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The Floodgate :: Каннингем Элейн
Страница: 156 из 212He was thin and balding, and the furtive expression on his face made him look disturbingly like a hairless ferret.
"Damn it, Kiva! After all this time, you had to pick this precise moment?" he hissed.
"Trouble, my love?" she said mockingly. "I would have thought you incapable of spawning anything quite so interesting."
"Where have you been? What's going on?"
"No doubt you heard of my capture in Akhlaur's Swamp."
"Yes, and your excommunication from the Fellowship of Azuth. I'm sure that broke your heart."
Kiva laughed scornfully. "Yes, but my faith in the humans' so-called Lord of Magic will sustain me through these trying times. Enough prattle. The battle nears, and we need to unleash all our weapons or fail utterly! You will have to cast the summoning we prepared."
The wizard shook his head. "You know I cannot. After the incident with the imp, Keturah bound me by wizard-word never to summon a creature I did not understand or could not control. Death comes to any wizard who breaks a wizard-word oath!"
The elf lifted one jade-colored brow. "I can live with that."
"Obviously, I cannot. Fortunately, I will not have to."
Kiva's golden eyes lit up. "You have the girl?"
"In the palm of my hand," Dhamari Exchelsor said smugly. In a few words he described the events of the past few days and his new relationship with Tzigone. "We're heading north even now. Keturah's bastard has not yet learned the spell we require, but she will master it by the time we arrive in the Nath."
"You have done well," Kiva said. "Surprisingly so! This Tzigone is a canny little wench, with reason to distrust you. How did you win her over?"
"As a novelty, I tried telling the truth as often as possible. The accusations against Keturah are a matter of public record, so that was easy for her to confirm, but it took some clever magic to convince her and the jordain Matteo of my sterling character and good intentions."
"Now I know you're lying," Kiva said scathingly. "First, you're not terribly clever. Second, you have no character of any kind, and third, your intentions are never good. More to the point, neither Matteo nor Tzigone can be convinced of anything by magical means."
"Ah, but the spell was not on them, but me! That talisman of Keturah's? The one that protected the possessor against me and my agents? I had it reproduced. I gave the copy to Matteo to pass along to Tzigone, and I carry Keturah’s original for my own protection."
The scorn melted from the elf woman's face. "It protects you from yourself!"
"Just so," Dhamari said smugly.
"Damn it, Kiva! After all this time, you had to pick this precise moment?" he hissed.
"Trouble, my love?" she said mockingly. "I would have thought you incapable of spawning anything quite so interesting."
"Where have you been? What's going on?"
"No doubt you heard of my capture in Akhlaur's Swamp."
"Yes, and your excommunication from the Fellowship of Azuth. I'm sure that broke your heart."
Kiva laughed scornfully. "Yes, but my faith in the humans' so-called Lord of Magic will sustain me through these trying times. Enough prattle. The battle nears, and we need to unleash all our weapons or fail utterly! You will have to cast the summoning we prepared."
The wizard shook his head. "You know I cannot. After the incident with the imp, Keturah bound me by wizard-word never to summon a creature I did not understand or could not control. Death comes to any wizard who breaks a wizard-word oath!"
The elf lifted one jade-colored brow. "I can live with that."
"Obviously, I cannot. Fortunately, I will not have to."
Kiva's golden eyes lit up. "You have the girl?"
"In the palm of my hand," Dhamari Exchelsor said smugly. In a few words he described the events of the past few days and his new relationship with Tzigone. "We're heading north even now. Keturah's bastard has not yet learned the spell we require, but she will master it by the time we arrive in the Nath."
"You have done well," Kiva said. "Surprisingly so! This Tzigone is a canny little wench, with reason to distrust you. How did you win her over?"
"As a novelty, I tried telling the truth as often as possible. The accusations against Keturah are a matter of public record, so that was easy for her to confirm, but it took some clever magic to convince her and the jordain Matteo of my sterling character and good intentions."
"Now I know you're lying," Kiva said scathingly. "First, you're not terribly clever. Second, you have no character of any kind, and third, your intentions are never good. More to the point, neither Matteo nor Tzigone can be convinced of anything by magical means."
"Ah, but the spell was not on them, but me! That talisman of Keturah's? The one that protected the possessor against me and my agents? I had it reproduced. I gave the copy to Matteo to pass along to Tzigone, and I carry Keturah’s original for my own protection."
The scorn melted from the elf woman's face. "It protects you from yourself!"
"Just so," Dhamari said smugly.