Amber and Blood - Margaret Weis [15]
“Stop sitting there feeling sorry for yourself,” Chemosh said coldly. “You must find Mina.”
No one wanted to find Mina more than Ausric Krell. He almost jumped at the chance, but then he checked himself. The Krell of low cunning was back. He could hear in his master’s voice an underlying hint of urgency, perhaps even of desperation. Krell could take advantage of the situation to do a little bargaining. He was in a position of power, after all. He had nothing left to lose.
“They say this Mina is now a god, my lord,” Krell pointed out. “And I am a poor, weak mortal.” He gnashed his teeth as he spoke.
“Do this for me and I will make you one of my clerics, Krell. I will give you holy powers—”
“Cleric!” Krell snorted in disgust. “I don’t want to be one of your sniveling clerics, running about in a black dress and a fright mask.”
“Do not push me, Krell—”
“Or you’ll do what to me?” Krell roared angrily. “You came to me for help, my lord. If you want my help, change me back into a death knight.”
“I can’t just ‘change’ you into a death knight,” Chemosh said testily. “It’s not like changing one’s clothes. It’s far more complicated, involves a curse—”
“Then go find Mina yourself,” Krell said sullenly.
Hunched in his blanket, he stumped over to his bed and sat down.
“I cannot change you into a death knight, but I will grant you the powers of a Bone Acolyte,” Chemosh offered.
“A bony what?” Krell asked suspiciously.
“I don’t have time to explain! I’m rather busy at the moment. I’m being forced to take a godly oath. But you will be powerful. I promise.”
Krell thought this over. Chemosh would have to be true to his word if he wanted Krell to succeed.
“Very well,” said Krell grudgingly. “Make me into this Bony Acolyte. Where do I find Mina?”
“I have no idea. She jumped off the battlements into the sea.”
“Then you want me to recover her body, my lord?” Krell was disappointed.
“She’s a god, you idiot! She can’t die! By the Skull, I think I would be better off giving orders to the bed post! I have to leave now—”
“Then where should I start my search, my lord?” Krell demanded, but he received no answer.
Krell had an idea, however. Mina’s monk, the one he’d found inside the grotto. Krell had first thought the monk was her lover. Now he wasn’t so sure. Still, she seemed to have taken an unusual interest in him. She’d sneaked out of Chemosh’s castle to meet up with him in secret in a grotto. Perhaps she’d gone back to find him. The last Krell had seen of the monk, he’d been chained to a wall in the grotto. Not likely he would be going anywhere.
Krell stood up, then realized that he couldn’t very well confront Mina wrapped in a blanket.
“My lord!” Krell shouted. “A Bone Acolyte! Remember?”
Chemosh did remember. He granted Krell the powers of a Bone Acolyte and, though he wasn’t quite as formidable as he had been when he was death knight, Krell was pleased with the results.
ightshade entered the grotto staggering beneath a load of driftwood. He dumped it down on the floor and then stood staring at the girl, who lay unmoving on the cold stones as Rhys chafed her chill hands, trying to warm them. Atta trotted inside, sniffed at the girl, growled, and retreated to a far corner.
“We need tinder to start the fire,” said Rhys. “Perhaps some seaweed. If you could hurry …”
Muttering under his breath, Nightshade summoned Atta and the two went back out. Rhys hoped he would be quick about his task. The girl’s skin was cold and clammy to the touch, her heartbeat slow and sluggish, her lips and fingernails blue. He would have wrapped her in his own robes, but they were as wet as her cotton smock.
He glanced around the grotto that had once been a shrine to Zeboim. An altar to the goddess stood at the far end. He had paid it scant attention when the minotaur had first brought him here. He’d had far more urgent matters to think about, such as being chained to a wall and threatened with torture and death. Now, hoping he might find something of use, he left the child and went back to look at it more closely.
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