King of Swords (The Starfolk) (23 page)

In a grumpy tone, Kornephoros said, “Why would even Earth folk do such a thing? The court must assume you incited the assault unless you can prove otherwise.”

Oh,
great
! How could he possibly prove that? “I said nothing and did nothing to annoy them. And I have no magic, unless my ability to perceive names is magic.”

The regent-heir snorted. “Talent for magic is easily disguised. Princess?”

“Your Highness?” Talitha asked cautiously. Her obvious surprise at being involved did not bode well for the prisoner.

“You witnessed this halfling slaying the Minotaur Elnath yesterday, I believe?”

“Yes.”

“Did he use the red cape to arouse it?”

Talitha stared very hard at her father, shot a poisonous glance at Vildiar, and finally answered, “As far as I recall, he did not.”

Kornephoros nodded smugly. “Minotaurs are never stupid enough to attack armed starfolk or halflings unless driven to killer madness. The halfling must have enraged it without the amulet, which means that he has at least that much innate talent. He is accordingly found guilty of interference in terrestrial affairs for slaughtering the earthlings. He is likewise
found guilty of displaying magic on earth—a serious crime.” Kornephoros then added for Rigel’s benefit, “For which the law specifies a term of imprisonment exceeding your possible life span.”

The whispering in the court suggested that this verdict was a surprise. It smelled very much like a compromise worked out beforehand between the two princes—Saiph would be taken out of play in the assassination stakes. If Vildiar could not have it, then no one would. That might suit Kornephoros also, because the amulet would become available as soon as Rigel’s cell filled up with water. A team of husky slaves or a coven of mages could lift the slab and hack the amulet off the corpse’s wrist.

White with rage or fear, Talitha opened her mouth, and then shut it again.

Kornephoros yawned, “Have you anything to say before the court pronounces sentence?”

Rigel sighed. Now he had no option. The time had come to try and unravel the web of lies, to pull on the only thread he could reach. This might solve all of his problems or none, but it could hardly make them worse.

“Yes, Your Highness. I repeat that I did
not
enrage those earthlings to attack me. I say this on your Star of Truth, so if I’m lying, it needs some major repairs. I am not certain who was responsible, although I suspect Fomalhaut Starborn, a mage who would have been easily able to cast a spell of madness. I suggest that Your Highness recall him to the Star, and also summon the apparent earthling who goes by the name of Mira, whom I believe to be a starborn dissembling. She was there, and the previous day—to the best of my belief,” he added cautiously, “—she provoked a bear to attack me. I
accuse her now of setting the earthlings on me as well. Call her forward and make her testify.”

He had played his ace in the hole and would now learn whether aces counted high or low.

B
ring forth this witness!”
roared the regent.

Supernatural acoustics magnified his voice, but also the spectators’ whispering. It would take thousands of people to make that court seem crowded, but there was no doubt that it now held many more people than it had done at the start of the trial.

Counselor Pleione said, “I assume that this is she being brought in now.”

Kornephoros was red-faced with fury. Talitha was staring very hard at Rigel—for the first time since she came in. Vildiar was watching him also, but his grotesquely elongated features bore no expression. He certainly extended the boundaries of the expression “poker-faced.”

Mira, in her cotton earthling robe, strolled in leisurely fashion along the length of the court, ignoring the efforts of Sphinx Alterf behind her to chivvy her into moving faster. From the way she walked it was obvious that she had discarded her boots and was barefoot, and her bonnet had disappeared also. Her dark hair was longer than the starfolk’s, but it did not conceal her human ears. She was cunning and her motives
were obscure. Not wanting to get too close to her, Rigel snatched up his discarded robe and vacated the Star of Truth. She halted with her toes just outside of it and nodded to him with mild amusement.

“Nicely done, sonny,” she said. “How did you work that out?”

“Lots of little things that weren’t right. I wasn’t certain until you gave yourself away on the barge.”

“You will kneel on the Star!” Kornephoros barked.

Mira looked up at him with a mocking smirk. “No, I won’t. But I will tell you this much.” She stepped forward, onto the black granite. “Rigel Tweenling did not provoke the mob to attack us. That was the work of a Cujam, one of those fiendishly evil berserker amulets that affect earthlings but not starborn or tweenlings. It was activated by Tarf Halfling, who was begotten in illegal miscegenation by Vildiar Naos.” She pointed an accusing finger at the prince. “Tarf was reared by some of his many halfling brothers and trained by them in the art and practice of murder. He can pass as an earthling as long as he keeps his mouth shut, and he had extroverted to the crime scene with the express purpose of killing me. Get him onto the Star and see what you can learn.”

The Star was empty. Mira had disappeared.

Aces scored high, and Halfling Rigel had just played the ace of trumps.

The court erupted. Even the sphinxes uttered growls of amazement. Chertan snarled,
“Who was that?”

Obviously no one knew, but Rigel heard Electra’s name being repeated. He kept an eye on Vildiar, worried that he might resort to violence. But if starfolk could use violence, they would have no reason to keep halflings around. He grinned at Talitha, who looked stunned.

The regent-heir waved a hand. A gigantic but invisible gong boomed, jangling every bone in Rigel’s body and leaving his ears ringing. It instantly silenced the chatter.

“Where is Halfling Tarf?” Kornephoros demanded. If the long-lost Queen Electra had returned, he would have to be very careful how he proceeded. Voices called in vain for Tarf Halfling.

Seemingly aware that the ceremony was slipping out of his control, Kornephoros tried again. “Then I ask you,
Prince
, where is your retainer Tarf? He was on the barge with us this morning.”

Vildiar shrugged. He was leaning back on his throne with his legs crossed, insolently dangling about a meter of bony shin, as if this circus did not concern him in the least. “He was. He attended me until I came ashore with Your Highness, and I have no idea where he went after that. I totally deny that he is any get of mine, or that he is a criminal of any sort. In all the years he has served me, I have never had cause to complain of his work.”

Now
there
was a nicely ambiguous statement!

Rigel waited for the regent-heir to order Vildiar down to the Star of Truth to repeat his testimony. But he didn’t. He did look very unhappy.

“Fomalhaut Starborn! Bring him back here.”

The name was called and repeated. Echoes died away.

“Starborn Fomalhaut appears to have left the court, Your Highness.” Judging by her expression, Counselor Pleione suspected that her handling of this case had done her career no good.

Kornephoros glowered at his two fellow Naos in turn. Talitha smirked, looking ready to stick her tongue out at
him. Vildiar remained as cryptic as his Easter Island doppelgangers.

The regent chewed his lip, tapped his fingers, and generally fidgeted. Then he chose the safer course. “Rigel Halfling, have you committed any crimes within the Starlands?”

Was lusting after the regent’s daughter a crime? If it was, then surely half the male starborn in the realm must be guilty of it.

“No, Your Highness.”

“Then we extend the royal mercy in the name of Her Majesty and grant you status as a permitted dweller within her realm, subject to some reputable starborn sponsoring you. Starborn Fomalhaut, who would normally be asked to serve as your sponsor, is not available, so we call on anyone among the starfolk now present who is willing to perform this task to stand forward.”

Vildiar put both size-twenty feet on the floor, grasped the arms of his throne, and unfolded to his full, incredible height. “I will, Your Highness.”

Talitha kept silent, face lowered, staring at her clasped hands. Apparently Rigel’s ace in the hole was not going to win the game after all.

“Rigel Halfling, Prince Vildiar offers to sponsor you. Do you accept his generous offer?”

Rigel shivered as he looked up at that marble-faced elfin pylon. After what Talitha had told him, he did not need the warnings Saiph was now sending him to know that he’d be stepping into a hyenas’ den if he accepted.

“May I ask the court to outline the alternative?”

Kornephoros made a sound indicating exasperation. “If you refuse the starborn’s offer, the court will sentence you to the Dark Cells for a term of not less than one thousand years.”

Talitha had said he would have seven days to find a sponsor, but this trial was trampling custom and precedent all over the place. Violence was becoming ever more likely. There were three sphinxes within striking distance of Rigel’s back. Realizing that he was still clutching his robe, he transferred it to his left hand.

“You know?” Rasalas said softly. “One thing I really hate is licking blood out of my fur.”

“Me too,” Chertan agreed. They might be offering Rigel a warning or exchanging coded messages about tactics. They would not be indulging in idle humor, because they knew about Saiph and what the likely result would be if the court ordered them to restrain the prisoner.

“I decline the offer,” Rigel said and jumped clear of the Star. Saiph spun him around and hissed through the air to intercept a leap by Rasalas. Rigel had a momentary vision of two enormous paws with their claws still retracted, just before the sword cut them both off at the metacarpus joint. He leaned sideways to avoid the hurtling mass of disabled sphinx. The plan must have been for the male to knock Rigel down while his female partner secured his sword arm, because Chertan came in from what was now his left but had been his right. He threw the robe over her face and her claws screeched on the marble as she fought for purchase. Then Saiph crashed into the side of her head with sickening results, visible even through the moon-cloth drapery.

The amulet never wasted a stroke. With total control of Rigel’s muscles, it sent him sprawling, then rolling over onto his back as the Sphinx Alterf arrived in a great bound over the writhing, howling Rasalas. She had her claws out, but Rigel’s dive threw off her aim and Saiph was extended and waiting for her. The blade slashed into her belly, but it must have hit
bone on its way through, because the impact slammed Rigel’s shoulder blade against the granite floor so hard he thought it must be broken.

Apparently not, because he was on his feet again in seconds, still clutching the sword, with three screaming, wounded sphinxes around him and a whole pride of the beasts racing along the hall toward him, like an armored division, scattering the fleeing spectators like fenceposts. Three sphinxes had posed no problem, but could even Saiph possibly hold off a dozen?

“Stop!”

Everything stopped.

Rigel, facing toward the rear, saw the running starfolk sprawl headlong and the sphinxes roll, tumble, and slide. He tottered but stayed upright, probably held there by Saiph. Then the freeze vanished as quickly as it had come.

“Put up your sword, halfling!” commanded the same voice.

Blade and gauntlet disappeared. Rasalas was howling for someone to help him, blood pouring from his truncated paws. Chertan lay silent, eyes closed, and only the spreading blood around her showed that her heart must still be beating. Alterf writhed and screamed in agony, with shiny loops of bowel spilling from the slash in her belly. It was the Walmart fight and the Minotaur all over again. Was Rigel fated to kill people on a daily basis from here on out? Freed from the amulet’s control, he fell to his knees, dry-retched twice, and then vomited convulsively.

Neither Siegfried nor Lancelot would have done that.

“Healers! Healers to the front!” It was not the regent’s voice; someone else had taken charge of the hall. “Rigel Halfling, come here.”

Rigel went to wipe his mouth with his arm, discovered that his arm was covered with blood, and promptly upchucked
again. When he finally managed to stop heaving, he wiped his mouth with his left arm, clambered to his feet, and turned toward the thrones.

The royals had gathered on the steps with Counselor Pleione. It was obvious just from the way they were standing that the towering Vildiar was now in command. Rigel tottered up the steps to join the group. The length of the sentence wouldn’t matter, just as long as they’d let him have a quick death by jumping off the ledge on the way to the Dark Cells. But the Dark Cells in Canopus had to be at or below ground level, so there would be no jump. He would just have to drown, then. Even that would be better than going through life as a one-man mass-murdering catastrophe.

He halted a step below the two women and Kornephoros, feeling very small. The towering Vildiar was one step higher yet, a pallid version of the great jackal-god statues that lined the walls.

“The killer!” the regent said, enraged.

“No!” Vildiar was quiet, almost whispering, but his tone cut like a razor. “You were the killer, you idiot. You sentenced the halfling to death, knowing he could not control his amulet.” He could be loud when he wanted, though, and he sent commands thundering through the court: “More healers! Scribes return to your places.” He returned his attention to the wretched Kornephoros, lowering his voice again. “Now what? You have just sacrificed three sphinxes and blackened the queen’s reputation forever by implying that she bore a tweenling baby twenty-one years ago. What happens—”

“I did nothing of the kind!”

“You informed everyone that she was the last person to possess the bracelet before it turned up on the halfling’s wrist. You asked questions in public before you had learned
the answers in private. Haven’t you even learned that simple lesson in all these years? You aren’t fit to maintain a flowerbed, let alone a kingdom. The half-breed has refused my sponsorship. What are you going to do with him now?”