Descent into the Depths of the Earth (42 page)

Hundreds of faeries—both exiles and the Seelie Court—had
gathered. Into the hush, Lord Faen strode forward, his two-foot height proud and
haughty as he thudded his staff of office against the floor.

“All hear! This court extraordinary is now in session!” The
old faerie signed to warriors beside the windows and doors.
“Seal!”

Red-armored royal guards slammed the windows and the doors,
then rolled magic seals across them. Power flashed, and the rooms were shut
tight against intrusion or escape.

Lord Faen turned, ignoring the operation. Before him in the
front rows of the audience sat Lord Ushan of Sable, his flame red robes now
black in mourning. The Lady Nightshade, pale, beautiful, and severe, sat beside
Lord Nightshade and their youngest daughter Tielle. Young duelists, clan heads
and courtiers, all made a solid wall of faerie might that awaited the evening
drama. Lord Faen finished his circle of the floor then walked back toward the
throne.

“It pleases his Highness the Consort-Royal to declare this
court in session. Let no spell be cast without permission, on pain of
retribution. Let no blows be struck. Let all who have business before this court
state their cases and be satisfied.” The faerie lord made a single bow toward
the Erlking. “My Lord Oberon, Clan Nightshade embraces the spirit of the Seelie
Court and petitions your judgment.”

Lord Ushan gave an angry start, only to be held in place by a
hand idly raised by Oberon himself. Thin and attenuated like an exotic mantis,
the Erlking was clearly different from the faeries around him. Oberon looked
coolly at Lord Faen and then Lord Nightshade. When he spoke, the Erlking’s voice
was surprisingly cool and soft.

“What does Nightshade desire of us?”

Charn, Lord Nightshade stood and said, “Your Highness,
Nightshade asks that this court determine the guilt and identity of the murderer
of the Cavalier Tarquil Sable.”

With a roar, Lord Ushan sprang to his feet.

“No!
Improperly worded!” The Lord’s robes changed
color—back to their usual sea of flames. “We have a culprit already in custody.
This court should be sitting to determine punishment for the girl Escalla
Brightflower Nightshade.”

Lord Faen turned a glacial gaze upon Lord Ushan and replied,
“The wording was exactly correct. You are out of order. This court sits to
determine the murderer of the Cavalier Tarquil Sable—and also to assess sundry
other crimes.” Lord Faen turned to Oberon. “Highness?”

The Erlking raised one fingertip and said, “Begin.”

With his wings stiff and his antennae erect, Lord Faen began
a slow path past Lord Ushan, Lady Nightshade, and the glaring, sneering Tielle.

“My lords and ladies, upon the death of Cavalier Tarquil,
evidence showed that a faerie was the most obvious candidate for murderer. An
outside specialist was therefore commissioned by the crown to pursue evidence
and collect facts. This commission has been duly carried out.” Faen pointed with
the butt of his staff. “The Justicar will present the facts that he has
gathered. Attend him.”

Again Ushan gave a cry of dismay. “This under-creature is a
companion to Nightshade’s daughter!”

“He has served us with extraordinary courage and diligence—up
to and including confronting the demon queen Lolth on our behalf.” Lord Faen
turned his back upon Ushan. “Unlike faerie lords, the Justicar holds truth above
all honor. He has no objection to submitting to truth spells. Cast one now and
be satisfied.”

With a snap of his robes, Lord Ushan did exactly that. With a
truth spell in place, he sourly sat down.

The Justicar walked slowly forward—three times taller then
the faeries, his heavy boots and hell hound skin seeming stark and pitiless. The
human rested one hand on his sword and addressed the throne.

“The body of the Cavalier Tarquil was found with a poisoned
goblet at his side. Apparent cause of death was from imbibing poison.” The
Justicar turned to pace slowly across the room. “My own subsequent examination
of the corpse revealed anomalies. An injected poison had been administered
within the victim’s hairline. The puncture wound had been missed by previous
investigation. However, the wound had not bled at all.”

A thin faerie lady with delicate turquoise skin raised a fan
quietly to the Justicar and asked, “Justicar, this is significant? Why would a
wound not bleed?”

“Blood had already pooled at the victim’s front, my lady,
where the Cavalier had been lying face down.” The Justicar bowed calmly over the
little woman. “This is a sign that the body had been at least three hours dead
by the time the puncture wound was made.”

“Ah.” The blue lady twirled her fan in puzzlement. “Double
poison? Someone making sure of their mark?”

“Perhaps, my lady.” The Justicar kept his voice deep and
civil. “In any case, the Lady Escalla entered the room at one point during the
evening while the body was present. She wore a slowglass necklace-immune to
illusion. We have retrieved this slowglass and can now show this court the
events of that night.”

Carried carefully by royal guards, the slowglass gem—newly
cleaned and polished—was borne into the room. Lord Faen bowed toward the throne.

“Lenses can project images from the slowglass onto the wall,
my king. Light caught in the slowglass will leak outward only once. A time spell
allows us to accelerate or stop time for the slowglass, but please pay close
attention to the images. We cannot replay an event once the light has fled.”

A harsh laugh came from the audience where Tielle, Escalla’s
sister, lounged scornfully back in her seat. “Your slowglass could show nothing
but actors in a play! There is no guarantee that what we see is what happened
that night!”

The old faerie lord flicked his level gaze at Tielle. “This
slowglass has been retrieved at enormous risk. There are certain aspects of the
scene about to be played that are unlikely to be faked.” Lord Faen motioned to
his assistants. “We shall be able to judge for ourselves.”

The Justicar knelt so that his bulk would not inconvenience
the audience. When the Erlking gave permission, spells were thrown. Time
accelerated for the slowglass gem, the images trapped within shining outward
through a magic lens to shimmer in midair. Lord Faen stood leaning on his staff,
watching days speed past in seconds, finally holding up his hand as the images
began to show familiar events.

The faerie lord watched carefully as recoded events began to
unfold.

“This is about three weeks ago,” said Faen. “The slowglass
gem lies in a jeweler’s strongbox. Ah! Here we have the gem being traded to Lady
Nightshade. Tielle inspects it. Here it is mounted on a necklace. Money is paid,
and the gem comes here to the palace. Ah, Cavalier Tarquil!” The now dead
cavalier’s image froze as the sorcerer froze the time spell. Tarquil peered
straight toward the gem, dangling it at arm’s length as he inspected it with a
sly smile.

“Continue!”

The images moved once more. Lord Faen stroked his goatee as
he watched Clan Nightshade’s plots and plans. “Now they enter the Dreadwood
Forest and the camp of Escalla and her companions. Here the necklace is placed
in Lady Escalla’s baggage. What joy as she discovers it the next day!” Events
played themselves fast and sure, the court craning forward to make sure no
details escaped their eye. “Here we have the gem held up before Escalla—well
dressed for once. She makes a welcoming gesture—interesting!” Faen nodded, then
held up his hand. “Ha! Nighttime at the palace! Escalla looks into the gem, then
slings it about her neck. Stop! Let the gem play events at their real speed.”

The gem’s viewpoint was occasionally alarming. At the moment,
it showed a scene bracketed by Escalla’s meager cleavage as she flew down a
starlit path. The girl apparently wore a lacy silk dress and little else. A few
titters from the audience were met by a dire glare from Escalla, who paced
impatiently back and forth in the middle of the ballroom floor.

The images showed Escalla approaching the balcony of her old
bedroom. Cavalier Tarquil’s bodyguard gave a knowing look and deliberately
walked away. The view lofted over the balcony, through gauzy curtains and into
Escalla’s old bedroom. A reflected image in the mirror showed Escalla standing
in her dress, the slowglass gem sparkling about her neck.

The gem’s point of view wobbled and shifted as Escalla hung
the necklace over a the door handle. Coming back into the gem’s view, Escalla
turned, surveyed the still form of Tarquil—

—And then began doing a strip tease.

“Stop!” The Justicar leaned in to stare hard at every single
aspect of the scene. He pointed to the still form of Cavalier Tarquil, lying
sleeping on his face amidst his cups. “Continue.”

The slowglass gem could see both Escalla and Tarquil. The
image of the nearly naked Escalla blew the gem a kiss, waving and grinning and
setting the entire faerie court agog. Faerie lords guffawed. Faerie princes
raised their brows appreciatively. Faerie ladies tittered. At the middle of the
ballroom floor, Escalla turned beet red and clenched her fists in rage.

“Hey! It seemed a good idea at the time, all right?”

The projected image of Escalla was slapping her bottom and
dancing up and down beside the still form of Tarquil. A magician slowed the
action to catch Escalla mid sashay, slapping her rear and giving the slowglass
gem a nasty piece of sign language.

Red with fury, Escalla stamped her foot on the ballroom
floor.
“All right!
Enough with the slappy dance already! They get the
idea!”

Court ladies laughed, and Escalla folded up her arms and
seethed.

Stroking his stubbled chin, Jus fixed his puzzled eye upon
the girl and asked, “What were you doing?”

“Showing him the goods he was going to miss out on!” Escalla
waved hands in anger. “Hey! I have a nasty side!”

In the air above the ballroom floor, the nearly naked image
of Escalla blew a final kiss to the sleeping Tarquil, who still lay unmoving.
Escalla triggered the magic gateway in her room and dived through with an
admirable athletic clench of her rump and flip of her heels.

The Justicar turned to Lord Faen and said, “Freeze time.” The
images froze. “The images are clear. At no point did Escalla touch or even
approach the Cavalier.”

A faerie lord from the Seelie Court, a weird creature with
long antennae, gave a lazy flip of his hand. “She may have done this as a show!
She may have deliberately hung the slowglass gem there as evidence, then
arranged another way to kill the Cavalier.”

The Justicar gave a nod. “She may. One hour from the time of
her disappearance from the palace, Escalla was in company with myself and her
father. Lord Faen can confirm this.”

With a flip of his long hand, Oberon gestured to Lord Ushan.
“My Lord, you are satisfied that this human speaks the truth?”

Looking as though he would rather choke, Lord Ushan gave a
chop of his hand. “He speaks truth, my lord! But—”

“Excellent.”
Oberon leaned back upon one elbow in his
chair, thoughtful eyes resting upon the Justicar. “Justicar, continue.”

Jus signaled to the faeries controlling the slowglass, and
the images reeled on. “There will be another visitor to the room sometime within
the next hour of elapsed time.”

Tarquil lay perfectly still, utterly unmoving. The entire
court frowned, noting the unseemly stillness of the victim. Someone cleared a
throat to speak, when suddenly an image appeared. A new figure had entered
Tarquil’s sleeping chambers.

The figure stole in through a magic gateway made by the
fireplace arch. White robed and masked in a blank faceplate painted with mocking
tears, the image carried itself with incriminating stealth.

Jus froze the scene.

“As it pleases the court, this individual—or an identically
dressed one—was later found to be a consort of the demon queen Lolth, who we
almost had as your uninvited guest here this morning.”

The scene played on, and the entire court leaned forward to
stare.

The masked faerie pulled something palm sized from its pouch,
holding it with enormous care. Creeping carefully over to Tarquil, the assassin
cautiously pressed its gloved hand into the sleeping cavalier’s hair, held the
position, and then withdrew.

The masked figure put its weapon into its pouch and drew the
heavy leather glove from its hand. A silver ring sparkled briefly on the
assassin’s hand. Jus froze the image, looked at the ring, then watched as the
masked faerie kicked at Escalla’s discarded dress. With an air of triumph, the
masked face peered directly at the slowglass gem, heard a noise, ripped the gem
free, and shoved it into the front of the robes.

Down
cleavage.
Jus pointed at dim white shapes
preserved in the image.

“Female.
Breasts bound flat with bandages for disguise.
Far, far larger breasts that Escalla’s.”

“Hey!” Escalla looked betrayed. “I have understated
elegance!”

“Understated enough to be identifiable.” The Justicar
dismissed the pictures above. He nodded to Escalla who began rummaging inside a
portable hole. “My Lord and Ladies. Commissioned by Lord Faen to pursue the
stolen slowglass gem, I pursued the gem through magic gates into the underdark.
This slowglass bauble is a rather expensive gem, and so coveted that the thief
saw fit to wear it as a necklace, even though it only hung from a piece of
string.” Jus stroked his chin quietly.

“From this point, the slowglass will show the thief’s journey
through the underdark—a journey through drow checkpoints and a lich’s lair,
through a kuo-toan temple, and into the city of the drow themselves. The gem
thief has been working to a larger plan, a plan to use Lolth as an instrument to
release the faerie Queen of Wind and Woe from imprisonment.”