Viperhand - Douglas Niles [81]
"The invaders have entered Nexal. The stage is set for Naltecona's death and the cult's preeminence. All our plans, our centuries of preparations, stand in danger because this woman lives!"
The Ancestor trembled, so palpable was his rage. And with him trembled the bedrock of the Highcave.
"She will return to Nexal now-she must. And there we will find her. Alert all the priests, but that is not enough. The bungling of those human clerics has become all too apparent.
"This time, we will go ourselves." The drow around him stood still, in shock. "Yes, my children. We can no longer remain in the sanctity and solitude of our lair. We will enter the city by night and search it from end to end if we must!"
Under Cordell's orders, legionnaires had assembled beams and planks to make tables and benches in the palace. Now Bishou Domincus and Captain Alvarro enjoyed the luxury of a fine meal, served by pretty Maztican slave girls. With a satisifed smacking of lips, the cleric savored the succulent leg of a turkey. The greasy bones of the second leg and a thigh lay on the crude table beside him.
Alvarro cast a sideways glance at the Bishou, noting that they were alone except for the slaves. Kardann had eaten with them, but the assessor had left, declaring his intention to explore the palace that now served as the legion's barracks.
"Halloran was there at Palul," grunted the red-bearded captain of horse.
The Bishou stiffened. "You saw him?" The cleric's brows darkened grimly.
Alvarro nodded.
"And he escaped? He lives?"
The captain cursed and lied. "He fought beside a hundred of those savage warriors. I was alone, except for Vane. We could do nothing!"
"But Cordell-surely you told him!"
Alvarro related the tale of the captain-general's indifference, while the Bishou seethed.
"My daughter's death will not be avenged as long as Halloran lives!" growled Domincus. The fact that HalloMn had been powerless to prevent Marline's sacrifice meant nothing to the cleric; the man had been forever branded as one with the savages in his mind.
Suddenly the pudgy form of the assessor burst through the door. His face was flushed with excitement. "Come here-come this way!" Kardann cried.
"What is it, man?" demanded the Bishou, reluctant to leave his repast. Alvarro rose, however, and so the cleric followed.
The assessor from Amn led Bishou Domincus and Captain Alvarro down one of the long corridors in the palace. "It's in here!" Kardan gasped excitedly.
The two men followed him into a small room with multiple columns around its periphery, and many colorful frescoes depicting the mountains and fertile land surrounding the lake and the city. It looked like a passageway, except that the far end was merely a blank wall, not an entrance or hallway.
"Look! I dont know what it is, but it's got to be something. Look at this!" Barely containing his excitement, the pudgy assessor held up his lantern and gestured toward the wall at the back of the room.
"What is it?" snapped the Bishou irritably. "You pulled me away from a good meal, dragged me halfway across the palace-"
"Me, too," grumbled Alvarro. "And now we hear that you don't even know what you've found! Couldn't it wait till after dinner?"
But now Bishou Domincus leaned close to the wall, intrigued. Alvarro ceased complaining long enough to investigate whatever it was that had captured the cleric's attention.
"There's definitely some kind of a doorway here," said Domincus, stepping closer to the wall. "Look, here's a crack where you can see the top of it-and here, these are the sides. It's a secret door!"
The Bishou turned to Kardann. "Let's see if we can get it open. There's got to be a catch, a release or something, around here somewhere."
"Look." Alvarro had his dagger out and probed along the base of the concealed door.