Viper's Kiss - Lisa Smedman [95]
"Are you sure that's wise?" he asked. Naneth was a powerful sorcerer-he wasn't keen on facing her spells a second time.
"I must find Sibyl and recover the Circled Serpent," Karrell said. "Naneth is the one thread that will lead me through the maze. I must follow it," She leveled a challenging look at Arvin. "If, however, you no longer wish to help me…"
Arvin stared at the approaching wagon, wishing he could just board it, return to Ormpetarr, and collect his reward. Then he thought of what Sibyl's minions had done to Naulg and to Glisena's unborn child. He met Karrell's eye. "You kept your end of the bargain," he told her. "I'll keep mine. Whatever I can do to thwart Sibyl, I will."
Karrell gave him a long look. "If we find that Sibyl is in Hlondeth, will you return there with me?"
"Hlondeth isn't a healthy place for me to be," Arvin said. He clenched his left hand, remembering. By now, the Guild would be wondering where he'd gone… and asking questions-questions that might lead them to a realization that he'd been feeding Tanju information on their activities over the past six months. Arvin had been forced to trade his mentor something, in return for the lessons in psionics. If the Guild found that out, they'd cut out Arvin's tongue. "I have enemies there."
"You have enemies here," Karrell said softly. "Zelia."
"True," Arvin agreed. Then he smiled. "And Zelia, according to the baron, is in Ormpetarr-which makes my decision easier."
He expected Karrell to smile at his faint attempt at humor, or to ask what his decision was, but her face had a distant look, as if she were lost in thought.
"The centaur Windswift," she said abruptly. "You addressed him as Zelia. Was he one of her seeds?"
Arvin's jaw clenched. "He was. Zelia must have created him to spy on Chondath."
"Zelia is an agent of Hlondeth?" Karrell asked. Arvin nodded.
"She serves House Extaminos?"
"Yes," Arvin answered. "Why?"
Karrell countered with a question of her own. "Why did she try to seed you?"
Arvin gave a bitter laugh. "You'll appreciate the irony, I'm sure. Zelia hoped to use me to infiltrate The Pox-the clerics who were allied with Sibyl during her first attempt at Hlondeth's throne. Zelia needed a human who had…" His voice faltered as he remembered the terrible transformation Naulg had undergone-and the final kindness Arvin had been forced to pay him. "Who'd had the misfortune of falling into their hands. They wouldn't have accepted anyone else into their ranks."
Arvin was thankful that Karrell didn't ask him to elaborate.
"What other psionic powers does Zelia have?" she asked.
Arvin gave her a sharp look. "Don't even think about it," he snapped. "Zelia's dangerous. And untrustworthy. She's as slippery as a-" He realized what he was saying, and stopped himself just in time.
Karrell's eyes narrowed. She yanked her hand out of his. "As what? A serpent?"
Arvin's face flushed. That was exactly what he'd been about to say.
The giant, seeing that they had stopped walking, halted. "Is something wrong?" he rumbled. Tanglemane lifted his head slightly; his face looked pale.
"It's nothing," Arvin said. He pointed at the wagon, only a few hundred paces from them now. Behind the driver sat two soldiers and a third man, identifiable as a cleric of Helm by his eye-emblazoned breastplate and deep red cloak. "Get Tanglemane to the wagon. We'll follow in a moment."
The giant shrugged then continued with heavy footsteps toward the wagon. It pulled to a halt as he drew near it, and the cleric hopped out. The giant lowered Tanglemane to the ground. The cleric crouched beside him and started removing the centaur's crude wound binding.
Arvin turned back to Karrell. "Zelia's dangerous," he repeated. "Perhaps as dangerous as Sibyl herself."
"And she is Sibyl's enemy. And she has mind magic beyond what you possess. Magic that may force Naneth to tell us where Sibyl is."
"True," Arvin agreed, bristling. "But she's the last person I'd ever ask for help from. As soon as she found out I'm alive, she'd kill me. Quick as spit. It's bad