Obsidian Ridge - Jess Lebow [71]
Kleegor got back to his feet and retrieved another crate. Then he returned to hand it to Talish. "Did you get one of those letters?"
"You mean the ones from the king? Yeah, I got one."
"What did you do with it?" asked Kleegor.
"What do you think I did with it?" said Talish, straining to talk as he put the crate in its place. "I made a show of tearing it up in front of the messenger, then I took it to the Matron. How 'bout you? You get one?"
"Yep."
"Did you read it first?"
"Yep."
"Yeah," said Talish, "so did I."
"What do you think? You think he'll really turn over the Claw?"
Talish shrugged. "Dunno."
Kleegor grabbed another crate then came back. "What if he doesn't? Or what if the Magistrates don't find him?"
"I dunno. What if? So we don't have the Claw, so what?"
"So, will the Matron turn over the princess to Xeries? Even if she doesn't have the Claw?"
Talish looked up at the sky. "It's getting pretty late, huh?"
"That's what I mean," said the half-ore. "Those… things… those black beasts have been waiting under the Obsidian Ridge all day."
"And?"
"And," said the half-ore, a little perturbed, "they have pretty big teeth." "I noticed."
"And what if the Matron does get the Claw before moonrise?"
Talish rolled his eyes. "I dunno. What if?"
"Well," said Kleegor, "will the king sacrifice his only daughter?"
"I sure wouldn't," replied Talish. "Not for this place." The half-ore made another run down the dock, hurrying back. "So what if we were to go ahead with our original plan?" "What plan?"
"You know, to assassinate the king."
Talish put the crate down and turned back to Kleegor. "What good would that do?"
"Well," said the half-ore, "if the king is dead, then the Matron will have no choice but to turn the princess over to this Xeries."
"Why do you think that?"
"Who else is going to negotiate for the safety of the princess? The queen has been dead for almost a year. And there's a huge floating citadel menacing the kingdom that will go away if we just turn her over." Kleegor puffed up his chest, rather proud of himself for his reasoning skills. "Seems like we can just wash our hands of the whole thing and go about our business."
Talish nodded. "Yep. Except what about the Claw? If we can't negotiate with the king, then who will turn him over to us?
Kleegor brushed him off with a wave of his hand. "We can deal with that. The Claw is no problem."
"The Claw is a bigger problem than you think."
Both Kleegor and Talish nearly jumped out of their skin as the Matron appeared beside the stack of crates.
"Matron! We. We, uh… we didn't see you there."
"I am aware of that," she said, walking toward them.
Throwing her hands toward the ground, she spoke a short prayer. With each step, she grew, her body becoming twice the size of the half-ore, then three times, then four.
Kleegor and Talish cowered in her shadow as the giant-sized Matron loomed over them.
"We will do things the way I have planned them. The king is off limits. No one is to touch him. Is that understood?"
Talish nodded, dropping to his knees and bowing his head to the deck of the boat.
"I meant no disrespect, Matron," said Kleegor. "I just thought maybe we didn't need to deal with the king anymore. It's getting close to moonrise. Maybe we could just handle the Obsidian Ridge all on our own."
The Matron grabbed Kleegor by the front of his sweaty, tattered shirt and lifted him into the air. "We will handle the Obsidian Ridge when the king is in my pocket and the Claw is dead and buried."
"Yes, Matron," said the half-ore.
"I am not going to let some parlor magician with a few neat tricks show up and ruin my plans. If this Xeries has a deadline, then let him have his deadline. He will get his after we get ours. Is that understood?" Kleegor nodded.
"Good," she said, tossing him to the dock. "Now get back to work!" With that, she turned and walked away from them both, shrinking back to her normal size as she did.
Kleegor dusted himself off. "Time is running out, Talish," he said, his snout turned up in an