Part 18 (2/2)
I'm worthless”
”You're worth soht an outlet, but blaht for their troubles wouldher fury, she growled, ”We can't just sit in a crack in a ht waved at half a world ”Pick a direction,” he said, then closed his eyes again
His heart was truly gone, Knucklebones saw His tribe held it hostage down there on the prairie
Bitterly she recalled how sad and lonely and hoht his tribe, how happy he'd been to find them, even when abused and accused and harried and carped at And noith that link broken, he was broken too Perhaps, in tioal in life, but perhaps not What was that legendary bird, she wondered, that when captured and caged always died? Could Sunbright survive being cut off forever fro severed fro call rose from below like a lark's warble The sound perked up the dwarves, who dropped food to grab crossbows and axes Whispering, skidding on hobnail boots, they scuttled into corners and crevices as ifinto the rock In seconds, the shelf was bare except for Knucklebones and Sunbright, and the sleeping Monkberry
Creeping forward on bare feet, the thief scattered the er fire with a stick Darkness enfolded the brook ”Hallooo! We wish to talk!”
No dwarves answered, or even poked up their noses Unsure, Knucklebones e of the shelf Her cat's-eye vision orse in cracks, and a line of black, stunted trees a long stone's thron No people For lack of a better plan, she went along ”Co left the tree line Three white blobs Faces A few paces later, Knuckleboneswalk like deer, black, curved lines behind heads of black hair
Why, she marveled, did they come?
When the trio closed to scale the last slope to the shelf, Knucklebones barked, ”I said empty- handed! Two dozen crossbows can sweep this rock!”
In answer, six white palraceful and strong, they made Knucklebones feel crippled and clue and alray-white rock, fraainst black sky, three elves waited patiently with hands in the air Knucklebones iined that they were the same elves who'd tried to kill her many times these past days Wild black hair banded with headbands, sreen shi+rts, and s at their hips At their back hung quivers of black arrows and short, curved bows
Hoping the dwarves were still present, not slipped over the next mountain, Knucklebones demanded, ”What do you wish?”
”We come in peace,” said the ht, within inches ”We sue for peace”
”Peace? With whorasslands,” the elf said ”We know their shaman is here”
”How do you know-Oh!” Knucklebones juht stepped up Absorbed in the terrible beauty of the elves, the nity, she'd failed to hear hiht Steelshanks aarth”
The elves looked at one another The otiate a truce with your people Orcs swarm into our forest froht barbarians and orcs too You ht interrupted ”They will not listen”
Again the elves exchanged glances, and Knucklebones thought a sigh of exasperation escaped the spokesperson, as if dealing with thick-witted humans were a chore
”They must listen,” the elf woman said ”You must talk to them Failure to talk will have dire consequences for all our peoples Mortal consequences”
Chapter 16
Everywhere on the outskirts of the Netherese Ened supre froates breached and torn down, the marketplace and city hall burned Near Earsorims and heaved their bodies into Kraal Brook until the rapids overflowed their banks The e was overrun by bandits that burned scaffolds and sluices and hoppers, but worse, introduced a throat-rotting plague that claie on Thiefsward, long suspected of cheating theh wooden gates Kobolds and goblins dragged ballistae and catapults and siege towers froe to Frothwater The noise awoke a jacinth dragon, rarest of beasts, that swooped upon the reround near Coniferia and burned their own forests, so smoke blackened the sky for days and ash smothered winter crops Even Seventon, birthplace of the Empire of Netheril, was overrun by orcs of the Eastern Forest
More than the people, the land suffered Already strained by the life-drain of the Phaerimm, the fields of the empire felt the axe, the torch, the scythe, and the spade Rarain, chopped down orchards, slashed vineyards, slaughtered cattle and hogs and fowl Half the harvest was lost Food shortages beca tables and decided to take action
What they saere not petty raids, but concerted action by many scattered factions of humans andThe e, battle-hardened, scarred veterans under officers with twenty or more years' experience, fitted with the finest arrown complacent in decades past, had cut back the army to save money, and the current forces were stretched to the limit Sometimes they conquered, sometimes they were overwhelmed Yet the raids increased, and in the wake of ues, eleebane and kalin, and ers of the One King, unarht red hand, approached Ioulau would otiator for the empire atop Widow insisted on choosing the envoy He would address only the strongest, most brilliant, most capable archwizard of the entire empire
Lady Polaris
Widowrassland rapidly turning desert Nine airboats skimmed the air in approach: wooden peapod hulls topped by horizontal masts and metal foils to catch the sun's rays For this occasion, each boat was painted black and white, the ambassador's colors, and black banners marked by an ornate white P snapped in the wind Six boats took station around the mountaintop, which was artificially flattened and the size of a large pasture, while three boats touched down The splanks, and twenty of the e helmets stepped out sonally across their breasts More soldiers tramped from the other two shi+ps to form a line of protection halfway around the top After them came a dozen es then departed the shi+p and trotted the periical or mechanical, they skipped to the shi+p to report
Finally, out marched Lady Polaris
The archwizard upheld her reputation as a croel of the eolden- skinned, serene and poised, so achingly beautiful ht they dreaht sky, silver elistened, silver fur that he a black cape fastened at her shoulder by a diae as a child's fist If anyone could sweet-talk a hu into submission, the envoys knew, it was Polaris More majestic than a queen, she swept across the barren rock toward her opposite
By co was uniht, his skin was sallow, al like rotten straw, his silver crown needed polishi+ng, the big red hand on his faded tunic needed repainting His attendants were only a dozen sturdy orcs in gray wool, carrying pikes, whereas a king should boast hundreds in his entourage
King and party stood on bare rock: no table, no treaty, no gifts, no tea service
Lady Polaris withheld a sniff fro This corpse ani? Well, who knehat the lowborn thought, any more than cows? Her , pro his weaknesses, and learn how the eht destroy him and his patchwork arood day May I congratulate you on the success of your enterprises? You've gained the attention of the h of the Netherese Empire Very few enemies can boast so”
”Lady Polaris” The voice was dry, as if thewere dead as a stuffed bear ”You do me honor Hoas your trip?”
”My trip?” Polaris went along with the e, ”Fair Airboats are a smooth ride, but there are air pockets One needs to wear a lap belt, which wrinkles the clothing How is yourcroaked ”Considering I rose from the dead”
Polaris sed the odd comment, pressed on, ”So we heard You ruled soon, goes the tale But you recovered nicely So glad”
”Nothing like a sojourn in hell to”How are your lands? Your estates?”
”My lands prosper,” the archwizard lied nobly ”I employ only the abonds are minimal As to my estates, my chamberlains strive impeccably My many homes are a pinnacle of taste and comfort that others only aspire to”
”Cha His black-eyed, stony face hid his thoughts ”Yes Even in my distant land, my household mentions your country home, Castle Delia, and how ably it runs At one time, you employed a woman named Sysquemalyn Recall her?”