Shroud of Eternity

CHAPTER 53

Nicci’s anger built like a distant, ominous storm. She had no way to contact Mirrormask and no other allies in Ildakar—and she needed to begin her fight. Now.

She returned to the grand villa by midmorning and went to Bannon’s guest quarters. Even though she knew the young man could do little to help her against the powerful wizards, she still wanted to see him. But his bed was made and his clumsy-looking sword was gone. She saw no sign of Amos, Jed, or Brock either. Her concern grew.

When she’d first met him in Tanimura, the victim of petty thieves, Nicci had found the young man’s optimism and constant chatter bothersome. Since then, he had become a reliable companion. The young man was a good fighter, didn’t complain overmuch, and was certainly devoted to Nathan and Nicci. Most important to her, he accepted Lord Rahl’s cause. She wanted him with her now, but she realized she had not seen him for days.

With Mrra captured and Nathan comatose, Nicci again felt the chill of being alone.

Nicci thought of her years serving Emperor Jagang. Even with the full might of the Imperial Order and his army behind her, Nicci had been alone. She had fought by herself, using her powers in service of Jagang. She had thought she could survive without friends, had never wanted any. She considered friends a potential weakness—and Nicci was not weak.

While among the fiercely dedicated Sisters of the Dark, she had been closely allied with her Sisters and teachers Tovi, Cecilia, Armina, and Ulicia, but they had never been friends. Nicci had always solved her own problems, and now Ildakar was the problem. She had been called Death’s Mistress and Slave Queen. She claimed to have a heart of black ice. Nicci would find a way to take care of this, even without Bannon, Nathan, or Mrra.

“I beg your forgiveness for the interruption, Sorceress.” It was a young, pasty-faced guard with a pointed reddish beard and pale brown eyes partially shadowed beneath his helmet. He found her as she stood in the open hallway outside Bannon’s room. “The wizard commander requests a private meeting with you. And he sends his apologies.” The young guard fidgeted. “I don’t know what he means by that, I’m afraid.”

Nicci frowned. Maxim had allowed Mrra to be captured, and she would not forgive him for that. “I am not ready to accept his apology.” She looked at the disturbing statue of the bent-backed old woman who had been petrified while going about her daily toil. “What does he want?”

The young guard seemed embarrassed. “He swore me to confidence. He wants you to meet him alone for a private conversation—an important one, he says—on top of the ruling tower.” The guard swallowed visibly, his larynx bobbing up and down. “He is alone in the gardens there.”

Nicci summoned her power and stepped closer to the young man. Her gaze bored into him. She did not use her magic, but she knew he would be able to sense the threat she posed. “Tell me honestly—is it a trap?”

The guard stammered, “N-No, Sorceress. He genuinely wishes to speak with you, and he asked me to make sure that Sovrena Thora did not know.”

“You mean his wife?” she asked, suspicious again. She decided she would incinerate him if he made lascivious comments to her.

“Yes … I suppose so. I don’t know what this is about. It isn’t…” He shook his head. “Please, Sorceress, I’m just following orders.”

“There, you’ve completed your mission. Leave me. I will go there of my own volition.” The guard hurried away, relieved.

Not sure what the wizard commander intended, Nicci tossed her loose hair, made sure that her black travel dress was immaculate, and set off. Head high, she strode across the upper streets to the ruling tower that rose like a sentinel overlooking the streets and rooftops far below.

She ascended the main central staircase to the empty ruling chamber, then climbed a winding stair even higher, taking the polished stone steps in a corkscrew up to the summit and the open sky.

Nicci emerged to the scent of fresh citrus blossoms and the hum of bees. She saw scalloped birdbaths spaced among manicured jasmine hedges. Songbirds chirped and flitted about. On poles around the perimeter of the tower hung a fine mesh of nearly invisible silken threads to catch the myriad larks. The nets were retracted now, since Thora needed no more docile larks for her golden cages, and they hung in baggy folds from each pole.

Maxim paced about in his black pantaloons and open shirt. Seeing Nicci, he turned to face her, a grin lighting up his face like a sunrise.

But after that morning’s capture of Mrra, she had no patience for small talk, especially not with him. “What do you wish to say to me, Wizard Commander?”

He pouted. “Oh? I had hoped such a beautiful woman would indulge me with a few pleasantries.”

“It’s been a grim day. My sand panther was beaten and captured, taken to the arena cages—as you well know. The wizard Nathan lies unconscious, recovering from the fleshmancer’s experiment. And my friend Bannon is missing. Have you seen him? How can I make inquiries of the city guard?” Her words were hard, demanding.

Maxim made a noncommittal sound. “My, it has been a difficult day for you! I’m sure Bannon is off partaking in whores or gambling with Amos and his friends. The boy has no gift and no responsibilities. You cannot blame him.”

“How I assign blame is my business,” Nicci said. “But Bannon is not the one I fault the most. I see great rot in Ildakar. You wizards have ruled for so long that you are oblivious to the pain that resonates through the city. As leaders, the ruling council leaves much to be desired.”

Maxim touched the center of his chest. “Oh, that pains me in my heart! I’m so sorry you are disappointed in us.” He clucked his tongue. “But I cannot entirely disagree. My dear wife is as blind to the pain of others as she is cold to me in bed, although it has been many years since I’ve risked frostbite to my private parts. I can find many other softer and warmer places to indulge my pleasures.” He snickered.

He quirked his lips in a smile. “Admittedly the duma is understaffed at the moment, with Renn off traveling and Ivan being digested by arena animals, and even Lani petrified … but my lovely Thora always sets the tone and forces others to bow to her wishes, even when the duma is at its full strength. She is quite dominant. No one stands up to her, not even I.” He spread his hands. “What would be the use?”

“If you stood up to her, you would change the future of Ildakar,” Nicci said.

“If someone stood up to her. Yes, that sounds quite ambitious, but I don’t have such ambitions anymore. That isn’t to say someone else couldn’t stand up to her. In fact, a mere century ago, the sorceress Lani challenged the sovrena’s rule. Oh, Lani was a firebrand with a strong gift and a propensity for summoning rain and causing floods. Thanks to her, we were able to build and maintain our aqueduct system, the water-delivery tunnels that run throughout our bedrock.” He clucked his tongue again. “Lani was angry and she challenged the sovrena … but, alas, Thora defeated her.” He scratched the side of his head. “The entire duma was secretly disappointed, but no one could admit it.”

Maxim narrowed his eyes. “But I noticed what a great toll the battle took on her. My dear wife was very weak, and if I’d had the initiative myself, I could have attacked and defeated her right then. But I lost my nerve.” He shook his head. “At that time I still thought I loved her.”

Nicci remembered the statue of the sorceress in the ruling chamber. “But Lani was defeated and turned to stone.”

“Yes, exactly.”

“And why are you giving me this information?”

“To make a point, and to raise an example.” He bent over to smell the jasmine blossoms in the hedge, waving away the honeybees. He straightened, exhaling long and slow. “By the rules of Ildakar, and by all of our traditions, you can challenge Thora as sovrena. You could try to overthrow her. I thought you might be interested.”

“I have no wish to rule this city,” Nicci said. “I don’t want to stay here a day longer than I must.”

“I understand completely,” Maxim said dismissively. “But if you did overthrow Thora, you could set the tone of the wizards’ duma. You’d establish the agenda for any changes you want to implement, and no one would question you. I suspect several wizards would secretly agree with you … including me.”

Wheels spun in Nicci’s mind as she considered the possibilities. “If I defeated Thora, could I free Mrra?”

“You could do whatever you like.”

“And I could command that the shroud be taken down?”

“I wouldn’t complain about that a bit.” He waved a lumbering bee away from his face. “I rather enjoy the outside trade. Thora is the true isolationist.”

An avalanche of ideas tumbled through Nicci’s thoughts. And the Sorceress must save the world. This would be a way for her to achieve what Richard had asked her to do, what Red had predicted in the life book. She could free the people, make the city of Ildakar as great as legend claimed it was. “But when Lani challenged the sovrena, she failed.”

Maxim kept smiling. “Then you must not fail. Simple as that.”

Frowning, Nicci walked slowly around the potted citrus trees, came to the edge, and looked out over the stair-stepped layers of tiled rooftops, the flapping banners, the intricate labyrinth of streets, squares, and gardens. All those people, all those businesses, all those smothered hopes and dreams.

She looked up to see that several songbirds had flown into one of the dangling nets, where they were caught, fluttering and struggling, their wings trapped in the silken mesh. She realized that this might be her best chance … or a trap. “You are her husband. Why are you telling me this?”

The wizard commander stroked his upper lip with a forefinger. “No doubt you want me to tell you that I’m determined to fight for the good of my people. Of course that’s a factor.…” He shrugged again, and Nicci felt annoyed with him. “But in reality, I’ve been bored with this stagnant city. Do I want to be trapped here for more interminable centuries? As far as I’m concerned, I would rather the shroud were down and full contact was reestablished with the outside. It’s much more interesting out there. Maybe I might like to see this mysterious Cliffwall archive that sounds so intriguing, or even attend a state dinner with your distant Lord Rahl. Those twelve slaves could certainly have been put to better use than to have their throats slit on top of the pyramid.”

The idea began to take root in Nicci’s heart, and it sounded better and better with each passing moment.

Maxim finally recaptured her attention. “And there’s one more reason. I also hate my wife and want to see her destroyed.”