“Oh yes, they found him.” Simeon spoke through a full mouth.
“Where is he now?”
“Dead.”
“How? Did he kill himself, like the other one?” Still chewing, Simeon shook his head. “Did a spider kill him?”
“No.” Simeon swallowed. “The spider had him pinned down so he couldn’t move a muscle. The first thing I did was take his knife away. Only then did the spider release him. I asked him questions, but he didn’t reply — he pretended not to understand. So I told the spider to hurt him a little — I didn’t like doing it but I wanted to learn where he came from. The spider squeezed him a little and he screamed. But he still wouldn’t talk. I’ll say this for him, he was a brave man.”
Niall winced at the picture Simeon conjured up. When Simeon spoke of squeezing he was not referring to physical pressure. A fully grown death spider could squeeze a man by sheer will-force, like a nut in a nutcracker, until he felt his bones cracking under the pressure. Niall had experienced it in his first encounter with the Death Lord, and the thought still made him shudder.
“What happened then?”
“They decided to take him back to the headquarters of the Spider Lord. I followed on in a chariot. But halfway across the bridge, they sent for me to come and examine him. He was dead.”
Veig said: “Probably died of fright.”
“No. It looked like a heart attack — blue lips and a dead white face.”
Niall asked: “Where is he now?”
“In the mortuary.”
“I’d like to see him.”
Simeon and Veig both stared at him with amazement.
“What for?” Simeon obviously suspected him of harboring some morbid obsession about corpses.
“There’s something I’d like to find out.”
Veig asked: “Is it a secret?”
“No.” He turned to Simeon, who had resumed eating. “Was this man wearing a pendant around his neck?”
“Yes.”
“Did you remove it?”
“No. Why should I? It was the same as this one.” He gestured toward his chest.
Niall experienced a chill that was like a cold wind. “You’re wearing it round your neck?”
“Yes. Why not?”
Niall kept his voice calm and casual. “Could I see it please?” He held out his hand. Simeon was obviously puzzled; nevertheless he reached under his tunic, lifted the gold chain over his head, and handed the pendant to Niall. As Niall held it in the palm of his hand, he felt for a moment that it was alive, like some small insect; he dropped it hastily. A moment later, when he picked it up again, the sense of life had vanished; it was merely a piece of metal alloy. Moved by some natural instinct, he dropped it into his glass of mead. The other two were watching him with astonishment.
Simeon asked: “What was all that about?”
Niall hesitated, realizing that it would sound absurd; for a moment he even thought of prevaricating, then decided against it. He gestured at the glass. “I think that’s what killed him.”
Simeon shook his head in bewilderment. “Why?”
Niall said: “Why do you suppose they were all wearing these things around their necks? As some kind of decoration? That would be stupid. If one of them was caught, it would mean that the other two could be identified more easily. No, it’s some kind of communicator.”
Both of them stared at the pendant, which was now coated with bubbles. Simeon asked: “What makes you think so?”
“I took the other one into the white tower.”
Simeon nodded. “Aha, I see!”
Niall allowed the misapprehension to stand; it saved explanation.
Veig said: “But why did you put it in there?”
“Because wine is alive. The vibrations might confuse it.”
Simeon said: “But a communicator can’t kill.”
Niall said: “I think this kind can.”
Veig was still unsatisfied. “But why do you think so?”
For a moment Niall considered telling them about his experience in the tower, then dismissed the idea; it would take too long, and place too great a demand on their credulity. The internalizer had to be experienced to be understood. Instead he said: “It’s just a guess. That’s why I’d like to see the body.” He asked Simeon: “Will you come with me?”
“Of course. But do you mind if I finish eating first? He won’t get up and walk away.”
“I’m sorry.” Niall had forgotten that Simeon was tired. “Please don’t hurry.”
Aware that he had sounded brusque, Simeon said: “You haven’t finished eating either.”
“No, of course.” Niall forced himself to eat a piece of buttered bread; but his appetite had gone.
As Veig and Simeon emptied the carafe of mead, he pretended to listen to their conversation. But as his thoughts revolved around the pendant and the man with the pointed head, he found himself wishing that he could talk to Dravig; it was so much easier to communicate with an intelligent spider than with a human being. The image of the man in the black robe was so vivid that he seemed to be able to see the bushy eyebrows, the pointed ears, the webbed fingers, and had to shake his head to disperse the illusion. A moment later he was staring at the rising bubbles in the glass, and experiencing a curious passivity that was akin to hypnosis.
There was a thunderous knocking that shocked him into attention; he started as if from sleep. A moment later he realized with astonishment that it had only been the sound of Nephtys tapping at the door.
She said: “The Lord Dravig is here my lord.”
“Good. Ask him to come in.”
Veig and Simeon clambered to their feet as Dravig entered the room; they were sufficiently conditioned to feel uncomfortable remaining seated in the presence of a spider. Niall acknowledged the gesture of obeisance with an inclination of his head.
“I am glad to see you.”
Dravig said: “I felt that you wanted to see me — that is why I came.”
The other two resumed their seats. Aware that spiders had a distaste for the sight of human beings engaged in eating, Niall said: “Let us go into the other room.” He asked Nephtys: “Please tell Jarita to bring more wine for my guests.”
The bedroom was illuminated by the clear light of the moon, which shone through the window, and by the red glow from the stove. Niall said: “Simeon has told me about the man’s death. Do you know how it happened?”
“No. But I suspect he was killed.”
“So do I.” For several moments neither of them spoke; since their minds were open to one another, there was no element of discomfort in the silence. Then Niall said: “Do you know this man?”
He accompanied the words with a mental image of the man in the black robe; it was exactly as if he had shown Dravig a photograph.
“No. Who is he?”
“The man who sent the killers.”
Dravig said: “Then your own life is in danger.” He had made this statement out of his total grasp of the situation, and again Niall experienced the satisfaction of direct communication. He said: “I know.”
“You must take special precautions. I will send guards to stand outside your palace.”
“Thank you.” Niall disliked the idea, but he knew it was common sense. Anyone could walk into the palace at any time. Until today he had felt totally secure. But the man who had been responsible for the death of two assassins was himself an obvious target for assassination.
Dravig said: “I will go and attend to it now.”
“Wait. There is something else I have to talk to you about. Did you know that Skorbo was still killing and eating human beings?”
“No!” The force of Dravig’s surprise made it evident that he was speaking the truth.
“My brother tells me that many people knew about it, including Sidonia, the commander of the Death Lord’s guard.”
“Then why did she not speak? She shall be punished.”
“No. She is not to blame. Like the others, she assumed the Death Lord knew about it.”
“That is absurd!” Dravig was close to anger. “The Death Lord gave you his word, and his word is sacred.”
“I know that. But the human beings of this city do not yet understand it. They must be given time to learn.”
Dravig had already sensed the next thought that Niall was about to express.
“Was Skorbo the only one?”
“No. I gather there were a number of others — Skorbo’s close associates.”
“I know who they must be. Skorbo had his own special friends — all came from the same region of Astigia, where the Black God of the Mountain is worshiped. I was told they were infidels, but I never believed it until now. They must be punished.”
“Is that wise?” The spider expressed incomprehension. “It might cause resentment to punish spiders for killing human beings.”