He watched to see where the stone landed—a far distance inside. He had only to walk in the Gate, walk as far as the stone. Surely, he had that much courage. Surely, he could do that much for his son….
Haplo turned, abruptly walked away. The dog, caught flat-footed by his master’s sudden move, was forced to run to catch up.
Haplo berated himself for a coward, but the accusation was halfhearted. He knew his own worth, knew that his decision wasn’t based on fear but on logic. The old man had been right.
“Getting myself killed won’t help anyone. Not the child, not his mother—if she’s still alive—not my people. Not Alfred.
“I will ask my lord to come with me,” Haplo said, walking faster, his excitement, determination mounting. “And my lord will come. He’ll be eager to, when I tell him what the old man said. Together, we’ll go deep into the Labyrinth, deeper than he’s ever gone. We’ll find this Vortex, if it exists. We’ll find Alfred and… whoever else. Then we’ll go to Abarrach. I’ll take my lord to the Chamber of the Damned and he will learn for himself—”
“Hullo, Haplo. When did you get back?”
Haplo’s heart lurched. He looked down.
“Oh, Bane,” he muttered.
“I’m glad to see you, too,” said Bane, with a sly smile that Haplo ignored.
He was back in the Nexus, he’d entered the city without even knowing it.
After his greeting, Bane raced off. Haplo watched him go. Running through the streets of the Nexus, Bane dodged the Patryns, who regarded him with patient tolerance. Children were rare and precious beings—the continuation of the race. Haplo was not sorry to see the boy leave. He needed to be alone with his thoughts.
He recalled vaguely that he was supposed to take Bane back to Arianus, start the machine working.
Start the machine working.
Well, that could wait. Wait until he came back out of the Labyrinth…
You must get the machine working. Then the citadels will begin to shine. The durnai will awaken. When all that happens —if all that happens—the Labyrinth will start to change. Better for you. Better for them.
“Oh, what do you know, old man?” Haplo muttered. “Just another crazy Sartan…”
CHAPTER 7
THE NEXUS
BANE HAD STUDIED HAPLO CLOSELY FOR SEVERAL MOMENTS AFTER HIS greeting, noted that the man was paying more attention to inward musmgs than outward influences. Excellent, the child thought and dashed on ahead. It doesn’t matter if Haplo sees me now. Probably wouldn’t have mattered if he’d noticed me watching him earlier. Adults have a tendency to overlook the presence of a child, to treat a child as if it were a dumb animal and could not possibly understand what was going on, what was being said. Bane had discovered this tendency early in his short life, had fi used it often to his own advantage.
But Bane had learned to be careful around Haplo. Although Bane despised the man, as he despised nearly every I adult, the child had been forced to concede Haplo grudging respect. He wasn’t as stupid as most adults. Therefore, Bane had taken extra precautions. But now the need for caution was ended, the need for haste urgent.
Bane ran through the forest, nearly knocking over a Patryn, lounging along the path, who gazed after the child with eyes that glinted red in the twilight. Reaching the lord’s house, Bane hurled open the door and dashed into the study. The lord was not there.
For an instant, Bane panicked. Xar had left for Abarrach already! Then he paused a moment to catch his breath, consider.
No, that couldn’t be possible. The lord had not given Bane final instructions, nor said good-bye. Bane breathed easier and, his head clear, he knew where he would find his adopted “grandfather.”
Proceeding through the large house, Bane walked out a door at the back, emerged onto a broad expanse of smooth green lawn. A ship, covered with runes, stood in the lawn’s center. Haplo would have recognized the ship—it was similar in almost every detail to the one he’d flown through Death’s Gate to Arianus. Limbeck, the Geg on Arianus, would have recognized the ship, for it was similar to the vessel he had discovered wrecked on one of the isles of Drevlin in Arianus.*