Dragons of Spring Dawning - Margaret Weis [131]
“You have not forgotten our bargain?”
“No, of course not!” Kitiara said. Trying to keep the quiver of fear from her voice, she commanded sternly, “Let me go!”
The hand slowly released its grip. Kitiara hurriedly snatched her arm away, rubbing the flesh that, even in that short span of time, had turned bluish white.
“The elfwoman will be yours when the Queen has finished with her, of course.”
“Of course. I would not want her otherwise. A living woman is of no use to me, not like a living man is of use to you.…” The dark figure’s voice lingered unpleasantly over the words.
Kitiara cast a scornful glance at the pallid face, the flickering eyes that floated—disembodied—above the black armor of the knight.
“Don’t be a fool, Soth,” she said, pulling the bell rope hastily. She felt a need for light. “I am able to separate the pleasures of the flesh from the pleasures of business—something you were unable to do, from what I know of your life.”
“Then what are your plans for the half-elf?” Lord Soth asked, his voice seeming, as usual, to come from far below ground.
“He will be mine, utterly and completely,” Kitiara said, gently rubbing her injured wrist.
Servants hurried in with hesitant, sideways glances at the Dark Lady, fearing her notorious explosions of wrath. But Kitiara, preoccupied with her thoughts, ignored them. Lord Soth faded back into the shadows as always when the candles were lit.
“The only way to possess the half-elf is to make him watch as I destroy Laurana,” Kitiara continued.
“That is hardly the way to win his love,” Lord Soth sneered.
“I don’t want his love.” Pulling off her gloves and unbuckling her armor, Kitiara laughed shortly. “I want him! As long as she lives, his thoughts will be of her and of the noble sacrifice he has made. No, the only way he will be mine—totally—is to be ground beneath the heel of my boot until he is nothing more than a shapeless mass. Then, he will be of use to me.”
“Not for long,” Lord Soth remarked caustically. “Death will free him.”
Kitiara shrugged. The servants had completed their tasks and vanished quickly. The Dark Lady stood in the light, silent and thoughtful, her armor half-on and half-off, her dragon helm dangling from her hand.
“He has lied to me,” she said softly, after a moment. Then, flinging the helm down on a table, where it struck and shattered a dusty, porcelain vase, Kit began to pace back and forth. “He has lied. My brothers did not die in the Blood Sea—at least one of them lives, I know. And so does he—the Everman!” Peremptorily, Kitiara flung open the door. “Gakhan!” she shouted.
A draconian hurried into the room.
“What news? Have they found that captain yet?”
“No, lord,” the draconian replied. He was the same one who had followed Tanis from the inn in Flotsam, the same who had helped trap Laurana. “He is off-duty, lord,” the creature added as if that explained everything.
Kitiara understood. “Search every beer tent and brothel until he is found. Then bring him here. Lock him in irons if you have to. I’ll question him when I return from the Highlords’ Assembly. No, wait …” Kitiara paused, then added, “You question him. Find out if the half-elf was truly alone—as he said—or if there were others with him. If so—”
The draconian bowed. “You will be informed at once, my lord.”
Kitiara dismissed him with a gesture, and the draconian, bowing again, left, shutting the door behind him. After standing thoughtfully for a moment, Kitiara irritably ran her hand through her curly hair, then began yanking at the straps of her armor once again.
“You will attend me, tonight,” she said to Lord Soth, without looking at the apparition of the death knight which, she assumed, was still in its same place behind her.
“Be watchful. Lord Ariakas will not be pleased with what I intend to do.”
Tossing the last piece of armor to the floor, Kitiara pulled off the leather tunic and the blue silken hose. Then, stretching in luxurious freedom, she glanced over her shoulder to see Lord Soth’s reaction to her words. He was not there. Startled, she glanced quickly around