Azure bonds - Kate Novak [55]
"But why would the bard lie about her rescue?"
"This Olive Ruskettle is a halfling. She may not be a bard."
Giogioni rose from his chair. "Now, hold on just a moment," he said. "She's a fine bard. What gives you the right to slander people just because they're short?"
Vangerdahast fixed the noble with a cold stare.
"Well, I thought she was good," Giogioni muttered, sitting back down.
King Azoun struggled with his conscience and his reason. On one hand, if this woman were an assassin, he wasn't troubled by letting the dragon take care of her. On the other hand, if she were some innocent victim of a curse, he wasn't going to sleep well that night. Still, it was a long road to Yulash. The dragon might not find her, he reasoned, and Alias had defeated it once already. Ridding Cormyr of a dragon was no small accomplishment for a king.
He nodded his assent to Vangerdahast's plan.
"Lord Giogioni," the wizard said. "Upon receiving the dragon's promise to leave and never return to Cormyr, you will inform the creature that Alias of Westgate left Suzail eight days ago. To the best of your knowledge, the adventuress was headed toward Yulash."
Giogioni rose to his feet with a sigh, bowed his head, and left on his mission.
"Perhaps now that he's served as Your Majesty's messenger, he might consider rendering you some other service."
"Such as?"
"Investigating Westgate," the wizard suggested.
Azoun's brow furrowed in anger. "You mean that barkeep was lying! Why didn't you tell me?"
Vangerdahast shook his head. "No, Goodman Green was telling the truth, though perhaps not all of it. The woman and her companions were seen leaving by the Eastgate, which leads to the road north."
"So, why send Giogi to Westgate?"
"The barkeep may have been mistaken. Alias could make it to Yulash and back to Westgate without the dragon finding her. Someone who knows her appearance and holds your interests to heart should be sent there, just in case."
Azoun nodded. He turned back to the window and peered over the western wall again. "You remember, Vangy, when I was your pupil and you used to give me those tests in ethics?"
"Yes, Your Highness."
"I always hated them. Still do."
"Only now, Your Highness," Vangerdahast replied softly, "they are no longer tests."
11
Shadow Gap
Whenever Alias saw Shadow Gap she thought of some weary titan dragging his axe behind him as he stepped over the hills. At least that was how she imagined the creation of the steep-sided, steep-sloped gorge that split the mountains in two.
No more than an hour of noon sunlight ever reached the floor of the pass. At all other times, it remained in the shadow of the mountains, hence its name.
The gap was barren, save for a scattering of short, scrubby bushes. The road through it wound upward in an interminable series of hairpin curves and ascending switchbacks, resembling a dry wash. Alias had passed through the gap as a caravan guard many times and remembered how, in the spring, water followed the same course down the hill as the merchant wagons.
Heavily laden wagons draped with thick rugs and waterproof slickers would rumble up the gorge at a snail's pace. The lord merchants urged the drivers on, while mercenary sell-swords watched the cliffs for ambush. Occasionally, a procession of pilgrims on foot interruputed the flow, oblivious to the bustling world around them. More rarely a wizard's wagon, with lumber sprouting fresh, spring leaves, clattered through the vale on ancient wheels, pulled by oxen, gorgons, or more fantastic beasts.
Today, all that was absent, banished as if by magic. The vale was emptier than a tax collector's Yule party. The only sound the travelers heard was the clopping of the horse hooves beneath them. Alias wondered what could have halted the trade so completely. A war, perhaps, or rumor of one. But she'd heard nothing of that sort in Cormyr, and the Cormyrians were not, as a rule, insular.
Akabar, having never passed through