Red Magic - Jean Rabe [99]
Maligor glared at the guards for allowing his meditations to be interrupted. Then he turned his anger on Asp.
"What is going on is none of your concern, naga!" the Red Wizard barked. "I don't take into my confidence snake-women who have no respect for me, who burst into my room uninvited. I warned you before about your audacity. Now you will suffer for it. Because of your recent tantrums, I have decided to take the army away from you. You won't be leading them anywhere."
"Nooooo!" Asp's scream cut through the air like the cries of one of the wizard's tortured prisoners. "Maligor, no! You can't mean this! Look at everything I've done for you!"
Her shrill voice drew the attention of the guards, who entered the room prepared to defend Maligor. A stern glance from the wizard kept them at the ready, yet they did not move. In the hall beyond, the Red Wizard heard the pounding of footsteps. More guards were coming to his aid.
"The gnolls! They're battle-ready! I'm responsible for that! I've taught them how to fight, how to defend themselves, how to wage war with something besides their filthy claws! You have one of the best-trained armies in all of Thay! And it's my doing. My doing, Maligor!"
Maligor smiled thinly at her tirade and let her rant on until she was nearly out of breath. Her once porcelain-pale face was red with rage.
"You know nothing about war!" she ranted, spitting out the words, her reeking saliva spattering on Maligor's robes. "You can't take away the glory that is rightfully mine!"
More guards streamed into the room, a dozen of them with their longswords drawn. They held their position and watched Maligor and Asp, waiting for the naga to attack him.
"I've earned the right to lead them! You can't take that away from me! Maligor, please!" Asp had difficulty forcing the last word out from her throat; it made her appear weak in front of the Red Wizard's guards. "Don't do this to me."
"Don't worry, Asp," Maligor said in soothing tones that coaxed some of the pink away from her cheeks. "Don't think that I would take all of that away from you.
"I've already done it."
"Nooo!" she screamed again, rising on her snake's tail to her full height.
In response, half the guards rushed forward, grabbing her hands and tail. She struggled, sending two of them flying across the polished marble floor, then stopped, knowing that even if she defeated the guards, Maligor could kill her.
"Leave us," the Red Wizard ordered the guards. "But stay close at hand in the event the snake-woman presents a problem."
Asp's chest rose and fell quickly, and her eyes narrowed in hatred to paper-thin slits. She eased back on her tail so she would be shorter than the wizard. It was the only token of respect she was willing to afford him at the moment.
The wizard paced in front of her in slow, measured steps, then turned abruptly and his hands shot forth from his robe. A green bolt of light ran from the middle finger on his left hand to the chamber's door. The door frame glowed softly.
"These words are not for the guards. The spell will keep them from hearing anything," Maligor explained. "My plans are for your ears only. It is time to let you in on my true goal."
Asp blanched, and her eyes widened with a dawning of comprehension. "But the gnolls…?" she began.
"Are just a ruse," he finished. "Although I actually am quite pleased you trained them so well. They definitely are a convincing deception."
The spirit naga gritted her teeth. "You used me! How could you have let me put everything into training the army, to let me think I would lead them in battle? How could you do this to me? I'm loyal to you, and not without power. I thought you cared about me."
"My dearest Asp, it's true that I care about you-as much as I am capable of caring. And I certainly care about your abilities."
He padded to the room's largest window; it afforded an exquisite view of the land on which the gnolls were encamped.
"They do look