Part 18 (1/2)
”Effortlessly.”
”Then, sir, the reports are true, and you are master of the greatest weapon the world has ever known.”
”His Majesty Miltzin is master of all within Waterwitch,” Nevenskoi murmured demurely.
”To be sure. Sire,” Zelkiv commenced, ”you realize that you hold the fate of all the world in your hand. My homeland of Rhazaulle stands in mortal peril. The Grewzian invaders lay waste to our land, our cities, and our lives. Their advance is inexorable, our defeat all but certain, unless Your Majesty prove the author of our salvation. Sire, I beseech your a.s.sistance. It cannot be an accident that Masterfire's creator is Rhazaullean. Send my compatriot Nevenskoi back home with his discovery, allow him to employ his remarkable abilities in the service of his country.”
”It would seem, Landholder,” King Miltzin observed with some distaste, ”that you regard my Masterfire as an advanced but essentially conventional weapon of modern warfare.”
”The phenomenon is anything but conventional, Majesty. It is in fact so remarkable that I-”
”You speak of loosing my Masterfire upon the Grewzian army. You speak of war and destruction. Understand clearly that this discovery-this delight, this boon to mankind-shall never be perverted to such ends. The bare suggestion offends me. We will speak of it no more.”
The king's face and voice were cold as arctic midnight, but the n.o.ble landholder persevered, ”Sire, you speak of this discovery as a boon to mankind, and so it may prove, according to Your Majesty's will. The Grewzian barbarians threaten to enslave the world, and in halting their depredation Masterfire surely serves all humanity.”
”Wage war to serve humanity? Bah, there's warped logic for you. You have failed to comprehend our wishes, Landholder, and you presume too greatly upon our indulgence. The discussion is concluded. You may withdraw from our presence.”
Zelkiv, remarkably, refused to be dismissed. Desperation must have inspired boldness, for he persisted, ”Your Majesty must hear me. Sire, you shall shall hear me. For months now the rumors of an extraordinary arcane weapon capable of changing the course of the war have tantalized my ruler and his ministers. Few among us lent credence to such tales, but the nature of our plight obliged us to investigate all possibilities, and thus at last my master dispatched me to the Low Hetz. This afternoon's demonstration confirms the truth of the rumors. The weapon exists. It is all that we had heard, and more. This Masterfire discovered by a Rhazaullean will save Rhazaulle. It will-” hear me. For months now the rumors of an extraordinary arcane weapon capable of changing the course of the war have tantalized my ruler and his ministers. Few among us lent credence to such tales, but the nature of our plight obliged us to investigate all possibilities, and thus at last my master dispatched me to the Low Hetz. This afternoon's demonstration confirms the truth of the rumors. The weapon exists. It is all that we had heard, and more. This Masterfire discovered by a Rhazaullean will save Rhazaulle. It will-”
”Stop there.” Miltzin IX folded his arms. ”As I recall, your letter of introduction represented you as a private citizen-a master architect, builder, and city planner, here to observe Hetzian methods of construction.”
”So I am, Sire. Yet I also serve as my sovereign's unofficial emissary-”
”You would not have secured an audience, had that been known.” The king seemed almost amazed at the depth of the visitor's perfidy.
”Authorized to speak and act on the Rhazaullean ulor's behalf,” Zelkiv continued. ”Empowered to secure temporary use of the Sentient Fire, upon such terms as Your Majesty deems acceptable and appropriate-”
”Enough. I will hear no more. Your offers are unacceptable, and your behavior inappropriate. You have abused my hospitality, Landholder, and I must require you to depart my house at once.”
”Your Majesty, in the name of justice, I ask but a quarter of an hour to state my case.”
”Your case is lost, your time is up, and my patience is exhausted. Leave me,” the king commanded.
”Nevenskoi, you are my countryman. a.s.sist me,” Zelkiv attempted. Hetzian vocabulary failed him, and he lapsed into impa.s.sioned Rhazaullean.
Nevenskoi's mask of polite regret hid incomprehension. Presently Miltzin IX tugged a bellpull to summon a brace of liveried attendants, who escorted the n.o.ble landholder from the study. The flood of emphatic Rhazaullean ceased.
”Well.” Mad Miltzin exuded virtuous indignation. ”What an unexpected unpleasantness. What was the fellow saying to you just now, when he switched over to his northern lingo?”
”Just now? Oh-he was urging me to return to Rhazaulle with him, Sire,” Nevenskoi improvised. ”He promised rich reward from the ulor for the use of Masterfire.”
”Did he indeed? Before my very face, too! There's insolence!”
”It is of no consequence, Majesty. You will note I did not trouble to reply.”
”Quite right. Good fellow! I mean to deport that countryman of yours, though. Don't try to dissuade me.”
”I would not so presume, Sire.”
”He's lucky I don't order him thrashed. The impudence of that northerner! The hypocrisy, the deceit! He deliberately misrepresented himself to me. In fact, he fed me a plateful of lies, and I cannot forgive that. If there's one thing I can't abide in those around me-and I'm sure you sympathize with me on this, Nevenskoi-if there's one thing I absolutely cannot tolerate, it's dishonesty!”
”BETTER HURRY,” Girays v'Alisante advised.
”I'm trying to aim.” Luzelle squinted along the barrel of the Khrennisov FK6. She held the pistol high, gripped firmly in both hands, as Girays had taught her.
”Try harder. You haven't much time.”
”I know. Don't distract me, you're just making me nervous.”
”I don't want to make you nervous, but any second now-”
”I know!” Luzelle set her jaw, adjusted her aim infinitesimally, held her breath, and- Luzelle set her jaw, adjusted her aim infinitesimally, held her breath, and- The schooner-rigged paddle-and-screw steams.h.i.+p Revenant Revenant pitched, and the empty bottle set up as her target toppled from its precarious perch on the deck railing to hit the blue waters of the Jeweled Expanse. pitched, and the empty bottle set up as her target toppled from its precarious perch on the deck railing to hit the blue waters of the Jeweled Expanse.
She had been too slow again. Now he would lecture her, make her feel childish and stupid- But he didn't.
”Try again.” Drawing another empty bottle from his seemingly inexhaustible collection, Girays balanced the new target on the railing. ”In light of the impossible circ.u.mstances your progress is good.”
Praise from M. the Marquis? Extraordinary. She threw him a surprised glance, then refocused on her task. Taking quick aim, she squeezed the trigger, and the shot sped out over the water. An instant later the Revenant Revenant rocked, and the untouched bottle tumbled overboard. rocked, and the untouched bottle tumbled overboard.
”Ruination.” Luzelle frowned. ”I don't seem to show much talent.”
”Difficult to judge, in such a place as this,” Girays told her. ”In any event, natural ability counts for less than persistence. Work faithfully, and you're certain to improve.”
”You really think so?”
”You've mastered the essentials. Now it's simply a matter of practice, preferably conducted on solid ground.”
”I'll practice until I get it right.”
”And when you do get it right-practice some more.”
”I promise. Girays-” She hesitated. ”I want to thank you for all your help. You've spent hours instructing and encouraging me, even though you disapprove of the whole endeavor. That's above and beyond.”
”Praise from Miss Devaire? Extraordinary. But you already know my reasons. I only hope you'll never need to make practical use of your new accomplishment.”
”I've already needed it, and I'm not talking about the exchange with Bav Tchornoi.” In answer to his look of inquiry she continued, ”I've never told you why I wanted to buy a gun in the first place.”
”You're not obliged to explain yourself to me. You've made that abundantly clear.”
”But I want to tell you.” Concisely she described the incident in Glozh-the Grewzian soldiers on the station platform, their hands on her in broad daylight, the indifference of a.s.sorted witnesses. Ordinarily reluctant to confess weakness, she now acknowledged the terror, outrage, and the nightmare sense of helplessness filling her that day, and saw Girays's face change as he listened.
”And so there's no doubt at all what would have happened if Karsler Stornzof hadn't intervened,” Luzelle summed up in conclusion. ”There was nothing I could do to save myself, to escape or to fight back effectively-nothing at all. It was the most hideous sensation imaginable, and I promised I'd never let it happen to me again. I needed a weapon for self-defense, and a handgun was the best choice. You can see that, can't you?”
”Six years ago I would have answered that a beautiful woman need hardly concern herself with self-defense, as she will never lack for devoted protectors, and you would have flown into a righteous rage. But then, six years ago the question wouldn't have arisen at all, because you wouldn't have deigned to justify yourself. Why do so now?”
”I suppose because I wanted you to know and believe that I haven't been indulging some idle whim.”
”I don't flatter myself with the delusion that you attach much importance to my beliefs or opinions.”
”Because I'm not wholly ruled by them?”