Carnades’s blue eyes flashed with murder. “You must be Sarad’s ex-teacher.”
“Yeah, I guess I must be.” Kesyn finished chewing the cheese and belched in Carnades’s general direction. The elf flinched at the smell.
Khrynsani guards stepped forward and clapped magic-sapping manacles on both of us.
Now it was Carnades’s turn to smile. “A mere formality for you, Raine, since you’ve lost your magic.”
“Not lost.” I met his smile and raised him a smirk. “I know exactly where it is. And now I’ll make sure you’re the first one to know when I get it back.” It was an empty threat, but sowing uncertainty in an enemy was never a bad idea.
Carnades indicated Kesyn. “Search him and be careful about it. Sarad said that his former teacher has many unpleasant surprises hidden in those robes.” He turned to me and smiled slowly. “I’ll search Raine myself.”
Carnades Silvanus searched and he found every single weapon I had.
Including the Scythe of Nen.
Apparently Kesyn wasn’t the only one who had had intimate knowledge of secret service armor. I couldn’t imagine Imala having an agent who would have willingly let Carnades grope her. Though Carnades did an entirely too thorough job of searching me, and would have found the demonic dagger regardless.
“This was stolen from a collection in my home,” Carnades noted. “I always thought you were behind it; you and that pirate cousin of yours.”
“The demons that ransacked your house and slaughtered your staff stole that dagger. Me and that pirate cousin of mine followed those demons and saved your miserable life. I’ve heard you should make sure you don’t have any regrets when you die. I regret the hell out of saving your life—that time and all the others.” I looked him up and down. “However, it appears Nukpana thinks you’re good for something besides Saghred fodder. For now. So what did you have to do to buy yourself more breathing time?”
“Nothing that offended my sensibilities.”
“You have those?”
“While we have many fundamental differences, Sarad Nukpana and I have agreed to put them aside for our mutual benefit. The new goblin king recognizes my worth.” Carnades’s eyes glittered. “Unlike my own government, who are fighting like a pack of mange-ridden curs with the Conclave over who will put me on trial first. With Sarad’s help and that of his new goblin government, the changes I have worked tirelessly for all these years will soon come to pass.” He gripped my upper arm. “Time for your tour of the temple, Raine.”
I walked, and my mind was racing. Carnades’s idea of change included killing Justinius Valerian, becoming archmagus and undisputed head of all magic users in the seven kingdoms, with the Guardians reduced to his personal enforcers. Carnades hadn’t been able to accomplish any of them by himself, but with Sarad Nukpana at his back wielding the Saghred? There wasn’t anything he couldn’t do, absolutely nothing he couldn’t have.
But Sarad Nukpana didn’t give anyone anything—especially not an elf—unless he’d been well compensated in return. Letting him know that I didn’t have my magic wouldn’t have been nearly enough. So what else did Carnades Silvanus have that Sarad Nukpana wanted—or needed? Nukpana might have told him one thing, but the real reason would be something else entirely, something Carnades had no clue about. One thing I did know: whatever Sarad had promised Carnades wasn’t what he’d eventually get—betrayal and painful death.
I tried to keep my breathing steady and my words even. “So you’re finally going to get the Isle of Mid. Nukpana going to tie a big bow around it for you?”
Carnades laughed, an ugly sound. “Why would I want an empty, barren rock? The students and most of the mages have been evacuated.” He gave me a humorless smile. “However, as a member of the Seat of Twelve for many years, I know the Conclave’s evacuation routes and destinations.”
I couldn’t believe what I was hearing, even from Carnades. “You sold out those children.”
“They knew when they came to Mid that the profession they chose was dangerous. This is one of those dangers. Sarad is well aware of where your uncle and cousin are taking them. He has a squadron off the coast of Mylora sailing to intercept them as we speak, with orders to take all prisoners alive. Dead mages and magelings are worthless to him.”
My upper lip pulled away from my teeth in a snarl. “You’ve betrayed children—and your own people—to that monster.”
“The Conclave are not ‘my people.’ They still are what they have always been—a means to an end.”
“Did your new best friend happen to tell you that the elves are the first people he’s going to attack using that Gate he’s building?”
“I’m well aware of the Gate, and his intentions for it. I told Sarad the locations and strengths of all of the elven defenses. Precision strikes will significantly simplify and expedite the cleansing process.”
Cleansing.
I felt sick. I knew what Carnades Silvanus wanted. I knew what he was going to do.
“My allies in the elven military and intelligence service have been imprisoned,” he said, “but their incarceration will be brief—as will the rule of our shortsighted government. For far too long we have been passed over while those from polluted bloodlines have risen in positions of power. I won’t have to settle for being the power behind the throne. I will be the king of our new and reborn people. My long-suffering allies and I will be the elven government—free to reestablish the purity of our ancient race. The elves have become mongrelized by the mixing of races, the tainting and degradation of our noble bloodlines.” Carnades looked like it took every ounce of restraint he had not to spit on me.
“You handed Sarad Nukpana our people on a silver platter.”
“Not mine. Yours. Elves with certain desirable physical characteristics will be spared.”
“And you will be Sarad Nukpana’s puppet, to dispose of as he pleases.”
Carnades’s grip on my arm tightened to the point of pain. “I will have everything I have ever wanted,” he spat. “Everything I deserve. And unlike you—I will be alive.”
“To bow and scrape to a goblin. What will your pure-blooded henchmen have to say about that?”
Carnades quickly regained his calm. “A temporary sacrifice of my dignity for the ultimate good of the elven race. History will see me as the savior of my true people.”
Then his expression changed. His face became suffused with twisted joy; his pale blue eyes glittered. It was the face of a fanatic. He honestly believed what he was saying. Carnades Silvanus would do whatever he had to do to make his warped and perverted worldview a reality, even if he built it on the corpses of tens of thousands of elves—men, women, and children—who didn’t meet his standards of elven purity.
“I’ve dreamed of this,” he said, “but thought I would have to content myself with the changes that I, as only one man, could make. Yes, Sarad Nukpana is using me to get what he wants; but I am using him to get what the elven race needs. The Saghred is evil, but out of evil can come great good. There is nothing that I won’t do, no man or woman I won’t kill who dares to stand in my way.”
“Sarad Nukpana will stand in your way,” I snarled. “All you’ll be is a king of cattle. The Saghred doesn’t care what kind of blood runs in your veins, and Nukpana doesn’t give a damn about your purity. You’ll be raising prime beef for his altar. You may have delayed your slaughter, but you’ll never escape.”
“Little seeker, are you annoying my new partner?” said a smooth, cool voice.
Sarad Nukpana didn’t look like a man who’d taken a crossbow bolt through the shoulder only hours ago, and who had his hands and forearms literally cooked inside armored gauntlets the day before. His unmarked hands were visible from beneath the sleeves of his simple black robe, and he wasn’t wearing a sling to take the weight of an arm off of a wounded shoulder.