Against the Giants

17

Greenish light still leaked through the ice, but it was notas bright now that they were going deeper into the hold. They could still see each other and ahead for at least four long strides, but beyond that was only emerald dimness.

They reached level ground and emerged into a long, high-vaulted cavern. Passages vanished into gloom south and east. It was very quiet here, and neither Malowan nor Nemis could find any sign of guards down the passages. The mage froze, hands moving in some spell and eyes fixed on an enormous boulder leaning against the east wall.

“There is a dragon beyond that,” he breathed.

“Dragon?” Khlened demanded softly. His eyes gleamed, butbefore he could move, Vlandar gripped his shoulder and shook his head. The barbarian cast his eyes up but turned away.

“Remember what I said above!” the warrior ordered quietly.“We are not in this place for treasure or to kill dragons!”

“Aye, sir.” Khlened cast one last wistful look at the blockedentry. “Which way’s ours, then? Yon?” He pointed at the south passages.

Malowan shook his head.

“Giants?” asked Rowan.

“Something unpleasant,” Malowan whispered. “To the west,giants. Our way.”

Nemis was already across the chamber, hands flat on a massive slab of stone. Malowan went over to join him while Vlandar beckoned the others close. “There are guards in the chamber beyond,” he whispered. “They will bewarned someone is here when that stone is moved. It won’t be quiet. If we canlure them into this area…”

Lhors swallowed dread. Was Vlandar asking him to volunteer?

But the warrior had already turned to Agya. “You’ll go intotheir sight, hesitate only long enough to draw them, then run.”

The little thief was very pale. She bit her lip and nodded.

“Good lass. Everyone else, along the west wall where no oneinside will see you. Go.”

Vlandar drew Lhors with him to the north. Khlened and Bleryn joined them, while the rangers, Gerikh, and Florimund went south. Agya raised her chin, shoved the hood from her short red hair, and found a place nearly mid-cavern to stand where she’d be seen.

Nemis motioned for Malowan to get back then raised his hands. The boulder vibrated and emitted a clear, deep tone, like an enormous bell. In the silence that followed, they could hear two or more guards mumbling just beyond as the stone silently moved toward them. At Nemis’ gesture, it glided tothe side and came to rest against the south wall. Lhors could just make out Rowan kneeling behind it, an arrow at the ready. Malowan blocked his view south. The youth turned his head so he could watch Agya.

The little thief’s eyes were huge, but she held her ground astwo leather-clad brutes, one clutching a huge chunk of ice, emerged cautiously and stared at the girl. Her lips twitched in a nervous grin. “N-nice t’see it’sonly two ’f ya in there!” She turned and sprinted toward the upper level,and the guards casually went after her. One was chuckling, and the brute with the ice tossed it over his shoulder. Easy prey, they clearly thought.

Malowan stood so near Lhors, he could hear the paladin quietly praying. “Heironeous, see my need and judge of my worth: I ask of you ahammer.” It made no sense to Lhors, but suddenly a ruddy light formed above theman’s head, elongating and shifting to resemble a warhammer. The paladin gazedat the giants who were nearly upon his ward and whispered, “Go!” The hammer flewacross the chamber, slamming into one enormous head and then the other. The first giant went to his knees, clutching his skull. The second fell flat and did not move.

Before Malowan could use the weapon again, Khlened, Bleryn, and Vlandar were across the room, weapons drawn, and the guards were dispatched without a fight-and with scarcely any sound other than the bell-like soundNemis’ spell on the stone had made.

The two dead guards were dragged partway up the tunnel near the entry passage, which Nemis had already checked. “It goes nowhere, andnothing lives there,” he assured Vlandar.

Rowan got Lhors’ attention and drew him into the nextchamber with her, leaving Maera to manage Florimund. The youth glanced back, caught Vlandar’s nod, and went, a spear ready to throw in one hand and threebunched in the other.

This new chamber was long and relatively narrow-a true caverninstead of an ice cave. Other caves branched off here and there, and outcroppings of rock blocked their view ahead. He could only tell that much because there was light somewhere beyond them.

Plenty of places to hide, Rowan signed as the others cameup. Malowan nodded. Agya leaned against him, eyes still huge. Guess she really was scared, Lhors thought. She didn’t seem to like letting the paladin hold hervery often. Beyond the pair, Lhors could just make out Nemis, resettling the great stone against the entry.

It was very quiet here, and though the wind at their backs died away as the rock settled into place, it was still dreadfully cold. Lhors’fingertips were going to ice prickles through the thick mitts.

Malowan drew them to a halt midway down the cavern where it suddenly narrowed. A broad opening went south into darkness. Agya hesitated here, sniffing gingerly. Her nose wrinkled. Something unpleasant there, Lhors was certain. As they passed the entry, even he could smell the unlovely mix of unwashed bodies, rotting bits of meat, and foul blankets.

The cavern widened again, and there seemed to be rock walls everywhere, making lighting from the west uncertain. Lhors thought he could see another boulder to their north-perhaps another doorway. He shifted his grip onthe spears so he had one ready to throw and hoped they weren’t going to gothere-or into a lot of unpleasant dead-ends and near-traps, as they had in theSteading. Vlandar won’t let us, he reminded himself. Indeed, Vlandar glancedthat way and as Khlened eyed it curiously, Vlandar tapped the barbarian on the arm and firmly shook his head. The Fist shrugged, then nodded, and turned his attention back to the main way.

Vlandar sent Rowan and Lhors out ahead, getting Malowan to test north and west while Nemis used yet another of what Lhors thought must be an endless supply of reveal danger spells on the south cave. At least you do not need to understand magic for it to protect you, he told himself as he followed Rowan along the south wall.

The ranger stopped abruptly and held up a hand for silence. Lhors listened. He could hear nothing out of the ordinary. There was just enough whine of moving wind through openings in the stone high above to make everything sound like a stealthy enemy to him. The ranger drew him close and sent her eyes into the passage where it bulged wide and turned south.

He could see them all at once. Guards surrounded three giantesses.

Rowan signed urgently, and Lhors backed away. As soon as they were out of sight, they both turned and ran. Guards! Lhors signed to the others. It was all he could recall at the moment.

It was enough. Vlandar got everyone around the back of a tall ledge and into gloom just as three fur-clad giantesses sauntered up the hall. Several ogre servants and a pair of armed giant guards loped just behind them.

The company held their breath, except Florimund, who seemed to be fighting a sneeze. Nemis dove into his belt for something and moved his hands. The wounded half-elf’s jaw went slack and his eyes shut as he sagged atthe knees. Maera clutched him in dismay as the giantesses and their servants wandered by. They turned right at the bend and kept going out into the entry. Lhors could hear the stone shift gratingly, and then they were gone.

“What is wrong with Florimund?” Maera breathed.

“I sent him to sleep,” the mage replied, “in a way. If he’dsneezed just now-”

“What do you mean, in a way?” the ranger demanded.

“He’ll follow where you lead him, but he won’t be aware,”Nemis replied. “He won’t speak or cry out-and he won’t feel pain, as he clearlyhas all the way here.”

Maera gave him a scorching look before she turned away to help the blank-faced Florimund to his feet.

Vlandar looked around. “We should-Mal, what is it?”

He broke off as the paladin came up to him. In the faint light, the man’s face was grim. “There is another ledge to our west, and aprisoner is locked away beyond it. I sense fear and hatred of frost giants, and pain.”

“An ally?” Vlandar murmured as he tugged his cloak closer. Hegave Maera and Florimund a glance. “Or just another…?” He let the statementgo unfinished.

“I cannot say. If not an ally, we can bespell it and leave.If an ally, though…” The paladin let the thought hang.

Vlandar nodded-reluctantly, Lhors thought. He gestured forMalowan to lead on.

“I will wait here with my cousin,” Maera said stiffly. “Tokeep watch.”

“Watch south,” Rowan told her. “I will tend to the east.”

Malowan was already gone the way he’d come, Agya on hisheels.

Nemis met Vlandar’s eyes. “I will stay as well,” he saidquietly. “There may be things here we cannot see.”

The warrior gestured assent and put Lhors in front of him. He motioned for the others to follow. Lhors glanced back at Maera, who knelt next to her sleeping companion. Why does Vlandar not seem to trust her, all of a sudden? he wondered. He had seen the same lack of trust in his father toward certain village boys who’d once hunted with them-but they weren’t just aftermeat for a village here. If Vlandar really was worried about Florimund or Maera, wouldn’t he just get Nemis to send them away? Perhaps Nemis couldn’t do that, ormaybe something else was going on.

Another massive boulder blocked part of the west wall. It took Khlened, Bleryn, and Vlandar to shift it far enough for them to enter the chamber beyond. Vlandar left Bleryn and Gerikh at the opening and let Malowan lead the way in.

The chamber was poorly lit and sparely furnished. A huge pallet with massive chains was bolted to the wall at head and foot, and a giant three times Malowan’s size lay fettered to the bed. Just out of the giant’sreach, a low table held an ewer and some bits of bread and bone. Malowan was already next to the bed, speaking quickly and urgently to the prisoner in Giantish. Agya was glaring at the little table, and Lhors’ nose wrinkled as hecame close enough for his own chilled nose to work. The pitcher held swampy-smelling water. The bread crust was white and the rest pale greenish. The bone was huge but bare of meat, and he could see where it had been gnawed.

He blinked as the prisoner answered Malowan. The voice was deep, but not masculine-deep. What could one of their females do to deserve this? Lhors wondered. He backed away. The pallet smelled dreadful, and the sheer size of the creature frightened him, even bound as she was.

He turned away to find Khlened staring open-mouthed at another table. Two massive chairs flanked a table covered in fine cloth and golden plates. The food there looked and even smelled as if a proper cook had prepared it. Two goblets with stems as thick as his spear held dark wine. A few gems and coins spilled from a leather bag, and Lhors assumed this was what the Fist stared at so avidly.

“Smells good,” the barbarian muttered.

“Don’t eat any meat you find in a frost giant’s hold!”Vlandar hissed.

Lhors backed away hastily, and Khlened looked slightly sick.

“Yes,” Vlandar added with a faint smile. “It smells good tome, too. It may be no more than what it seems: stolen beef roasted plain over a fire.”

Malowan gestured then, drawing them close so he could translate. Lhors listened from where he was, eyes searching the chamber and glancing out into darkness, now and again. “She is Nghora, a storm giantess froma distant hold. The Jarl took her prisoner some time ago, believing she would willingly become his mistress. She refused the ‘honor’, and so he had her puthere. Now and again he has her beaten, but mostly he leaves her like this: cold, hungry, and unable to reach proper food and drink, though she can see all that will be hers, if she submits to him. She loathes the Jarl, but I can tell she is distrustful of all males.”

“Why?” Khlened scowled. “Humans didn’t put ’er here, nordwarves.”

“Her father is a drunkard, and because of that his householdguards are lax. The Jarl knew it and took advantage of that when he took her prisoner,” Malowan explained. “He had asked for her first, but she had alreadytaken vows as a virgin priestess. The Jarl is grotesque, she says, but even if he had been handsome and kindly and not already wed, she wanted no mate, nothing but the right to serve her goddess.”

Agya nodded. “Weird t’me too, barbarian, but a thief I knewwent t’serve… Zodal. Had somethin’ t’do with peace and hope or somesuch-like. She tol’ me she ’ad to swear not t’let any man touch ’er or look at’er face, an’ she was ’appy t’do it too.”

The girl seemed baffled by this, Lhors thought. On reflection, he wasn’t sure if he could make sense of such a thing.

“These things happen to some people,” Malowan said dryly.“Nghora says she has been a guest here, now and again since childhood. I think Ican persuade her to guide us.”

Vlandar nodded. “Could be. But what of all this show ofwealth here?”

“To be hers, if she submits. She wants none of it and says itis ours if we will free her.”

“I say aye, then.” The barbarian turned away and began tosort through the goods on the table, setting aside loose gems and coin and ignoring the heavier plate. Agya came over to help him. Lhors moved nearer the doorway as Malowan bent over the bound giantess and loosed her fetters with some spell.

The giantess said something, her voice husky. As she stood, Lhors noticed for the first time that her skin had a greenish tint to it. Tall as the paladin was, his head barely came past her knee. Lhors swallowed past a dry throat and looked away.

“She does not know any of the things we’re seeking,” Malowantold them. “She does know where the Jarl’s most valued possessions are stored,however. And we need to go now. There are guards, two giants who patrol with a chained yeti, who come here once a day to check on her, and they are due before much longer. She also says the Jarl keeps wolves in the room where he and his lady sleep. It is some distance from here, and there are several guard-posts between. She will point them out in exchange for her freedom.”

“Done,” Vlandar said tersely. “All of you stay alert.”

He led the way back into the main passage, collected Nemis, the rangers, and dazed-looking Florimund, then eased along the west wall that bowed into a deep bay. Lhors could no longer see down the vast south chamber, but that also meant no guards down there could see him.

Agya had moved stealthily ahead, and she suddenly held up a hand for the others to wait, then turned to beckon Nemis to her side. The mage murmured a spell and held up four fingers. Khlened started to draw his newly won sword, but Vlandar shook his head and drew Nemis aside so the two could talk. The mage brought Maera and Rowan over and ran an odd-shaped piece of metal up and down the shafts of several arrows and three of Maera’s javelins. The rangerstook them back and slipped around the point.

Lhors held his breath, listening intently, but almost at once the two were back. Maera went straight back to Florimund, but Rowan hesitated with Vlandar long enough to hold up four fingers before slashing them across her throat. The warrior nodded grimly.

The youth’s eyebrows went up. Four dead, and he hadn’t hearda thing.

Malowan had left the giantess with Agya-oddly, to Lhors’thinking, the two seemed fairly comfortable with each other, though the huge female drew back even from him. The paladin, who had moved across the chamber, now came back, his face pale.

“Vlandar, the kitchens are there, and there are prisoners-human ones.”

“Hah,” Khlened snarled under his breath. “Lunch, more like.Poor brutes.”

“No,” the paladin said flatly. “I will not leave them thereto die like a peasant’s lamb. I dare not. Vlandar, leave me Agya. We will dowhat we must and catch up with you.”

“We stay together,” the warrior said tersely. He held up ahand for silence as Nghora came up.

She didn’t seem as tottery as she had earlier, Lhors thought,but neither Vlandar nor Mal looked worried. Vlandar asked the paladin to talk to her.

“The chamber beyond this is open, with the Jarl’s throne atthe south end. She says there are guards under cover of the dais, always on alert, and halfway down we will be able to see guards on the ledges above the main floor. However, not far from the entrance, there are stairs along either side leading up these ledges.”

“Then we need a diversion,” Vlandar said. “Khlened. You andBleryn, how’d you like to strut down there like you owned the place? I’ll sendNemis or Mal to shield you. You distract the guards, and while they’re watchingyou, we’ll be able to dispatch them without alerting the guards behind thedais.”

“The kitchen is making a racket,” Malowan said, “that willhelp us.”

“Good. Rowan, Maera, you’ll be the best at getting up thestairways unnoticed. Agya and Lhors, you’re backup, one to each of the rangers.Nemis, do you have enough of your beneath notice spells to use one here, if I send you ahead with Khlened?”

The mage merely nodded.

“Gerikh, you’ll stick with me and lead Florimund for Maera.And, Mal, if Nghora…?”

The paladin had been talking to the giantess quietly for some moments, Lhors realized.

“She wants to go instead, Khlened,” Malowan said, and hesounded surprised. “She says, tell the red man if she walks out there, theguards will see nothing else.”

“Yer mad and so’s she,” the barbarian said, a wary eye on thefemale who towered above him. She seemed to shrink back as he met her eyes. He sighed. “Ah, could be she’s right. Let’s be at it.”

“Right.” Vlandar nodded. “Khlened, you and Bleryn stand watchhere and be ready to come to our aid if the guards under the dais come up behind us.”

The two companions looked none too happy about being left out of the immediate action, but they both readied their weapons and obeyed.

As they entered the room, Rowan pointed out the stone stairs-a native-looking flow of rock down each wall and high on each side. Atthe end of each stair was a rocky ledge tall enough to hide a guard.

Some distance ahead, Nghora strutted down the length of the fall. She might never have been a terrified, weak prisoner, Lhors thought. He glanced at Agya, who seemed to have the same uncomfortable thought.

The massive female squared her shoulders and tossed a thick mass of hair over her shoulder as she strode forward. Nemis’ hands were movingrapidly as he worked some spell or other. The giantess walked on, unchallenged.

Near the entrance, the rangers separated so they could work up both ledges. Malowan pressed hard against the west wall, his lips moving soundlessly, though with the clatter and shouting that echoed from the opening to the kitchen just behind them, he could have spoken his spell aloud and not been heard.

Agya had gone to join Malowan, and they were behind Maera. Lhors was grateful when Vlandar beckoned him to the east wall, even though the stairs were uncomfortably near the kitchen. He felt more comfortable around Rowan.

He froze as he heard the twang of a massive bowstring above the kitchen noise. That couldn’t have been Rowan’s bow.

He felt more than heard something fall to the floor. Looking to the middle of the chamber, he saw Nghora stagger to her knees. As Lhors and the others watched helplessly, she collapsed facedown, a gigantic spear protruding from her back. Lhors clapped both hands across his mouth and stared. Vlandar tugged at his shirt and drew him quickly up the stairs.

The rangers were nearly out of sight on both sides, Malowan right behind Rowan and Vlandar on Maera’s heels. Lhors tried not to be ill as hefollowed. His knees ached from the steep climb, but as he emerged onto the level, things were mostly under control.

The guard did not seem very bright, and the space was too small for him to maneuver well. He was struggling to reload his ballista when Vlandar leaped on his back and pulled him off-balance. The giant threw him aside, but Rowan was set. She launched an arrow that plunged deep into the guard’s eye and into his brain.

Lhors stared across the cavern. The ledge was bigger over there, he thought, but Malowan had drawn the flaming sword he’d taken from theSteading’s treasury. Blinded, the guard stumbled away from him. Maera finishedhim with one of her new spears, and the guard sagged out of sight.

Vlandar led them back down the stairs and into the hall, sending Khlened and Bleryn ahead to make certain the dais guards hadn’t beenalerted of their companions’ demise. He then sent the rangers back to be certainno one came out of the kitchens and caught them. The rest of the party, except for Mal and Nemis, retreated against the east wall where an alcove under the stairs put them out of the immediate line of sight.

Agya sniffled. Lhors glanced at her and was surprised to see her eyes were wet as she gazed after the dead giantess.

“Don’t seem fair,” she whispered and met the youth’s gazedefiantly. “Poor creature didn’t ask for this.”

“I know,” Lhors replied quietly. “None of us did, nor wouldwe have wished such a fate on her.”

The young thief merely shook her head in disbelief and went to join Malowan.

“You’ve a head on your shoulders, m’lad.”

Lhors jumped. To his embarrassment, Vlandar had come up behind him and probably heard most of that.

“You’ll do,” the warrior added mildly. He glanced up asMalowan came back, Agya at his side.

“Nemis is keeping an eye on the dais. There are guardsbehind it. Both of us sensed them. They are alert and tense, but they don’t seemto be about to leave their post. The kitchens next?”

Vlandar nodded. “We’ll take them now. How many in there?”

“Three giantesses and four ogres,” Malowan replied. “Noguards.”

“Hmm.” Vlandar suddenly smiled. “Khlened, it’s time for agenuine berserker attack, I think. The noise won’t matter, and it may scare thecooks into surrendering their prisoners. If not, Mal can be there to free them.”

The barbarian grinned fiercely. “Good idea. Give me Bleryn,though. He and I fight good t’gether, and more’d be in th’ way.”

“Agreed,” Vlandar said. “We’ll wait out here to grab any thatescape you.”

“Won’t be any,” the barbarian assured him, and with an unholygleam in his eyes, he drew the two-handed sword and strode into the kitchen. Bleryn was right on his heels, battle-axe in one hand and sword in the other.

Vlandar and Malowan drew their own swords and eased around a rock that partially blocked the entry. Lhors and Agya followed on their heels.

Khlened stopped partway into the room to bellow what sounded like vicious curses in his own language. The dwarf simply roared and charged straight at the cook, who shrieked, tripped and fell, then turned to scramble away on her hands and knees, but only as far as a rack of knives. Bleryn beat her to it, and brought his axe down on her arm. She howled in agony, collapsing on the floor in a huddle. The other two giantesses turned to flee into the hall, saw swordsmen there, and hesitated.

Malowan’s sword burst into flame. The giantesses shrieked interror and turned to flee into the dark to the north. Bleryn charged after the two, but Khlened swung the sword like a madman, sending steaming pots flying and sweeping piles of things onto the floor. At some point, he’d downed two of theogres, and one was most definitely dead while the other crawled toward the door, bleeding freely and apparently unaware of Vlandar or Malowan. The paladin brought his sword up and drove it into the ogre’s neck.

It was suddenly, blessedly quiet in the kitchen. In the distance, they could hear whimpering and Bleryn’s roar, muted by a some turn inthe passage. Khlened looked around then strode off that way. Malowan began murmuring-praying, Lhors thought-under his breath. The whimpering ceasedabruptly, and moments later the dwarf came back, Khlened right behind him. His eyes were dull now, and he seemed barely to have the strength to get his sword back into the sheath, but no one would have dared to offer him help.

Agya tugged at Malowan’s sleeve and the two sprinted acrossthe kitchen to open cages and free the four imprisoned men. They all moved stiffly, but they didn’t seem harmed otherwise, and they were warmly clad. One,a tall, black-haired fellow with a grizzled beard, spoke briefly to Malowan, then came over to grip Vlandar’s arm.

“I’m Jebis, out of Furyondy,” he said. “Member of the LakeGuard. These three men”-his gesture took in older men who seemed dazed by thesudden turn of events-“are from the high country around the barrens north ofthat. Frost giants caught me as I was riding back to my barracks. Mobry here says he and his two mates were hunting when they were taken. All four of us got hauled in here two or three days ago. We owe you service, but why are you here? It’s no safe place unless you’ve got an army.”

Vlandar explained, giving them a very brief version of their mission.

Jebis considered this. “Sounds mad to me,” he said finally,“but service I said, and I’m King’s Guard. I’ll help if I can.”

“Do you know this place?” Malowan asked. “We could use aguide, frankly.”

Jebis shrugged. “Not so well. There’s a throne in the bigcave and a passage to the left of it, but a big rock blocks the end. There’s abig room past that with all manner of junk in it: weapons and trophies and such. Up from that, there’s another enormous cave with all kinds of giants. Lookedlike families to me, young ones and all. Guess whoever our guards wanted wasn’tthere, so they hauled us back out to that throne and the chief came out-”

“Came out from where?” Vlandar asked.

“The same tunnel I mentioned, I suppose, but I don’t think hecame from that big room. There was a heavy drape over the far end of that junk room, and this Jarl had a look about him that reminded me of my captain when he’s called out from his private quarters. I can’t be sure of that, of course.”

“Anything else you saw then?” Malowan asked. “Guards comingfrom any of the other tunnels, perhaps guests? Anything, however trivial, anything odd?”

“Odd…” Jebis echoed, then shook himself. “Was one thing,not so odd perhaps, though it struck me at the time. When the Jarl came out, there was someone behind him-human-sized and all wrapped in a cloak. A servant Ithought then, or maybe a slave. But the way it stood… it looked arrogant.Even though I couldn’t see any weapon on the creature, the Jarl kept glancingback as if it scared him. And the creature just looked at him. I mean,” he addedwith a forced smile, “I’ve been here all of a few days, and I learned right offwho’s in charge here.”

“What else could you make out?” Vlandar asked.

“Not sure it wasn’t just the light,” the man said. He frownedat his hands, apparently trying to recall something. “But even when thecreature’s head was tipped back, what was under the hood was uncommonlydark-black, even.”

Malowan and Vlandar eyed each other briefly, before the paladin spoke. “It’s possible that may prove useful. We’ll bear it in mind.”

“Whether it is or no,” Vlandar assured him, “we’ll try to getyou safe from here.”

“Give me a sword or a pike, and I’ll help you best I can,”Jebis replied.

Bleryn handed over two of his pikes. Jebis hefted them, tested the balance, and nodded his thanks.

“All right,” Vlandar said. “Our way is south, then left pastthe throne. Everyone alert, and Nemis, stay up front with me. Mal, keep an eye and a spell on our back trail.”

Maera stepped in front of him, Florimund’s hand in hers.“Paladin, your sort preach kindness. You cannot leave my cousin in this state!You saw his condition when we found him, and I know well that he fears to sleep because his dreams put him back in that cell or the torturer’s-” She closed hereyes and swallowed hard. “He has done nothing wrong! Weak as he is, he has donehis best to help you, and for that, our fine mage has forced him to sleep.”

“A dreamless sleep,” Nemis began.

But Maera waved him off. “So he says, Paladin, but I havebeen with my cousin this hour, and your mage has not. I can keep him quiet and I swear to you I will, if you but lift the spell.”

Malowan glanced at Nemis, then fixed his eyes on Maera, who met his gaze steadily. Her voice was hoarse, as if she fought tears. “How canyou allow an innocent to be so cruelly used, Malowan?” she whispered.

Lhors glanced at Rowan. The ranger’s eyes were fixed on thedistant throne, her lips set.

Malowan looked at Vlandar, who gazed back at him without any sign Lhors could make out. “The innocent must not suffer,” Malowan said, verysoftly. “And so, what dare I, except to grant your plea?” He laid his hands uponthe half-elf’s face, and at his touch, Florimund awoke.

If he cries out, Lhors thought, we’re all doomed. But thepaladin had done something to soothe the fellow, or perhaps Nemis’ earliersleep spell had. The half-elf merely gazed around, then allowed Maera to draw him aside so they could speak.

“You know why I cast that spell,” Nemis said. He lookedangry.

Malowan shook his head. “Yes, and I agreed with what you did.But would it not be better not to distance Maera from us-or her sister? We knowto watch him, after all. And you and I have ways of watching that use more than eyes.”