Night of Madness

Chapter Fourteen

Kennan had finally given up and gone home after all the lights in the mansion had gone out, but this was not, he swore, over.

Sanda had fallen asleep waiting in a chair by the front door; he left her there and went up to his own bed, where he slept uneasily for a few hours.

When he awoke he checked to make sure that Aken had not returned, and that Sanda and the children were still safe; he ate a hasty breakfast of bread and cheese, then set out for the Palace.

Once again he was refused admission.

He stood staring across the canal at the gleaming marble walls, wondering what was happening in there.

As he did, Lord Azrad slumped in his seat and glowered unhappily at his brother Clurim. He then turned his gaze to the others in the lesser audience chamber.

“Where’s Lord Faran?” he demanded.

“Asleep, I believe,” Captain Vengar reported. “He was up most of the night, after all.”

“So was I, confound it, andI’m here!”

Vengar hesitated, then said, “My lord, you retired perhaps an hour ortwo after midnight. Lord Faran was still receiving reports when the eastern sky was light. I think he finally returned to his apartments just as the sun rose.” “He won’t be much use to you if he’s half-asleep,” Lord Clurim remarked.

“I don’t think he’s much use in any case,” Azrad the Younger muttered. His sister Imra slapped his arm at that.

The overlord had gathered his entire available family together for this morning conference-his three brothers and both his children. His four surviving sisters had all long since been married off-ZarrГ©a, the youngest, to Ederd IV, overlord of Ethshar of the Sands, and the other three to various kings and barons elsewhere— and of course his wife, Thera of Alorria, and his second eldest sister, Lura, had both been dead for years.

Captain Vengar, present commander of the contingent of the city guard inside the Palace, was also present-and Azrad had wanted Lord Faran there as well.

Most of his other advisors and the other important lords of Ethshar did not live in the Palace, but in their own mansions in the New City, so they could not attend the meeting-Azrad did not trust them not to bring in whatever contagion had spread madness and magic through the city. Lord Faran, though, was in the Palace, and had spoken to the overlord briefly during the night; it was very annoying that he was not here.

Azrad decided he would have to make the best of it. He looked at his brothers.

“Do any of you have the slightest idea what’s going on out there?”

Lord Karannin and Lord Ildirin exchanged glances.

“No more than you do,” Clurim said. “There’s some sort of wild magic that got loose last night, and some people ran wild with it, and things have quieted down now, but the magic is still loose.”

“I knowthat,” Azrad shouted. “Do you know anything more?”

“I’m afraid not,” Clurim said.

“All we know is what we hear from the messengers,” Karannin said.

“Since you won’t let anyone in,” Ildirin added.

“None of my regular magicians were in the Palace last night,” Karannin said. “I’d let old Tarissa visit her granddaughter. I haven’t been able to talk to any of them.”

“You sent messages, didn’t you?” Azrad asked.

“Yes, but I haven’t gotten any useful answers yet. The only reply I’ve received so far was from Orodrin of the Scarred Hand, that demonologist you don’t like. He said he doesn’t know anything about it except that no demons were involved.”

Azrad snorted. He turned his attention to Ildirin.

“I’ve sent messages to all the gates, and to Guildmaster Ithinia, as you asked,” Ildirin said. “So far we have no word back from any of them.” “Send word to the Guild again,” Azrad said. “Tell them it’s urgent I meet with their representatives.”

“Azrad, I don’t even know whether Ithinia is in the city at present...”

“Then send messages toall the Guildmasters, and any other important wizards you can think of!” Azrad demanded. “They claim to regulate magicians, don’t they? Then they had better regulatethose people, those... those...”

“Warlocks,” Captain Vengar offered.

The others all turned to stare at him.

“That’s what they’re called,” Vengar said, looking around uneasily at the inquiring faces. “Someone told the guards in the plaza last night. It’s a witch name, apparently.”

“The witches know something about them?” Azrad asked.

“I don’t know, my lord,” Vengar said.

“Who told the guards about this?”

“I’m not sure, my lord. I believe it was someone in Lord Han-ner’s party, perhaps Lord Hanner himself.”

“Faran’s nephew? That Lord Hanner?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“I want to know everything you can tell me about that-where is Lord Hanner, and what is he doing? How did he know that name?”

Vengar hesitated. “My lord, Lord Hanner came to the plaza last night, after you were asleep, in the company of several strangers, some of whom were warlocks. The party was stopped well before approaching the bridge. He asked permission to enter, but was refused, in accordance with your orders. Lord Faran sent Lady Alris out to talk to him and accompany him to someplace where they could spend the night safely. That’s all I know.”

“Faran sent Alris out, in the middle of the night?”

“Yes, my lord.”

Azrad stroked his short-trimmed beard. “That’s odd. I wonder where they went?”

No one answered.

“Lord Manner had some of these warlocks with him?”

“So I am told, my lord.”

“That’svery odd. Do you think...” Azrad broke off, frowning, in midsentence. Then he turned to Clurim. “Did you find any more of these warlocks?” “No,” Clurim said. “Just the one girl in the kitchen, Hinda the Orphan. We sent her out of the Palace, as you ordered. No one else in the Palace has admitted to having this new magic, as yet, and I haven’t found any evidence that anyone is lying.”

“Just the girl,” Azrad said. “No one among the nobility?”

“No, Azrad. Not that we know of.”

“Are there any signs that it might have spread to anyone else in the kitchens?”

“No. It doesn’t appear to be contagious.”

“Well, thank the gods forthat much, anyway!” Azrad said. “You checkedeveryone in the Palace?”

“Yes. That’s what you ordered, and that’s what I did. It took me all night. I just finished half an hour ago, and then you came and ordered me to get this meeting together; I haven’t been to bed yet. I’m at least as sleepy as Lord Faran, I would think.”

“If that’s a hint that I should let you go, I’m sorry, Clurim, but you’ll have to wait.” He turned his attention to the others. “Captain Vengar, I know there are unhappy citizens out there in the plaza. Do you know the nature of their complaints? Arson, vandalism, rape?”

“Arson, vandalism, theft, and murder, my lord,” Vengar said. “We haven’t had any reports of rape that I know of-but they may well be coming. Mostly, though, it’s the disappearances that people are complaining about.”

Azrad blinked. “Disappearances?” he said. “I don’t believe I’ve heard about this.”

“I told you I was sleepy,” Clurim muttered. “Forgot to mention it.”

“My lord,” Vengar said, “we have hadnumerous reports of people who vanished last night, at the same time that people began screaming and the magic first manifested itself. Some people simply walked away and never came back; others appear to have been snatched out through windows or even through holes torn in the roof. Captain Naral started keeping a count eventually; the last time I checked with him, we had reports of over three hundred missing people.”

“Threehundred}”

“Yes, my lord.”

“The warlocks took them?”

“That would appear to be the logical assumption, yes. Certainly it’s what many of the complainants believe.”

“Three hundred people.”

“At least.”

Azrad sat back on his throne and stared silently at Vengar for a moment, then said, “I want reports. I want written reports from Captain Naral, and whoever spoke to Lord Hanner, and anyone who knows anything about these disappearances. I will notstand for this in my city! If these warlocks are responsible, I want them all removed.”

“Yes, my lord,” Vengar said.

“Go and get on with it!” the overlord said, waving a hand in dismissal. Vengar turned.

As he did, Azrad pointed at Clurim.

“You,” he said. “Go get me Lord Faran. I don’t care if he’s asleep; I want to talk to himnow. Get him down here-and then get some sleep yourself.”

“Yes, Azrad,” Clurim said.

He left the room scarcely a step behind Captain Vengar.

“Send those messages to the wizards,” Azrad ordered Ildirin.

Then he looked at the others-Karannin, Imra, and Azrad the Younger.

“And you three,” he said, “find something useful to do. Elsewhere.”

A moment later the room was empty save for Azrad, sprawled unhappily in his throne, contemplating hours, perhaps days, of activity before he would be rid of all this and able to return to his usual comfortable indolence.