Alara Unbroken - Doug Beyer [80]
“I know how you feel,” Sarkhan said to the beast. “We’re weapons waiting to be unsheathed, you and I. I don’t know Bolas’s scheme, but at least he’s unafraid of putting us to good use. It’s been so long since I’ve been at war—I’m eager to test my edge in battle.”
The dragon turned his head to the sky and bellowed, punctuating the roar with a blast of fire.
Sarkhan reached out into Jund and into his other mana bonds for more mana. One by one, he summoned dragon after dragon, amassing a force large enough to raze a world.
BANT
What’s the meaning of this?” demanded Gwafa Hazid. “I’ve been detained for days.”
“You’re coming out so that I can ask you some questions,” said Elspeth Tirel, unlocking his cell. “And you’re going to answer them. Come on.”
Elspeth’s injuries had kept her from returning to the front lines immediately. But she had convinced the cleric to release her to Valeron, to see Hazid. She knew he could be a link to the worlds beyond Bant—and a key to the threats behind the war.
“These proceedings are … are out of order,” said Hazid. “I’ll say nothing without a Sighted-caste in the room with us. I know the statutes.”
Elspeth took him by the arm into a small room. A rhox was seated there in white robes. “Gwafa Hazid, this is the monk Hollin. He’s of Sighted caste and will be monitoring our conversation.”
“I … No. It’s not good enough. I demand someone else.”
“You must be very interested in delaying this conversation, Hazid,” said Elspeth. “But it won’t work. This proceeding is perfectly lawful—which you well know, since you know the statutes, as you say.”
Hazid grimaced with disgust and sat down.
“Please state your name and title,” said Elspeth.
Hazid sighed. “Gwafa Hazid, master merchant of the Grand Caravan,” he said.
Elspeth glanced at the monk. He nodded.
“Were you at Giltspire Castle six weeks ago?” asked Elspeth.
“My caravan goes through there every few months. I had the proper permits.”
“Was your caravan carrying materials for a demolitions spell?”
“How should I know?” said Hazid. “Have you ever seen my caravan? It’s vast. We carry thousands of pieces of merchandise. I can’t be expected to know every last thing in those wagons.”
Elspeth glanced at the monk again. He shook his head solemnly.
“You don’t seem to believe that, Hazid,” said Elspeth. “You’ve got a guilty conscience, haven’t you? You were going to Giltspire in order to destroy it, weren’t you?”
“No! That place was falling apart. Everybody knows that. It was unstable, and you can ask any stonemason. My mages only cast a standard charm of good luck in commerce. The place fell down without us.”
Elspeth looked at the monk.
The rhox monk leaned in and whispered in her ear. “It’s hard to say,” he said. “He truly seems to believe he’s not at fault.”
“Can we compel him to tell the truth?” Elspeth whispered back.
The monk looked shocked. I guess not, Elspeth thought.
He whispered, “That magic has been illegal since before I was born.”
“All right,” Elspeth exhaled. She looked back at Hazid. “Who put you up to this?” she asked him.
“I told you, we were just there to trade. Maybe our commerce spell accidentally backfired, and loosened something in the structure—”
“The materials we found in your caravan were not a money-luck spell, Hazid. They were a stoneworking spell meant for the deconstruction of architecture, illegal to possess except by certain masons of the Mortar caste.”
“Then it was a conspiracy,” said Hazid. “I didn’t know they had those.”
“That’s not what they said,” said Elspeth. “They all had the same story. You assembled them in particular for this trip to Giltspire. You gave them all the scrolls and rehearsed the ritual. They all said that you’re the ringleader here.”
“They’re lying,” said Hazid. “They all want me framed for this.”
“They were horrified, Hazid,” said Elspeth. “They didn’t know what was happening until it was over. Most of them wept during our interviews when we told them how many people died in the disaster.