Lisa Shearin - Raine Benares 01 (45 page)

Where
we were going wasn’t anywhere I wanted to be.

The
Ruins was my least favorite place in Mermeia, and for the second time in as
many nights, here I was again. I wasn’t familiar with this section, but seeing
that it jutted against the Goblin District, there was a perfectly good reason
why I had never made it a point to visit. It was darker and even scarier than
the rest of The Ruins, if that was possible. Or maybe it was just the company.

The
Mal’Salin family controlled the embassy compound, and I had assumed that for
security’s sake, Sarad Nukpana would want to stay there. It looked like he
favored privacy over protection. But with the small Mal’Salin army surrounding
us, I didn’t think Nukpana considered security much of an issue.

A
distraction or two would be good, but I wasn’t going to count on any happening.
I hoped we were being followed by some of Mychael’s Guardians, but I’ve always
tried to avoid counting on help I couldn’t see. No doubt there were plenty of
plans being formulated in many heads, but since I had no way of knowing if any
stood a chance of going beyond the planning stage, I wasn’t going to depend on
any for help. This one was all mine.

Nukpana
offered me his arm. “The footing ahead is uncertain.”

Ordinarily
I would have seen it as a gallant gesture of a distinguished gentleman. Tonight
I would have rather taken the arm, or whatever, of a Magh’Sceadu.

“I’ll
take my chances.”

He
suddenly had my wrist. I hadn’t seen him move. His grip wasn’t painful, but I
wasn’t going anywhere, either. Never taking those black eyes from mine, Nukpana
linked my arm through his. “I would rather you didn’t.” His voice was low and
dark; apparently disobedience wasn’t a familiar concept.

The
trees around us were dark and silent. No shrieks, calls, or growls. No
flickering lights. The first time I had been taken into The Ruins by Mal’Salin
guards, I had deemed the creatures living there to be the greater of two evils
until my captors proved otherwise. Tonight I knew better. The evil in The Ruins
hadn’t taken the night off. It was walking next to me.

Though
walking into The Ruins gave me time to think. Not that I needed time, I knew
what I wanted to do, which was more than I could say for the beacon or the
Saghred. From the stone there was no sound at all. The beacon, on the other
hand, was making the same happy, perky sounds that had been annoying me since
we arrived at the embassy. I wasn’t annoyed anymore. Now I just felt betrayed.
Either the beacon knew something I didn’t, or it didn’t care who reunited it
with its long-lost buddy, just as long as it happened.

From
what I’d found out over the past two days, the Saghred would probably like
nothing better than to demonstrate how it had gotten its nickname. I had a
sneaking suspicion that was exactly what Nukpana had in mind. No doubt he’d
like a little demonstration from the object he’d gone to so much trouble to
get. And there was nothing like a spilled life to buy the life-long friendship
of a soul-stealing rock. Spilled lifeblood to open it, and a soul sacrifice to
tap its power, Prince Chigaru had said. I experienced an image of my father and
the wraiths caught inside the stone. Nukpana needed me alive. He wanted Piaras
alive. That left A’Zahra Nuru and the goblin prince. I didn’t know which one he
planned for the instant death or the prolonged one, but it didn’t matter.
Neither choice was acceptable to me.

I saw
a gathering of stones ahead through the trees. It looked sickeningly similar to
another rock altar in another part of The Ruins. Now I knew where we were
going, but I still didn’t know what I was going to do when we got there in a
few minutes. Sarad Nukpana held all the cards, and I was left with a bad hand
and an even less promising chance at a bluff.

I
wouldn’t bet on me, but plenty of others were.

Suddenly,
I had an idea. And since the beacon was busy being happy, I knew I had come up
with it all by my lonesome. As far as plans went, it was simple, and simple was
often best. In theory. Problem was, theories that didn’t work had a bad habit
of blowing up in your face. My plan also involved a couple of things I’d rather
not do, like getting close to Sarad Nukpana—and even closer to the Saghred.

The
first part of my plan was painless enough. It was a question. A question I now
knew the answer to, thanks to my father. But Nukpana didn’t know I’d met my
father.

“Why
me?” I asked Nukpana.

If I
couldn’t get a distraction, I’d take a delay. I didn’t care about getting
Nukpana to reveal the vast scope and sordid details of his evil plan; I just
wanted to keep him talking. As long as he was talking, he couldn’t start
sacrificing. Tarsilia had always said, get a man talking about his favorite
subject, and he’d forget just about everything else. I hoped she was right.

The
goblin paused at the question. He didn’t seem baffled by it, merely interested.
“You are your father’s daughter,” he said, as if that explained everything.

I
swallowed. “And blood links are the best kind for this sort of thing.”

“Precisely.”

“How
did you know him?”

“Let
us say we shared similar interests.” He smiled. It could have been for any
reason. “What interests me now is you.”

Nothing
called for a subject change quicker than having a psychopath interested in you.
I forced back the lump that had taken up residence in my throat. “You didn’t
have the beacon. Nigel did. So how did you know the Saghred was in Mermeia?” If
Nukpana wanted to chat like old friends, I could play along.

“Nachtmagus
Nigel Nicabar should have chosen his words with more care—and been more
selective to whom he spoke them. He acted unwisely. His indiscretion was his
undoing.”

Indiscretion
and a certain goblin grand shaman. Neighborhood gossips didn’t tie a rock
around Nigel’s ankles for a midnight swim, or kick that crate from underneath
Simon Stocken’s feet. But I didn’t imagine Nukpana saw either as his problem or
fault.

The
goblin smiled. “And just before dawn this morning I ran into Ocnus Rancil.
Apparently he was about to leave on an extended vacation.” His smile broadened.
“I persuaded him to stay.”

I
suddenly didn’t feel so good. I’d never liked Ocnus, but I wouldn’t wish
Nukpana’s persuasion on anyone.

“He
mentioned that he had spoken with you and the paladin earlier,” the goblin
continued. “He also mentioned a name that I had not heard in quite some
time—Tamnais Nathrach.”

Now I
really felt sick.

“Master
Rancil told me everything I needed to know. In fact, he talked until he could
talk no more. I have told His Majesty all about you. The Conclave Guardian’s
daughter who will be helping us. He is most eager to make your acquaintance.”

Nukpana
stopped at the edge of the clearing. The moonlight was just enough to see the
trees on the far side, and more than enough to see the stone altar at the
center. A quartet of Khrynsani temple guards stood at each of the altar’s
corners. When they saw their grand shaman, they came to attention.

Nukpana
admired his guards’ handiwork. “Good. All is prepared for us.” He released my
arm but not my hand, half dragging me into the clearing.

“I
will take the Saghred now, Raine.”

I
made no move to hand it over. “Not until you let Piaras go.”

“Very
well.” Nukpana spoke without turning, and without taking his onyx eyes from
mine. “Kafele?”

“Your
will, my lord?” asked one of Piaras’s guards.

“Unless
the Saghred is in my hands in the next five seconds, cut out the nightingale’s
throat.”

Blades
were drawn. Nukpana held out his hand. I gave him the Saghred.

His
other hand released mine and closed over the top of the casket. “Was that so
difficult?”

Not
difficult for him, but breathing had suddenly become a challenge for me.

The
moment Nukpana’s hands touched the Saghred’s casket I felt a power that had
nothing to do with Sarad Nukpana. My father was talking to me. Not in the
normal way two people talk to each other. There were no words spoken, no
thoughts passed. It was more of a confirmation, an assurance that all of the
Saghred’s power was now mine for the taking. The box surrounding it contained
those energies only as long as I wished it. I wasn’t the only one who thought
the world would be a better place without Sarad Nukpana.

That
the goblin held it didn’t matter. The Saghred—and my father inside—reached out
to me, offering me the power I needed to destroy Nukpana, his Khrynsani, and
anyone else I chose, in The Ruins, the embassy grounds, the gardens, and the
house beyond if I felt like it. The stone’s power seethed just below its
surface. Waiting. Eager.

The
air was charged with it. I was charged with it. Nukpana still held my hand. He
felt and he knew.

His
grip lightened into a caress. “By all means, Mistress Benares, show me your
power,” he whispered. “I have waited all my life to witness the Saghred’s
strength.”

I
certainly felt like destroying. The power was mine. I trembled with it. I could
destroy Nukpana now, before he could hurt anyone else I loved. I knew it. So
did he.

The
power was also wrong, wrong in every way I had ever been taught. The Saghred
would make me into what I wasn’t. I wasn’t like Sarad Nukpana.

“Learn
patience,” I hissed.

Nukpana
acknowledged my choice with a bare nod. “As you wish. Bring the witch.”

A
pair of Khrynsani guards brought Primari A’Zahra Nuru forward. Her patrician
features were expressionless, and even dwarfed as she was by the armored guards
on either side of her, her bearing remained regal. No doubt she’d die the same
way. My free hand closed on the dagger in the hidden pocket of my gown. No one
was dying. Not on my watch.

Prince
Chigaru shared my opinion, but not for long. The struggle was quick and
fatal—quick for Chigaru, fatal for one of the guards. Three more sprang to take
his place, and a vicious blow to the back of the prince’s head ended the
discussion.

Sarad
Nukpana’s eyes narrowed, the Khrynsani guard who struck Chigaru the new object
of his disaffection. “If he is dead, you will take his place.”

The
guard dropped to his knees, desperately checking the prince for signs of life.

“He
lives.”

“Good.
See that it remains so.”

I
pushed the Saghred’s power down, then took a deep breath and slowly released
it. I knew it wouldn’t stay there for long.

Nukpana
sensed it. “You are strong, Raine. Like your father.”

The
bastard actually sounded happy about that.

“I
won’t be your puppet,” I told him.

“I
don’t want a puppet; I want a partner.”

“Life’s
full of disappointments.”

Nukpana
held up his hand and the guards stopped. “Apparently you require a more
personal incentive. Release the witch,” he told the guards. His smile was slow
and horrible. “Bring the nightingale.”

I
screamed and lunged for Nukpana. I was fast, but the guards behind me were
faster.

Four
big goblins grabbed Piaras. He tried to fight them, but there were too many. As
they lifted him onto the altar, Piaras’s voice dropped desperately to a dark,
low register.

“Gag
him,” Nukpana snapped. “Quickly.”

One
guard gagged Piaras, while the other three held him down and shackled him to
the altar.

My
heart pounded, blood ran cold, mouth went dry. Anything and everything you’d
expect to feel when you saw someone you loved about to be slaughtered. None of
those things were going to get Piaras off of that slab, so I made myself stop
doing them, every last one. If I panicked, I couldn’t think, and if I couldn’t
think, a lot of people were going to die or worse—starting with Piaras.

“Don’t.”
It took everything I had not to make that one word sound like begging. I would
not beg. Nukpana would like it and I wasn’t about to give him the satisfaction.

“What
I do—or do not do—is for you to decide.” Any pretense of civility was gone from
his voice. He wasn’t playing anymore. “You know what I require.”

“I
can’t. I don’t know how.”

“But
you do. In these very woods you destroyed six Magh’Sceadu, merely because they
threatened your precious nightingale. I’m asking for a similar demonstration.”

“Do I
get to pick the target?” The words came out through clenched teeth.

The
goblin laughed. “I could hardly enjoy the performance if I were vaporized.”

“Scared?”

“Merely
prudent.” I felt his personal shields go up. He might as well have erected a
fortress around himself.

“We
all make sacrifices, Raine. I don’t wish the nightingale’s death either. Merely
show me the Saghred. Show me the power, and we both get what we want.” He
looked over at where Prince Chigaru lay unmoving on the ground. “I think the
prince and the witch will work nicely for your first demonstration.”