“And if there isn’t?”
“I assume the question is rhetorical.”
She sighed and stood up. I stood as well, and sketched her a sort of bow.
“Thanks for taking the time, Kiera.”
She smiled—a distinctly Kiera smile, that didn’t look like anyone else’s. “You’re most welcome, Vlad. Be careful.”
“Yes. I’ll try.”
She drifted out. I sat down and realized that I’d finished my wine. There was no sign of Tukko. I cursed.
“Yeah, Boss. It’s rough when you have a city full of sorceresses trying to kill you, and you have no idea what they want or what they can do but you have to stop it, and there’s no one around to bring you more wine.”
“Exactly!”
By the time Tukko showed up again, I hadn’t solved the other problems, but shortly thereafter I had more wine. This didn’t cheer me up as much as it might have.
Presently Sethra returned. “Did you see your friend?”
“Yes, I did.”
“And was she helpful?”
“Somewhat.”
She nodded.
“Tell me something, Sethra. Does Iceflame ever, uh, change?”
“In what sense?”
“In any sense.”
“Certainly. My weapon—” she touched the blue hilt at her waist—“is very sensitive on certain levels, and will respond to a number of different ...” Her voice trailed off. “I believe you lack the vocabulary.”
“Yeah, I’m sure I do.”
“Why do you ask?”
“Earlier, when I was attacked, I drew Lady Teldra, and she was different.”
Sethra frowned. “Different how?”
“Size. Shape. Weight. She was a small curved knife.”
“Now that is interesting,” said Sethra.
“I thought so, too.”
“Judging by the shape of the sheath, she isn’t anymore.”
“No, at some point she changed back. I didn’t notice either change. The sheath changed as well.”
“The sheath changed?”
“Yes, to fit the new shape of the weapon.”
“Where did you get the sheath?”
“The Jenoine gave me the knife in the sheath.”
She considered. “The most obvious explanation ... would you mind removing your amulet for a moment?”
“Uh, sure.” I did so. “What are you doing?”
What she was doing was making small, subtle gestures in my direction. Then she shook her head.
“No,” she said. “So far as I can tell, you’ve had no illusion cast on you.”
“Well, that’s good.” I replaced the amulet.
“I don’t know what to tell you, Vlad.”
“Okay.”
“Well, I can tell you one thing, as a piece of advice.”
“Oh?”
“Keep that amulet on.”
“Uh, I do.”
“During those few seconds you just had it off, someone attempted a sighting.”
“Oh, good. Did it succeed?”
“I can’t be sure, but I think so.”
“Great. So they know where I am.
“They’ll not find it easy to get to you while you’re here, you know.”
“That’s something, anyway.”
“But—”
“Yes?”
“Vlad, consider what it means that, just in those few seconds, they found you. They are very, very determined.”
“Yeah. Well, that just brightens the hell out of my life.” She let a smile flick over her lips, probably for form’s sake. “What could you tell about the sighting?”
“It was sorcerous.” She shrugged. “Fairly straightforward.”
“Dzur Mountain has no protections against that sort of thing?”
“I’ve never needed any.”
“Uh. I suppose not.”
“I’ve never seen you do that before, Vlad.”
“What?”
“Chew on your thumb.”
“Oh. I must have picked up the habit from my friend Kiera. She does that when she’s thinking.”
“Ah,” said Sethra. “I see.”
That was utterly untrue, and Sethra knew it, but she couldn’t admit she knew it.
“You’re a real bastard, Boss.”
“Uh huh.”
“Speaking of the amulet ...”
“Yes?”
“How strong is it?”
“What do you mean?”
“How much protection does it give me? I mean, could you blast through it, with sheer strength?”
She frowned. “I’m not sure. Shall I try?”
“Uh, no thanks.”
“All right.”
I cleared my throat. “We were discussing Lady Teldra.”
“We were?”
“I was. Or, rather, Great Weapons in general. It’s slowly dawning on me that I have one.”
“Yes, you do indeed.”
“Ummm ... what can they do?”
She frowned. “They are different, of course.”
“Yes, but they have certain things in common.”
She nodded. “They can all kill Jenoine. Also, gods.”
“Right. Well, killing gods and Jenoine is not a big priority in my life. What else?”
“They will act to preserve your soul, and possibly your life.”
“Possibly?”
“Possibly. But, in your position, with what the Jhereg wants to do to you, a weapon that will preserve your soul should be of some comfort.”
“True enough. You said ‘act to preserve.’ There’s an implication there it will try.”
“Yes.”
“How reliable is that? I mean, can I count on it?”
“Well, if you know it’s coming, and the weapon has time to prepare, it’s more likely. You remember the incident with Aliera in Castle Black.”
“It would be hard to forget.”
“But don’t bet your life on it. I know of at least three times when the wielder of a Great Weapon had his soul taken by a Morganti weapon.”
“All right.”
“Also ... I’m not certain exactly how to say this.” She chewed on her lower lip. I keep forgetting how sharp her teeth are. “Also, by possessing a Great Weapon, you have a connection, if you will, to something that goes beyond this world. Does that make any sense?”
“I’m not sure. You mean, another world in the sense that the Necromancer means it?”
“Do you understand how the Necromancer means it?”
“Well, no.”
“I mean something that you might term ‘fate.’”
“I hate that word,” I said.
“I’ll try to find another, if you like. It refers—”
“I hate the whole concept behind it, so another word won’t help. It implies that I’m not free to do as I wish.”
“It isn’t that simple,” said Sethra.
“Nothing ever is.” I sighed. “I really just want to know what I can expect from Lady Teldra. What she might do, what I can try with her that I couldn’t before, what chances it might be reasonable to take with her that I wouldn’t have taken before.”
“Oh? Are there chances you wouldn’t have taken before?”
“Funny, Sethra.”
She shrugged. “As for your weapon, well, there are stories and legends, but I don’t actually know anything.”
“Leaving me pretty much where I was before.”
“I’m afraid so. Although—”
“Yes?”
“I’ve never heard anything that would account for the strange behavior you referred to.”
“Wonderful. Well, would you care to let me in on the stories and legends?”
“Are you sure you want to know? The things I’ve heard all have to do with destiny.”
“Wonderful. Yeah, I guess I’d like to know anyway.”
“Very well. The weapon is supposed to destroy Verra.”
I nodded. What with one thing and another, that didn’t surprise me.
“Hmmm. Sethra, could the Jenoine know about that?”
“Certainly, Vlad.”
“Okay, that would explain a couple of things. Anyway, what else?”
“There is also something I heard years ago, all wrapped in metaphor, that implies Godslayer is designed to, uh, cut out the diseased flesh in the world.”
“Okay, well, that’s clear enough. Any idea what it means?”