Shroud of Eternity

CHAPTER 28

That night, the sovrena and the wizard commander hosted another celebratory banquet, this time to welcome the vile Norukai.

Nicci, Nathan, and Bannon were invited, though their presence was clearly an afterthought. The brutish slavers were the center of attention. Captain Kor and three other representatives from the serpent ships came up to join the duma members, while the remaining thirty Norukai sailors were turned loose on the city’s drinking establishments, restaurants, and silk yaxen dachas. Despite the honor of the invitation to dine with the city’s most important wizards, Kor and his burly companions—Lars, Yorik, and Dar—clearly would have preferred to join the rest of their comrades in more hedonistic settings.

As brittle as glass, Nicci chose a seat at the far end of the table, next to Nathan, and although Bannon sat with Amos, Jed, and Brock, he looked uncomfortable to be there at all. Nicci had not seen him smile in days, and she understood why. She hadn’t smiled either.

The Norukai captain sat with his elbows spread, ready to eat with both hands as a huge joint of roast yaxen was brought in on a spit, slaves carrying it on their shoulders; younger slaves kept pace, holding a pan beneath the meat to catch the drippings. Servants circled the table pouring goblets of bloodwine, but Kor gruffly declared, “This takes too long. Just bring a bottle for me and for each of my men.” He made a guttural sound that might have been laughter. “In fact, bring two bottles for Yorik; otherwise he will complain.”

Dar gulped from his goblet, then wiped a forearm across his lips as a dribble of red liquid seeped from the scar at the side of his cheek. “A good vintage.”

The other Norukai drank and agreed.

Kor yanked a leather pouch from his waist and tossed it to Dar. It clanked with golden coins. “Here’s part of our earnings from today. Find a wine merchant and buy as much as you can to load aboard our ships.”

“We’ll drink it all on the voyage back,” Yorik said.

“Better keep at least a keg for King Grieve,” Kor said.

The other Norukai suddenly looked tense at the mention of the name. “We’ll set one aside for him.”

Maxim nodded to the pouch of coins. “That much gold should buy several kegs.”

“Good, then buy some of this meat too.” Kor used his own knife to cut off a hunk of the roast, while the servants were more delicate as they carved the choicest morsels for the guests.

Silent and alert, Nicci watched their movements, studying the Norukai like a predator ready to pounce. The wizards of Ildakar unsettled her, but she hated the Norukai in a different way. As second-tier guests, she and her companions were served last. Nicci ate quietly so as not to draw attention to herself, while Nathan consumed the meat and tubers on his plate, mopping up the juices with fresh bread. Bannon didn’t touch his food.

“Where are your best silk yaxen whores in the city?” Kor asked.

“We’d like to sample several,” said Lars, “but we don’t want to waste our time.”

Amos interjected, “I know the best ones.”

Sovrena Thora sat at the head of the table using her jeweled dining implements. She ate as if she were made of lace and gold wire. “Yes, my son is well versed in these things.”

“Our friend Bannon may be interested in joining us,” Jed said, but it was less of an invitation than a sarcastic barb. “We’ll take good care of him.”

Bannon flushed and carefully admitted, “The women are very beautiful.”

The scarred raiders looked at one another and chortled, muttering in a gruff language that sounded like rocks grinding together. Dar said, “Ildakar women are too delicate and break too easily.”

“We prefer the sturdy beauty of Norukai females,” said Kor. “But your women will do. We have been lonely enough at sea. The slaves were serviceable, but they can only slake so much of a man’s thirst.”

Wizard Commander Maxim said, “Because you are welcome trading partners, we would also invite you to one of our pleasure parties, if you prefer noble Ildakaran women. We can make an exception, and it would be an experience you’d not soon forget.” With a wicked smile, he gestured toward the sovrena. “My lovely wife would be most willing to accommodate you. She is not choosy about her men.”

Thora gave him a venomous glare. “We will indeed have a pleasure party this evening with many nobles, if that would be something you and your men might enjoy, Captain Kor.” She seemed to force the words out of her.

The scarred Norukai leered at her.

Maxim added, “And the sorceress Nicci is welcome, as always.”

“As always,” Nicci said. “And as always, I choose to decline.”

He let out a good-natured chuckle. “As you wish. Considering your cool demeanor, some nobles have suggested your nipples are made of ice chips.”

“Fools can suggest whatever they like,” Nicci said.

Nathan couldn’t help but smile as he sat beside her.

Maxim laughed again. “Adorable, just adorable.”

Kor looked from Thora to the prim duma members and turned back to young Amos, who was helping himself to a second serving of the yaxen meat. “We’d prefer the whorehouses. Noblewomen talk too much, at a time when talking is unimportant.”

For the next course, servants brought in platters heaped with small grilled birds, each one no more than a morsel. The wizard Damon perked up, stroking his long mustaches. “Ah, delicious! Honey-roasted larks. Are they yours, Sovrena?”

She nodded. “Yes, their music is sweet, but their flesh is sweeter. I will need to catch more. We have nets strung out across the rooftops.”

“How many more slaves do you need us to bring?” Kor interrupted. “And when? We have many serpent ships in the estuary, as well as the islands. We’ll acquire what you need. Just tell us.”

“Slaves perish, although they do reproduce quickly as well,” Ivan said, holding up his empty plate, impatiently waiting for a servant to add more meat.

“Today’s group will serve us well,” Thora said. “It should allow us to work our spell and restore the shroud for a very long time.”

“If your shroud is in place, then how can we sell you more slaves?”

“Ildakar lived beneath the shroud for many centuries,” said Maxim. “We were a closed system with no outside commerce, but I much prefer the infusion of outside goods, and fresh blood. Believe me, we’ll still have to drop the shroud occasionally in order to replenish our resources.”

“You expect us just to wait in our ships until your city shows itself again? What will happen to our cargo in the meantime?” Kor asked.

Bannon stared down at his food, moving it about with his sharp-tined fork. “They’re not just cargo,” he growled loudly enough for the others to hear. “They’re people … like my friend Ian. He was a young man with a future ahead of him, until you took him. We’re going to get him his freedom.” He shot a meaningful glance at Amos, who ignored him.

The Norukai looked surprised that Bannon had spoken. Andre stroked his thick, braided beard, amused. “The nongifted swordsman has a voice after all? This could be entertaining, hmmm?”

“Every person in our perfect society has their function,” said Thora. “Some of us bear the burden of being leaders. Others simply work. They know their place.”

Nicci saw that Bannon had gulped his entire goblet of bloodwine. He was flushed and angry, and now he spoke more loudly. “We’ve seen how the Norukai attack helpless villages.” He stabbed his fork with a clang onto his plate. “How you prey upon the innocent.”

Kor’s eyes smoldered. The other Norukai seemed annoyed, but they let their captain speak for them. “We don’t prey upon the innocent—we prey upon the weak. That is how nature works. We cull the herd of humanity. Some die, and others are put to good use as slaves. We are the strong, so we do as we wish.”

Bannon clearly wanted to start a fight. Fortunately, he had not been allowed to bring his sword to the banquet, or he might have provoked a bloody brawl.

Nicci touched her companion’s arm, and he froze, though he still looked ready to explode. Turning to the slavers, she used a different weapon. “If you are so powerful, Captain Kor, then explain something we found on our journey here to Ildakar.” Her blue eyes flashed, and the others paused, waiting to hear what she would say. “We encountered four Norukai … or at least, four Norukai heads. They had been skewered on high spikes, left to rot in the road as a warning. Were they weak?”

Angry mutters rippled around the banquet table like the sound of a distant thunderstorm. Both the sovrena and the wizard commander looked uncomfortable, but they made no excuses. Amos glared at Bannon, who didn’t seem to care.

“Perhaps they were just there as decoration,” Nathan said flippantly. “Not a very good one.”

Thora said, “Beyond our protective shroud there are many hazards. Who knows what happened to the other Norukai? Since it was well outside Ildakar, it has nothing to do with us.”

Yorik gulped another goblet of wine, finishing his first bottle and pouring from the second.

High Captain Avery marched into the banquet hall as the final dishes were being taken away. He bent close to Thora. “Is there anything you desire, Sovrena?”

“Why, yes.” She reached up to touch his hand. “We have another pleasure party this evening. I would like you to attend as my personal guest.”

The handsome captain nodded. “As you wish, Sovrena. I will serve Ildakar in any way I am required.”

Beside her, Maxim rolled his eyes and turned a hopeful look to Nicci, but she gave him a cool stare from across the table.

Nathan said uncertainly to the fleshmancer, “Andre, shall we discuss ideas of how to intensify the Han we mapped out on the chart of my body? I would like to devote more time to the problem.”

“Not tonight, dear Nathan. We must have time to relax and recover, hmmm? You should rest and gather your strength.”

The Norukai drank the rest of the bloodwine at the table while Amos and his friends offered to guide the brutish guests to the lower levels of Ildakar. They did not extend the invitation to Bannon again, and he did not seem disappointed.