“Save your breath. Your act won’t fool anyone here.”
“Kled was an accident,” Tithian said. “My raiders weren’t supposed to attack it.”
“Then why did they do it?” Agis asked.
Tithian stared at the noble for a long time, then asked, “You mean you haven’t figured it out?”
“Tell me.”
“Borys,” replied the king. “They were collecting prisoners to fill the Dragon’s levy. Why do you think he hasn’t shown up since Sadira returned from the Pristine Tower?”
A knot formed in Agis’s stomach. It might have been anger or pity, or even guilt-he didn’t know which. “Thank you for being so frank,” he said. “I’m sure the Court will want to know that you’ve been buying Tyr’s peace with innocent lives.”
Tithian broke into a fit of laughter. “I fear your wits have left you, my friend!” he chortled, shaking his head in disbelief. “Do you really think a Court of Free Citizens will condemn me for sparing them the wrath of the Dragon?”
“Yes,” he answered. “You’ve broken Tyr’s most sacred law.”
Tithian grasped Agis’s arm as if they were friends. “Then you’re a fool,” he laughed. “If you give a man the choice between his family’s safety and someone else’s pain, the stranger will die every time. Your court will declare me a hero, not a criminal.”
“This is a matter of law,” Agis replied confidently. “It’s the foundation of the Free City, and I’ll personally make sure that our court understands the gravity of your crime.”
“And will you present a new plan to spare our citizens Borys’s ravages?” Tithian inquired. “Perhaps you’ve found the Dark Lens? Are you ready to kill the Dragon?”
Agis bit his lip, angered more than he liked to admit by the king’s mocking tone. Together with his friends Rikus and Sadira, he had spent much of the last five years searching for the lens. They still had no idea where it was.
“However we protect Tyr, it won’t involve slave-taking,” Agis replied.
Tithian sneered. “Then I’ll be glad to stand before your Court of Fearful Citizens,” he scoffed. “When they understand the alternative, I think they’ll find your law a petty thing.”
“I think they’ll understand that a king who would do such a thing would also betray his own people,” Agis said, moving once more to bind Tithian’s hands. “Your subjects are not so foolish as you think.”
“Nor are they so brave as you believe,” the king replied. Again, he moved away to prevent himself from being tied. “But before we begin our journey home, perhaps you should know why I’ve come all this way.”
“That would spare you a considerable amount of pain,” interrupted Nymos. He stepped forward, his forked tongue flickering in suspense.
Agis pushed the little sorcerer away. “He won’t tell the truth,” said the noble. “He’s just trying to turn me from my purpose.”
“Not at all,” said the king, meeting the noble’s gaze. “In fact, I think you’ll find what I have to say very interesting.”
“I doubt that.”
“Then you’ve lost interest in the Dark Lens?”
“Of course not,” snapped Agis. “What does that have to do with anything?”
“I’ve found it,” the king replied. “In fact, I’m on my way to recover it right now.”
“What’s the Dark Lens?” demanded Nymos.
“The Dark Lens is an ancient artifact, Nymos,” Agis explained. “The sorcerer-kings used it more than a thousand years ago to create the Dragon-and without it, we can’t destroy him now.” The noble returned his gaze to Tithian. “But I think the king is lying about knowing where it is. My friends and I have been searching for it for years. If we couldn’t find it, I see no reason to believe he did.”
“You mustn’t be jealous, Agis,” Tithian said with a smirk. “Over these past years, I’ve developed talents that aren’t available to you.”
“Then where is it?” Agis demanded.
Tithian wagged his finger at the noble. “I won’t say,” he replied. “But I’ll tell you how I found it. That will protect my secret and convince you that I’m telling the truth.”
“I’m listening,” Agis replied.
Although he maintained a calm outward appearance, the noble’s heart was pounding fiercely. The Dark Lens was the key not only to safeguarding Tyr, but to revitalizing the rest of Athas as well. The lens would complement the two things that his friends already possessed: Rikus’s magic sword, the Scourge of Rkard, and the powerful magic with which Sadira had been imbued in the Pristine Tower. With all three elements together, they would finally have the power to put an end to the Dragon’s rampages.
After allowing Agis to remain in suspense for a moment, Tithian said, “I found the lens by not looking for it.”
“What nonsense is that?” demanded Kester.
“The lens was stolen from the Pristine Tower by two dwarves-dwarves who had vowed to kill Borys,” the king explained. “When they died without destroying him-”
“They violated their focus,” interrupted Agis, referring to the peculiar aspect of the dwarven personality that compelled them to dedicate their lives to an all-consuming purpose.
Tithian nodded. “When they died without fulfilling their purpose, they became undead spirits,” he said. “I used my magic to locate their banshees, and that’s how I know where to find the Dark Lens.”
“And you offered to share this Dark Lens with Andropinis. That’s why he loaned his fleet to you,” surmised Nymos. The sorcerer stepped to Agis’s side and laid a hand on the noble’s hip, then pointed in Tithian’s direction. “I say we tie him to a boulder and dump him over the side.”
“That won’t be necessary, Nymos,” said Tithian, regarding the reptile with a wary expression. “You’re correct in all your assumptions, except one. I have no intention of keeping my word to Andropinis. I want the lens so I can kill the Dragon-for the good of Tyr.”
“Forgive me if I doubt your motivations,” said Agis.
“Good,” said Nymos. “Let’s throw him overboard and go after the lens ourselves.”
“We can’t kill him,” said Agis. “I need him alive when he stands before the Court of Free Citizens.”
“You can’t intend to take me back now!” Tithian exclaimed. “This is the Dark Lens! It’ll make us as powerful as sorcerer-kings!”
“I’m not abandoning the lens,” said Agis. “You know it’s too important for me to do that.”
“Good,” said Tithian, a smug smile on his face. “Then we’ll work together-for the good of Tyr.”
Agis shook his head. “You’ll be spending this journey in Kester’s brig-and returning to Tyr in shackles.”
“We’ll do this thing together, or not at all,” said Tithian. “Otherwise, I won’t tell you where to find it.”
“What happened to your concern for Tyr’s welfare?” Agis asked.
“That’s what I’m thinking of now,” the king replied.
“You’re lying,” Agis replied. “Besides, I know where to look-the isle of Lybdos.”
Tithian’s eyes opened wide. “You fool!” he hissed. “You can’t succeed without me!”
“We can, and we will,” Agis replied, smiling. “I’m sure you’ll find the brig comfortable.”
The noble grabbed Tithian by the shoulders and turned him toward the center of the deck, where Kester’s slaves had gathered to watch the exchange. “I’ll try not to make the rest of your journey too unpleasant,” he said, looping his rope around the king’s wrists.
“I’m sure you’ll do your best,” Tithian replied, his voice rather distant.
Agis looked up to see the slaves staring at the king in rapt fascination. At first, he did not realize what was happening, for the noble had never seen such expressions come over so many faces at once. “What are you doing?” he demanded, cinching the knot tight around Tithian’s hands.
“Perhaps you should explain that to me,” the king replied. “I thought you disapproved of slavery, my friend?”
“I do,” Agis replied. “But this is Kester’s ship-”
“Perhaps you and I should free these men,” the king replied, keeping his gaze fixed on the crowd. “After all, slavery is illegal in Tyr, and are we not Tyrians?”