man said, ‘Yes, I am Pug of Stardock.’
The woman’s face took on an expression of concern, and again there was something hauntingly familiar about her. ‘Good. We must go. There is much to be done.’
‘What are you talking about?’ asked Pug.
‘Khaipur has fallen and Lanada is undone by treachery.’
Pug nodded. ‘I know this. But for me to act too soon –’
‘And the Pantathians counter your magic with their own. I know. But there is more here than a simple bashing of magics, like rams banging heads in the mountains.’ Her breath hung in the frigid air and she waited.
Pug said, ‘Before I presume to tell you there are forces at play beyond your knowledge, I suppose I should find out what you know.’
He vanished.
‘Damn,’ said Miranda. ‘I hate it when men do that.’
Pug had two goblets of wine poured when Miranda popped into existence. ‘Why did you do that?’
‘If you couldn’t follow me, then telling you anything was pointless.’ Pug handed her a goblet. ‘There’s something vaguely familiar about you,’ he observed.
Miranda took the wine and sat down on a divan opposite a writing desk; Pug pulled out the stool that went with the desk, and sat down.
‘Where are we? Stardock?’ She glanced around. The room was small and lacking any decoration. All she could see indicated that this was a library. Books lined every wall, save one narrow space that held a window, and besides the divan, desk, and chair, the room was devoid of furniture. A pair of lamps burned, one at each end of the room.
Pug nodded. ‘My quarters. No one can get in or out but myself, and no one expects me to visit, as no one has seen me here in twenty-five years.’
Miranda looked around. ‘Why keep it so?’
‘I made a major display of breaking off my ties here, after my wife died.’ He spoke of her death in a matter-of-fact tone, but Miranda could see a tiny tension around the corners of his eyes as he mentioned this. ‘If someone is to come looking for me, they’ll look on Sorcerer’s Isle. I’ve left enough people who work magic there that any spell designed to detect magic will be ringing like a dinner bell.’
‘And as magic is being practiced here every day, if you do decide to do some work, no one will notice.’ She sipped her wine and said, ‘Very neat. And this is very good.’
‘Is it?’ asked Pug. He sipped. ‘Yes, it is. I wonder which …’ He held up the bottle. ‘I have to ask Gathis if there is more of this in the cellar at Sorcerer’s Isle when I return.’
‘Why all the misdirection?’ asked Miranda.
‘Why were you looking for me?’
‘I asked you first.’
Pug nodded. Fair enough. The Pantathians are wary of me and my arts. They’ve discovered ways to neutralize me, so I make sure they and their agents can’t find me.’
‘Neutralize you?’ Her eyes narrowed. ‘I’ve run across snake magic before and there are smoking corpses to mark those battles. If you’re as powerful as they say –’
Pug said, ‘There are more ways to stem attack than simply to meet it with more strength. What if I were to hold a child you love and put a dagger to her throat?’
Miranda said, ‘So if they don’t know where you are, they can’t threaten anyone you care about.’
‘Yes. Now, why are you looking for me?’
Miranda said, ‘The Oracle of Aal enters her birthing cycle and we lose her ability to help us. I have been asked –’
‘By whom?’ interrupted Pug.
‘By some people who would rather not see this world end any time soon,’ she snapped. ‘I have been asked to help preserve the Lifestone –’
Pug stood. ‘How do you know of the Lifestone?’
Miranda said, ‘I am Keshian. Do you remember one who came to support the King’s army at the battle?’
‘Lord Abdur Rachmad Memo Hazara-Khan,’ answered Pug.
Miranda nodded. ‘It took years to penetrate the illusions and false trails, but after a while, those few who entered to speak to the Oracle and leave with whatever wisdom she gave them, even with that statue at Malac’s Cross as the transfer point, even after decades, the truth was known.’
‘So you work for the Emperor?’
‘Do you work for the King?’ countered Miranda.
‘Borric and I are something of cousins,’ said Pug, sipping at his wine again.
‘You beg the question.’
‘So I do.’ He set his goblet down. ‘Let’s say that I’m somewhat less constricted in my loyalties than I used to be. Which is all beside the point. If you know anything of the Lifestone, you know that national interests are petty at this point. If the Valheru reawaken, we will all perish.’
‘Then you must help me,’ said Miranda. ‘If those foolish men I helped recruit for the Prince survive, we’ll know who and what we face.’
Pug sighed. ‘You, a Keshian, recruiting for the Prince?’
‘It seemed the prudent thing to do to serve my real master’s interests.’
Pug only raised an eyebrow. ‘So which foolish men are these?’
‘Calis leads them.’
‘Tomas’s son,’ said Pug. ‘I haven’t seen him since he was young; it must be twenty or more years.’
‘He’s still young. And angry and confused.’
He’s unique. There is no other creature like him in the universe. He’s the product of a union that should not have borne fruit, and he will die someday, unique.’
‘And alone.’
Pug nodded. ‘Who else?’
‘A band of men condemned to die, none known to you. And Nakor the Isalani.’
Pug smiled. ‘I miss his rambling brilliance. And his sense of fun.’
Miranda said, ‘Fun is far from his mind these days, I fear. With Arutha’s death, Nicholas becomes the hope for the Western Realm, the Kingdom, and the world. He has grudgingly adopted his father’s plan, but he has little enthusiasm for it.’
‘What plan is this?’
She told him of the previous voyages to Novindus, and of the destruction endured by Calis and his men the last time. She told him of the plan to send men down to join with the conquering army, men who would return with the truth about what was facing them.
‘Do you think,’ asked Pug after she finished, ‘that this is anything but a full-scale consolidation of all the armed might in Novindus, so that an attack can be launched across the sea to seize the Lifestone?’
‘The Pantathians lack subtlety,’ answered Miranda, ‘but it could be someone is manipulating them the way they manipulated the moredhel during the Great Uprising.’
Pug conceded that this was true. ‘But every indication is that they are seeking to put all Novindus under their sway, to create the largest army ever seen in this world, and from that it is just one logical step to assume they are going to throw that army at the Kingdom, perhaps sail right into Krondor harbor, then march across half the Kingdom to Sethanon.’ Pug was silent for a moment, then said, ‘I don’t think anyone is using them in the sense you suggest. The Pantathians are too alien by other beings’ standards, judging by everything I’ve seen.
‘They have a