“What makes you think so?”
“Don’t be a fool.”
“Here we go,” said Loiosh.
“Lady Teldra,” I cut in, “did not leave our presence willingly.”
That stopped them, at least for a moment. “How do you know that?” snapped Aliera.
“She vanished suddenly, without saying a word about it. It was rude.”
“Good point,” said Morrolan.
Okay, Vlad, I told myself. Teldra has just been taken away by all-powerful, legendary demigods; Sethra and the Necromancer are so far away that the term “distance” is meaningless; and Morrolan and Aliera are chained to a wall by some no doubt magical substance impervious to everything. That leaves you to do something.
Morrolan and Aliera were looking at me, as if they expected the same thing. Well, fine. I tried to figure out what I needed to know, before I could even start formulating a plan. There were so many things. I didn’t know what powers and abilities the Jenoine had, or, except in the most general terms, what their goals might be. Of course, I knew a bit about what Morrolan and Aliera could do, and Teldra—now, Teldra was a nice little mystery herself. I should have insisted on an answer from Sethra about why she was along. What is it she knew, or what skill did she have that ... Hmmmmmm.
“Morrolan, would you mind telling me, just because I’m curious, exactly what Lady Teldra does for you?”
“I don’t understand, Vlad. You’ve seen her. She greets guests, she sees that they get where they are going within the Castle, and that I am informed about arrivals and departures. I thought you knew that.”
“I did. I do. What else does she do?”
“Isn’t that enough?”
“No.”
He shrugged. “Well, that’s what she does, enough or not.”
I shook my head. “I’m missing something.”
“He’s an Easterner, Morrolan,” said Aliera. I bit back a smart remark, because Aliera’s observation seemed to elicit an “Oh” expression from Morrolan. He said, “That’s true.”
“Okay,” I said. “What is obvious to you that isn’t to me?”
“The gods,” said Aliera.
“What about them?”
“We consider them guests as well,” said Morrolan. “Permanent guests of our homes, at all times; I had forgotten that you don’t think of them that way.”
“I don’t see the point.”
“Teldra,” said Aliera, “is, in your terms, Morrolan’s High Priestess.”
“Ah ha.”
“Ah ha?” said Morrolan.
“That’s what I was looking for.”
“Why?” said Morrolan and Aliera together, and I felt Loiosh asking the same thing.
“I don’t know exactly. But I knew there had to be some connection there, and some reason Sethra agreed to send her, and because I need to understand all of these connections if I’m going to do anything useful.”
Morrolan shrugged again. “Okay.” he said. “Now you understand the profound truth that someone who knows how to be polite to a Dragonlord, a Teckla, or an Emperor might know how to be polite to a god as well.’’
“Not to mention a Jenoine,” I remarked.
“Yes, a Jenoine, too.”
“And she speaks their language.”
“Obviously.”
“What has that to do with her duties as High Priestess, or whatever?”
“Nothing,” he said. “But she knows many languages. Many Issola do. It’s a custom, such as Dragons knowing how to fight and Jhereg knowing.how to offer a bribe.” I let that go. He said “Is any of this important?”
“I don’t know.”
“Then, perhaps, you might turn your attention to doing something useful.”
“Two problems, Morrolan. First, I’m stumped. Second, Aliera said, if Teldra is talking to them, we may not want irritate them during her negotiations.”
“But as you said, Vlad, she didn’t leave willingly.”
“I know. But are you certain she can’t talk them around? She’s evidently used to dealing with beings who are far more powerful than she is; can you think of a better negotiator?”
He thought about that.
Loiosh said, “I don’t know if we ever want to cross them, Boss. I’m scared of those things.”
“They’re worth.being scared of,” I said. “They’d kill without second thought.”
“I hate to say this, Boss, but so would you.”
“Yeah, but I’m a nice guy.”
“Try Spellbreaker,” said Morrolan. I looked at him. “On the chains,” he said. “Try Spellbreaker.”
I looked at Aliera, who shrugged.
“Can’t hurt,” I said.
“What are you worried about, Boss?”
“Looking ridiculous.”
“It was his idea.”
I let Spellbreaker fall into my hand. It was only about a foot and a half long and the links were nearly an inch long. I took a step forward, and struck the length of chain connecting Morrolan’s right wrist to the wall. The ringing sound was loud, though hearing the sound made me realize the room didn’t echo much as I would have thought it should. Nothing else happened. I felt ridiculous. I wrapped Spellbreaker up again. Morrolan shrugged; evidently he didn’t feel ridiculous.
“If Spellbreaker is still changing, Loiosh, there’s something that is still happening, I mean, something magical, even though we’re no longer at home.”
“Seems reasonable, Boss.”
“And why am I so heavy? It’s like I have to work to lift my arms.”
“Yeah. Don’t expect me to fly anywhere.”
“So, okay, Sethra was wrong. There’s sorcery here. Or, if not sorcery, something else; something that can make us feel heavy, and makes it so hard to breathe. I’d really like to avoid having to fight here.”
“Okay, Boss. But just for the record, where is it you haven’t wanted to avoid fighting?”
That didn’t deserve an answer, so I didn’t give one. About then, I noticed something else, and cursed.
“What is it, Vlad?”
“I’m starting to get light-headed.”
“Oh, that.”
“What does ‘oh, that’ mean?”
Aliera said, “Try to take shallow breaths.”
“Uh ...”
“Try it. If you don’t, you’ll get dizzy.”
“If you say so.”
I tried to make my breaths shallow. At least it didn’t make things any worse. I said, “Are they poisoning the air?”
“Not on purpose,” said Morrolan.
“What does ‘not on purpose’ mean?”
“It seems to be the nature of the world. Just make your breaths shallow and you’ll be fine. Soon you’ll stop needing to think about it.”
“Oh, good.”
I took Aliera’s hand and weighed the manacle in it. It was heavy, and seemed not too dissimilar to cast iron, maybe three quarters of an inch thick. The chain seemed to have been made as one piece of it, and I saw no way to break it, or separate the chain. I studied where the chain joined the wall again, and still saw nothing. I probably would have started to get frustrated at that point, but before I had the chance Loiosh said, “Boss, they’re back,” which gave me other things to think about.
“They’re back” wasn’t entirely accurate; only one of the Jenoine was back, but Teldra was with him, looking none the worse for wear, and holding something small and black in the palm of her hand. I permitted myself to hope it was a key to the manacles.
I held my tongue as she walked up to us; there’s something about courtesy that’s contagious. She said, “I have negotiated with the Jenoine.”