“You can always conjure up more,” said Bane happily. “C’mon, dog.”
The two clattered away, heading for the ship’s stern. Haplo watched the rain slide down the windowpane, H thought back to when he’d first brought the boy to the Nexus…
…”The kid’s name is Bane, Lord,” said Haplo. “I know,” he added, seeing Xar’s frown, “it’s a strange name for a human child, but, once you know his history, the name makes sense. You’ll find an account of him there, Lord, in my journal.”
Xar fingered the document but did not open it. Haplo remained standing in respectful silence, waiting for his lord to apeak. The lord’s next question was not entirely unexpected. “I asked you to bring me a disciple from this world, Haplo. Arianus is, as you describe it, a world in chaos: elves, dwarves, humans all fighting each other, the elves fighting among themselves. A serious shortage of water, due to the failure of the Sartan to align the floating islands and make their fantastic machine operational. When I begin my conquest, I will need a lieutenant, preferably one of the mensch, to to Arianus and gain control over the people in my name Awhile I am busy elsewhere. And for this purpose you bring me a ten-year-old human child?”
The child under discussion was asleep in a back bedroom in Xar’s dwelling. Haplo had left the dog with him, to give its master notice if Bane woke. Haplo did not flinch beneath his Lord’s stern gaze. Xar was not doubting his minion; the Lord was puzzled, perplexed—a feeling Haplo could well understand. He’d been prepared for the question, he was prepared with the answer.
“Bane is no ordinary mensch child, Lord. As you will note in the journal*—”
*Haplo, Ananus, World of Air, vol. I of Death Gale Journal.
“I will read the journal later, at my leisure. I would be much interested to hear your report on the child now.”
Haplo bowed in compliance, sat down in the chair Xar indicated with a wave of his hand.
“The boy is the son of two humans known among their people as mysteriarchs—powerful wizards, by mensch standards, at least. The father called himself Sinistrad, the mother’s name is Iridal. These mysteriarchs with their great skill in magic considered the rest of the human race barbaric boors. The mystenarchs left the fighting and chaos in the Mid Realms, traveled up to the High Realms. Here they discovered a land of beauty that, unfortunately for them, turned out to be a death trap.
“The High Realms had been created by the rune-magic of the Sartan. The mystenarchs had no more idea how to read Sartan magic than a toddler can read a treatise on metaphysics. Their crops withered in the fields, water was scarce, the rarefied air was difficult to breathe. Their people began to die out. The mysteriarchs knew they had to flee this place, return to the Mid Realms. But, like most humans, they feared their own kind. They were afraid to admit their weakness. And so they determined that when they went back, it would be as conquerors, not as supplicants.
“The boy’s father, Sinistrad, devised a remarkable plan. The human king of the Mid Realms, one Stephen, and his wife, Anne, had given birth to an heir to the throne. At about that same time, Sinistrad’s own wife, Iridal, gave birth to their son. Sinistrad switched the babies, taking his own child down to the Mid Realms and bringing Stephen’s son back to the Upper Realms. It was Sinistrad’s intent to use Bane—as heir to the throne—to gain control of the Mid Realms.
“Of course, everyone in the Mid Realms knew the babies had been switched, but Sinistrad had cleverly cast a charm upon his son that made everyone who looked on the child dote on him. When Bane was a year old, Sinistrad came to Stephen and informed the king of his plan. King Stephen was powerless to fight the mysteriarch. In their hearts, Stephen and Anne loathed and feared the changeling—that was why they named him Bane—but the enchantment around him was so strong that they could do nothing themselves to get rid of him. Finally, in desperation, they hired an assassin to take Bane away and kill him.