Part 57 (1/2)
”It wasn't just the resemblance.” The Khonsel's voice was flat and unemotional. ”In the beginning, maybe. But he wouldn't have risked so much if that's all it was.”
When he trusted his voice, Keirith said, ”Thank you. For saying so.”
”The stubborn old fool would come back and haunt me if I let you think otherwise.” A brief smile, surprisingly tender, softened the lined face. It vanished as he c.o.c.ked his head, listening. ”That'll be Geriv with the food. We'll eat here. Too many people coming and going. It would be better if they thought the Zheron was still ailing.”
Geriv arrived with a platter. After he laid it on the floor, he left, only to return moments later with cus.h.i.+ons. In his wake, a familiar figure slunk along the wall.
”Niqia!”
At the sound of his voice, her ears went back and her mouth opened in a soundless hiss. She skittered under the stool and crouched there, tail las.h.i.+ng furiously. Keirith swallowed down the lump of disappointment; of course, she wouldn't know him anymore.
”I found her at the temple. Nearly shredded me when I tried to pick her up.” The Khonsel scowled at the scratches on his arms, then settled himself on a cus.h.i.+on with a grunt. ”As if I don't have enough to do without playing nursemaid to a d.a.m.ned cat.” Gingerly, he picked a piece of meat out of one bowl and tossed it toward her. ”Sit, Geriv. Even you have to eat. And pour us some wine. Thank the G.o.ds that was spared.” He drained his cup in a few thirsty gulps and refilled it from a dented bronze pitcher. ”Now. Start at the beginning.”
”What about my father?”
”Later.”
”But-”
”Later.”
His tale was interrupted a dozen times by the endless stream of visitors coming to see the Khonsel: soldiers making reports, slaves bearing messages from someone called the Stuavo; healers arriving with updates on the queen's condition. Keirith eavesdropped shamelessly on their conversations and grew increasingly impressed with the Khonsel's efficiency; no wonder Malaq admired him.
”How bad is it?” he asked after the Khonsel returned from yet another interview.
”Only three hundred dead. So far. We're still digging bodies out of the rubble.”
Only three hundred.
”It would have been worse if I hadn't had the district closest to the palace hill evacuated.” The Khonsel smiled wearily. ”I came to the pit that night.”
”I know. I heard your voice.”
”The Qepo said he'd never seen the adders so wild. I didn't want to wait and see what you learned.” He started to spit, then restrained himself. ”Never been much of a man for magic. The queen refused to evacuate the palace, but I took a few precautions on my own. Ordered the s.h.i.+ps out to sea. Moved the oil and flammable supplies out of the storerooms. Had the fires in the kitchen put out.” This time he did spit. ”If the d.a.m.ned priests didn't insist on lighting incense and candles when they pray, we might have prevented more fires. Still . . .”
He waved away the priests and their rituals impatiently and gulped more wine. ”The palace district was pretty much destroyed. What the earth didn't take, the fires did. But at least some of the wells were spared. And none of our other cities suffered major damage, thank the G.o.ds. I've sent birds requesting food, water, supplies, but it'll be another day before the first s.h.i.+pments arrive. Womb of Earth, spare us from more aftershocks.”
”More?”
”You were asleep. Just a bit of a rumble. But it gave people a scare.” He broke off as Geriv came in to murmur something. ”No other incidents of looting? Good. Commend your brother. And then come back. We have other matters to discuss.”
”What happens now?” Keirith asked after Geriv left.
”We rebuild.”
”But the king . . . and Malaq . . .”
”The queen lives. New priests will be appointed to replace those who were lost. We still have the Supplicant.” The Khonsel shook his head in wonder. ”Hers was the only temple undamaged in the earthquake. The G.o.d with Two Faces looks after his own.”
Certainly, Fellgair wouldn't tolerate any damage to his beautiful temple.
”But the adders . . . without them, you cannot make qiij.”
”We'll capture more. As we've done in the past. An earthquake topples buildings, boy. Not kingdoms.” The Khonsel shot him a keen look. ”Does that disappoint you?”
Keirith took advantage of Geriv's return to gather his thoughts. ”I did not want people to die. Good people. Innocent people. But-”
”Like the Motixa.”
Keirith winced. ”Yes. She was innocent. But my people are innocent, too. You steal them, sacrifice them, turn them into slaves.”
”Is that why you didn't tell anyone the earthquake was coming?”
”But I do-did-tell the Qepo.”
”Not when. Not how bad.”
”I only knew soon. Not how bad.” The Khonsel watched him, waiting. ”Not . . . so bad as this.”
”And would you have said anything if you'd known it was going to be 'so bad as this'?”
He started to say, ”Of course.” The words died under the Khonsel's relentless stare.
He could protest that his father was going to be sacrificed, that he hoped he might have a chance to escape when the earthquake struck-that all the captives might have a chance. He could claim that, even if he had spoken up, the queen would have sacrificed his father and then sent him to the altar stone as well. But why tell the Khonsel what he must already suspect?
”I do not know if I would have said anything. I think . . . no.”
The Khonsel refilled his goblet. ”So. What would you do with him, Geriv?”
”Kill him,” Geriv replied, his voice devoid of emotion. ”He's dangerous.”
And no one would ever know. Only Geriv and the Khonsel had seen him.
The Khonsel leaned forward. ”You wanted to die. Earlier.”
Nothing escaped the man. ”Yes.”
”Does it sicken you so much to be in his body?”
The snakes on his forearms sneered at him. ”Yes. But . . . it is more than that. Among my people, it is a crime to cast out the spirit of another. A terrible crime.”
”And what would your people do to a man who had committed such a crime?”
”Kill him.” His voice sounded as emotionless as Geriv's had.
”There's another choice,” the Khonsel said. ”Everyone thinks you're the Zheron. You could become him. Quite a rise in fortune. You might even fulfill Malaq's dream of peace between our peoples.”