LITMIR.BIZ

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Moss right away!’ said the First Judge, hoisting high his golden cup for emphasis. ‘Why muck about with this assassination of the Didionite king? What benefit is that to us?’

      ‘It gains you my gratitude,’ Beynor said in a loud, cold voice. ‘And it’s a sure method of fatally weakening Conrig’s Sovereignty. If you kill Honigalus, I promise to help activate the Potency immediately afterwards and help you attack Moss. If you refuse me, I won’t share my knowledge with you.’

      ‘I say we should simply put this presumptuous tadpole to the torture,’ growled the Supreme Warrior, ‘He’ll tell us everything we need to know about the Potency inside of an hour. Once our search parties are equipped with liberated minor sigils that the Lights can’t meddle with, we’ll locate the Barren Lands Moon Crag in short order. We won’t need this snotty groundling’s help to reconquer Blenholme if we have plenty of new Great Stones. No human force could stand against us!’

      ‘Bazekoy’s did,’ the Conservator said bleakly. ‘Remember that.’

      ‘Because the Lights betrayed us,’ the Warrior thundered. ‘They allowed him to win – perhaps for their own perverse amusement. This time, the situation will be different.’

      ‘Doing things my way would be so much more efficient, Eminences,’ urged Beynor. ‘I can speed your conquest because I’m human. I know human strategy. I know human weaknesses and strengths. And more than anything in this world, I want to destroy Conrig Wincantor and my sister Ullanoth.’

      A prolonged silence fell over the chamber.

      ‘How strange,’ mused the First Judge, as he licked the last mucilaginous drops from his cup, ‘that Conjure-Queen Ullanoth should have discovered a hidden cache of sigils so fortuitously – although we know that many such must have been secreted away during our long retreat from Bazekoy’s host. I wonder if other lost Great Stones might be located using her Subtle Loophole, that most puissant tool for wind-searching? If we owned a liberated Loophole, then it would be unnecessary for us to launch a long and arduous expedition to the Barren Lands Moon Crag.’

      Beynor felt his gorge rise anew at this terrible possibility, which had never occurred to him. What a catastrophe if the monsters located and took control of Darasilo’s Trove before he could steal it away from Kilian…

      But the Conservator’s next words wiped away Beynor’s dismay and kindled fresh hope. ‘It seems to me that the young sorcerer’s proposal to help us seize the Conjure-Queen’s sigils has considerable merit. We should not reject it lightly.’

      ‘I agree,’ said the Master Shaman. ‘Furthermore, torturing the human as Ugusawnn urges can produce unsatisfactory results. Humans have such frail bodies compared to our own.’

      ‘If I die under the Supreme Warrior’s ministrations before telling you the secret of the Potency,’ Beynor said reasonably, ‘you will have thrown away any chance of abolishing the pain-yoke of the Lights, or regaining your ancestral island home.’

      ‘He’s right,’ the Conservator said. ‘And this assassination that he demands as a goodwill gesture doesn’t seem particularly difficult.’

      ‘It would be quite a simple matter,’ Beynor said, ‘requiring only a small force of Salka warriors. Perhaps only a score. I would have to lead them myself, since I’m familiar with the River Malle and the type of vessel carrying King Honigalus and his family. I also know the best escape route. As soon as the fighters and I return to Dawntide Citadel, I’ll show you how to activate the Potency. You must choose who among you will bond to the Great Stone –’

      ‘It must be Ugusawnn,’ the Conservator said. ‘He is the most suitable person. Aside from his undeniable fighting prowess, his own sigil enables him to communicate with us across long distances, so we always know how his ventures are faring.’

      The Supreme Warrior’s enormous glowing eyes widened in gratified surprise. ‘Do the other Eminences concur?’

      The Judge and the Master Shaman nodded.

      And Beynor thought: Perfect! My principal opponent is disarmed!

      ‘Ugusawnn will also lead the assassination party into Didion,’ the Conservator said, ‘with the human sorcerer serving as his guide. This will not only enhance the possibility of success, but also make certain that the action proceeds without…unexpected developments.’

      The Conservator meant Beynor’s escape. But he already had worked out a simple plan to get away from the monsters. ‘I would be honored to have such august company on the expedition,’ the young sorcerer said humbly.

      The Supreme Warrior glowered at him. ‘Precisely where are these royal murders to take place?’

      ‘At a point on the River Malle near Boarsden Castle, where the barge is most vulnerable to attack from the water,’ Beynor said. ‘The spot is some six hundred leagues from the Dawntide Isles. Honigalus and his family will be there six days from now.’

      ‘So soon?’ the Judge said.

      ‘Our strongest swimmers could get there easily if we left at once,’ Ugusawnn said. He shot Beynor a look of distaste. ‘But I don’t know how we’ll manage to transport the groundling sorcerer without drowning him. I’m not even convinced that it’s a good idea for him to go along on this mission. What if he’s killed? We’d never empower the Potency then.’

      ‘It would be up to you,’ the Conservator said wearily, ‘to keep him secure.’

      ‘Do you still intend to oppose this scheme, Ugusawnn,’ Kalawnn asked, ‘even when we would make you Master of the Potency?’

      ‘I don’t oppose it. But I do mistrust this tricky groundling with all my heart and soul!’

      Beynor said, ‘I know an easy way to transport me to Didion. When the Master Shaman so graciously offered me sanctuary, I came here from Royal Fenguard in my own barque, Ambergris, which was a gift to me from the Didionites after I did them a great favor. The ship is in a sad state of neglect now, careened in one of the coves below the citadel. But her boats should still be sound, and they are of a common type that would be inconspicuous on the River Malle. I can cross the sea in one of them, dismasted and towed along at speed by your force. When we reach Mallmouth Harbor, I’ll step the boat’s mast, hoist her sail, and go innocently up the river – pulled more slowly and inconspicuously as needed by my Salka guardians.’

      ‘Is this practicable, Ugusawnn?’ the Conservator inquired.

      ‘It would probably work.’ The Supreme Warrior spoke without enthusiasm. ‘But I’d rather leave the groundling here. Let him instruct me in the details.’

      ‘I won’t agree –’ Beynor began to say.

      ‘Silence!’ The Conservator of Wisdom gave the command in a voice that was suddenly resounding and steady. ‘Beynor of Moss, step back from the dais and wait by the doors while we Four confer.’

      Beynor obeyed. Numbed by the ordeal, he now felt no anxiety nor sense of anticipation as the great trolls murmured interminably among themselves. At long last the Conservator called out, ‘Beynor, come and stand again before us, and receive our decision.’

      

      Kilian. Vra-Kilian Blackhorse. Do you hear? ‘Yes, Beynor.’

       We’ve won. A small Salka force will leave for Didion within a few hours, taking me with them. They’ll be led by their Supreme Warrior, a surly savage named Ugusawnn. After slaughtering the royal family, we’re supposed to return to Dawntide Citadel, where I show the Four Eminences how to activate the Potency. They’ve decided to bond it to the Supreme Warrior. He intends to lead an attack on Royal Fenguard immediately, snap up Ulla’s sigils, and conquer the world for the Salka.

      ‘Heh heh heh! Brilliantly done, my boy. What a pack of simpletons!’

       I’m supposed to believe that Ugusawnn will take me along on the invasion of Moss. But I’m

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