Fall of Angels (The Saga of Recluce #6)(165)

"He's been there for a while, hasn't he?" asks Zeldyan, gently bouncing Nesslek on one knee, while occasionally picking up a morsel from the small sitting room table and eating it.

"Yes."

"Why does it bother you?"

"Terek says he's up to something, something not exactly wizardly. Strange people have been visiting him-armsmen no one recognizes. He's been laying up enough provisions for a small army. Koric told me that. He laughed. Said that Hissl has no idea how to do something secretly."

"He's not... surely he wouldn't try to ... he's not stupid enough for treason."

"No. And he's not subtle enough to try it that way. If he were out to overthrow me, his best chance would have been to murder Koric and open the grasslands to Ildyrom in return for support from Jerans. He is smart enough to consider that. Since he didn't, it's something else." Sillek yawns and looks at his son. "When will he go to sleep?"

"Soon," says Zeldyan with a laugh. "Keep talking. Your voice soothes him. So what is Hissl doing?"

"I'm just guessing, but I'd say he's going to mount his own expedition to the Roof of the World."

"Why? He wouldn't know a sword from a dagger."

"He is a wizard, and he told Terek last year that he thought the thunder-throwers of those angel women would not last a year."

Zeldyan frowns. "Why would he risk such a thing?"

"He dislikes being second to Terek. He would like lands in his own right and a title. I could not back down on my promise on that, especially if Hissl defeats them, and he knows that. My word would be forfeit to every holder and every wizard in Candar." Sillek frowns, then stifles another yawn.

"You're more tired than your son. Perhaps you should be the one going to sleep."

"I'm not that tired."

Zeldyan laughs and cradles Nesslek in her arms. "His eyes are drooping, and I'll be able to put him in the cradle soon. Your mother thinks ill of my closeness with him."

"I know. She says nothing, though."

"You don't mind, do you? He'll grow so fast. I saw that happen with Fornal and Relyn."

"Have you heard anything about Relyn?"

Zeldyan shakes her head. "Why are you worried if Hissl is going to attack the Roof of the World? If he wins, you don't have to go. If he loses, he still may weaken them."

"I 'm no longer sure about that. I wonder if I see Ildyrom's fine hand behind all this."

"Keep talking," says Zeldyan as she slips to her feet and steps toward the cradle.

"Terek says that every time that someone has attacked those devil women, the women have gotten a lot of plunder. They're selling a lot of plate armor and blades to traveling traders for supplies. They've got mounts and some livestock, and a tower and they're building more buildings ..." Zeldyan nods to Sillek to keep speaking as she eases Nesslek into the cradle and starts to rock it gently.

"... now Ildyrom is as devious as a giant water lizard and about twice as dangerous. What if he's backing Hissl, not directly, but through some adventurers? Ildyrom can't lose. If Hissl wins, I lose the wizard that's kept him at bay. I also lose face, and that's a problem with the holders that will tie me up. If Hissl loses, that's worse. Those angels will have enough plunder that it will take all the free armsmen in Candar to pry them out. And even more women will start fleeing unhappy situations here and in Gallos, and whatever it is, those people on the Roof of the World know how to fight and to teach other to fight. So all my holders will be up in arms if I don't act. So will Karthanos. And Ildyrom, with his pledge not to take the grasslands, loses nothing, only a small chest of coins. Even if I win, it will be a bloody mess, and it will be years before we could consider more than holding on to what we already have."

"That's more than enough now," Zeldyan points out. "I know that. But from Ildyrom's position, a few coins behind Hissl is a cheap way to weaken Lornth no matter what happens. And I can't afford to stop Hissl, either. That's what's so demonish about it."

Zeldyan lets the cradle slow and steps back. Nesslek snuffles momentarily, but continues to sleep. She turns to Sillek. "You can tell me more later. We can talk when he's awake. Unless you're too sleepy?"

"Never."

"Good." She leans over and blows out the candles.





CV



THE AIR WAS still, hot, and humid-for the Roof of the World-in the brickworks canyon. The three who toiled beside the stream were soaked in sweat, except where their boots and trousers were damp from the running water.

One knee-high line of rocks and bricks mortared together ran from the north side of the stream to the canyon wall. On the south side of the stream a trench extended toward the hill that straddled the middle of the canyon. There, Rienadre, Denalle, and Nylan struggled to remove the silty and clay-filled soil, at least enough to provide footings for the crude retaining wall that would, Nylan hoped, form the millpond.

Nylan paused and leaned on the shovel, wishing he had explosives, even crude black powder, but while he could make charcoal, he hadn't seen or heard of anything resembling sulfur or potassium nitrate. As for more sophisticated explosives-gun cotton or blasting gelatin-he was no chemist. None of them were.