Bones of the Dragon - Margaret Weis [129]
Skylan was skeptical. “If that is true, how have they survived all these years without being raided?”
“By spreading false tales about their vaunted magical powers,” explained Raegar. “Lies, all lies, I assure you, Cousin. All you have to do is tell your warriors about the rich treasure they will acquire, and Draya will be powerless to stop your men from going to Apensia.”
“What you say may be true,” said Skylan. “But I must still travel to the Dragon Isles—”
“Not if something happens to Draya on Apensia,” said Raegar.
Skylan glanced sharply at his cousin. “What do you mean?”
Raegar shrugged. “Let us suppose that during the raid, Draya vanishes and cannot be found. You would have no Bone Priestess to summon the dragon. You would have to sail back to Vindraholm and once there—”
“—the Kai would have to choose a new Kai Priestess—”
“—which could be the lovely Aylaen,” inserted Raegar slyly. Skylan had told Raegar about her last night, as well. He didn’t like hearing his cousin speak of her in that familiar tone, however.
“While the Kai are meeting, I could set off in pursuit of the ogres!” Skylan eyed Raegar. “So how is Draya to ‘disappear’?”
“Leave that to me and my partners, Cousin,” said Raegar quietly.
Skylan was alarmed. “No killing! She is not to be harmed. I don’t want her draugr chasing after me the rest of my life.”
“No, no, of course not,” Raegar assured him. “I swear by Torval her life will be as sacred to me as my own. My partners and I will meet you on Apensia. While you are off raiding, I will sneak aboard the dragonship and carry off Draya. We will take her into exile in Djekar. That is the city where I live in Oran. She will not be able to hurt anyone ever again.”
“If she is, as you say, a witch,” Skylan said after a moment’s thought, “she might be able to work her foul magicks and escape.”
Raegar shook his head. “I will tell her that if she returns, you will expose her crimes. She can either live in exile or die in Vindraholm.”
Skylan stared out moodily to sea. “You are undertaking a lot on my account. . . .”
“We are cousins!” said Raegar, grinning broadly.
“I can understand that, but your partners are not my cousins.” Skylan cast Raegar a sharp glance. “What do they get out of this?”
“As I said, the settlement on Apensia is a fat one. You and I will divide the spoils between our men. Now, are we agreed?”
Skylan mulled it over. The plan was a good one. He could find no fault. He would rid himself of Draya without anyone having the least suspicion that he was involved. No one would think to question her abduction. Bone Priestesses were accustomed to facing such danger when the dragonships went raiding.
Still Skylan hesitated. A starving man would eat whatever rancid meat he found, and a thirsty man would drink swamp water. Skylan knew that if he looked at this plan too closely, he would see things crawling in it.
“Draya is a murderess, Cousin,” Raegar reminded him. “She is accursed in the eyes of men and gods. If you told the people she poisoned her husband, she would be hanged.” Raegar’s voice softened. “Think of Draya, Skylan, if you have no thought for yourself. You are arranging for her to live a comfortable life in exile. You are being far more merciful to her than she deserves. As Chief of Chiefs, you have a right to judge her and to pass sentence on her.”
“What you say is true,” Skylan conceded.
“Then we are agreed?”
“We are,” said Skylan, and he gave his cousin his hand. The two shook on it, sealing the deal.
Yet, even as Skylan took his cousin’s hand, the thought came to him that this was yet another secret he could not tell Garn, for Skylan knew as sure as the Norn spun a man’s life thread that his friend would be appalled at the very idea.