"Veza," Laquatus said. "This is truly a most unexpected surprise. I came to collect the empress's survey data. I didn't expect to collect her pet mermaid as well."
The captain and crew had resisted when Laquatus removed the recording crystal, but they were easily subdued by the ambassador's human mercenaries. Each, had been armed and enchanted for underwater work, and Veza recognized several pirate clan tattoos among them. There was also some kind of living statue that had taken Turg's place at Laquatus's side.
"Take Director Veza to my ship," Laquatus said. "Bind the others and put them in the brig. I want this leviathan gutted and towed back to where it came in."
"Can we feed 'er to the rays, sir?"
"By all means. But save the head carapace. Hang it at the mouth of the chasm as a warning." Laquatus followed Veza as she was led out. She saw him whisper something to the purple statue, and the statue nodded, then stayed behind.
They led her to Laquatus's ray, where they untied her wrists and feet and locked her in a chamber. Before too long, Laquatus himself came to join her.
"I must apologize," he said, "but we are inches away from a fullblown civil war. I had actually hoped the information from your survey would calm some of the passions that are running so high. Alas, it seems that this chasm is another item Llawan and I must quarrel over." He stared hard at Veza. "Have you become more fluid, my dear, as I suggested?"
"If you mean, am I ready to join your side, the answer is no."
"I don't think you've thought this through, so I'll give you another chance to answer." Laquatus leaned forward to clear a floating strand of hair out of Veza's face, but she swatted his hand aside. He smiled.
"Why are you so loyal to the empress? She sent you into harm's way through sheer ignorance. She is not worthy of your loyalty. And besides, she holds no such love for you or any of our kind." " 'Our kind,' Ambassador? What is our kind?" "The adaptable," he said instantly. "Those of us who can respond quickly to changing circumstances. Those of us who continually define ourselves." He crouched next to her where she sat. "Let me help you, Veza. Trust in me half as much as you trust in Llawan, and I will never abandon you, as she has." "Llawan has not abandoned me."
"Hasn't she?" Laquatus brought a blue mirror out of his robe. He held it before his face and said, "Empress Llawan?"
The empress's face soon appeared. "What do you want, pretender?" "I have captured your spy vessel in Otaria Chasm. Your ship and its crew will be executed at dawn."
"If you damage a single scale on our leviathan," Llawan raged, "we will crucify you on the ocean's floor."
Laquatus glanced at Veza, making sure she was listening to the exchange. "What's that, Your Majesty? No concern for the crew?" "If you have taken our crew, then they are already dead." "Not at all, Empress." He turned the mirror to face Veza. "Your valued advisor from Breaker Bay is chatting with me now." Laquatus gave the two women the briefest glimpse of each other before turning the mirror back to his own face. "Will you barter for her life, at least?"
"We grow weary of your voice, Laquatus. If you have a point, make it."
"A trade. The leviathan and the mermaid in exchange for the chasm."
Llawan clicked angrily. "No. We are sorry to lose our leviathan and our friend Veza. But we will come for their bodies soon, Laqua-tus, and when we do, you will surely fall. This audience is over." Laquatus smiled at the darkened glass and casually placed the mirror back in his robes. He closed his eyes for a moment, then turned to Veza.
"I'd say you are officially abandoned, Director. So now, the question is to you." A knock sounded, and Laquatus's featureless man came in with a heavy sack over his shoulder.
"Will you take my hand and help the Mer empire reach the very pinnacle of its power and prestige?" He took the sack from his servant. "Thank you, Burke.
"Or will you remain loyal to Llawan, who has endangered and abandoned you?" Laquatus opened the sack and pulled it away from its contents. The heads of the leviathan's bridge crew floated freely in the chamber between Laquatus and Veza. "I apologize for the rudeness of the message, but the question is pressing. Who shall you serve?"
Veza looked at the ghastly display, then Burke's expressionless face, then Laquatus's confident smile.
"If the chasm has a hidden value," she said, "I can help you secure it."
"Excellent." Laquatus extended his hands, and Veza rose to take them. "We should begin at once."
CHAPTER 17
Skellum made the short walk from the manor to the academy. He was looking forward to his dinner, but he was looking forward to the shikar with Chainer even more. He had trained dozens of young Ca-.balists, one at a time, and he was usually somewhat melancholy at this stage of the program. The vast majority of his students never went on shikar. Instead, they were hurled into the pits as soon as they could reliably create monsters, an arrangement that served the Cabal's needs for warm bodies in the pits far better than it served Skellum's perfectionist nature. Chainer, however, would be his crowning achievement as a Master Dementist.
The First had meddled, as he always did, but Skellum knew that in this case the First's interest was well justified. He had something special in mind for Chainer from the very beginning, and though Skellum could only guess at what that might be, he was proud to have been a part of it. He was proud of his student, proud of his program, and proud of himself.
The Master of the Games was waiting outside of Skellum's office with a fixer Skellum recognized as Louche and a pair of hulking stalkers.
"The Cabal is here," Skellum called.
"Do you recognize this seal?" The Master of the Games stiffly handed Skellum a scroll with an ornate wax seal on it.
"It's from the First."
"Read it, please."
Skellum took the scroll and scanned it. It was a short statement, and it didn't take him long. He read it twice, then looked up at the Master of the Games.
"Is this a joke?"
"No joke, Master Skellum. The First has requested you to take your student's place in the pits this evening."
"But I'm not a-"
"He knew you would understand."
Skellum's ire began to rise, and the Master of the Games took a step back.
"I will see the First now," Skellum said. He looked up at the stalkers, one a saber-toothed ogre and the other a half-zombified merman with three crushing octopus tentacles on each shoulder instead of arms. The ogre, still alive and alert, took a step back from the smaller man's glare.
"Very well," said the Master of the Games, and she hurled a handful of grayish powder in Skellum's face. His hat blocked most of it, but enough got through to cover his eyes and clog his nose and throat. Skellum swooned but did not fall. With his cape wrapped around his arm, he took two staggering steps forward, as elegantly as he could, and pressed his back against the wall. Then he slid to the floor, unconscious.
"Forgive me, Master Skellum." The First stood alone in his private chambers, surrounded by black candles. Skellum straightened his cape and got to his feet.
"I'm afraid I really must insist," the First was saying. "You must trust in me. This will be for the best."
"But I've done nothing wrong. I've been a valued and loyal servant all my life."
The First came forward. "And you shall remain so, even after death."
Skellum looked around the darkened room. It was far too lonely and silent without all the guards and attendants.
"Pater," he said. "I don't understand."