Orlind (15 page)

‘
They
won’t talk,’ Eva said, trying to sound confident. Limbane’s
unshakeable refusal was proving hard to overcome.

‘
Oh?
You know that for a fact, do you?’ His manner was usually more on
the mild side, but Eva had learned he was capable of being very,
very difficult. His lined face was creased in a frown, his blue
eyes hard.

‘
I am
pretty sure,
’ Eva replied, and then went (yet again) through
all the arguments that had eventually convinced Tren. She could
only hope, fervently, that she could talk Limbane round, because
otherwise she had no idea what to do with Ana and Griel. ‘Come on,
Limbane. We need their information.’

He waved them
away. ‘That doesn’t mean you have to bring them here. Interrogate
them somewhere else.’

‘
Like
where?’

He shrugged.
‘Anywhere that isn’t here.’

‘
They’ll want proof, you know.’

He gave her an
unfriendly stare.

‘
I
mean, I told them Krays has enemies among the Lokants but they
don’t have to believe me. I need to give them something
solid.’

‘
The
way you’re telling it, they’re dying to get even with him. They’re
practically begging to help us.’

She sighed. ‘Not
exactly, but they’re willing - or they will be. They’re also afraid
of him, however. I don’t think they’ll risk it unless they know for
sure they have help.’

His stubborn
expression did not change.

‘
This
is the only real lead we have,’ she said quietly. ‘If I can’t bring
them here, I’m going to have to take you to them.’

He let out a
long, annoyed sigh. ‘It hasn’t occurred to you that this may be a
trap, I suppose?’

She blinked. ‘A
trap for who?’

‘
For
me.
’

‘
I
find it hard to believe he’d go to such lengths.’

‘
To
draw me out? Of course he would. He’s been trying for
years.’

‘
All
right,’ she said, trying to be patient. ‘Then it would be safer for
me to bring them here. You can stay behind your wards, and we’ll
make sure they don’t roam while they’re here. Yes?’

‘
No.’

Her patience
evaporated. ‘Then I don’t know what to suggest. You wanted our
assistance, Limbane. You brought us here, you trained me. If you’ve
got a better idea, share it.’

He said
nothing.

‘
Then
this is what we have. Help us out, please.’

‘
All
right,’ he growled. ‘They’re to be under constant supervision while
they are within my Library, and I want them out as soon as
possible.’

‘
Why
don’t you handle the supervision?’ she said tightly. ‘Then you can
be sure it’s up to your standards.’

‘
Oh, I
will.’ He walked off without another word.

Eva watched him
go, still fuming. The man was impossible, and his paranoia about
Krays bordered on absurd. Would he really set such an elaborate
trap, just for one man? No matter that it
was
Limbane, it
seemed unlikely.

But she’d got
what she needed. No need to tell him just yet that Ana and Griel
wouldn’t be leaving his Library right away. And certainly no need
to tell him that when they did, she’d be going with
them.

All in good
time.

Chapter Eleven

Arriving in
Draetre once more, Eva was glad for the glasses that still covered
her eyes. It had been dark during her last visit, and she’d
forgotten that Nimdre alone out of all the realms still maintained
a day/night cycle. The sun was up in Draetre, though thankfully
much of its radiance was dimmed by a low cloud cover. She and Tren
may be able to take the glasses off for a time if Indren had decent
blinds in her office.

She had conveyed
them to the entrance of the university, rather than straight into
Indren’s office. Politeness dictated that the two of them should at
least make a show of arriving via normal means, and barging
straight into someone’s private rooms was never acceptable. They
set off through the university’s corridors at a brisk walk, and in
silence. Tren, uncharacteristically, was worried.

Eva touched his
arm, lightly. ‘What’s bothering you?’

He looked up with
a smile. ‘Nothing in particular.’

‘
Oh?
That was quite a frown.’

He shrugged.
‘Something about all of this is irritating me. Or, just...’ he ran
a hand through his dark hair. ‘Something isn’t right. Krays, and
the draykoni. There’s a piece we’re missing, at least one. Our
theories aren’t adding up.’

She nodded. ‘I
agree. I don’t think we’re going to find it - or them - by wracking
our brains, though. We need more information, and that’s exactly
what we’re going to get. Very soon.’ She spoke with confidence,
more than she felt. Ana and Griel were tricky, unpredictable and
dangerous; they would be difficult to manipulate, let alone to
control. But what she had aplenty was determination. Between them,
she and Tren would find a way to get what they needed out of
Krays’s former agents. One way or another.

Tren let out a
sigh. ‘You’re right, of course. Only, if Krays
is
involved
with the enemy draykoni, we need that information fast. It won’t
take them long to finish off Waeverleyne. As soon as they come back
- if they do - we’re out of time.’

A little frisson
of panic shivered up her spine at his words. He was right.
Llandry’s home hung in the balance. ‘Don’t forget that Glinnery now
has four draykoni on her side,’ she reminded him. ‘And Aysun
Sanfaer has a team of bright engineers working for him, with more
on the way from Irbel. They’re developing new weapons all the
time.’

‘
That’ll help,’ Tren agreed. ‘If it’s just the draykoni they’re
facing, it might be enough. But if Krays is helping...’

He left the
sentence trailing.

‘
I
know,’ she sighed. ‘But we’re doing everything we can. We’ll keep
on until we get what we need. Okay?’

They had reached
Indren’s door. Tren mustered a smile for her and nodded. She
squeezed his hand once, then knocked at the door.

It flew open, so
fast that Eva took an involuntary step backwards. Instead of
Indren, or even Devary, Ana stood in the doorway.

‘
Get
in here,’ she hissed, her Ullarni accent so thick Eva could barely
understand her. She exchanged a quick glance with Tren, then
stepped inside. Ana slammed the door.

The office was
crowded. Indren maintained her station behind her desk, but her
face revealed that she’d long since lost control of the situation.
Devary sat near to her, his expression also strained.

A tall,
broad-shouldered man with white hair was pacing around the room:
Griel. Ana joined him, and the two of them paced circles, round and
round Indren’s office. Their movements were full of barely
controlled fury; they had the air of predatory creatures ready to
leap. Eva was uncomfortably reminded of the whurthag beasts that
Griel used to keep.

Or maybe he still
did.

‘
So,’
Eva said, keeping her voice calm. ‘You found your
husband.’

Ana darted a look
at her, full of insane fury. She actually snarled, then let loose
with a rapid stream of Ullarni. Eva spoke the language of Ullarn
fairly well, but hers was learned for diplomatic purposes; her
vocabulary wasn’t up to this. She didn’t need a translation,
though, to guess that most of the words were expletives.

Well, so far so
good. That was part of her plan accomplished. But... she had
reckoned without Ana’s obvious insanity.
This
degree of fury
was more than she’d expected. The woman looked ready to tear apart
Indren’s office with her hands.

‘
You
saw what they did to him!’ she screamed at Eva at last, switching
back to the language of Glour.

‘
We
saw,’ Eva replied coolly. She watched Ana carefully, knowing that
Tren was keeping his eyes on Griel. Ana may be the craziest just
now - or so she appeared - but it was Griel who had lost it and
stabbed Tren, not long ago. The Lokant sorcerer had been convinced
they were working for Krays. Had Ana persuaded him
otherwise?

Eva looked over
at Devary. ‘How long have they been here?’

‘
About
two hours,’ he replied, without looking at her. He was watching Ana
as if mesmerised, waiting for her to strike.

‘
She’s
been like this the whole time?’

‘
Yes.’

Hmm. Calming her
down would be difficult, then.

‘
Right,’ she said crisply. ‘We can work together on this, but
we all need to relax a bit.’

Ana just shot her
a poisonous look and continued her ominous prowling.

‘
Fine.
Griel?’ Ana’s husband had stopped pacing and now stood eerily
still, his gaze also following his wife’s progress. But he looked
up at Eva. His face was stark white rather than pale, and his eyes
were haunted.

‘
She’s
told me... what you said. I’m not sure I believe it.’

Eva nodded. ‘We
are prepared to prove it. If Ana will calm down
somewhat.’

‘
How
are you going to prove it?’

‘
By
taking you to Limbane’s Library and introducing you to some of the
other Lokants.’

He stared at her,
impassive, for a long moment. She didn’t bother to smile or to try
to convince him further. He would either agree or he wouldn’t; and
he looked desperate enough to try anything.

‘
All
right,’ he said finally.

‘
Good.
Then let’s get on with it. Time’s wasting.’

Everyone looked
at Ana.

‘
I’m
fine,’ she snarled.

Eva just looked
at her.

Mercifully, the
woman stopped pacing. She took a long, long, breath, then sought
Griel’s hand. Finally, she looked back at Eva, her face
calmer.

‘
If
this is a trap, I’ll kill you myself,’ she said pleasantly. ‘And
Griel will kill your boy there.’

Eva sighed.
‘Fine. If we’re ready?’ She gripped Ana’s wrist and took Tren’s
hand. ‘We’ll be back,’ she said to Devary and the still-silent
Indren. Bracing herself, for carrying three at once would not be
easy, she closed her eyes and accessed the Map. Limbane’s Library
was easy to find, for it shone in her mind’s eye. It was the work
of a moment to fix upon it and begin the process of
translocation.

In another
instant, all four stood in the room Limbane had given over to
incarcerate Ana and Griel while they were here. The two “guests”
were both partial Lokants, like Eva, with a full-Lokant ancestor
somewhere back in their family trees. Eva suspected that Griel had
no access to the Map; no partial Lokant had a full range of Lokant
abilities and his weakness was probably the PsiTravel. But Ana
could certainly do it. Her ability, though, was tuned to Krays’s
Library; the frequencies across Limbane’s headquarters were
completely different. She wouldn’t be able to travel back
here.

But now she knew
where it was. If she betrayed them, Krays would soon know exactly
where to find it too.

Well. At this
stage, they had to be willing to take risks.

Ana looked
around, using her mental Lokant senses more than her eyes. Watching
her, Eva was surprised to see relief wash over her face. She’d
really been afraid that Eva was lying, then, but the nature of the
Library was obvious.

‘
Are
there more?’ she said suddenly, looking at Eva.

‘
More
what?’

‘
Libraries. I always thought Krays’s was the only one, but this
is clearly another. Are there more?’

Eva exchanged a
startled look with Tren. Why had
that
never occurred to them
before? It was a perfectly valid, and most interesting,
question.

‘
I
don’t know,’ she said honestly. ‘We can ask Limbane, though I doubt
he’ll tell us the truth.’ Speaking of whom, where was he? She
didn’t want to leave her visitors unattended in order to search for
him, and she certainly wasn’t leaving Tren alone with
them.

‘
One
moment,’ she murmured. Crossing to the door, she tapped on it. It
was secured by the complicated, virtually unbreakable coded locks
the Lokants used, and Eva didn’t know how to unlock it.

A few moments
later, the door clicked open. Two full Lokants, named Rael and
Egren, were guarding the exit and manning the lock. Eva didn’t know
them well, though she’d met them before. They were two of Limbane’s
most loyal colleagues and he employed them for all of his most
sensitive projects.

‘
Hello,’ she said softly. ‘They’re here. Where’s
Limbane?’

‘
I’ll
get him,’ said Egren. ‘He asked to be fetched.’

Eva nodded and
stepped back into the room, closing the door again behind
her.

‘
I
want to look around,’ Ana said.