A Dragon's Ascension - Ed Greenwood [132]
"You're probably right," Raegrel muttered back, "but why shouldn't they believe in ghosts? There are ghosts. I've seen them."
The other Koglaur smiled. "Of course you have. They're not as plentiful as we need to them to be, though. I've spent a lot of time being a ghost, to a lot of Aglirtans."
Raegrel stared at him, decided he was being truthful, and shuddered.
Suddenly, the minor humiliations of being Red Dream in front of a lot of lust-ridden men thrice a night didn't seem like such a hard punishment.
The Tersepts of Haeltree and Shaeltor exchanged wary, fearful looks. A glance down the line of newly arrived nobility in the throne chamber told them they were among the calmest of Blackgult's sudden summonings.
There was a smell of fear in the room. Not a man among the nobles lacked guilty secrets-and some of them had been positively frenzied in their race to do treason, since swearing fealty to King Snowsar.
And Regent Blackgult, standing tall in his tattered garb amid all this ruin, did not look like a happy man.
"Welcome," he said at last, when they'd begun to stir and murmur among themselves, "traitors."
That brought icy, quivering silence down upon the room. Blackgult smiled, and added, "But no more of such unpleasant words now-it's all too late, and for Aglirta, everything's changed. I could spin you a long and clever tale of intrigues and treacheries and would-be usurpers, but most of you know more of it than you'll want to admit, and it really comes down to this: the River Throne and much of Flowfoam Palace have been destroyed in sorcerous battle, many folk have lost their lives, and among the dead are these individuals who should be important to us all: King Kelgrael Snowsar, who took his own life trying to bind or slay the Awakened Serpent; the warlord Bloodblade, who sought to seize rule of this land by force; the dread Serpent itself; and Overduke Sarasper Codelmer, who was a healer, and took the shape of a dragon to the slaying the Ser-pent-that we all may live. He joins King Snowsar among the greatest heroes of Aglirta."
There was silence as Blackgult turned away, but a murmur quickly arose behind him-and he whirled around to still it again with the words, "But there'll be time to honor such great men later. We are gathered here to rescue what they saved for us: the realm of Aglirta. Someone must rule, and who 'tis we must choose now-and, for once, also choose to be loyal."
He looked again at Hawkril, but the armaragor backed away.
"No, no-no thrones for me," he growled. His eyes fell on Raulin, who was standing with Flaeros watching the proceedings with eagerness and awe-and he strode over and plucked the boy forward. "Here," the warrior overduke said fiercely. "Here be your king!"
"He's just a boy!" a tersept gasped.
"Aye, so? Fewer feuds and grudges and little debts than the rest of you," Craer Delnbone said lightly, his mocking tone almost a challenge. "And if he does ill, we'll set him straight or send him to his grave soon enough. We overdukes must watch over the realm, as we were bid."
Raulin stared around at all of the gazes suddenly bent on him, most of them openly incredulous or hostile, and went both bone-white and wild-eyed-before he suddenly spewed up his last meal, all over the well-trodden body of a Melted that lay sprawled under stones in front of him.
"Aye," Blackgult agreed in a dry voice, "he just might make a king, at that. He's wiser than most kings-and almost all lads. No bright excitement for a crown, just horror at what it means."
Baron Cardassa drew himself up. "Kneel to that? Some motherless boy? Do you insult us all deliberately? Do you seek to goad us all to war, and so doom Aglirta? Do-"
"Do you shut up! the Tersept of Haeltree snapped, from not far down the line. When Maevur Cardassa trembled in whelming rage, the tersept added brightly, "O most masterful of conspirators!"
And then the nobles were all sneering and spitting scorn at once, loudly ridiculing the very idea of choosing some random boy to be king over