"Mudsucker's eager, isn't he? Everything set?"
"Completely. I'll go drag Sparkle and Wheezer out of the sack."
"Wheezer? What the hell is he doing up here?"
"Came up during the night. Took off early from over there because he didn't figure he could keep up with the Old Man this morning. Didn't want to get left behind."
"The old boy's got balls," I said. Once again I had underestimated the man. With no direct evidence I had assumed he had passed on during the summer. I should have known better. He had been dying when he latched on seven years ago. Every day seemed like it had to be the one when he coughed up his last lung, but something kept him going. "Where's Red Rudy?"
"Sent him to check the perimeter."
"One more time, eh?" That damned perimeter had been checked and rechecked five hundred times since I had been in charge. It is a military kind of thinking, never trusting anything but the situation right this minute. Time is the implacable eater of all preparations.
"All hands standing by?" I asked.
"Said everything was set." He looked into Thai Dei's pot. "Looks tasty, my man."
Thai Dei had no sense of humor and little ability to recognize sarcasm. He nodded. "A little salt, a little sugar. A handful of tuloc grubs or shredded monkey jerky would improve the flavor."
"Twolock grubs?"
I would not have asked myself.
"You find them in rotten logs. In the swamp we fell trees so they will have a place to grow."
I asked, "Are you nervous?"
Thai Dei gave me his hard look, like how on earth could I think he would be bothered by anything?
"You're chattering like a flock of crows."
Thai Dei grunted, recognizing the truth. He went back to being himself.
"Beetle grubs," I grumbled. "Only the Nyueng Bao would think of farming them."
"What's wrong with grubs?" Bucket asked. "You fry them in butter, toss in a couple sliced mushrooms... It's time to play the game."
Croaker and Lady were climbing the slope now. I could see them clearly enough to tell that they were dressed in their Widowmaker and Lifetaker costumes with all the showoff spells alive and crawling. They rode the stallions from the stables of the Tower at Charm. Those giants' hooves struck sparks every time they hit the ground. Their eyes shone red. Their nostrils puffed breath that seemed somehow more than just steam in the cool of the morning. Trumpets, cymbals and drums seemed appropriate but Lady and the Old Man never went in for that kind of thing. Those two, and every man behind them except the prisoners, carried a small arsenal of bamboo.
Howler was in a small wheeled wooden cage drawn by a brace of black goats. He and Lady must have reached an accommodation because no obvious control measures had been added to the bars. Although he was surrounded by a half-dozen soldiers who could bathe him in fireballs before he could get off any really ugly spell.
Longshadow endured similar confinement but he and Lady had not reached any agreement. His mouth had been sewn shut. His fingers had been sewn together. If he was going to cast any spells he would have to do so by wiggling his ears. But the nervous soldiers nearby would roast him before he could do much more than twitch.
The guys were rattled because he was in such a state. He kept tearing at the bars of his cage while trying to scream incoherently through his sealed lips.
Longshadow did not want to go up the mountain.
The Prahbrindrah Drah was being treated well. Willow Swan and Cordy Mather flanked him, doing their duties as Royal Guards, while Otto, Hagop, the engineer brothers and the Nyueng Bao bodyguards who tagged along after everybody formed a larger diamond around those three. Longinus and Loftus conversed with the Prince as though this venture was nothing remarkable.
I admired the Prahbrindrah Drah. He was a good man and a sound one. It was a pity we could not let him go home. After his years in the field he had the self-confidence and willpower to stand up to his sister and take up the reins of the state. He had learned enough and had developed the strength of character to resist the extortion efforts of the senior priests.
The panther that used to be a woman was in a cage that was more like a coffin. She could not stand up. At no time would she be able to use the full leverage of her powerful muscles. She could do little but lie there and be angry.
The Captain did not believe in taking chances. He had seen what the forvalaka could do ages ago.
All our enemies would share our adventure. And our fate unless they elected to warn us about something.
Rudy slipped down the slope to meet the Captain, alerted by Bucket's remark about it being game time. I did not look back.
I knew he meant that Sleepy had come out of the bunker and was sprawled against the wall by the door again. Just the way we wanted.
Rudy would ask the Old Man to have his crowd make a racket coming into my shanty monarchy.
One of Bucket's favorite Taglian lieutenants, stuck with the name Lhopal Pete to distinguish him from a sergeant everybody called Khusavir Pete (both "Petes" deriving from the center syllable of an eleventeen-syllable Gunni godname), came to tell his leader he would need to bring up a lot more water if the men were going to take care of all the cleanup I wanted them to do while I explored beyond the Shadowgate. Bucket told him, "Wait till that bunch of aristocratic assholes gets on up here. We don't want anybody to get trampled."
"Yes, sir." Lhopal Pete collected his work party and took them around behind my bunker where they would be out of the way till Croaker arrived and made enough noise to cover the bunch sneaking up on Sleepy.
I started spooning mush into my mouth. "You're right, Thai Dei. Even grubs and bugs couldn't hurt this stuff. Give me a bowl for Sleepy."
I took it over myself. "Here you go, kid."
Sleepy just stared. I moved the bowl up under his nose. "You better get well enough to feed yourself, kid. I'm in no mood to keep doing it for you." I glanced back to see how close Croaker was. There was enough light now that torches were becoming superfluous.
In minutes he was close enough. The racket was loud enough. I dropped the wooden spoon into Sleepy's lap, seized his wrists, clamped down. The guys came out from behind the bunker. One grabbed Sleepy's hair and yanked his head back. Another shoved a wad of dirty rag into the kid's mouth.
Soulcatcher fought. But the surprise was complete. She never had a chance. "All wrapped up," I told the Old Man when he stopped his mount beside us.
"You use every piece of rope you had?"
Catcher did look like a victim of excessive enthusiasm.
"Don't want to take any chances, boss. I wish you'd brought another one of those cages."
"Now that would've been a dead giveaway, wouldn't it? Even if I'd known what you planned."
Lady stopped right behind Croaker. She had her Lifetaker helmet on. There was no way to tell what she was thinking. She never said a word, just stared at the sister who had caused her so much trouble for so long.
Catcher did not abandon the Sleepy form. She was not a natural shapeshifter so maybe changing was difficult to do. I did not count on that, though. She had a history of altering her appearance. I asked, "She have to stay this way as long as we've got her tied up?"
Lady did not respond. She just stared.
"I mean, I wouldn't want her turning to jelly and oozing away when I wasn't looking. I guess I could stuff her into a big jar. If I had a jar. If it had a lid that could be sealed."
Croaker said, "I don't think she can do anything as long as she's gagged and her hands are tied."
"Want we should cut off her fingers?"
"I think she'll behave. For now. Won't you?"
Catcher did not respond.
She was over her surprise. Already I could sense calculation and the beginnings of what might be amusement.