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"There was a big dust-up at Dejagore the other night. Shadowspinner hit the
burg with everything he had. He grabbed our friends by the short hairs. Then
what should pop up but two giant fire-breathing riders in black armor flinging
thunderbolts around and kicking ass wholesale. When the smoke cleared away it
was the Shadowlanders that got whupped. One of the prisoners saw it with his
own eyes. He said Shadowspinner had to yank everything out of his trick bag to
hold those two off. Here's the way they say it went down."
Swan kept a close eye on Blade while he chattered. There was some emotion
showing through that bland facade.
He finished his tale- "What you think, old buddy? Those two miracle visitors
sound like anybody we know?"
"Lady and Croaker. In their costume armor."
"Bingo! But?"
"He's dead and she's in Taglios."
"Two in a row. Give the man a prize. I think. So what the hell really went
down? Sindhu. What you grinning about, man?"
"Kina."
The others looked hard at the broad man. Mather said, "Descriptions again,
Willow."
Swan repeated.
Mather said, "Kina. The way she's described by people who know her."
"Not her," Sindhu said. "Kina sleeps. The Daughter is bound in flesh."
Sindhu's association with the Deceivers was an open secret. But he was not
much help. Usually it was like this. He would say one thing, then contradict
himself.
Swan said, "I'm not going to try to figure that out, buddy. Somebody fits the
description went in and tore them new buttholes down there. Kina or not-Kina,
I don't care. Somebody wanted people to think Kina. Right?"
Sindhu nodded.
"So who was that with her? That fit anywhere?"
Sindhu shook his head. "This confuses me."
Mather hoisted himself to a seat in the window. Swan shuddered. Cordy had a
forty-foot drop behind him. He said, "Be quiet. Let me think."
Swan echoed, "Quiet. Let him." Cordy was a genius when he took the trouble.
They waited. Swan paced. Blade studied the map. He let no time waste. Sindhu
remained impassive and still, yet seemed shaken.
Mather said, "There's another force in the field."
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"Say what?" Swan chirped.
"Only way it adds up, Willow. The Shadowmasters are out to get each other but
they wouldn't go that far. Helps us too much. Our side doesn't have anybody
who could pull off the sorcery angle. So somebody else did it."
"What the hell for?"
"To confuse things?"
"They did that. Why?"
"I couldn't guess."
"Then who?"
"I don't know. Just like everyone else won't know, and will be chasing their
tails trying to figure it out."
Was Blade listening? Didn't seem like it. He asked, "How bad were the
Shadowlanders hurt?"
"Huh?"
"Shadowspinner's armies. How bad off are they?"
"Bad enough they can't take a crack at Dejagore again till they get
replacements. But not so bad our guys have a crack at breaking out."
"Just enough interference to keep the balance, then."
"Our guys got cut up bad, way the prisoners talked. As many as half of them
killed. Meaning the Shadowmasters' men really got mauled."
"But they could still send out patrols for you to catch?"
"Shadowspinner is scared we'll move on him. He doesn't want any more
surprises."
Blade paced. He returned to the map, tapped out the garrisons and posts he had
established as much as a hundred fifty miles south. He paced. He asked Mather,
"Is it true? Or is it something they want us to believe? Bait for a trap?"
Swan said, "The prisoners believed it."
Blade said, "Sindhu, why haven't we heard from Hakim? Why did this news reach
us this way?"
"I don't know."
"Find out. Go talk to your friends right now. If this is true we should have
known before their patrol got here with the prisoners."
Sindhu departed, disturbed.
Swan said, "Now you got rid of him, what's on your mind?"
"Is the story true? That's what's on my mind. Sindhu has people babysitting
Dejagore. They should've had a messenger moving the minute the dust-up
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started. Another should've brought a complete report when it was over. One
might not have gotten through but two wouldn't have failed. We made that road
safe. We enlisted most of the bandits and feistier peasants."
"You think the prisoners are plants?"
Blade paced. "I don't know. If they are, why on you? Mather?"
Cordy thought. "If they're a plant we shouldn't have been the captors. Unless
their purpose is to cause confusion. Or they don't know the difference. It
could be they're telling the truth but we're not supposed to believe it
because you haven't heard from your scouts. It could be a device to buy time."
"Illusion," Swan said. "You remember what Croaker used to say? That his
favorite weapon was illusion?"
"That's not quite what he said, Willow," Mather corrected. "But close enough.
Somebody wants us to see something that isn't there. Or to ignore something
that is."
Blade said, "I'm moving."
Swan squawked. "What do you mean, moving?"
"I'm heading down there."
"Hey! Man! What are you, crazy? You're getting a little carried away, chasing
that tail."
Blade walked out.
Willow spun on Mather. "What do we do, Cordy?"
Mather shook his head. "I don't know about friend Blade anymore. He's looking
to get killed. Maybe we shouldn't have taken him away from those crocs."
"Yeah. Maybe. But what do we do now?"
"Send a message north. Then go with him."
"But..."
"We're in charge. We can do whatever we want." Mather hustled out.
"They're both crazy," Swan muttered. He looked at the map a minute, went to
the window, watched the excitement in Blade's camp, eyed the ford and the
swarming engineers setting wooden pylons for Lady's temporary bridge.
"Everybody's gone crazy." He laid a finger between his lips and wiggled it
furiously while saying, "Why the hell should I be any different?"
Chapter Thirty-Five
"That's it," I said. "I've had it." I'd just gotten word that a Vehdna priest,
Iman ul Habn Adr, had ordered Vehdna construction workers to abandon my camp
and report for work on that absurd city wall. It was the second defection of
the day. The Gunni contingent had walked an hour after starting time. "The
Shadar won't show tomorrow. They've finally decided to test me, Narayan.
Assemble the archers. Ram, send those messages I had the scribes prepare."
Narayan's eyes got big. He could not get himself moving. He did not believe I
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would do it. "Mistress?"
"Move."
They went.
I prowled, trying to walk off my anger. I had no reason to be mad. This was no
surprise. The cults had given me no grief since I had taken care of Tal. That
meant they were working things out between them before they tested me again.
I took advantage of the respite, recruiting two hundred men a day. I got the
camp established in temporary form. The stonework of the fortress, meant to
replace it, was well started. I'd gotten some of the men through the first
stages of their training. I had cajoled or extorted weapons and animals and
money and materials from the Prahbrindrah Drah. In that area I had more than I
needed.
I had stretched my talent considerably. I was still no threat even to Smoke
but my progress excited me.
The big negatives were the dreams and an incessant mild nausea I could not
shake. It might be the water at the campsite though it persisted when I
returned to the city. Probably it was mostly reaction to lack of sleep.
I refused to yield to the dreams. I refused to pay attention. I made them
something to be suffered through, like boils. Someday I would have the chance
to do something about them. Then balances would be redressed.
I watched my messengers trot toward town. Too late to back down now.
Succeed or fail, I would get their attention.
Ram helped me don my armor. A hundred men watched. The barracks remained as
overcrowded as ever, though I had moved five thousand men to the campsite.
"More volunteers than I know what to do with, Ram."
He grunted. "Lift your arm, Mistress."
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