“It must have been,” Talarius stated.
“And yet,” Tizzy finally spoke up, “someone returned that mace.” He pointed to the Rod of Tommus. “They brought it back here and sealed it in the room where we discovered it; sealed it in a buttload of Etonian runes, wards, seals and what have you. I can guarantee you no demon could have created those blessed wards.”
Talarius made a growling noise, clearly frustrated. “I admit to that point; no demon could have made those wards. They were clearly Etonian and I could easily feel Tiernon’s presence in them. They were the work of someone very powerful within Tierhallon.”
“So how would an archon of Tiernon get down into the Abyss, into these mountains, past all the D’Orcs, and seal the mace inside?” Boggy asked.
“I think someone would have noticed a Heavenly Host marching into the Abyss, and certainly there would have been tales of it in your own church history,” Rupert remarked.
Talarius growled again and was silent for a moment. “Demon,” he finally said, turning more fully toward Tom. “The longer I am with you, the more uncomfortable I get. The complexity of your machinations in putting me in my current state of mind is clearly on par with what I’d expect from a reborn demon prince.”
“Is that a compliment or a curse?” Tizzy asked.
“Both,” Talarius replied.
Chapter 101
Damien poured himself another cup of coffee and bit into his toasted muffin. He had not slept much last night. He had no idea how to digest Antefalken’s tale. It all seemed like a perfect series of coincidences, yet an unusually beneficial one for Edwyrd or Tom or whatever the demon’s name was. Antefalken seemed to think it was all completely innocent, but Damien had a hard time believing that anything involving demons was innocent.
As he sat back to take another sip of coffee, Antefalken came wandering into the dining room, stretching his arms and shoulders.
“Rough night?” Damien asked the demon.
“It doesn’t take too many nights of absence to get out of practice with the maidens. I may have sprained my tongue,” the bard said with a smile as he hopped up to the back of his chair at the table. “You look like you didn’t get much sleep.”
Damien shook his head. “I have decided to admit that your adventurers were crazier than mine.”
“Thank you.” Antefalken grinned and bowed his head in acknowledgement.
“I am still concerned that this is all too convenient.”
Antefalken shrugged his right shoulder and nodded. “I understand; if I had not been there every step of the way, essentially every moment, I would have been suspicious myself.” The demon shook his head. “But it is legitimate; there are just too many independent actors all aligning to support what I observed. I have known Boggy for a long time, and Tizzy for even longer; they would not be in on any sort of strange plot to make this seem like a coincidence when it isn’t. For one thing, Tizzy can’t keep his head together long enough to not slip up.”
“I don’t know.” Damien shook his head and popped a strawberry in his mouth.
“You could come visit, I suppose.” Antefalken shrugged. “See for yourself.”
“What?” Damien sat up and looked at the bard as if he were insane.
“Well, as you know, Gastropé and Jenn both traveled through Tom’s cave with no problem using that cooling spell that Exador showed Gastropé. The mountain complex is actually far more agreeable than Tom’s cave, so you would probably be quite comfortable.”
“Perhaps, but I’m not sure I want to risk getting trapped there. I’d eventually run out of mana and expire,” Damien said.
Antefalken shook his head. “Tom has taken humans to and through the Abyss on multiple occasions and never abandoned them. Talarius is there now, and Tom has been more than hospitable to him. I point out that Talarius tried to kill Tom and his friends permanently, and yet Tom treats him as honorably as any king would treat a formally held noble hostage. You would be there as a friend and ally.”
“I will have to think about that,” Damien said, shaking his head once more.
“Oh come on; think what a learning opportunity this would be! A human conjuror wandering the halls of the great demon lord Orcus’s fortress?” Antefalken gave a short shake of his head and a grin. “Do you have any idea how many wizards, and demons for that matter, would sell their souls for such an opportunity?”
“Uhm hmm,” was all Damien would say.
Antefalken frowned. “Speaking of selling their souls, I wonder if Vaselle is going to want to attend the party?”
“Vaselle? Party?” Damien asked.
“Ah, I think I forgot to mention that side event.” Antefalken gave him a quick grin. “The party is going to be a celebration after the allegiance ceremony. Tom originally suggested it to buy time to get out of the D’Orcs swearing him allegiance, but we convinced him to go through with it. Vaselle, on the other hand — ”
A bell chimed, indicating someone at the main door. Damien’s eyebrows rose in surprise, and he got up to answer the door himself. He had sent his assistants off on errands, as he often did when he and Antefalken had their breakfast meetings. He left the dining room and went through the main sitting room to the small entryway and opened the door. A palace valet was there with a wizard a bit younger than himself whom he did not recognize.
The page said, “Greetings, Master Damien. This gentleman says he has important information for you regarding a friend of yours named Tom? He insisted on visiting you rather than making an appointment.”
Damien looked at the wizard, most likely a conjuror, and said, “You are?”
“Ah yes, My Lord Councilor, my name is Vaselle. I work for an acquaintance of yours, Tom?” the wizard said.
Damien blinked. “Vaselle? As in Vaselle and the party?” he asked. He nodded and waved to the escort to go, and ushered Vaselle in.
Vaselle was looking quite shocked. “How do you already know about the party?” he asked. “That’s why I came; I have some items that I need to acquire for Tom and I need Council approval to get them in the quantity I need.”
“Vaselle?” Antefalken came into the living room.
Vaselle looked over to Antefalken. “The bard Antefalken, yes? I recognize your voice from the other side of the portal. Estrebrius has also mentioned you in recounting his recent adventures.”
The bard walked up and offered his hand to Vaselle, who shook it. “Nice to finally meet face to face,” Antefalken said, smiling. “How are you doing? Getting acclimated to the new job?”
“Yes, indeed. Just trying to get supplies for the party. I told Tom about the restrictions on the nitroglycerin quantities and he told me to come visit Councilor Damien. I’d wondered how I would convince him of the request’s authenticity, but clearly the mas... uh, Tom knew you were here.”
“I assume this is the Vaselle you were just about to tell me about?” Damien asked.
Antefalken turned slightly to give Damien that same slightly malevolent smile he had used the night before. “Yes, Vaselle is Tom’s new warlock!”
“So this theory, which you admit is rather out there, supposes that this Lenamare is secretly a warlock belonging to the bit-more-than-greater demon?” Moradel asked Hilda. Their early morning meeting had been delayed, as Sentir Fallon had been tied up.
“I don’t know that he has to be a warlock, so much as working in collusion with the demon,” Hilda replied. “As I mentioned, I am just throwing out ideas to explain what is going on. Superficially, it seems that all these rather random events just happened. The book issue with Exador and Lenamare is clear enough, if slightly melodramatic, but why had Exador and his allies filled the halls of the palace with a demon horde, if not to trap Lenamare?”