Crypt of the shadowking - Mark Anthony [101]
She laughed, a sound utterly devoid of mirth.
"I would not have expected so feeble an attempt at deception from you, Caledan," she purred. "Have the years been so hard that your wits have left you?"
Caledan felt anger flare inside him. "It's the truth, Ravendas. You're foolish if you don't listen to me."
She rose and paced smoothly before the fireplace, the crimson silk of her dress rustling against the marble floor. "Snake is my servant. I fear him no more than I would a lap-dog. Of course, he is not without cunning. That was why I elevated him to his present position. He has proven quite useful a number of times. But when I first met him he was little more than a common cutpurse. He is hardly capable of defeating me." Her blue eyes flashed.
"You're wrong," Caledan said, standing. "Dead wrong. Do you know what a shadevar is?"
"A shadevar?" Ravendas repeated, a frown creasing her brow. "What, pray tell, is that?"
"An abomination," Caledan growled. "A sightless monster that follows by scent, not by sight, and that can kill in a heartbeat. The shadevari were ancient creatures, maybe older than the world itself. Once they served the god Bhaal, but in the end even he was powerless to control the shadevari, and Azuth himself banished them. It would have taken a sorcerer of incredible power to summon a shadevar into the world again. And that's exactly what Snake did."
"If this shadevar was so powerful, why is it you're not dead, Caledan?" Ravendas demanded.
"I managed to kill it with the help of a few others in the Fields of the Dead. But it was more by luck than anything else. Believe me, this thing was powerful enough to lay waste to an army."
Ravendas sighed. "I'm growing weary of this talk, Caledan.
There's nothing you can say that could make me fear Snake. You see, there's really no time left for him to do any-thing that could interfere with my goal." "What are you talking about?"
"I have found the crypt of the Shadowking," Ravendas replied gloatingly. "In two days' time I will be able to open the doorway into the tomb beneath the Tor. My sorcerers tell me that the dark of the moon is the most propitious time." Caledan stared at her. "In just two days, the Night-stone will be mine, Caledan. Nothing-not you, not Snake, not the Zhentarim-can stand in my way then. With the power of the Nightstone, I will rule this city and a dozen others like it. I will not stop until all the Realms kneel before me.
"But I will need a prince consort to stand beside me and give me strength," Ravendas added in her dulcet voice. Her gaze drifted over Caledan like a caress. "That could be you, Caledan. Would you stand beside me and rule the Realms with me? You have only to kneel and pledge your life to me as your queen."
"You're mad," Caledan said simply, shaking his head. "Besides, what you really want is my shadow magic. I know that you need one with the shadow magic to take the Night-stone from its resting place."
Ravendas laughed again. "You think you're terribly clever, don't you, Caledan? Then again, you always did. However, I'm afraid you're wrong this time. Oh, once you would have been right. Years ago I did seek to win you over for your shadow magic. You see, I first learned of the Night-stone more than a decade ago. I was weaving my plans even then. You proved stubborn, however. Whatever you saw in that fawning sister of mine I cannot say, yet you chose to spurn my advances. In the meantime I have discovered another way in which I might gain control of someone blessed with the shadow magic, and he is mine even now."
Caledan made a sudden intuitive leap. "The boy? Kellen?"
"Indeed," Ravendas purred wickedly. "I think he inherited his coloring from me. But his hair, his eyes, and his shadow magic-all come from his father."
Caledan felt a sudden numbing coldness grip his heart. He stared at Ravendas.
"Yes, Caledan," she said with chilling calm. "Kellen is your son."
Caledan's gaze went to the door where the boy had disappeared. His gut instinct was to shout out in denial, but he remained silent. As unbelievable as it was,