Finn shook his head in disbelief. “And I thought Llowenkeef-Grymm was a fool for believing all that nonsense about eternal naps. I suppose he was, but they were all duped by you and your scheming kin.”
“Someone's got to do it,” Oberbyght said, looking hurt, looking pained, at Finn's remarks. “I don't see why it shouldn't be me…”
Late in the afternoon, wilted by the deadly heat eternally trapped within the great swamp, Finn stopped his party by a small patch of dry land, under the thick bole of an ancient tree. Insects whined about his head, and a very ugly fish turned lazily in the dark and fetid stream.
Across the water, deep within the shadow of a strangled grove of trees, a veil, a milky haze, rose above the dank and odorous ground.
Finn stood and watched a moment, for he was ever fascinated by the constant, smoky mist that hugged the earth in this primeval place. The world might have been this way in ancient times, or so some scholars said. There might well have been monsters here, as well, far more vicious than the ones in Bucerius’ head…
Then, as if a cloudy mask had slipped away, he saw this misty world for what it was, a host of wispy phantoms, the specters, grisly ghosts, huddled silently across the way. Coldies, the lifeless, the husks, the lonely dead. Hundreds of them, thousands, likely more than that, simply watching from the dark.
Here, then, was the host of sorrowful wraiths, the forgotten armies of the present and the past, who had roamed the Swamp of Bleak Demise for seven hundred years.
Did they remember, he wondered, did they recall the horrors that had brought them here? Sadly, he was certain that they did, for he had learned from others of their kind that death seemed to bring small comfort from the worrisome sphere of life…
FIFTY-EIGHT
I must say, Master Finn, I have greatly enjoyed the tale of your ventures, though some of it, I feel, you might well have left out. The parts, I mean, where people simply talk to one another, or have some passing thought.
“Still, all in all, I commend you for your efforts. You have carried out my command, at some little risk to yourself, if your story is partially correct, and I must assume it is, for it's most unseemly to lie to your Prince.”
“I would not dream of doing so, Your Grace,” Finn said, bowing extra low so Aghen Aghenfleck could not discern the expression on his face.
Partially correct indeed! It's hardly even that, for I'm not fool enough to reveal all to you!
“Whatever, then,” said the Prince, rolling his eyes at the court assembled before him, “you will certainly receive a substantial reward, as promised. We shall see to that in time.
“I hope you will recall, of course, that it was a troop of the King's Dragoons who found your party floundering on the edge of that dreaded swamp. Their efforts have to be considered, too.
“At any rate,” the Prince continued, leaning closer to Finn, without leaving the comfort of his throne, “this ring you have brought me from the Princess of Heldessia, this is most helpful to me. Most helpful, indeed.”
Aghen Aghenfleck paused, and a cunning smile crossed his rather unappealing features.
“There was more to your mission than was revealed to you at the time, Master Finn. I am not a simpleton, you know. I did not send you to that ghastly lair of Llowenkeef-Grymm's merely to deliver a clock. There was more at stake than that.
“I share this with you because I wish the court to hear this tale as well. I must tell you now-all of you assembled here-that there is a traitor among you. A person who is in this very chamber now.”
The crowd gasped as one, and each man and woman turned to the person nearby, then backed a step away.
Finn felt suddenly numb. What was all this, now, what was this cunning fellow about? He wanted nothing more than to absent himself from this foul business as fast as he could.
“This ring tells me the traitor's name, for there are a number of rings I might have received. Each would name a man, and the ring that was sent to me would tell his name.
“I have an agent in Heldessia, you see. I will not give you that name, but it was he who gave this ring to the princess, and told her to get it to me.”
The princess, DeFloraine-Marie? Finn could scarcely believe his ears.
“There is a plot, you see, a scheme that has long been in place, which I now unmask for you. The purpose of this scheme is to stop the war between Fyxedia and Heldessia, and plunge us into a disastrous peace that would ruin the economy of both our nations, undo all we've fought for, and spread chaos throughout our lands.
“People would then want to mix with those they do not know, see places different from what they've seen. Want things they do not have and don't need. Peace would be a disaster such as we've never seen before.
“Our enemies, those who plot against me, would use that peace to gain our throne, and do away with us all.”
Another gasp, another murmur, swept through the crowd. Aghen Aghenfleck raised his jeweled hands to bring them to silence again.
“King Llowenkeef-Grymm is a useless old fool. He knows nothing about this business, so as usual, everything falls upon me. That's the burden of a prince, and I envy those of you who lead simple, ordinary lives, without the grave responsibilities I must bear for you every day.”
The Prince sat back, weary, exhausted from the strain of all this.
“One more thing, of course. The traitor's name. It is my dear, dear brother, Lord Gherick, my own flesh and blood who would bring us to ruin.”
“No!” Gherick's face went white. “I am no traitor, brother, I am ever your loyal servant, sire!”
Finn felt a chill creep up his spine, for Lord Gherick was a friend. And, shamed as he was to think of himself at such a moment, the Prince knew that as well.
The crowd moaned, moving restlessly about. Finn knew there was not a one among them now who would admit they'd even spoken to the Prince's brother at any time.
Aghen Aghenfleck folded his hands across his chest, making little effort to hide his pleasure, as his distraught and shaken brother was led away. He turned, then, and for a moment, gave Finn a puzzled, most bewildered look.
“Is there something more you wanted, Finn? Some reason you are still here? Count VanDork, would you kindly see this fellow out? I've much to do, even if this craftsman has the time to stand about…”
FIFTY-NINE
It's all a terrible muddle,” Finn said. “Sticks and Bricks, Letitia, I know Gherick despised the Prince, but I cannot believe he'd go so far as to betray his own brother. Damn me, are they all daft? Clearly, forces on both sides have kept the war going for seven hundred years-so everyone can make money, everyone can have a job!”
“And so many can die,” Letitia sighed. “It's a terrible kind of trade where you come home from work without a limb, or you don't come home at all.”
Finn held her close, feeling the warmth, the sweetness of her downy flesh against his own. In the dark, her enormous Mycer eyes mirrored the buttery light of the moon that fell across their bed.
“It is a great sorrow, Letitia, that we are led down such a hurtful path by men such as Aghen Aghenfleck. Even King Llowenkeef-Grymm, though I thought him a pompous fool, had more kindness in him than the Prince.
“Someone in the palace was the Prince's agent, but I'm perplexed as to who it might be. Certainly it wasn't Maddigern, and I'm nearly sure it couldn't be the seer. It had to be someone we didn't know. Some royal or noble, perhaps. Someone who fooled the Princess DeFloraine-Marie into passing that ring to me.”
“By the way, I must remind you that it took a very long while for you to tell me about this ring. Not the sort of thing I wished to hear in a swamp while those awful bugs were biting me to death.”