Condemnation (17 page)

“It seems that I am here,” Aliisza said to herself.

She tapped on the palanquin’s side, and the ogres lowered the carriage carefully to the floor. The alu-fiend waited for the seat to settle, then let herself out, straightening and stretching her wings.

A duergar officer wearing a plain black surcoat over his armor approached her.

“You said you wished to see the crown prince,” he stated.

“At his earliest convenience,” Aliisza replied. She’d had the same conversation several times that day with various gray dwarf lieutenants and captains.

“Who are you, again?”

“I am Aliisza, an envoy from Kaanyr Vhok, the Sceptered One, Lord of Ammarindar and Master of Hellgate Keep. I believe your crown prince will find my lord’s message worth listening to.”

The officer scowled doubtfully.

“They stay here,” he said, nodding at Aliisza’s entourage. “Follow me.”

Aliisza glanced at the leader of her escort, a battered old tanarukk champion with a missing tusk, and said, “You and your warriors wait here. I might be a while.”

She followed the duergar captain deeper into the fortress, flanked by another half-dozen gray dwarf soldiers. She decided to think of them as an honor guard.

They climbed a wide, sweeping stairway that might have been impressive if the gray dwarves had taken a single step toward decorating the place, and finally came to a throne room with huge, stone columns supporting a vaulted ceiling high overhead.

At the far end of the chamber stood a knot of gray dwarves. By the way they moved, and the cold regard in their eyes, Aliisza guessed that they were the high advisors and nobles of the realm, but their garb displayed no such ostentation. In their midst stood the only gray dwarf she’d seen yet with any kind of ornamentation, a burly fellow who wore a hauberk of gleaming chain mail beneath an embroidered surcoat of black and gold. A circlet of gold rested atop his bare head, and rings of gold gathered the braids of his beard.

The captain escorting Aliisza motioned for her to halt and went closer to whisper in the ear of the crown prince. The gray dwarf ruler glared at Aliisza, then stepped forward, thick arms folded across his chest.

“Welcome to Gracklstugh,” he said, though his hard eyes offered no welcome at all. “I am Horgar Steelshadow. What does Kaanyr Vhok want of me?”

Not long on the social graces, Aliisza noted.

Well, she’d never met a gray dwarf who was. She decided to speak plainly and not waste time on flattery or subtlety, as it was clear any such efforts would be lost on the ruler of Gracklstugh. She offered a small bow, and straightened.

“Kaanyr dispatched me to ask a few questions about what happened in Ched Nasad, and to perhaps explore some other issues,” she said. She glanced at the other gray dwarves standing nearby. “Does everyone here enjoy your confidence?”

Horgar frowned, and muttered something in Dwarvish. Several of the advisors or nobles moved off, returning to whatever duties they had elsewhere. A pair of heavily armored guards in black surcoats remained behind, as well as another important-looking duergar, a scarred fellow in armor who wore a tabard marked with a red symbol.

“My Stone Guards stay,” Horgar said, then indicated the scarred dwarf. “This is the clan laird Borwald Firehand, marshal of Gracklstugh’s army.”

Borwald returned Aliisza’s nod of greeting with a sullen glare. She shrugged and got back to the point, deciding to match directness with directness.

“A duergar clan—Xornbane, wasn’t it?—attacked the drow city of Ched Nasad, and precipitated its destruction. Kaanyr Vhok wonders if you set them to it.”

“Clan Xornbane are mercenaries,” Borwald answered. The scar he carried creased the side of his bald head from cheekbone to three inches behind the ear, leaving a visible indentation. “Whatever job they took in Ched Nasad is an issue of commerce, not of Deepkingdom policy. You should take up the matter with them.”

“I would, but survivors are hard to find,” Aliisza said. “As near as we can tell, they trapped themselves in the city they burned.” She returned her gaze to Horgar Steelshadow and asked, “So, did they destroy Ched Nasad with your blessing?”

“With my blessing?” The duergar prince thought for a moment, then said, “I am not unhappy that the City of Shimmering Webs fell, but I did not dispatch Clan Xornbane to do that piece of work. Khorrl Xornbane was hired by one of Ched Nasad’s matron mothers to help her destroy those Houses ahead of hers. I did not choose to interfere with Xornbane’s business.”

“In that case, Xornbane’s choice of tactics seems spectacularly unsound. They delivered their employer a smoking ruin, and sustained horrible losses in doing so,” Aliisza observed.

“I am afraid that I was at least in part responsible for that,” said a melodious voice to one side.

From the shadow of a pillar in the great hall a slim form emerged, a rakish drow of short stature and catlike grace. He was a handsome fellow, impeccably dressed in garments of black and gray, and he wore a matched rapier and dagger at his hip.

“On behalf of my fellows,” the newcomer said, “I arranged for Khorrl’s troops to be provided with the stonefire bombs that proved so effective in the slave uprising in Menzoberranzan. I did not imagine they would destroy Ched Nasad in its entirety, of course.”

Aliisza raised an eyebrow and said, “I did not expect to find a dark elf in the confidence of the prince of the duergar.”

“I am something of a sellsword,” the fellow replied, “tasked with effecting certain changes in a handful of Houses in Ched Nasad and Menzoberranzan.” He offered her a slight smile that didn’t reach his intense eyes. “Call me Nimor.”

“Nimor,” Aliisza replied. “Whatever your purpose, you certainly effected a change in Ched Nasad. What do you have in mind regarding Menzoberranzan?”

Horgar shifted uncomfortably and asked, “What interest is this to Kaanyr Vhok?”

“Well, had we known that someone meant to attack Ched Nasad, we might have offered our assistance,” Aliisza replied. “My lord scents opportunity in the dark elves’ difficulties. If someone were considering a similar effort to lay low Menzoberranzan, we might be willing to take on partners in our business.”

Borwald sneered, “I doubt the Deepkingdom would have any need of a few hundred rabble squatting in fungus-grown ruins.”

Aliisza suppressed her annoyance.

They’re duergar, she told herself, abrasive and crass. This is how they are.

“Your intelligence is somewhat out of date,” she said. “My lord commands over two thousand hardened tanarukk warriors, each of them as strong as an ogre and three times as smart. We have built forges and armories, perhaps not as grand as those of Gracklstugh, but sufficient to arm and armor our soldiers. We command auxiliary troops as well—bugbears, ogres, giants, and such—more numerous than our tanarukk legion.” She leveled her gaze on Borwald and added, “We don’t have the strength of the Deepkingdom, Firehand, but we could take on twice our number of gray dwarves and give them a fierce fight. You denigrate Kaanyr Vhok’s Scoured Legion at your peril.”

“I am not unaware of Kaanyr Vhok’s growing strength,” Horgar muttered, tugging at his beard. “Speak plainly. What does your lord want?”

No subtlety at all, Aliisza lamented. Kaanyr might as well have sent a dim-witted ogre to deliver this message.

“Kaanyr Vhok wants to know if you intend to march on Menzoberranzan. If you do, he wishes to join you. As I have just said, I believe that the Scoured Legion could be a valuable ally.”

“We might not want you for an ally, if we were thinking of any such thing,” Horgar said. “We might think we have sufficient strength to get what we want without splitting the prize.”

“You might think that,” Aliisza conceded. “If you were correct, the dark elves of Menzoberranzan would be well-advised to seek allies against you. I wonder to whom they could turn for help?”

“I would crush Kaanyr Vhok if he did anything so foolish,” Horgar growled. “Go back to your demonspawned master and tell him—”

“A moment, Prince Horgar,” Nimor said, stepping between the duergar and the alu-fiend. “Let us not be hasty. We should give Lady Aliisza’s message careful thought before we consider our reply.”

Horgar snarled, “You do not tell me how to conduct my kingdom’s affairs, drow!”

“Of course not, my lord prince, but I would very much like to confer with you at greater length on this question.” Nimor turned back to Aliisza and said, “I presume you would be willing to remain as a guest of the crown prince while we discuss your master’s offer?”

Aliisza merely smiled. She let her eyes linger on the slim figure of the dark elf. Given an opportunity, she felt sure that she could convince him to see the virtues of her proposal, though she also sensed that there was more to this Nimor than met the eye. Unfortunately, Horgar and his Marshal Firehand were less likely to succumb to her special talents. She could wait a day or two and see if Nimor succeeded in advancing her arguments for her.

The duergar prince measured her, mulling over Nimor’s words. Finally, he relented.

“You may stay a short time, while I think about your offer. I’ll have the captain set aside quarters in the palace for you. Your soldiers will have to stay in a barracks near my own guards. They will not be permitted in the castle.”

“I will require some attendants.”

“Fine, you can retain two, if you wish. The rest go.”

Horgar looked toward the end of the hall and gestured. His captain came trotting up.

“We will speak again when I have made up my mind,” he told her.

“In that event, I will be available at your convenience,” she said to Horgar, but she let her eyes linger on Nimor as she spoke.

“It can’t be done today,” Thummud of Clan Muzgardt told Ryld, Valas, and Coalhewer. The fat duergar stood with a mallet in his hand, carefully sealing a fresh keg of mushroom ale. “Try again in a day or two, I guess.”

Coalhewer swore under his breath, but the two drow exchanged wary looks. It hardly escaped Ryld’s notice that over a dozen duergar brewers happened to be hard at work very close by the spot where Thummud stood, and that many of them had the unmistakable glint of metal beneath their smocks. The brewer wasn’t in the habit of taking chances, it seemed.

“That’s what you said yesterday,” Ryld said. “Time is pressing.”

“Not my problem,” Thummud replied. He finished tapping down the lid, and set the mallet on top of the cask. “Ye’ll have t’wait, like it or not.”

Valas sighed and reached for the purse at his belt. He jingled it judiciously and set it down nearby.

“You’ll find gemstones in there worth better than twice what we agreed on,” the scout said. “They’re yours if you get us that writ today.”

Thummud’s eyes narrowed. “Now I’m wondering what ye really be up to,” he said slowly. “No honest purpose, of that I’m sure.”

“Consider this a personal bonus,” Ryld said quietly. “Your laird expects two hundred pieces of gold per head, and you’ll see to it he gets that. What’s left over, he doesn’t need to know about, does he?”

“I can’t say as ye wouldn’t get what ye want some other time,” Thummud admitted with a shrug, “but the laird was certain of his words to me on this matter. I’d be crossin’ him to do this bit o’ business with ye, and old Muzgardt would have me head for it.” The brewer thought about things for a moment, and added, “Better make it three or four days, I think. The crown prince’s lads are all over the city, and I don’t need ‘em to see ye coming here every damned day.”

The stout dwarf heaved the keg up onto his shoulder and stomped off, leaving the two dark elves standing with Coalhewer in the middle of the sullen crowd of brewers.

“Now what?” Ryld asked Valas.

“Go back to the inn and wait, I’d say,” Coalhewer muttered. “Ye’ll have no luck standing here. Come back in a couple of days.”

“Quenthel won’t like that,” Ryld said, still addressing the drow scout.

All Valas could do was shrug.

The two drow and their guide left the Muzgardt brewery, wrapped in their own thoughts. They marched along for a short distance, putting the brewery well behind them.

“I’m beginning to wonder whether we shouldn’t just write our own letter of passage,” Valas said softly. “We wouldn’t need it for long, after all.”

“That’s a bad idea,” Coalhewer said. “Ye might forge a letter that looks about right, but ye need Muzgardt’s blessing. If ye get stopped, ye’ll be held while they check to be sure that ye’ve got the blessing of the laird. That ye won’t have until Muzgardt grants it to ye.”

“Damn,” Valas muttered.

Ryld examined the situation, trying to figure what to make of it. Either Coalhewer had purposely led them to a dead end, or the difficulty in obtaining the passes was unfeigned. For the first possibility, Ryld couldn’t see any reason why Coalhewer would delay the company in Gracklstugh. Perhaps the dwarf meant to set them up in some way, but if that was the case, wouldn’t he have had ample opportunity to spring whatever surprise he might have had in mind? On the other hand, if Coalhewer and Thummud weren’t collaborating in some elaborate deception, why would the crown prince happen to choose the occasion of the company’s visit to Gracklstugh to crack down on foreigners moving about the realm?

Because he’s got something he doesn’t want foreigners to see, of course, Ryld decided. What wouldn’t he want outsiders to see?

Ryld halted dead in the street. Valas and Coalhewer turned a few steps farther on, looking back at him.

“What is it?” Valas asked.

“You and I have something we need to do,” Ryld said to Valas, then he turned to their guide. “Come to the inn tomorrow morning.”

Coalhewer frowned.

“Fine,” he said. The duergar turned and headed down the street, muttering under his breath, “Don’t blame me if ye get arrested for doing whatever it is ye have in mind. I won’t speak up for ye. I’ll be on me boat if ye need me.”

What is it? Valas asked after the dwarf disappeared into the shadowed street.

The crown prince is limiting freedom of movement for foreign merchants and travelers, Ryld answered. He doesn’t want news from the city to get out. 1 think the army of Gracklstugh is going to march.