Thread Slivers (Golden Threads Trilogy) (30 page)

Damega was heir to the throne? He has been styled a cut-throat thief and pirate. Could all I know of our history be wrong?
This is too much — I must act.
Looking around, he could see no way to help Duke or stop this. In his mind he heard Orahda’s sound advice ‘
Steady, calm, wait for the right moment
.’ He tightened his grip on the hilt of his sword, swearing he would kill the usurpers if he had the chance.

Duke’s voice lost all humor and he growled, “You dared to remove the archive? It was for the royal and regent lines only.”

“Exactly, you silly dog, and as we had all of the regent’s line buried out back, combined with the last of the dead royal line, it was no longer of any use to anyone. So why not sell it?”

“Your ancestors betrayed Damega?”

“Of course. He was getting out of hand with all that silly talk of freedom, education, and comforts for peasants; not to mention trying to establish a hidden militia outside of our family’s control. Of course I find it ironic that now, centuries later, we have built the schools and provided some of the securities for peasants that he sought to do. Aelargo was not nearly as rich, and those things do cost. Even more ironic that that militia has turned into a rabble of stupid mercenaries greedy for as much coin as they can steal from rich merchants and nobles.”

Duke said something in a low growl. Dohma could only hear a little of it and it sounded familiar.

“Oh, you poor dog, are you having problems breathing under all that weight?”

Duke growled a little, and asked, “A last question: who traded your ancestors a body for a useless relic?”

Elur laughingly said, “Why, none other than High-Lord Shar-Lumen himself. Who else would be so stupid and powerful?”

The other two princes looked at Elur in surprise. “Brother,” Emman warned, “You reveal too much.”

Elur pointed at Duke. “And where will he take this knowledge?” Then, waving at everyone else, he added, “And these are our loyal subjects.”

Just then a guard ran into the throne room. “The palace doors are being blocked!”

Emman stood and moved over to a window, asking in a very sarcastic tone, “Is it poor old Duke’s little army of greedy mercenaries — oh, sorry, I mean ‘Daggers’? I must see what this pitiful creature thinks will stop us.” When he looked out, his mouth dropped open and he stared.

His two brothers stood and started toward him as the guard answered, “No Excellency, the palace wall is rising, and metal doors are rising out of the ground — right through the stonework sealing the surrounding walls!”

Several lords, and Dohma, rushed to the windows to confirm that the palace walls had indeed risen at least fifteen feet, and metal plates had broken through the paving stones, rising up out of the ground, fitting perfectly in the grooves into which the current gate doors had been mounted. As they watched, the current gate doors and stonework brackets were crushed, causing debris to fall around the now-sealed entrances. More metal plates, which had spikes topped with large balls of steel every fifteen or twenty feet, were sprouting from the top of the palace walls. As Dohma watched, lightning began to dance on the surface of the balls.

“What is that?!” someone asked.

“
That
is to make sure none of you get away,” came an ominous, deep-throated growl from Duke. “You dare to brag about destroying the Duianna line and their loyal regents?”

The Princes turned, white-faced, and looked at Duke. “Guards, kill him!” they bellowed in unison.

A few nobles chose this moment to run out of the room. Duke pushed hard to one side, dragging the guards holding the opposite side of the nets towards him. Biting down on the net holding it and pushing hard with his legs, he used the slack he had made to create enough momentum to flip over onto the guards on the opposite side, crushing them with his weight. The guards who had been dragged with the net were catapulted, landing hard on the stone floor. Duke finished rolling, still holding the net with his teeth as he stood free; then Duke spun around, whipping the nets, sending the screaming guards who tried to hold on to it flying. Expertly, he spun around again, throwing the net over the guards who had been standing behind him.

The personal guards drew their weapons and jumped at him. He moved faster than Dohma thought possible for something his size. He attacked with teeth and paws, kicking two guards so hard they flew backwards a couple of feet, before landing on their backs with a sickening
crack
as their heads hit the floor. The princes bolted for a doorway, as did every other remaining lord and dignitary in the room. Duke grabbed another guard by the leg and used him as a club, beating away five other guards, and then threw the limp and broken body at some approaching guards, knocking them down as well.

Dohma smoothly drew his sword and ran it through the back of a personal guard. Pulling it, he spun, slashing the sword through the neck of another. The personal guards’ attention was on Duke, letting Dohma kill five more before they noticed he wasn’t on their side.

One guard managed to get in a good hit with his sword. Duke spun on him and took his sword arm at the elbow in his teeth. Dohma heard the crunch as Duke’s teeth went through the steel armor and bone, neatly amputating the arm. Duke spit out the arm, still holding the sword, and turned to the doorway, where the detachment of palace guards where just starting to rush in, weapons at the ready.

Dohma cried, “Palace Guardsmen, the princes are usurpers and traitors! The Royal Personal Guard are all knowing accomplices.” The remaining personal guard looked at Dohma in shock for a moment, just enough time for Duke to kill three more; knocking one down and standing on his throat while simultaneously picking another up, biting his midsection so the metal armor made a creaking sound and pinched off his screams; Duke used the body like a sledgehammer on the third. Dohma’s guardsmen’s shock wore off and they joined the fight. The few remaining personal guard were quickly dispatched.

Dohma walked around the room, killing any wounded, or pretending to be wounded, personal guards. He was pleased to see his own guards stab the dead bodies again just for good measure.

Duke watched him in surprise for a moment and then said something else which Dohma felt deep down he should understand but didn’t. When Dohma finished his work he stood in front of Duke and looked him in the eye. “Excellency, we,” he indicated the guardsmen, “serve the Kingdom of Aelargo. We all swore an oath to uphold and protect this kingdom and its covenant. With the public confession of the usurpers, I name them, and all their family and followers, traitors. I, and all the royal guard, stand at your command as a true Lord of Aelargo.”

Duke looked at him and then the guards. “Very good, Captain. You will detain every lord, lady and dignitary, informing them that I will be validating their status with the archives and all pretenders who confess before we discover them will be dealt with mercifully. As of this minute no one, save me, is to be obeyed until I order otherwise.”

Duke looked around the room and smiled, although with the blood and gore splattered over his body the effect was not as pleasant as he likely intended. “Nice fight, boys. You aren’t so bad. Now clean up this mess and start gathering everyone up.” A thunder clap was heard in the distance, and Duke turned to look in that direction, his ears, eyes, and nose pointing like a hunting hound. It was almost as if Duke could see through the distance to the source of the sound. After a moment Duke looked back at Dohma. “I am sealing the city. Once the palace grounds have been searched and all supposed dignitaries are accounted for, I will open the palace gates and you can do the same for the entire city.”

Sniffing the air, Duke shook his head. “Damn it, this is annoying. Echo Commander.”

A Dagger casually stepped out from behind a pillar. “Sir.”

Dohma and the other guardsmen stared at her like she was a ghost.
How did she get here?

“Signal someone to find out what is going on at the west gate. Echo Squad, provide audible tracking queues, maintain noncombat distance, these bastards are mine. I want Emman first.”

The Dagger said, “Yes, sir,” and made a series of bird calls which were answered by another call outside the doorway.

Duke’s ears swiveled towards the sound. “Stay out of my way I’ll deal with those little bastards myself,” he said, and then he leapt at the doorway, followed closely by the Dagger.

Everything was as tidy as she could make it, but Ticca went over the mental checklist a couple more times just to be sure. Lebuin and Ditani were fairly well disguised as Nigan and Risy, and both had allowed her to shave their heads to enable gluing the wigs in place with the gum. Lebuin didn’t have the mass to properly replace Nigan, but with the padded armor under-layer he would pass very well from a distance. Of course, no one in the main room would be fooled for long.

Nigan and Risy had also transformed reasonably well and given that they were going to remain in the room and only go out to the dock very early in the morning. They should have no issue making a convincing Lebuin and Ditani.

It took a mark of practice before Ditani managed to imitate Risy’s walk. Lebuin was a quick study and mastered the basic movements for Nigan in only a few minutes, surprising everyone, including himself. So the only issue was direct inspection at fewer than twenty feet.
I wish I could come up with a way out of here that didn’t involve walking through the main room, but anything we do would raise suspicions and possibly an alarm.
Well, ‘preparation with boldness overcomes many obstacles’ as my trainer used to say to me. This is going to really test that idiom. At least I got a solid night’s rest without any dreams… I still feel marvelous with the dreams, but they are rather spooky in their detail and my ability to remember them so clearly.

Footsteps in the hall, which sounded about right, and a knock at the door interrupted her thoughts. “Who is it?”

Ditani answered softly, doing a fair imitation of Risy’s voice. “Ticca, it’s me.”

When she opened the door Ditani stepped in carrying two packs, then she closed the door and they all gathered around the table. “This pack is mine and still has just the clothes and other items I remembered. This one,” he shoved the second leather pack towards her, “was Magus Vestul’s, which I have never opened myself until just a few moments ago. You might want to look in.”

She took the pack, noting that it was as well-made as the boots and pouch. The pack was closed with a metal clasp that had a nice black patina built up on it. It also had a geometric pattern engraved on it that looked a lot like the one on her pouch, but this clasp was not designed to rotate. Pulling it over, she noticed that although it puffed out like it was full, it was much lighter than an empty leather pack. Opening it, she looked inside and was taken aback by the view. The view was as if she was looking down and through an odd lens into a very large room stacked with boxes, trunks, shelves visible all at once. The sight made Ticca feel a little dizzy so she sat down. Lebuin, on the other hand, put his head down close so that his nose was almost inside of the pack.

His eyes darted around and around. “Now this is interesting.” Before she could stop him he reached inside. She squeaked a warning, which he just ignored. As he reached inside, she saw the pack slightly deform, where his hand would be as if he was pulling something out of a normal pack. Lebuin pulled his hand out, holding a very large book that should have taken up the entire pack by itself. He grunted under the weight. “This is a little heavier than I thought.” He put the book down on the table with a loud thud; next, he reached in and pulled out a fishing pole (it kept coming out of the pack, like a silly magic trick performed by entertainers in the market). He then put both items back into the pack. “I would say this would be most helpful for any traveling Magus. You could carry almost an entire small house of things in this.” Looking in again, he frowned. “I don’t see anything that looks like a magical artifact or incantation book; of course, I wouldn’t have suspected the boots, or this pack, of being magical. Still, it might be a limitation we should observe until we are more familiar with how this works.”

Lebuin blushed slightly and shook his head at himself then looked at Ditani. “I’m sorry, this is really yours now, I shouldn’t have spoken as if was mine.”

That is interesting; he is trying to follow the Dagger code as well as imitate a Dagger. He might not be as self-centered as I first thought.

Ditani shook his head. “Ma… Lebuin, that is an item for a Magus, I should not desire to carry it. It is yours, I am sure Magus Vestul would have desired it to be thus. He was a kind and good man. I know he always had wanted to have a family but, although he married a few times, he never had any children. Consider this a gift from a father to his son, to continue his work.” Lebuin looked shocked and overwhelmed with emotion. He simply nodded and Ditani placed his hand on Lebuin’s shoulder knowingly.

Ticca stood and forced herself to look into it again. As she moved her head closer, things she looked at directly came into focus. Putting her nose as close as Lebuin had, she could see every item in perfect detail.
Well that is how he was able to inspect the books so fast.

“There is too much in here to inspect it all now. I believe we are all ready and it is a full mark past noon. We should get going so we can be beyond the farming communities by dark.”