they would have done if you hadn’t been along, Lady Teldra.”

  “Some of them speak our language,” she said.

  I cleared my throat. “I notice none of you are asking the obvious question.”

  “You mean,” said Morrolan, “who is it she wants killed? It is obviously either Sethra, or a god, and you certainly aren’t going to do it, so what difference does it make?”

  “I should think a god,” said Aliera judiciously. “Probably Verra.”

  Teldra bowed to her.

  “Verra?” I said. “They want me to kill Verra?”

  “Yes,” said Teldra.

  “Well, I have been annoyed with her now and then. I mean, I can’t say I haven’t thought about it.”

  “It isn’t a joking matter, Vlad,” said Morrolan.

  “I think it is, Boss.”

  “That’s two of us, if it comes to a vote.”

  “Did they have any suggestions as to how I was to accomplish this task?”

  She held out the object in her palm. It was a small, black cube, perhaps an inch on a side. It didn’t seem to reflect any light. “I am told,” she said, “that this will bring you to the presence of the Goddess.” With her other hand, she took from her belt a sheathed knife I hadn’t noticed before. “This is a very powerful Morganti dagger; it will be sufficient to, as they put it, prevent the Goddess from manifesting on our world.”

  “That means kill her,” said Morrolan.

  “Not exactly,” said Aliera.

  “Close enough.

  I made some sort of grunting sound; I’m not sure what it meant, because I’m not sure what I was thinking. Teldra set the two objects down at my feet, then stepped back. There was something of ritual about how she did it; as if she were saying, “Here, now my work is done, and I say nothing about your work, what it is, or if you ought to do it.”

  I stared at the black cube and at the Morganti dagger. I could feel its emanations even from its sheath.

  I said, “Teldra, do you trust them?”

  “Vlad!” said Aliera. “You aren’t considering doing it!”

  “Yes,” said Teldra. “I think they were telling the truth.”

  I grunted again.

  “Look on the bright side, Boss: you’ve done a king, now you’ll be able to say you’ve—”

  “That’s not the bright si
de. The bright side is the pleasure of rescuing Morrolan and Aliera. They’ll never live it down.”

  Morrolan was staring at me. “Vlad, you can’t be thinking about it. Think! Verra, the Demon Goddess. Your ancestors have worshiped her—”

  “Leave it alone, Morrolan.”

  “Leave it alone? She is my goddess, too. How can I let you destroy her to save me?”

  I laughed. “How can you stop me?”

  “Vlad—”

  “Oh, be still, dammit. I don’t want to hear anything from anyone for a while, okay? Except you, Teldra, I want you to answer a question or two: Did they say anything about how long I had to make up my mind?”

  “It wasn’t mentioned,” she said.

  “Did they say anything about feeding us?”

  “No.”

  Aliera opened her mouth to make another passionate and irritating plea, so I turned and walked away to the far side of the room. What I needed was time to think; usually needing time to think only happens when you haven’t got any, but this time I at least had the chance to work a few things through in my head: Aliera and Morrolan wouldn’t subject themselves to the indignity of yelling across the room, Teldra was too polite to say anything, and, for a miracle, even Loiosh gave me some peace.

  So I ran a lot of stuff around my brain, for whatever that would do. The fact is, I don’t think all that well when I’m just standing and thinking; I need to be talking, or doing something active, then the thoughts flow. But I did my best, and eventually sorted the matter out into several categories of things that I didn’t understand. This was progress.

  Categories, if you’ll excuse a brief digression, are a useful way to get a handle on things you don’t understand, as long as you don’t get too attached to them and forget that things like to pop out of one category and into another, and that sometimes the whole category turns itself inside out and becomes something different. It’s useful, for example, to categorize your target as a sorcerer, if he is one; but if you get too attached to your category it’ll leave you embarrassed when he suddenly pulls a knife on you.

  Just thought I’d share my reflections on categories.