Eddings, David – Tamuli – 02 – The Shining Ones

‘Oh, yes, and Danae’s stranger than most.

‘i’m glad I was able to catch the two of you alone,’ Stragen

said then. ‘There’s something I’d like to talk over with you before

I mention it to the others.’ Stragen was absently twiddling two

gold Elenic half-crowns in his right hand, ccarefully running one

fingertip across the milled edges and hefting them slightly as if

trying to determine their weight. Baroness Melidere’s confession

appeared to have unsettled him just a bit. ‘Zalasta’s little fit of

rage wasn’t quite as irrational as we thought it would be. Turning

the Trolls loose on northern Atan was the most disruptive

thing he could have done to us. We’ll have to deal with that, of

course, but I think we’d better start preparing for his next move.

Trolls don’t need much supervision once they’ve been pointed

in the right direction, so Zalasta’s free to work on something

else now, wouldn’t you say?’

‘Probably,’ Sparhawk agreed.

‘Now, I could be wrong…’

‘But you don’t think you are.’ Vanion completed his sentence

sardonicallly.

‘He’s in a touchy mood today, isn’t he,’ Stragen said to

Sparhawk.

‘He’s got a lot on his mind.’

“it’s my guess that whatever Zalasta comes up with next is

going to involve those conspirators Sarabian and Ehlana left in

place for lack of jail cells.’

“it could just as easily involve the armies Parok, Amador and

Elron have raised in western Tamuli,’ Vanion disagreed.

Stragen shook his head. ‘Those armies were raised to keep

the Church Knights off the continent, Lord Vanion, And they

were raised at Cyrgon’s specific orders. If Zalasta risked them

now, he’d have to answer to Cyrgon for it, and I don’t think

he’s that brave yet.’

‘Maybe you’re right,’ Vanion conceded. ‘All right, let’s say

that he wi’ll use those second-level conspirators. Sarabian and

Ehlana have already set things in motion to round them up.’

‘Why bother rounding them up at all, my Lord?’

‘To get them off the streets, for one thing. Then there’s also

the small detail of the fact that they’re guilty of high treason.

They need to be tried and punished.’

‘Why?’

‘As an example, you idiot!’ Vanion flared.

‘I’ll agree that getting them off the streets is important, Lord

Vanion, but there are more effective ways to make examples of

people – not only more effective, but more terrifyingly certain.

When you send policemen out to arrest people, it’s noisy, and

usually others hear the noise and manage to escape. There’s

also the fact that trials are tedious, expensive, and not absolutely

certain.’

‘You’ve got an alternative in mind, I gather,’ Sparhawk said.

‘Naturally. Why not have the executions first and the trials

later?’

They stared at him.

‘i’m sort of extending the idea I had the other day,’ Stragen

said. ‘Caalador and I have access to a number of non-squeamish

professionals who can carry out the executions privately.’

‘You’re talking about murder, Stragen,’ Vanion accused.

‘Why, yes, Lord Vanion, I believe that is the term some people

do use to describe it. The whole idea behind “examples” is to

frighten others so much that they won’t commit the same crime.

It doesn’t really work, because criminals know that their chances

of being caught and punished are very slim.’ he shrugged. “it’s

just one of the hazards of doing business. We professional criminals

break laws all the time. We don’t, however, break our own

rules. People in our society who break the rules aren’t afforded

the courtesy of being tried. They’re just killed. No acquittals, no

pardons, no last-minute jail-breaks. Dead. Period. Case closed.

The justice of regular society is slow and uncertain. Ours is just

the opposite. If you want to use terror to keep people honest,

use real terror.’

“it has got possibilities, Vanion,’ Sparhawk suggested tentatively.

‘You’re not seriously considering it, are you? There are thousands

of those people out there you’rE talking about the largest

mass murder in history!’

“it’s a way to get my name in the record books, anyway,’

Stragen shrugged. ‘Caalador and I are probably going to do this

anyway. We’re both impatient men. I wouldn’t have bothered

you about it, but I thought I’d like to get your views on the

subject. Should we tell Sarabian and Ehlana, or should we just

go ahead and not bother them? Discussions about relative morality

are so tedious, don’t you think? The point here is that we

need to come up with something that will unhinge Zalasta all

the more, and I think this might be it. If he wakes up some

morning in the not too distant future and finds himself absolutely

and totally alone, it might give him some second thoughts

about the wisdom of his course. Oh, incidentally, I’ve borrowed

Berit and Xanetia. They’re taking a stroll in the vicinity of the

Cynesgan embassy so that Xanetia can run that dip-net of hers

through the minds of the people inside. We’ve got quite a few

names, but I’m sure there are more.’

‘Doesn’t she have to be in the same room with somebody to

listen to his thoughts?’ Vanion asked.

‘She’s not really certain. She’s never had occasion to test the

limits of her gift. The expedition today is something in the nature

of an experiment. We’re hoping that she’ll be able to reach in

through the walls and pull out the names of the people inside.

If she can’t, I’ll find some way to get her inside so that she can

seine out what we need. Caalador and I want as much information

and as many names as we can get. Setting up the largest

mass murder in history is a very complicated business, and we

don’t want to have to do it twice.’

‘Because Caalador and I are going to use the information to

set that new world record I was telling you about yesterday.

Sarabian hasn’t authorized it yet, so let’s not upset him over

something he doesn’t need to know about – at least not until

we’ve stacked all the bodies in neat piles.’

Chapter 24

princess Danae fell ill the next day. It was nothing clearly definable.

There was no fever, no rash, and no cough involved – only

a kind of listless weakness. The princess seemed to have no

appetite, and it was difficult to wake her.

“It’s the same thing as it was last month,’ Mirtai assured the

little girl’s worried parents. ‘She needs a tonic, that’s all.’

Sparhawk, however, knew that Mirtai was wrong. Danae had

not really been ill the previous month. The Child Goddess made

light of her ability to be in two places at the same time, but her

father knew that when her attention was firmly fixed on what

was going on in one place, she would be semi-comatose in the

other. This illness was quite different somehow. ‘Why don’t you

go ahead and try a tonic, Ehlana?’ he suggested. ‘I’ll go talk

with Sephrenia. Maybe she can think of something else.’

He found Sephrenia sitting moodily in her room. She was

looking out the window, although it was fairly obvious that she

did not even see the view. ‘We’ve got a problem, little mother,’

Sparhawk said, closing the door behind him. ‘Danae’s sick.’

She turned sharply, her eyes startled. ‘That’s absurd, Sparhawk.

She doesn’t get sick. She can’t.’

“I didn’t think so myself, but she’s sick all the same. It’s nothing

really tangible, no overt symptoms or anything like that, but

she’s definitely not well.’

Sephrenia rose quickly. ‘i’d better go have a look,’ she said.

‘Maybe I can get her to tell me what’s wrong. Is she alone?’

‘No. Ehlana’s with her. I don’t think she’ll be willing to leave.

Won’t that complicate things?’

‘I’ll take care of it. Let’s get to the bottom of this before it goes

any further.’

Sephrenia’s obvious concern worried Sparhawk all the more.

He followed her back to the royal quarters with growing aprehension.

She was right about’ one thing. Aphrael was not in

any way susceptible to human illnesses, so this was no simple

miasmic fever or one of the innumerable childhood diseases that

humans catch, endure and get over. he dismissed out of

hand the notion that there could be such a thing as the sniffles

of the Gods.

Sephrenia was very business-like. She was muttering the

Styric spell before she even entered Danae’s room.

‘Thank God you’re here, Sephrenia!’ Ehlana exclaimed, half

rising from her chair beside the little girl’s bed. ‘I’ve been so…’

Sephrenia released the spell with a curious flick of her hand,

and Ehlana’s eyes went blank. She froze in place, half risen from

her chair and with one hand partially extended.

Sephrenia approached the bed, sat on the edge of it, and took

the little girl in her arms. ‘Aphrael,’ she said, ‘wake up. It’s me

Sephrenia. ‘

The Child Goddess opened her eyes and began to cry.

‘What is it?’ Sephrenia asked, holding her sister even more

tightly and rocking back and forth with her.

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