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Authors: Gary Gygax

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Gary Gygax - Dangerous Journeys 1 - Anubis Murders (27 page)

BOOK: Gary Gygax - Dangerous Journeys 1 - Anubis Murders
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"Only a weak and useless vessel would be so moved by the mother of witches as to act as Llewyn did. So whether from his own inner rottenness or from some pox caught from another, he is full of iniquity and deserving of execution."

"Aye, Majesty. I cannot but agree there," Setne murmured. "When ... ?"

"In but hours. I will have him excised from Lyonnesse and all Yarth! It is customary to hold a trial before all peers of the realm in a matter such as this, but regicide and all the rest exempt me from the formality. It so happens that three of the chief thegns of the kingdom are here in the citadel, and there are a dozen lesser nobles come to Camelough for one purpose or another. I called them to judge upon the scant facts and evidence—scant save for what I, their king, experienced and testified to. There was a unanimous judgement. Death by beheading—too good for the man, but he is, when all is said and done, a member of this royal house."

"Your position is not enviable, Majesty, though you be king of the great realm of Lyonnesse," Rachelle said to him. "I am at a loss for any words of comfort."

"Say none, Lady Rachelle. I am king and need none, not even from one so lovely and talented as you. I have words for both of you, however. It is to my shame that I behaved so vulgarly when this whole nasty business was settled. I now ask pardon from both of you."

"But of course," Setne and Rachelle said almost in unison, and added individual assurances that they were neither offended nor was apology necessary.

"One million spurs, in gold, is awaiting you at whatever great banking house you name. That should suffice for your time, expense, and the discomfiture you both suffered in one form or another. To make doubly certain of the latter, however, I asked the peers assembled in judgment to agree to honors for you both. I could grant mine own, of course, but these are from the King and Peers Assemblage. You are both given honorary citizenship of Lyonnesse as nobles. Your Pharaoh might not wish to have his folk vassals to another monarch, so the honors are of a knightly sort and require no swearing. Lady Rachelle and Sir Inhetep, I give you these badges in recognition of service to Lyonnesse above and beyond the customary. Now both of you may be properly addressed as Knights of the Blue Moon—a rare occurrence, but one bringing brightness to the night. It is the order reserved for very special persons."

They thanked him sincerely, Inhetep adding, "Please, your Stellar Majesty, I have one small request. It pertains to the payment, for I need not the gold. I ask that you use a tithe to endow here in Camelough a small shrine to Thoth, he whose wisdom guided me in this matter. As for the rest, I ask that you distribute it in such fashion as you deem best so as to assist your own people—those deserving poor who want education and have not the means of gaining it."

"Granted," Glydel said, with a small nod acknowledging the Egyptian's character. The king was about to depart when he recalled something.

"I almost forgot to mention two other things.

You may stay in this land, or not, as it suits you. When you choose to depart, however, this writ of mine will grant you passage to any port of call for which a Lyonnesse vessel is bound, as honored guests of the king of Lyonnesse, naturally. The other matter is one which you alone can decide. Is there any boon I can grant to either of you?

Rachelle shook her pretty curls, but the tall ur-kheri-heb of Thoth did have a request. "Your Majesty, may I have permission to question Tallesian? Then may I speak—carefully, mind you—with Prince Llewyn?"

"No!" Glydel nearly roared the refusal. Emotion played across his worn countenance, but then he said in softer tone, "Wait . . . What matter do you wish to discuss with him?" The man was torn between duty and desire.

Inhetep looked at King Glydel. "It is of no import save to Rachelle and me. You see, there is nothing to indicate what the conspirators planned to do with her—neither any hint of murder or durance, simply nothing."

"That's strange, Magister, for this very hour my—the convicted felon mentioned that as I questioned him."

"You questioned him? You mean that you allowed him to speak?"

"Certes!" Glydel was offended by the temerity of the Egyptian in questioning his royal personage thus. "It is the
right
of a king to do that, and the right of a member of royalty, fallen or not, to have last words of speech to his king and the peers."

"What said he of me?" Rachelle queried hesitantly.

"Something to the effect that he thought it a pity he hadn't had you packed off to the north somewhere, for you were payment or something. It was confused, and I believe that his mind has broken."

Setne gave his companion a meaningful look, then said to the ruler of Lyonnesse, "He referred to the
north,
as in the northernmost realm, the dark land of Pohjola—Louhi's domain, Majesty."

"I see," Glydel said, not really in the least interested, obviously so distracted by his son's treachery and impending fate that he made no connection to the trouble and the hag-of-hags, Louhi. "Now I must ask that you excuse me, for I have affairs to attend."

"King Glydel, I fear to arouse your ire, but I must request that I speak with Llewyn now."

"Are you mad? I go now to oversee his execution!"

"That I know, but I must at least have the opportunity to see him for but a minute, to speak with the prince before justice is done."

With ill-grace, the king acceded to Inhetep's request, so both the Egyptian and Rachelle went to the deep place where the offender was held, escorted by men-at-arms, an entourage of nobles,

and the monarch himself. Upon finally coming to the place, after passing countless barred doors and guards, the dungeon's gaoler greeted all formally, called for the turnkey to open for "King and Retinue," and the whole procession crowded into the narrow passage which fronted the four special cells for prisoners of most powerful sort, those with considerable powers of heka or likely to have confederates with such powers.

King Glydel opened a small hatch in the thick cell door and peered inside. "Here, Magister Inhetep. He sits now in a daze upon the bench. Is the sight alone sufficient? Or would you speak with him also?"

"I will hold brief converse with him, by your leave, Majesty."

"Be brief," he said sternly, then called, "Llewyn, this is your king. A man would have speech with you. Do you consent?" No response was forthcoming, and after several moments of silence, King Glydel turned away from the window and toward the wizard-priest. "Sir Inhetep, the prince makes no assent, so I must deny your request."

Setne looked determined. "If I may not speak with him, please allow me to view him closely."

"You may look through the grate on the window, but you may not enter the cell, for the door is proofed against all dweomers and the cell's integrity against interference and commerce from other planes and spheres is maintained by its closure."

"I am conversant with all such matter, Majesty. It shall be as you say." The tall /Egyptian went to the door and stooped a little to peer into the cubicle to see the captive therin. "Llewyn?" The prisoner made no response.

"I have come to give you priestly comfort," Inhetep said so that all could hear. "This ankh has much of divine nature in it—see its form?" and as he spoke, Setne held up the object he named. "It is yours," he then said, and before anyone could react, the wizard-priest had flipped the golden amulet through the iron grill-work and into the cell.

"What do you think you're doing!?" King Glydel demanded wrathfully.

"Serving as a bearer of ill tidings, I fear," Inhetep said with a grim-faced expression as he turned to the king and his nobles there assembled. "There is no prisoner in that cell!"

They all rushed to the door, looking in, calling for the turnkey to open it. After the dismay and disorder faded, the Egyptian explained what had happened. "When the prince was freed of his gag, the encompassing magick was broken. He was left ungagged thereafter, so when whomever had done that left the cell, Prince Llewyn called upon his evil mistress, the Crone of Poh-jola. Evidently, she isn't ready to discard her tool, nor finished with me."

"Eh? What do you mean by that, Egyptian?" King Glydel demanded.

"Look for yourself," Inhetep replied with an equally sharp tone.

"At what? What do you mean, wizard?"

Setne held up the ankh he had recovered after the cell was opened. The bright gold was slowly darkening and becoming corroded. "Observe the loop," he instructed. There, instead of the ovoid of an ankh was the profile of a long-nosed, scrag-gly haired female, a witch, the Crone herself.

A month passed before Rachelle mentioned the matter again. They had left Lyonnesse almost immediately after the discovery of Prince Llewyn's escape. The king was happy to see them gone, for they reminded him of the sorry affair. After crossing the channel and traveling overland through Francia, including a visit to Paris, of course, and thereafter crossing Aries, the two again took ship, eventually landing in Egypt. Setne had to return home, ostensibly to find a new ankh, but also for other reasons. Rachelle knew that the wizard-priest was worried about the threat implied by Louhi's features stamped out of the amulet's metal, and the corruption of the supposedly incorruptible gold. Only after they had been home for several days, and Inhetep had begun his work on a new ankh, one to be imbued with more energy and might

than the formerly held device, did his companion dare to mention what had occurred.

"What would they have done to me in Po-hola?" she inquired as they sat outside on a pleasant evening, with the first stars making little motes of silver upon the pond nearby.

"That's
Pohjola,"
he corrected, sounding the three syllables carefully for her, "Poe-yoe-lah."

"Never mind how you say it. I want to know what they wanted me there for!"

Inhetep looked at her and grinned. "They planned to turn you into sugarcake, just as the wicked witch of the wood did to all those children!"

"Setne!"

"I have no idea. Louhi is a devious bag, and the purposes she has to further her schemes are dark and vile. Whatever it was, she certainly planned nothing good for you."

"Does she have children?"

"I have heard tell she has a beautiful daughter."

"No sons?"

"You think that a possible son of hers was smitten by tales of your beauty and prowess so as to desire you for his own?"

"Well, it is possible, perhaps ..."

"More likely that the daughter of the witch is a vampiress who must drink the blood of beautiful virgins in order to remain young and beautiful herself."

"Then she would not want me!"

"No, you are too ugly," Setne said firmly. Rachelle threw her chilled fruit juice at him, but he ducked. She pouted. "Oh, come on, girl! I can only speculate. Neither of us can know, not with Prince Llewyn escaped."

"What of him? He's of no use to the crone, is he?"

"Possibly. Don't underestimate that one, Rachelle. Louhi bent much energy to carry the prince away so. He might have been a pawn, but his planning and work were masterful in their criminal genius. I'd wager we'll hear of Prince Llewyn again in due course."

She nodded, for that sounded reasonable. "You don't think she'll send him after us?"

"No, although if he can Llewyn will seek revenge, for he is bitter and deranged. Louhi will have other uses for that one. Who can guess? She somehow taught Aldriss to meld the bardic enspellment techniques with those of the northern chanters, to use all manner of true names and to sing so as to blend the Law of Sympathy with those of Similarity and Contagion. What she can mold the prince into is unknowable to us now, but you can be assured he will be a willing pupil and a deft one, save for his instability."

"Now we have a truly formidable foe, Setne. You have always told me that in your detection of crime you sought the real challenge of a worthy and fell opponent. You've gained that antagonist, I think."

The Egyptian made a cross face at her. "You make another of your little jokes, and I am properly amused. Now, let an old man sit and enjoy the evening in peace."

"Setne, come and sit by me. You're not an old man at all, and you shouldn't ignore a pretty girl."

"Bah! Go and fetch me some of that tonic you're always trying to pour into everything I drink. I am feeling logy and irritable."

She sat up, showing a long leg and a lot of thigh above it. "I feel positively full of energy. I'm so glad to be alive and here in our own home again that I think I'll stay up all night."

Setne grunted and looked bored, but he watched Rachelle out of the corner of his eye.

"I am ready for more adventure, though, my dear old ur-kheri-heb! Where will we go next do you suppose?"

"To bed, woman," Inhetep said with firmness, "definitely to bed!"

"Well, I suppose if we must, we must," Rachelle said with a giggle. "Let me show you the way."

The case of the Anubis Murders was thus closed at last.

BOOK: Gary Gygax - Dangerous Journeys 1 - Anubis Murders
6.48Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
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