The reply of the Spider Lord, couched in the unaccustomed vibration of the bombardier beetles, sounded like a stutter of rage.
“This human creature is the murderer of many of my people. He deserves death a thousand times over. I think that my claim upon him is greater than that of your Master.” The web itself vibrated, as if shaken by some huge body.
“That may be so, but. . .”
“You have delivered your message. Now go.”
The menace conveyed by this order was formidable; it made Niall’s skin crawl. He expected to see the ambassador leave the hall; no other response seemed possible. To his surprise, the ambassador stood his ground.
“As his escort, I demand the right to remain.”
It spoke quietly and without bluster; yet behind the words, Niall could sense a steely determination. He suddenly understood why the spiders had made war on the bombardier beetles, and why they had finally been obliged to make peace.
The captain of the guard had taken a step forward: he seemed prepared to make a physical assault on the ambassador. A wordless order from the Spider Lord made him withdraw. When the Spider Lord spoke again, its voice seemed quieter and more reasonable.
“I have asked you to leave. Your presence is not required.”
The ambassador spoke in a clear voice.
“Your discourtesy forces me to speak frankly. The Master wishes you to know that if you kill this human being, he will be forced to hand over the stolen weapons to his human servants, and allow them to take revenge. That would mean more deaths among your people.”
Even before he had finished speaking, the room seemed to be filled with a cold and violent rage; it was as powerful as a storm at sea, and Niall braced himself instinctively, and prepared for a brutal blow. When he looked at the beetle-ambassador, he saw with amazement that he seemed to be unaffected by it, and was gazing quietly and calmly into the darkness of the cobwebs. Niall was overcome with admiration, which in turn allowed him to re-establish control over himself.
The Spider Lord also seemed to recognise that this rage betrayed a lack of self-control. When he spoke again, the voice was unexpectedly calm.
“I have no intention of killing him. Death would be too easy. Now do me the favour of leaving me alone with him.”
The beetle stood his ground. “I am sorry. I must stay.”
Again the captain made a menacing move forward; again he was halted by a wordless command. There was a silence, then the Spider Lord said:
“Very well, remain. But since this is my domain I impose the conditions. You must promise to remain silent. Is that agreed?”
“It is agreed.”
“Good. If you break your word, you have also broken our agreement, and the prisoner’s life will be forfeit.”
The ambassador said stiffly: “I cannot agree to that.”
“It makes no difference whether you agree or not. Now be silent.” Niall had the uncomfortable feeling that the Spider Lord’s temper was close to breaking point.
Then the voice spoke again inside his chest.
“It seems I have been forced to spare your life. But a crime like yours cannot go unpunished. Therefore I have decided that you should also taste the pain of bereavement. Your family must die in your place.”
Niall said nothing, but his heart seemed to turn to ashes.
The Spider Lord addressed the ambassador.
“You agree that you have no right to object to what happens to my other prisoners?”
For the moment the ambassador was silent; then he made a gesture of acknowledgement.
The delay had given Niall time to think. He said:
“You want my co-operation. If you harm my family, that will be impossible.”
“Nothing is impossible.” The voice was soft, but there was a hard edge of brutality. “Allow me to prove it to you. You will bow down on the ground and acknowledge me as your lord.”
Niall stood there, waiting. He had no intention of bowing before the Spider Lord; the very idea filled him with angry contempt. Then, to his horror, he felt the will of the Spider Lord take possession of his body. He tried to resist, but it was impossible. This will was like the coils of some gigantic snake, winding around him and squeezing him until he felt breathless. His body was totally incapable of movement; at the same time, it became numb, as if he had been frozen inside a block of ice. Even the muscles of his eyes were paralysed, so that he could not glance sideways towards the ambassador. Not a nerve or a muscle was capable of obeying his volition.
Then he felt his knees bending as he knelt down on the floor. His head bowed in a gesture of submission. His hands stretched out in front of him, and he touched his forehead on the floor. His lips moved, and he heard his voice say: “You are my lord, O great one.”
The voice said: “Good. Now stand up, and ask the ambassador to leave the room.”
Like a glove puppet, obedient to the invisible hand inside it, Niall’s body stood up again, and turned towards the beetle-ambassador. His voice said:
“I am asking you to leave me alone with the Death Lord.”
He felt the beetle’s mind trying to probe his own; but it was incapable of tuning in to his wavelength. As he stared into its black eyes, Niall was aware that he was incapable of changing even the expression in his own eyes.
The beetle replied: “I am sorry, but I would be disobeying the Master if I left you alone here.”
Niall sent out an impulse of gratitude, and felt relief as he saw that the beetle-ambassador had received it. The slight tremor of its feelers was unmistakable. The knowledge that he had succeeded in communicating helped to free him from the sense of impotence that was numbing his mind into submission. But as he tried to send another message, his brain itself was gripped in the vice of the Spider Lord’s will, so that even the mental impulse was frozen.
The voice of the Spider Lord said:
“Now tell me what you came here to say.”
Niall heard his voice replying:
“The Master has asked me to say that he wishes to re-establish peace between his people and yours. I am willing to do whatever I can to bring that about.”
“Even if it means swearing to become my servant?”
“Yes.”
“Good. Then kneel down and say: from this moment I am the servant of the Death Lord, and swear to obey all his commands.”
Niall struggled to establish control, and to throw off this grip of steel that controlled his body and brain. For a moment, he succeeded; his eyes expressed defiance and his lips remained closed. Then the pressure became more than he could bear. He heard his voice say: “From this moment I am the servant of the Death Lord, and swear to obey all his commands.”
Yet even as he spoke, his mind continued to express defiance. It brought a peculiar feeling of triumph: the knowledge that his will remained free and unbroken. From the increased pressure, he could tell that this infuriated his enemy. Only total submission could satisfy the Spider Lord. He longed to break Niall’s will, and to force him to cringe and beg for mercy. And in spite of his helplessness, Niall knew that his will was beyond the control of the Spider Lord.
The beetle-ambassador was puzzled. He was only half-convinced by Niall’s apparent surrender, suspecting that Niall had reasons of his own for pretending to submit to the will of the Spider Lord. But he was determined not to be persuaded to leave without Niall. For this Niall was deeply grateful.
The Spider Lord said: “Good. I accept your oath of loyalty. Now I shall submit you to your first test. You must tell your family that they are to die to expiate your crime against my people.” He addressed the captain of the guard. “Bring in the prisoners.”
The ambassador said angrily: “This is going too far.”
The Spider Lord said: “You have broken your oath of silence.” The room was suddenly full of a heavy atmosphere of menace. Although he was unable to turn his head, Niall could sense that the ambassador had decided to obey.
The captain of the guard had gone to the door; Niall heard it open. Then footsteps came into the room. His brother Veig walked past him; but for a moment, Niall failed to recognise him. Veig was wearing a kind of fur hat that covered his face like a hood, and his hands were tied behind him. Siris came next, with Runa and Mara on either side of her. All three were wearing the same fur hoods, and their hands were also tied behind them. Siris, Runa and Mara were joined together by a cord connecting their wrists. The captain ordered them to halt, and they stood there passively, facing the shadowy web. Niall thought they seemed to be oddly listless, as if drugged. Then the captain ordered them to turn round; when they did so, Niall could see that the hoods were masks, with holes cut for the eyes, and a broad slit for the mouth. Through these slits, Niall could see that they had all been gagged. There was something horribly chilling in the sight of these fur hoods, and in the expressionless eyes that looked out from behind them. Suddenly, Niall was glad of the icy grip that squeezed him so relentlessly; it numbed the despair that rose up inside him. For the first time, he suspected that the Death Lord was planning some unimaginable cruelty.