Varna Ch. 08

Nathal bristled a little. He'd always been this way: he began with the charm offensive, and then became annoyed on those infrequent occasions when it didn't immediately succeed.

- "We could be a powerful combination." he said.

- "That's if I live long enough." I said. "You might remember - I almost died at Tanarive. But that's of no matter. So ... I should ally with you and Tir Albo?"

Nathal was intelligent enough to recognize sarcasm.

- "Think it over, Tauma. I'm your best option. You'll come to see it. I only hope that it's sooner rather than later." That said, Nathal climbed out of the pool. He actually began to whistle as he dried off, and put his clothes back on.

***

Regardless of whether my brother was telling the truth or not, I was not the only one receiving offers of alliance.

I returned to my room after a training session with Yazgash. She hadn't changed her mind about making me into a fighter; that wasn't going to happen. Instead, she was concentrating on toughening me up, and imparting some survival skills.

I was surprised to see my sister sitting on my bed, along with Glasha.

- "San? Are you alright?" I asked. She didn't look right. "What's the matter?"

- "I don't know." she said. "I don't understand what's happening."

- "Tell me."

Sanatha sniffed, and then told me her tale.

- "Aludar came to see me, a few days ago. He said 'Come to Whydah with me. You'll be safe there.' I asked him what he meant. He just said 'Trust me'."

- "A few days ago?" Aludar had spoken to Sanatha before me.

- "Then yesterday, Merik came to my room. He said: 'I can arrange a prestigious marriage for you'. I just laughed, but he was serious. I said 'What are you talking about?'. Merik said 'Tir Peneda has asked for your hand.'."

- "Peneda?" Tir Peneda - or Peneda of the Hundred Horse, as he was known, had to be sixty years old. "He's three times your age."

- "I know." said Sanatha. "But that's not all. Just after Merik left me, Nathal turned up."

- "Oh, no."

- "Oh, yes." Sanatha was recovering her equilibrium. "He had an offer for me, too. He said that I could marry the Tir of my choice."

- "What?"

- "He suggested Tir Pyera." said Sanatha. "But he also said that I could have my pick.

- "Wait - isn't Tir Pyera already married?"

- "He is." said my sister. "Nathal said that it didn't have to be an obstacle."

My mind was reeling. Not only were my brothers seeking my support, but they were also courting my sister - and they'd approached her before me.

- "This is serious, Tauma." said Glasha.

- "I can see that."

- "So what were you going to offer me?" asked Sanatha.

- "San." I said. "Whatever game is being played right now ... I'm the only one who's not involved."

- "Humour me, brother." she said. "What's your offer?"

- "I don't have an offer." I protested. But I could see that my sister wasn't going to accept that. "Fine. Partnership. Full partnership."

- "Really?" Sanatha wanted to believe me, but she was still struggling.

I took her hand. "If I can have two wives as my partners, I can probably handle another partnership - of a different sort - with my sister."

Sanatha hugged me, then, and then embraced Glasha.

- "But we still have a problem." said my lover. "What in the name of all the Goddesses is going on?"

We talked for a good half hour: I told Glasha and Sanatha what had transpired between Aludar and me, and then Nathal and me. We considered several possible reasons for what we were experiencing.

- "They know something we don't." said Sanatha. "That's the only possibility."

- "I think you're right. Father told Aludar that he wouldn't recognize him as heir. But Father must have said something to Merik and Nathal as well. It's just as you put it: they know something we don't."

- "But he didn't say anything to you. Or to me."

- "Exactly." I said.

- "Why would he do that?"

Why did my father do anything? Why did he despise me so much? If I could have answered these questions, I would have been a very wise man indeed.

Sanatha stayed with us a while longer. She was quite upset. I didn't want to shoo my sister away, but I needed time - time alone - to think.

Glasha understood. When Sanatha finally left, my lover lay down on our bed.

- "Wake me if you need me." she said. I doubt that she went to sleep right away; she was simply trying to avoid disturbing me, while remaining available if I wanted to talk.

I gathered the aether, and funnelled it to my mind. What was I missing? My brothers were enlisting support, preparing for ... what? It seemed to me that the game was about to begin - except that I didn't know which game it was, or what the rules were going to be. Were there any rules?

The only conclusion I could reach was that I needed more information.

I lay down beside Glasha, but sleep did not come easily.

***

Father fell ill again.

For the second time, we were all summoned to the audience chamber, where Tir Storum told us that the Duke was 'indisposed'.

This time, though, my brothers and I were not given any additional responsibilities. Tir Storum informed us that the Duke would continue to rule directly while he recovered, but from the privacy of his own quarters.

- "I want to see him." said Aludar.

- "I shall inform the Duke of your ... request." said Tir Storum. "If he wishes to grant you an audience, of course I shall let you know at once."

Aludar was fit to be tied.

Later that day, he asked me to join him in his room again. I was surprised to see that my sister Sanatha was already there.

- "We have to present a united front." he said. "Tir Storum seems willing to block me, but what if all three of us went together?"

- "What if we went when Tir Storum isn't there?" said Sanatha.

We met in the morning. Together, we went to Father's chambers. There were several guards there - big men. And, I noted, men that we did not know well. They would not let us pass. I insisted, but they remained adamant. Aludar shouted at them. I tried shouting over them, hoping that my father would hear us. Sanatha caught on quickly, and added her voice to mine.

We created enough commotion to bring Tir Storum onto the scene.

- "Cease this noise!" he shouted. "You will disturb the Duke. He is ill, and trying to rest."

- "These men would not let us see Father." said Sanatha. We'd agreed to let her do most of the talking.

- "Because they are under strict orders to let no one through. Those were the Duke's instructions."

- "But you must go through." I said. "You see him, don't you?"

- "Well, yes. Of course."

- "Then we will accompany you." said Aludar.

- "Absolutely not."

- "When you see him next," said Sanatha, "we would like to come along. Just to see him. We wouldn't disturb anyone."

- "Too many visitors tire the Duke. I will ask him if he wishes to see you, but ... don't be surprised if the answer is no."

- "I understand, Tir Storum." she said. "You are only doing your duty. Please give my father this short note, or have it read to him. Please?" Sanatha unleashed her puppy eyes on the Commander of the Guard.

- "Of course, Lady." said Tir Storum. "I will read it to him myself." Now that he had successfully blocked us from seeing Father, he was prepared to be magnanimous. "And if the Duke is prepared to receive you, I will have you notified at once."

Sanatha thanked him - I couldn't bring myself to do that. We took our leave.

- "Too many visitors!" sputtered Aludar. "He has no visitors, except for Tir Storum and his lackeys! He goes too far."

- "What now?" my sister asked.

- "Remember what I told you!" snapped our oldest brother. Then he stalked away.

I went to tell Glasha of the failure of our little attempt.

- "There's nothing for it, then." she said. "I have to time walk."

-"Glasha ..." I didn't like it when she practiced that type of magic. It was far too draining.

- "I'll eat a big meal, first. Ask Seyamka to bring me another breakfast."

- "You don't have to -"

- "You said it yourself: you need more information. I'll try to find out what your father is doing. I'll watch him giving instructions to Tir Storum - that shouldn't be too hard."

I didn't try very hard to talk her out of it; Glasha was right - we needed information. But I didn't want her doing this without someone to watch over her. I couldn't spend the whole day doing that - but I knew some people who could.

Glasha protested, but I insisted. We went to the Lower Barracks.

Yazgash and Durgat were there. They didn't seem all that surprised to see us.

- "Glasha needs to practice some magic." I said. "I want a quiet place for her, away from prying eyes, and a couple of your people to watch over her."

- "It will look as if I'm asleep." said Glasha. "But I can't be disturbed."

- "Murzosh!" called Yazgash. "Find two others. The three of you will take it in turns to guard Glasha." Yazgash explained exactly what was expected of them. "If anything happens to her, I'll have you flayed alive - and I'll eat your livers myself."

Then Yazgash turned to me, and smiled sweetly - or as sweetly as a vicious 200 pound half-orc with yellow eyes and prominent fangs can smile.

- "Perfect. Thank you." Glasha would be safer here, surrounded by friends, than she would have been in our room.

Then Yazgash surprised me.

- "You didn't see the Duke, did you?"

- "No. We weren't able to. Tir Storum is keeping everyone away."

Yazgash snorted, and then spat.

That was when I heard a familiar voice nearby.

- "Is she here?"

The half-orcs moved aside, and made way for Enneiros, Captain of the elven archers. He was short, and slight, with impossibly long red hair, and a face that belied his age. He looked like a contemporary of my brother Toran, when in fact Enneiros was at least a hundred years old. He was also first cousin to Gerdar Tanle's husband.

He caught sight of Glasha and me immediately.

- "Oh. Lord Tauma."

- "Time to talk." said Yazgash.

- "Yes." agreed the elf. "I suppose it is. Lord Tauma, I was just coming to inform Yazgash that your brother, Lord Aludar, has left Elmina."

- "What?"

- "He boarded a boat, and set out downriver, an hour ago."

- "Alone?"

- "He had only two companions. But the boatmen were a rough lot. They stood out, by their armour, and by their accents. They were from Whydah, it seems."

Aludar had fled? I turned to Glasha. She was right: I needed to know whatever she could discover by her time walk.

- "He was here before." said Yazgash. "A week ago. To ask if we would serve him when the Duke is gone. I said yes - if he was the new Duke - and if he paid us."

Enneiros cleared his throat. "Lord Aludar came to see me, and asked the same question."

Yazgash snorted again. "Then your middle brother came, to ask the same thing. I gave the same answer. He said he would pay more."

My brothers were bargaining for the support of the mercenary companies. How had I missed this? Why hadn't they told me? That was when I realized how foolish I'd been. Why hadn't I asked them, as Glasha's friends, to keep me informed? Enneiros had links to my future wife and her mother. I could have asked him, as well.

- "Did Nathal approach you, Enneiros?"

- "No, Lord."

- "Is there anything else? Anything out of the ordinary?"

- "Messengers." said Enneiros. "More than a dozen men of the Guard have left Elmina, on horseback, this past week. There's been considerable traffic at the stables."

Messengers? But if Father was ill, then it could only be my brothers. Or Tir Storum? But what kind of messages could they be carrying? Wedding invitations had been sent weeks ago. I had more information, but it wasn't helping me to unravel the mystery.

I thanked Yazgash and Enneiros. I embraced Glasha.

- "I'll be back to check on you tonight." I told her.

- "If you want to, you can sleep here." said Yazgash. She accompanied me to the door of the Lower Barracks. Her parting words for me were blunt, and harsh.

"For one who is supposed to be intelligent, you've been remarkably stupid." she said.

- "What?"

- "We're Glasha's family. That makes you one of us, too - especially after the fight with the scholar, and Tanarive. You should have come to talk to us sooner. Enneiros feels the same way . He's your kin by marriage - or he will be soon, if your promises are any good. But you seem to have trouble remembering who your friends are."

She was right. For mercenaries, the half-orcs and the elves weren't entirely and exclusively motivated by money. They felt ties of kinship and loyalty all the more keenly, being strangers in a mostly human, mostly intolerant society.

- "I'm sorry, Yazgash." I said. "I've been ... distracted."

- "Then get undistracted - and watch your back."

It was only a short walk back to the Palace complex, but my mind was whirling. Aludar had left. Yazgash and Enneiros had been approached by my brothers. What was going on?

It was only when I returned to our chamber that I found Seyamka waiting for me.

- "I was asked to give you this, Lord." she said.

- "Thank you, Seyamka."

It was a short note from Aludar.

Brother,

I have decided to be extra careful. Some may think that I am over-reacting, but I prefer to be safe, rather than sorry.

You are welcome to join me in Whydah at any time you deem appropriate. Do not wait too long, though. A storm is coming. Your proper place is at my side.

A storm is coming? What did that mean?

I must have stood there like an idiot for a while.

- "Umm ... should I bring you a meal, my Lord?" asked Seyamka.

- "Oh - no. Thank you. I think ... I'll have a bath."

I needed to think. Solitude, privacy, and a good soak would help.

- "Of course, Lord Tauma." said Seyamka. "Shall I get you a towel?" She didn't wait, but tugged out a large towel for me.

The bathhouse was empty, and quiet. I disrobed, and hung my clothing on the wooden pegs on the wall. The tiles under my feet were cool. I took another look around the room; it never failed to remind me of the old Kings, and the luxuries they must have enjoyed.

I took a deep breath, and summoned the aether, to help me with my concentration, and to aid with clear thinking. I intended to go over everything I knew; there had to be something I was overlooking, some connection I was missing.

That was when I saw three men enter the bath. I didn't recognize them. They weren't members of my family, or privileged servants. By all rights, they shouldn't have been here. But the daggers in their hands made it clear that they hadn't come for a swim.

I was on the far side of the pool, naked, with a towel in my hand.

One of the intruders stayed by the door, while the others split up, to come around either end of the pool.

Perhaps it was the effect of the aether I'd called up: a clear childhood memory came to mind, of Merik chasing me around the bath with a towel he'd dipped in the water. Nathal laughed while Merik, much older and much bigger than I was, flicked and snapped the wet end of the towel at me, aiming at my buttocks and the backs of my legs.

I quickly dropped to one knee, and thrust my towel into the water. Then I pulled it out, soaked and dripping, so that I could twist it around itself several times.

That done, I rose and trotted towards the end of the pool.

Yazgash had drilled it into me, during my training: if you stand still, in a fight, you cede the initiative to your opponent - or, in this case, opponents.

The man I ran toward was not especially alarmed - he was being charged by a naked man with a towel. It would have looked cowardly to retreat until his companion could take me from behind. So he stood his ground, and extended his arm, with the dagger pointed at me. That told me that he was not an experienced knife fighter.

Holding the sodden end of my towel in both hands, I swung it with all my strength. The assassin drew back his hand, thinking that I was trying to entangle his weapon, or wrap up his arm. But that wasn't my intention.

I swung the wet towel at his head as hard as I could.

The man didn't realize what was coming until the soaked, heavy fabric slammed into the side of his head. The power behind the blow knocked him off his feet. He fell heavily and awkwardly, headfirst, onto the tiles. There was a sharp smack sound as his head bounced.

That gave me the inspiration for my next move. Releasing my towel, I dropped to my knees and seized the unfortunate fellow by the hair. I slammed his head into the tiles again, with all of the force I could muster. And then again.

I don't know if I saw the second man approaching, out of the corner of my eye, or if I heard the slap of his shoes on the wet floor. Somehow, though, I knew that he was close. Instead of rising to my feet, I lunged and tumbled into the pool.

Fortune was with me - I hadn't planned it that way, but I was in the deeper end of the pool. As I rose out of the water, I heard the third man, guarding the door, hiss at his accomplice: "Hurry up! Finish him!"

The second man had narrowly missed me with his dagger - had he been carrying a sword, I might have been skewered. He only glanced at his disabled comrade, but then picked up the fellow's dagger.

With a weapon in each hand, he jumped into the water. He wasn't a fool; he landed well clear of me, so that I wouldn't be able to get to him before he could rise out the water and clear his eyes.

Now he discovered his error. He was fully clothed, while I was naked. His clothing was immediately soaked through, weighing him down and slowing his movements. Still, he had two weapons - while I had none.

There was no way that I could duplicate what I'd done at Tanarive. The water and his clothing would slow down any attempt to stab me underwater, but I doubted that I could stop two blows.

Since I couldn't defend myself, my only option was to attack.

I had to use what Rhigen, Glasha's father, had taught me. But I could also try to duplicate what Glasha had done to Merik, that night he'd assaulted her.

The decision was taken. I pooled all of the aether I'd collected, gathered it into a tight ball, and then shaped it into a spearhead, before thrusting it at my assassin. Behind it, I pushed with all of my hatred, my fear and my rage. I put all of my energies into that single magical blow.

The aether spear broke the man's nose, and the bone behind it. I heard the sharp crack, and the scream that accompanied it. Magic also snapped his orbital bone - the one around his eye - and punctured his eye, spraying its gory contents into the pool.

My assassin fell backwards. The daggers slipped from his fingers, and sank to the bottom of the pool. The man himself didn't quite sink, but with the weight of his water-logged clothing, he couldn't float, either. He slid into a horizontal position, just beneath the surface of the water.

I did nothing. It was all I could manage just to remain standing. I had put everything into that magical attack, and I was paying the price for it now. I was going to be slaughtered by the third assassin, because I no longer had the strength to defend myself.

That third man hesitated. He'd heard his second companion scream, and saw him fall back into the water. Would his nerve fail, at this last moment? Or would he have the determination to carry out his intent?

I would never find out. Before the last assassin could commit himself in either direction, there was another crack and another spray of blood and brains as Durgat crushed the back of his skull with a sword.

The big half-orc stepped into the bath house. He took in the scene at a glance. First, he made sure of his victim, if the man wasn't already dead, by slitting his throat from ear to ear. Only then did he jump into the pool. He reached me in two great strides.