«Would you like some wine, my lady?»
«Wine?»
«Of course. General Ornilan has ordered that I be well treated, and his orders have been carried out.» He was looking for some reaction to the mention of General Ornilan, but this time her control was back. «I have every luxury here.»
«Then wine by all means.» No, her control wasn't back completely. It couldn't keep a smile of anticipation off her face. The wine definitely had something to do with her plans.
Blade went over to the cupboard and pulled out a leather wine bottle and two wooden cups. «Not elegant, my lady, but this is an army camp, not a palace. There will be better in Pendar when I have my own palace and retainers. Perhaps you will accept an invitation to… visit me there, let us say?» Was he moving too fast? No, it was all a question of studying people.
The woman seemed to quiver all over at the prospect Blade held out to her. He poured the wine into the cups and then almost, but not quite, turned his back. He was fairly adept at observing a person without seeming to. It was one of his skills that had turned out to be as much a lifesaver in Dimension X as in Home Dimension. Dimension X was a rougher game than any he had ever had to play as a secret agent, but the rules were often the same.
Blade saw the woman pick up one of the wine-cups, then in a quick flicker of long fingers raise her other hand to her hair. Those fingers probed into the blonde mass where the little white tablet had been. The woman started suddenly as her probing fingers found nothing-or at least not what they had been seeking. Even with only half an eye, Blade could see the woman's expression change. Her eyes widened-in surprise or panic-her full breasts heaved as her breathing quickened, and a touch of frenzy came into her movements. Both hands danced in her hair now, as if she were trying to pull it out, by the roots. Her mouth opened and shut, but no sound except her rapid breathing came out. Finally her hands tightened in her hair, seemingly frozen there. Her face sagged as if she were about to cry.
Then Blade reached up into the hair behind his right ear and pulled out the little white tablet. He held it out to the woman between his thumb and forefinger. He could not keep a thin smile off his face as he said.
«Is this what you were looking for, my lady?»
At that point she did start to cry. In fact, she sobbed so hysterically that Blade began to be afraid the guards outside would hear and come charging in to interfere. Any kind of interference was the last thing Blade wanted right now. He went over to the woman, sat down beside her on the bed, and put his arms around her until she calmed down. Then he gently turned her head toward him and said:
«All right, my lady. Who are you?» His voice was low but firm. He didn't want her to be in any doubt that he was in charge, or that he knew most of what she had planned. But he didn't want to frighten her any more either.
Her voice was so low when she answered that he had to strain to hear it. «My name is Raza.»
«And you are General Ornilan's mistress?» She nodded. «He sent you here to find out what I was really thinking and planning, didn't he?»
«Yes. I was going to put the cake of tkul in your wine and then. and then…»
«And then I would answer all the questions you asked me truthfully. I would not be able to lie.»
«N-n-no.»
«Well, then, Raza, what are you going to do now? I have the tkul, and it seems to me the best thing to do with it would be to give it to you and have you answer my questions. Shall I do that, or will you answer my questions without it?»
«Oh gods, why… why?»
«Why you, Raza? Because you aren't a very good spy. Why did you do this anyway?»
«Ornilan thought… thought you were weak for women. A woman could… get closer to you. He threatened to… beat me if I didn't do what he wanted. And now he'll beat me because I've f-f-failed.» She began crying and Blade had to comfort her again. He was getting impatient though. It showed in his voice when he spoke to her again.
«Do not worry, Raza. I will tie you up so that it will look like I overpowered you. Ornilan will not hold that against you, surely. In return you will tell me-quickly-where this camp is and how to get out of it without anybody knowing.» She stared at him as though he had just sprouted purple fur all over his body. «I said quickly, Raza. Otherwise I will tie you up anyway and try to escape on my own. But I will probably be captured. Then I will say that you helped me to escape. I doubt if Ornilan will like that very much.»
For a moment it looked as if Raza was going to break down a third time. But somehow she found a few bits of self-control. She began to talk, rapidly and clearly enough that Blade could pick all the information he needed out of what she was saying. In a few minutes he knew he had learned all he was going to learn, and the time for action had come.
He pulled on his clothes and slung his sandals from his belt. Then he pulled Raza's robe and hood over his own clothes. He checked the impression in a mirror. In the darkness, with the hood pulled well down to cover his close-cropped hair, he would pass. At least he would pass as long as he kept his mouth shut, and as long as the sentries weren't too inclined to question anybody wandering around in Raza's cloak.
Blade left Raza well tied up as he had promised, and gagged as well. He arranged her so that to anybody peeping in, it would look like Blade was still in the bed. Then he scrambled out the window and slipped away into the darkness.
The gamble paid off. In the dead of the night most of the well-disciplined Lanyri were asleep in their tents. Those he met were sentries or members of punishment details, the first unwilling and the second unable to challenge him. Striding freely through the camp with an air of «I've got a perfect right to be here,» he reached the horse lines within a few minutes.
The horse lines were more closely patrolled than the rest of the camp because the Rojag allies were notorious horse thieves. Blade got through the sentries without betraying himself, but not completely without trouble. Only a little trouble for him, but much trouble for the sentry who challenged him.. Two swift strides forward, a knife-hand chop to the man's neck just below his helmet, and a body was sprawled in the dust.
It was all that Blade could do then to keep himself from breaking into a run. But he forced his feet to move one step at a time across the well-trodden ground among the horses. They were all trained war horses; they kept silent. They even kept silent when he untethered one and swung himself onto its bare back. The soft clop of hooves was the only sound as he rode slowly out of the camp. When he saw its watch-fires vanish behind a spur of hill, he dug his heels into the horse's side. It swept forward into the darkness at a gallop.
He was still galloping when dawn broke over the hills. In the clear rose and gold light he saw an abandoned Pendar village. Outside its walls stood a tall stone pillar on which were marked the direction and distance to Vilesh.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
It took Blade less than five days to cover that distance to Vilesh, for he literally did not spare the horses. He kept the first one going at a gallop until it dropped, well into the afternoon of the first day. He was within a mile of a village, small and poor, but it had a few horses. After Blade slipped into the village stables that night, the village had one less horse.
That horse still had a good deal of life in it at sunset the next day. Then good luck brought Blade up with one of the Royal Scouts. The man was carrying messages from one of the patrols keeping watch on Lanyri. Blade was careful to pick up those messages, along with the scout's clothes, badges, weapons, gear, and horse. The scout himself he deposited, stunned, bound, and gagged, within easy reach of the next village. Here the people had not fled. Apparently they were determined to go on tending their flocks and fields through Lanyri invasion, natural disaster, or the end of the world itself. They would find the scout when they came out the next morning. But they would learn little from him. Blade had toppled him out of his saddle with a well-aimed stone from an improvised sling.