Part 31 (1/2)
”And if the emergence of the Incarnations happens to unseat your father's power...” Grandmaster Avernus began.
Talos smiled, and it was a disturbingly winning, earnest smile. ”That would be a fortunate side effect, yes. But the fact remains that I believe the rulers of Damasca have done far more harm than good with their b.l.o.o.d.y Trees.”
Grandmaster Endross snorted, dragging the tip of his blade across the table and closer to Talos. ”I still don't trust you, sir prince.”
Talos sighed. ”Heir. I'm not a prince, I'm an Heir. What are you, a child? No one says 'prince' anymore.”
Grandmaster Avernus laid a delicate hand on Endross' arm before he tore his sword free and drew it across the prisoner's throat.
”Hold on a moment, Endross,” she said. ”I can vouch for him.”
Grandmasters Endross and Helgard stared at her in disbelief.
”You can?” Helgard asked.
”I am familiar with Overlord Lysander,” Grandmaster Avernus responded. ”He has done a great deal for our cause in Damasca; more than most are aware, in fact. And he has given his allegiance to Talos.”
Talos nodded. ”That's right. And you three have tested my veracity yourself. How could I have fooled all of your tests?”
A serpent flicked a tongue in his ear, and he jerked his head to the side, distaste evident on his face. ”Speaking of which, can you please remove these now?”
Grandmaster Endross turned and nodded to someone Alin hadn't noticed: a robed Naraka Traveler sitting in the corner of the room. She waved her red-marked hand, and the serpents evaporated.
”Much better,” Talos said. He raised his bound hands, as far as the rope tying him to the chair would allow. ”Now how about these?”
”Don't push your luck, Highness,” Grandmaster Helgard said. ”Tell us your plan, and we will decide how best to work it into our strategy.”
Talos smiled broadly. ”Simplicity itself. Once battle is joined, I will slip away to a prearranged location. You will meet me there, and I will open a Ragnarus Gate. It leads straight into the middle of the royal palace in Cana. You can be in front of the Hanging Tree in minutes.”
”We must come to you?” Grandmaster Endross said skeptically. ”No, that's too dangerous. You should come to us.”
Talos sighed, as though exasperated at having to deal with a particularly stubborn child. ”I can't. I am only a Traveler of Ragnarus, and that means I can only Travel back to Cana. And I certainly can't walk across the battlefield to Enosh.”
”Have someone take you,” Alin put in. For someone who claimed to have all the answers, this Damascan Heir seemed to be making a lot of excuses.
”Lysander is the only one I would trust enough to take me on a trip across enemy lines,” Talos explained. ”But he's an Avernus Traveler. And you all know what it's like to Travel through Avernus with any precision.”
Alin didn't, but he nodded along with the Grandmasters.
”Your people, on the other hand, can Travel straight to my location. Once there, I'll take everyone to the royal palace. Simple.”
”We could meet up in Avernus itself,” Grandmaster Avernus suggested. ”It may take a little longer, and there are some risks involved, but then we should be able to avoid the battle entirely.”
”Ah,” Talos said. ”I keep forgetting you people don't have your own Ragnarus Travelers. A Gate to the Crimson Vault can only be opened in this world, not in any of the Territories. I could still summon my weapon into a Territory, though it would take longer, but I have to return here if I want to open a Gate.”
”Then why don't you take us there now?” Grandmaster Helgard asked eagerly. ”We could have an army inside Cana's walls in minutes.”
”My father's still there,” Talos said simply. ”When battle joins, he won't be. He will go with the army; he always likes to be in the thick of things.”
The Grandmasters all sat, digesting that. Endross brooded heavily, Helgard stroked his beard, and Avernus simply stared off in the distance.
Maker above, how powerful was the King? Alin would never have thought the presence of one man would make so much of a difference in the Grandmasters' way of thinking.
”There's one moreaissue,” Grandmaster Avernus put in. ”The Valinhall Incarnation.”
Talos looked up sharply. ”That's right! Is he here? May I speak with him? Is he still capable of speech?”
”Oh, he's capable,” Grandmaster Endross said. ”And I'm tempted to let you have your wish.”
Grandmaster Helgard smiled a wolf's smile. ”He's got good taste, this Valin. He hates your father almost as much as I do. I take great pleasure in imagining what he would do to you.”
”The problem is that the Incarnation is focused on your father to the exclusion of almost everything else,” Grandmaster Avernus said, shooting the other two a sharp glance. ”He's also notathrilled with us, since we robbed him of his chance to attack. It's been all we could do to keep him here, though we did manage to get him to see reason and not kill the lot of us. He still wanted us to Travel him over to the palace to fight your father immediately.”
”We can't,” Talos said immediately. ”Not now. There are too many guardians in the palace. Anda”
He hesitated, as though unsure if he wanted to speak his mind.
”What is it?” Alin asked.
”This would be a bad time to start holding things back,” Grandmaster Endross said softly.
”No one has seen Indirial today,” Talos said at last. ”That worries me.”
”Surely Indirial's absence could only be a good thing,” Grandmaster Avernus said.
”Indirial's absence would be a wonderful gift from above,” Talos responded. ”But when he is simply missing, then he could be anywhere. That is far worse.”
Alin desperately wanted to ask who Indirial was, but he held his tongue. He didn't want to look ignorant in front of this arrogant Damascan Heir.
”So we're back to the same plan,” Grandmaster Endross said. ”We wait for Damasca to commit to an attack, and then we meet up with the prince and have him take us into Cana.”
”If Zakareth is with the army, that works out quite well for us,” Grandmaster Avernus said. ”We can simply unleash the Valinhall Incarnation on him. While he's distracting the King*and, hopefully, cutting a b.l.o.o.d.y furrow through the entire army*we'll sneak off behind his back and strike at the Hanging Tree.”
”How do we know you won't just leave us there to die once we've destroyed the Tree?” Grandmaster Endross asked.
”How do you propose I stop you from simply opening a Gate and walking away?” Talos said reasonably. ”Besidesa”
He leaned forward as much as his restraints would let him. ”Isn't it worth the risk? As long as you get to burn the Tree, what does it matter to you?”
The grin on Talos' face was eager, even hungry. To Alin, it even seemed a little bitaunbalanced. Like a spark of madness hid within the royal Heir.
But most of the others seemed convinced.
The rest of the discussion was just for show. The Grandmasters all agreed that they should take more time to decide, that they would have to confer with their strategists, but Alin could tell that they had been persuaded. The essence of Talos' plan, at least, would move forward.
In Alin's mind, however, there was still one last issue.