“You can put that thing away now,” she said at last.
I looked into her eyes and chuckled. “Very well, my Goddess.”
Verra scowled.
I cleaned her on the Jenoine’s body—some customs must be observed, after all—then sheathed her, with some regret, my hand trailing over the smooth, gold hilt that had once been Spellbreaker. I was delighted to discover that sheathing her did not diminish the sense of her personality.
I watched Verra, who was looking back at me, but she had nothing more to say. With an aimless gesture of farewell, she turned into shimmering sparks and was gone. Sethra, meanwhile, had lifted Morrolan in her arms.
“Come, stand next to me,” she said.
Aliera looked out over the Sea, I suppose saying farewell to her father. Then Aliera, the Necromancer, and I took positions next to Sethra, and then we were gone from that place, and we were once more in the heart of Dzur Mountain. 17. Taking One’s Leave of Friends
They laid Morrolan on a couch, and Aliera and the Necromancer began working on him. I watched for a while, then turned to Sethra. “So we won.”
She nodded. “Yes, I’d call this a victory. They wanted to establish their own link to amorphia. That is, a permanent link, on our world, with which to challenge us. They failed to do so. And we destroyed two of them, which is no small feat.”
“Good.”
Sethra shook her head and murmured, “Adron.”
“Yes.”
“It’s hard to believe. Sentience is, well, I don’t know.”
“Yeah, sentience is a strange thing, isn’t it?
She glanced up at me, catching my tone of voice, and said, “I shall miss her.”
“Yes,” I said. Then, “Did you know?”
Her eyes widened. “You mean, what was going to happen?”
“Yes. Teldra, the weapon—all of it.”
“No, Vlad. I had no idea. If I’d had any idea, I should never have—no, I didn’t know.”
“What was it you yelled to me, in the middle of it all?”
She gave me an ironic smile. “You don’t want to know.”
“Probably not, Sethra, but tell me anyway.”
“I told you to watch out for Teldra. It looked like she was contemplating doing something foolish.”
“Yeah, I guess she was.”
“But I suppose it is best for all of us that it turned out that way.”
“All of us, except for Lady Teldra.”
“Yes. Well, you are now a member of a rather exclusive club, Vlad. You are one of those the gods have cause to fear. Congratulations to you, and to Godslayer.”
“Lady Teldra,” I corrected her gently.
She shrugged. “As you prefer.”
I touched the hilt and it was almost as if I could feel her fingers touching mine. I said, “Do you suppose the Jenoine knew?”
“No,” said Sethra. “They would never have put the weapon into your hands if they had suspected. They wanted you to kill Verra, just as they said.”
“You mean, that was it? They really expected me to just go and kill her?”
“Yes, which would have allowed them access to the Lesser Sea, where they could have established their own link—that is, a permanent one, with, in essence, their own Orb. It would have been a powerful blow against us. Although, knowing that Adron is still, in a sense, in there, I don’t know what effect that would have had.”
I shook my head. “But Sethra, all kidding aside, I was never going to kill Verra. I mean, I never even thought seriously about it.”
“Yes, I know.”
“It doesn’t make sense.”
“It doesn’t make sense to us, Vlad.”
“If they have so little understanding of us, Sethra, I’m not sure how worried about them we should be.”
“Whatever their understanding, they have a great deal of power.”
“But still. With such intricate plans, how can they be that far off?”
“They don’t understand us, that’s all. They never have. Talk to Verra sometime; that’s been their flaw from the beginning “
“I don’t think the Demon Goddess wants to have a lot to do with me these days. And that’s fine with me.”
“Yes, I suppose it is. And Vlad—”
“Yes?”
“Should I happen not to be around when Lady Teldra wakes up, you will not forget to give her my regards?”
“Wakes up? What do you mean?”
She smiled. “I think I’d rather not tell you.”
Damn her.
Aliera, still bloody and dazed-looking, stumbled over and sat down next to us. I looked over at Morrolan, and saw the gentle rise and fall of his chest.
I nodded to Aliera. “Congratulations,” I said.
She nodded and closed her eyes.
Sethra said, “Good. Now let’s see to you.” Aliera was, evidently, too exhausted to argue; she struggled to her feet, and accompanied Sethra out of the room.
The Necromancer walked over from Morrolan’s side and sat down opposite me. We looked at each other for a while, and then she said, “I can bring you wherever you’d like.”
“Thanks,” I said. I looked over at Morrolan. “Who gets to tell him about Teldra?”
“Sethra, I should imagine.”
“Lucky Sethra.”
“What are you going to do?”
“Same thing I’ve been doing.”
“You have rather less to fear from the Jhereg now—at least, Morganti weapons shouldn’t frighten you as much.”
“That’s true. But I’ve recovered a bit from the bravado I was feeling, uh, earlier. I’d just as soon not give them a chance.”
She nodded. “Where then?”
“Perhaps I’ll visit my grandfather.”
“I’m certain he’d like that.”
“Or else I’ll head East.”
“Your ancestral homeland?”
“Yes. I was there once before, and rather liked it. Maybe I’ll organize a defense there, in case Sethra the Younger decides to try to conquer it. I beat her once, maybe I can beat her again.”
She studied me for a little. “When did this idea come to you?” she said at last.
I shrugged. “I don’t know. Just now, I guess, while I was talking to you. Why?”
“It sounds a little public-spirited for you, Vlad.”
“Maybe it’s Lady Teldra’s influence,” I said ironically.
“That’s what I was thinking,” she said, without irony.
“Oh,” I said. “Well, maybe I’ll do something else.”
“Is Lady Teldra’s influence that bad a thing?”
I thought about that. “No, I suppose not.”
“I shall miss her,” said the Necromancer. “And you,” she added.
I almost made an ironic remark about that, just out of reflex, but I refrained.
Maybe my reflexes were changing, but I didn’t care to examine them too closely to find out.
I said, “Has anything exciting been happening in Adrilankha lately?”
She smiled a little. “I’m afraid I don’t keep up on such matters.”
I nodded. “All right,” I said, deciding suddenly. “Here’s what I’m going to do. I’m bloody well going into Adrilankha, and I’m bloody well going to have a meal at Valabar’s, and if the Jhereg find me, fine, and if they don’t, I’ll figure out what I’m going to do next while I eat. If there’s one thing I’ve missed—”
There was a soft moan from the couch. As I looked, Morrolan’s eyes fluttered open. His mouth opened and he tried to speak, but couldn’t manage.
“We won,” I told him. “It wasn’t pretty, but we won.”
No, I wasn’t going to be the one to tell him.
“Boss, your stomach is going to be the death of us all.”
“Very probably, chum. But don’t complain, you get the scraps.”
“Oh, I’m not complaining. Just observing.”
Rocza shifted on my other shoulder; I imagine Loiosh had given her a hint of what was coming. For a wild jhereg, it hadn’t taken her long to develop a taste for civilized food.