Then Rap and Shandie had appeared and dragged them away adventuring. Thinal had regained some ground, but lately he had fallen behind again. At his last appearance, on Dreadnought, he had managed to call a replacement only with a great effort, when Rap had threatened him. That must have been eight or nine days ago. Now he would probably find it impossible. When Thinal arrived, Thinal would have to remain. He would be unusually vulnerable without his customary escape hatch available.
“What I was thinking of,” Rap said hopefully, “is professional status. I mean, who in all history can ever have managed to break into a sky tree? I’m sure a warlock’s enclave is packed with valuables, too. It would be a fabulous heist! Do you think an appeal to his vanity would have any success?”
Sagorn resisted a need to smile. The chances of Thinal falling for that argument were significantly less than zero, absolutely inconceivable. His entire mindset was against it. In fact, Sagorn himself had explained that aspect of Thinal’s psychology to Rap twenty years ago, in Faerie, on the occasion of their third meeting. If the stablehand had forgotten it, then that was his lookout.
But had he forgotten it? Or was he playing a double game? If he truly wanted Thinal, then why had he not asked Jalon to call him directly?
Why had he summoned Sagorn at all?
Just to ask such footlingly stupid questions? Ah! Of course!
Rap did not want Thinal! He wanted Darad!
Obviously Rap believed that he would have to fight his way into the sky tree and needed the warrior to assist him. But Jalon could not have called Darad for him, because Jalon had called Darad the last time. Jalon could have called only Thinal or Sagorn. Believing that Thinal would bolt in short order, the faun had asked for Sagorn instead. Now that Sagorn had demonstrated reluctance to cooperate further in the fruitless struggle against the Almighty, the faun was pretending to want Thinal in the expectation that Sagorn would seek to balk him by calling Darad instead. The yokel was trying to double-cross him!
Nicely tried, Master Rap, your Majesty!
“I do believe your reasoning will impress Thinal,” Sagorn said blandly. “So perhaps we have completed our discussion and I should now call him for you?”
“I would be grateful,” Rap said, completely straight-faced. ”May the Good go with you, Doctor.”
“Very well, then. Until we meet again!” With a quiet snigger to himself, dearly wishing he could be present to see the faun’s chagrin when Darad failed to appear, Sagorn called:
4
Thinal coughed, rubbed his throat, and pouted reproachfully up at Rap, who sat on the grass at his side.
Rap twisted his big mouth in a rueful smile and whispered,
“Hi!”
Thinal made a choking, rasping sound.
Rap said, “I’m sorry I was rough with you. I was under a lot of stress, but that was no excuse for losing my temper. It isn’t like me and I’m ashamed of myself. Will you forgive me?”
Thinal swallowed a couple of times, making it seem harder than it really was. He’d known much worse. “Truly sorry? Gonna show me like you said?”
The king nodded solemnly. “If that’s what you want. Will one on each foot do, or all ten?”
Oh, temptation! Knowing him, the big lout probably meant it. If he didn’t—if he was just testin’ to hear the answer—then he might turn Thinal inside out instead. He wasn’t in Darad’s class for sheer size, but with his shirt off he showed meat only a jotunn would argue with.
“All ten—but I’ll take a rain check.”
“One rain check!” Rap said cautiously. “Awright, ten toes, one rain check.”
“It’s a deal.” Rap held out a hand to shake. He didn’t do the jotunn thing and crush, either. Thinal found himself grinning a bit, in answer to the big guy’s smile. He was dumb, of course-rustic, honest, hardworking—yucch!—dull, courageous . . . trustworthy! In spite of all his faults, though, there was something likable about the faun. He’d sneaked his way from muckin’ out stables to restin’ his ass on a real Evil-take-it throne without changing his hat size. So what if he’d climbed the royal bed sheets to get there? Maybe queenie-doll had a thing about sailor arms, but there’d be lots of thick arms in a port like Krasnegar, and she’d gone for these arms. Small-time boy makes good! Up the workers!
Thinal reached down and pulled on his boots, Jalon’s choice of boots. They were loose, but he could run in them if he had to. His breeches were a joke. The drawstring still held, but Sagorn had split all the seams. It was a pukey weird garment, but it wouldn’t slow him, either, if he had to make a break. And then he remembered more of what the old man’d been thinkin’.
“You expectin’ Darad?”
Rap looked blank and shook his head. “No, I asked for you.”
“Sagorn thought you really wanted Darad.”
Rap looked even blanker. “Don’t have any bloodbaths planned for this afternoon, why’d I want Darad?” He scratched his head. “And if I’d wanted him why’d I’ve asked for you?”
“The old coot gets funny ideas sometimes.”
The faun snorted. “His trouble, he’s got more wits than he has brains to hold ‘em. Never mind. Look, you know why I need you. The door into Valdorian is round that bend there. It may be guarded, in which case I’ll just go up and tell the elves that the king of Krasnegar wishes to pay his respects to the warlock, all polite-like. It may be wide open and deserted. If it is, then I’ll walk in and start climbing.”
“Have a jolly time.”
Rap chuckled, but his eyes were watching Thinal very carefully. “If it’s locked and deserted, though, then I’m stumped. That’s when I’ll need your help.”
Thinal shivered. “Weed a warlock’s sky tree? Not Evilish likely! I learned my lesson there a long time ago, Rap! You know that!” He heard the shrillness in his voice and it scared him.
The faun nodded, looking puzzled. “You burgled a sorcerer’s house. But that was a hundred years ago!”
“Hun’red thirty.” Shriller.
“So? You needn’t take anything, just open a door or two for me.”
“No!” Thinal knew he was in a shaky sweat already.
Rap had seen that and was curious. He scratched his hair with both hands. ”Sagorn told me once you still felt guilty about what happened that night, but it turned out well in the end, Thinal! The sequential spell wasn’t a curse, it was a blessing. When I took it off you all wanted it back. You were the first to ask, too!”
“Old Sagorn doesn’t know everything!”
“No? I thought you five shared memories?” Pause.
“Well?” Rap prompted gently.
“Only of what happened after Orarinsagu put the spell on!” There! Now he’d dunnit. Pothead! Change the subject, talk about something else, anything else
“Ah!” Rap studied Thinal for a moment and then shrugged. “None of my business.”
“No, it ain’t.”
“A long time ago . . . ever talked about it with anyone?” Thinal shivered and shook his head.
Rap lay back and rolled over to rest on his elbows. He poked a finger idly at the grass in front of him. “If you ever want to, any time . . . I mean, not necessarily now, but maybe some time. It can help to get things off one’s chest, you know. What friends are for. I wouldn’t repeat anything you told me. You know that.”
“It doesn’t matter,” Thinal muttered. “Don’t matter a spit if I told you or not, or if you told anyone.”
The big faun just lay sprawled on the grass, not saying anything, not looking around. He pulled up a grass stalk and tucked it in his mouth.
“No reason why I shouldn’t tell you,” Thinal said uneasily. There was no reason why he should, either. “You wanna hear?”
“I’ll listen if you wanna talk.”
“Well, we was just a bunch of kids. I was the oldest, right? The leader.” Sixteen. His teeth interrupted him, chattering wildly. He got them under control again. “Sagorn was the youngest. I put him in through a transom and he opened the door for the rest of us and we started lookin’ around and then right away we saw that there were odd things in there and Andor said we oughta leave and I said awright and we headed for the door and then Orarinsagu appeared, all fire in the dark, and we couldn’t move.”
Green fire. He tucked his hands under his arms to stop them shaking. They were cold as a sexton’s boots. He was hunched, his gut all knotted up. He’d never told anyone about this and the horrors that came after.
“Go on,” Rap said to the grass. “You’ve started, so you’d better finish. You’ll feel better when you get it over with.” Thinal sniffled. “You won’t tell anyone?”