The River Ghasts of Lid and Other Stories

The Eidola and the Tree Serpent - 5

'So the father is a flintberry addict, and the son is a target for assassination. And Durran of Slowshore is behind it all. Why should I believe you? Why should the sisterhood intervene? And what the hell did you do to that man?'

The High Priestess was in her usual mood, which was -- of course -- bad. They were in an ante-chamber near one of the embalming rooms, lit by lanterns, surrounded by jars and bottles. They had found the Priestess performing blessings on the fluids. She muttered the rituals, passing her hands over the containers; she cast strange shadows as she did so, as the ancient words twisted and reset the fabric of the world.

In the past, Hebdha would be terrified and monosyllabic in the face of the High Priestess's ire. But something in her had changed, some mental bonds permanently snapped by Massy's intervention earlier. She looked the other woman in the eye, and replied.

'Durran of Slowshore wants to own the throne, and he is eliminating the two things in his way; the current king, who he controls as an addict, and the young king to be, who he is trying to kill. To get to here, to the Tomb City, you have to travel through his kingdom, Norda. He saw this place as an irrelevance, a quiet place to commit treason. I suspect he now sees it as a threat.'

The old king walked through the wall, joining them in the chamber.

'Where the hell where you?' asked Massy.

Ignoring her, he spoke directly to the High Priestess. 'The child is at least partly correct. Having satisfied myself as to the fine character of my grandson, I went to Durran's quarters. He was preparing a letter, detailing the sudden and terrible death of the young Yaj from a tree serpent. I followed him when he ran out to all the commotion, and immensely enjoyed his shock at finding the boy extremely alive.'

The Priestess didn't stop her work as she replied.

'The fact that novice Hebdha is partly right does not make this stupid situation any better. And she is probably correct about him seeing us about a threat, too. What is he doing now? I presume you have someone watching him?'

The king nodded. 'I asked the eidolon Gauntlen of Stonerise, who I believe was once a spy, to follow him. The last I saw, Durran was having a conversation with his chief guard about what to do and how much we know.'

'Good. Now you, novice. You and this eidolon performed a mind join, didn't you?'

Hebdha nodded. 'I think so...'

'Oh, give me strength. You are not supposed to be able do that for another five years. That was stupid, both of you. Don't do it again unless I tell you.'

Massy was obviously about to reply, but stopped when another eidolon came in. The High Priestess looked up sharply.

'Gauntlen? What is it?'

'Durran has given orders to his guards that the sisterhood is planning another assassination, and to prevent this you should be butchered in your sleep. His guards are nervous about this act. They believe in us, even if Durran doesn't. This may be to our advantage.'

'This is ridiculous. Gauntlen, go back to watching Durran. You, Thomasina, assess the guards so we are prepared for them. You, go tell the sisters. And you,' she said, pointing at Hebdha, 'stop being so damn precocious before you get us all killed. You haven't even done your ceremony yet!'

She stopped her ritual.

'Actually, that gives me an idea. Novice Hebdha, we are going to do your ceremony, right now. I want the Yaj and that Durran character there too. In the Winnowing Hall in fifteen minutes, all of you. Stop staring at me, are you all idiots? Come on!'