Amber and Iron - Margaret Weis [63]
He might have been talking of someone else. Mina remained where she was, crouched on the floor, crushed, ground down by the weight of heaven.
“Didn’t you hear me? You are free to go,” he said. “Though I must warn you that if you have, by some mischance, tucked a blessed ring or a vial of life-restoring potion up your sleeve, you should divest yourself of it before you depart. Otherwise, you will find your luck has run out.”
“I have touched nothing, Lord,” she said.
Rising to her feet, she walked toward the door. She moved slowly, as though reluctant to leave. Her eyes lingered on the holy relics of the gods.
“I don’t suppose it would do me any good to ask how you managed to circumvent my magical safeguards?” Nuitari asked. “How you broke into a door that was magically sealed and trapped, and then made your way through rune-encrusted crystal walls, and how you came to breathe seawater as easily as air. I suppose Chemosh aided you in all this.”
“I prayed to my lord, yes,” Mina replied absently.
Nuitari waited for details, but she did not elaborate.
“I would like to know, though,” Nuitari continued, “how you managed to slip past the dragon. She said you told her some far-fetched story that I had sent you. I think, in truth, she must have been asleep and is afraid to admit it to me.”
Mina smiled a half-smile at this. “I believe I did say something of the sort, Lord. The dragon was wide awake. She saw me, spoke to me, and posed riddles for me to answer. After that, the dragon permitted me to enter the globe.”
“Riddles?” Nuitari was skeptical. “What riddles?”
Mina thought back. “There were two: ‘Where did you come from?’ the dragon asked me, and ‘Where have you been?’ ”
“Not much in the way of riddles,” Nuitari stated dryly.
Mina nodded. “I agree, Lord. However, the dragon grew angry when she thought I was evading the questions. That is what made me think they were riddles meant to trick me.”
The sea floor heaved and lurched. The Tower shook on its foundations, and a voice called out in warning, “Make haste, Brother! I grow weary of waiting!”
Nuitari removed the seal from the door and gestured to Mina.
“I will spare your life this time,” he said. “I will not be so generous the next, so let there be no next time.”
He ushered her through the door, which was the last trap. It would not be tripped by the thief, but by the artifact the thief was trying to carry out of the Hall. Mina had said she did not have anything in her possession and Nuitari believed her. He was not surprised to see her pass through the door without harm. He sealed the door swiftly, making a mental note to strengthen the spells he’d cast upon it. He’d had no idea that Chemosh—even at a distance—would prove so adept at breaking through magical barriers.
A whisk of his hand and Mina was gone, transported through water, crystal globe, and Tower walls to the sea beyond, where Zeboim was waiting for her.
Not exactly trusting his sister, Nuitari kept an eye on her, wanting to make certain his sister would keep her word and cease her attacks on the Tower. The moment she had Mina, Zeboim clasped the young woman in a fond embrace and the two disappeared.
Nuitari returned to the globe to question the dragon, only to find Midori gone.
Such absences were not unusual. The dragon occasionally went on hunting trips. He had the feeling, though, that this time she’d left without any plans to come back. She’d been exceedingly angry with him.
Nuitari stood inside the sea globe, staring at the Solio Febalas. He thought back over everything that had anything to do with Mina.
She was, he decided, nothing but trouble.
“Good riddance,” he muttered. He went off, with a grim sigh, to see if he could find and placate the dragon.
he tavern, if one could dignify it by that term, existed inside an overturned boat that had been blown ashore during a storm. The tavern’s name was the Dinghy, though local wit called it the Dingy.
The Dingy lived up to its name. It had no tables, no chairs, no windows. Its patrons either stood grouped around the bar