Rising tide - Mel Odom [113]
Iakhovas merely stood there, his back to one of the four thick crystal windows that peered out over the sahuagin city in the chasm. In fact, he not only appeared unrepentant but mutinous, and Laaqueel was certain that attitude ran over into the illusion he wore for the king.
Huaanton's throne room and audience chamber was huge. Thousands of years had gone into the planning and construction of it. Made of limestone blocks each over an arm span wide and more than that tall, the sahuagin castle looked like another bump on the canyon wall from the outside. It was seven stories tall inside, the lower three sunk into the ledge of outthrust rock spurring from the chasm side, and the other four looking like a natural rock projection.
The throne room was on the second floor down, below Huaanton's personal quarters and treasury. A massive throne carved from whale bone in the shape of a shark leaping from the water with its jaws distended occupied one end of the room. The open mouth contained the seat, large enough even for Huaanton's massive girth.
Images of sharks and sahuagin were cut in bas-relief on the limestone blocks of the walls. The largest stones depicted battles from sahuagin history, myth interwoven with truth until it was all memory. The largest piece, on the opposite end of the room from the throne, showed the meeting of the sahuagin and Sekolah, whom they chose as their god.
The carving of Sekolah, the Great Shark, held a shell in his teeth, shaking it. Tiny sahuagin finned away from him in all directions, coming from the shell. According to history, Sekolah had been victorious in chosen battle against a behemoth of the deep. The Great Shark had gone forth, singing his song of joy and been pleasantly surprised to hear other voices singing back to him. The shell containing the sahuagin had floated up to him on a spray of bubbles, drawn by the joy coming from Sekolah. Once the Great Shark had spread them across the sea, the sahuagin had prospered and multiplied even further.
"More than two thousand sahuagin died in the attack on Waterdeep," Huaanton stated.
"Easily twice that many surface dwellers perished," Iakhovas said. "The sahuagin who died served their purpose in killing the enemy, but they were weak. The strong members of our people came back from that war, and our race will be the stronger for it. The next hatchlings will all be of true warriors' blood, a legacy wrought by the testing of our mettle in battle."
Huaanton's magnetic black gaze pinned Iakhovas, but the wizard didn't flinch from the eye contact.
Laaqueel silently prayed that Iakhovas wouldn't overstep his bounds. If he did, he'd bring swift and certain death down on them both. Twenty sahuagin guards ranged around them, their faces impassive, but the malenti knew they'd act at once if their king rightfully called them into action.
"They died," Huaanton agreed, "and by that proved they were inadequate to survive, but another strike against the surface dwellers right now might not be the wisest thing we could do."
"Would you have them think they've broken the sahuagin spirit?" Iakhovas asked.
Laaqueel respected the wizard's ability to choose his words well. They were borderline on accusing Huaanton of cowardice, but they were presented so that the perception was on the part of the surface dwellers, not Iakhovas.
"We still take their ships," the sahuagin king pointed out.
"Only because they foolishly continue to believe they maintain control over the seas," Iakhovas replied. "In this we need to be thankful for their own egotistical designs. We do not have to take the fight to them; they bring it into our home territory with every ship they sail. Still, they must be broken of this inflated view of themselves."
"But the ships appear in less numbers than before."
"In what they call the Sea of Swords," Iakhovas said, "your summation is true. However, even that is too much. All that is needed is for a few ships, or perhaps only one,