Death of the Dragon - Ed Greenwood [100]
Orvendel became obsessed with the ghazneths and learned everything he could about them, finally coming to see the dark creatures as tools of his personal vengeance. It was an easy matter to raid the family magic vault and sneak off to attract their attention, and by the time Korvarr did a sending to say he would be teleporting home soon with the princess, Orvendel had already established a relationship with Luthax. Under the ghazneth's tutelage, the young Rallyhorn had finally accepted his brother's overtures of friendship and become a spy, exacting his vengeance by helping the monsters devastate southern Cormyr.
Once the spiteful banner reached the top of the pole, Orvendel lit a storm lantern and shone it on the banner. "You'd b-better go downstairs now." The youth did not look at Tanalasta or his brother, and he was so frightened that the lantern beam wavered as he spoke. "You don't want him to see you."
"Steady your lamp, Orvendel," said Tanalasta. "We don't want him to think anything's wrong."
Orvendel looked down at his trembling hands and exhaled a couple of times, then gave up and braced the back of the lantern against his stomach. "It's all right. I… I've been nervous before."
"And you're sure he'll see it?" asked Korvarr.
"He'll be watching," answered Orvendel. "He'll be starved for magic, and he won't wait long. Hurry."
"Go ahead, Highness," said Korvarr. "I'll stay by the door with my crossbow in case he tries to escape."
Orvendel glanced at his brother and said, "Do you think you're faster than a ghazneth?" Even frightened as he was, the boy's lip was raised in a slight sneer. "If you stay here, dear brother, Luthax will kill you. It makes no difference to me, but it would certainly give away the princess's plan."
Tanalasta took Korvarr's arm. "Orvendel won't betray us this time. Luthax would kill him anyway, and I'm sure he'd rather be remembered as the hero who saved Cormyr than the child who betrayed it."
Orvendel's entire body started to shake, and he turned to stare over the dark city. After his defiant confession-which had come even before Queen Filfaeril finished laying out her evidence-Tanalasta had spoken the hardest words of her life and sentenced the boy to death. After leaving him to consider his fate for a few days, she had begun to play him, describing all the horrible executions of past traitors, then pleading for his cooperation so she could name something quicker and more painless. Orvendel had endured this part of the interrogation surprisingly well, remaining defiant and proud until Korvarr began to talk about how his peers would ridicule him after his death.
These descriptions had upset Orvendel far more than the tortures Tanalasta described, and the boy had finally agreed to help them lure Luthax into a trap. Given his fear of mockery, the princess felt sure he would do as he promised. As a girl in her teens, she herself had suffered anxieties similar to Orvendel's, and she knew better than most how powerful such feelings could be.
Tanalasta took Korvarr's arm and pulled him down the stairs after her, wondering how she would live with herself when the "Time of War" ended. A mere tenday earlier, at what had already become known as the "Council of Iron," she had had Lady Calantar executed for the mere crime of protesting a royal order. Now she was using a frightened boy-a young man by law and custom, but still a boy in his heart and hers-to lure a ghazneth into her trap. If the lad did well, his reward was to be a painless death.
Tanalasta could not help shuddering at what she was becoming. She was a ruler who needed to see the south safely through this war, perhaps, but what about after? When she saw Rowen again, would she be able to look him in the eyes and describe all the terrible things she had done?
As Tanalasta stepped out of the stairwell,