Amber and Iron - Margaret Weis [108]
The room went dark. The floor tilted, the walls moved. Mina had to grasp hold of a table in order to remain standing.
“Are you banishing me from your presence, my lord?” she asked faintly, barely able to find breath enough to speak the question.
He did not deign to reply.
“I could train them here,” she said.
“That would not be to my liking. I find that I grow weary of the sight of them. And you.”
Mina moved numbly across a floor that lurched and shook beneath her feet. Coming to Chemosh, she sank to her knees at his side and caught hold of his arm.
“My lord, let me explain! I beg you!”
“I told you, Mina, I am in the middle of a game—”
“I threw away the pearls!” she cried. “I know I have displeased you. I need to tell you—”
Chemosh removed his arm from her grasp and rearranged the lace she had disturbed. “You will leave tomorrow. This day, you will remain locked in your chamber under guard. I plan to visit your lover this evening, and I do not want you to sneak off to try to warn him.”
Mina was near collapse. Her legs trembled; her hands shook. She was covered in chill sweat. Then Krell made a noise. He chuckled, low and deep. She looked into the fiery, piggy eyes of the death knight, and she saw triumph. She knew then who had spied on her.
Her hatred of Krell gave her the strength to rise to her feet, burned away her tears, and lent her the courage to say, “As you will, my lord.”
Chemosh moved another piece. “You have leave to go.”
Mina walked out of that room; she had no idea how. She could not see anything. She could not feel anything. She had lost all sensation. She staggered on as far as she could and managed to reach her bedchamber before darkness overcame her and she sank to the floor and lay there like a dead thing.
After she had gone, Krell looked down at the board and realized, to his astonishment, he had won.
The death knight moved a pawn, snatched up the black queen, and carried her off.
“Your king is trapped, my lord,” Krell stated exultantly. “Nowhere to go. The game is mine.”
Chemosh looked at him.
Krell gulped. “Or maybe not. That last move … I made a mistake. That was an illegal move.” He quickly slid the queen back onto her hex. “I apologize, my lord. I have no idea what I was thinking—”
Chemosh picked up the khas board and flung it in Krell’s face.
“Should you need me, I will be in the Hall of the Souls Passing. Do not let Mina out of your sight! And pick up the pieces,” Chemosh added, as he walked away.
“Yes, my lord,” muttered Ausric Krell.
he cold of the stone floor roused Mina from her swoon. She was shivering so she could barely stand. Dragging herself to her feet, she wrapped herself in the blanket from her bed and went to stand by the window.
The breeze was moderate. The Blood Sea was quiet. Rolling swells washed over the rocks with barely a splash. Pelicans, flying in formation like a wing of blue dragons, searched for fish. A dolphin’s glistening body broke the surface and glided back down.
She had to talk to Chemosh. She had to make him listen to her. This was a mistake or rather, mischief.
Mina walked to the door of her chamber and found it was not bolted as she had feared it might be. She flung it open.
Ausric Krell stood in front of her.
Mina cast him a scathing glance and started to walk around him.
Krell moved to block her.
Mina was forced to confront him. “Get out of my way.”
“I have my orders,” Krell said, gloating. “You are to remain in your chamber. If you need to occupy your time, I suggest you start packing for your journey. You might want to pack everything you own. You won’t be coming back.”
Mina regarded him with cold fury.
“You know that the man in the cave is not my lover.”
“I know no such thing,” Krell returned.
“A maiden does not usually chain her lover to a wall and threaten him with death,” Mina said caustically. “What of the kender? Is he my lover, too?”
“People have their little quirks,” Krell stated magnanimously.