The Diamond - J. Robert King [24]
Flustered, Miltiades took the cup. "Yes, thank you. I mean, no, we didn't. But we found out… the rescue was not… that is-"
Sipping from his own cup, Piergeiron said gently, "Take a moment. Gather your thoughts."
Miltiades took one swallow and set his cup aside. "I led the group seeking Eidola. We pursued her from the dungeon beneath the palace of Aetheric III, even, as I'm told by Kastonoph, as the squid lord struggled in his death throes."
The young man nodded confirmation, brushing the crumbs of a biscuit from his lips.
"He's also told me you know of your bride's true nature. Is this correct?" Miltiades asked stiffly.
Piergeiron winced. "Tell me again, so all is out in the open."
"Well, this comes as no surprise to the Lord Mage or your daughter," Miltiades said heavily. "Your supposed bride was in truth a greater doppelganger, an agent of the Unseen who aimed to rule Waterdeep not only from your bed, but through your mind. She'd been created, I know not how, in the image of your dead wife, Shaleen, and empowered, through subtle magics, to take hold of your mind. I am not surprised her abduction sent you into a coma, so powerful was her hold on you. I'm only surprised it didn't kill you."
"It did kill me," Piergeiron corrected. "I descended into death to follow her… to bring her back." He set down his teacup, gaze suddenly distant. "She was no illusion. I pursued someone real, powerful, brilliant and true. The presence I found there flung me out of death, back into life. That was no doppelganger."
"Ah, yes," Miltiades replied. "In any case, Eidola was among the most powerful weapons of the Unseen, a creature meant to spread their influence throughout Faerыn. There must be others such as her about."
"In fact, through your efforts and my own, their ranks have been thinned in the past month," Khelben noted. "Aleena and I have been doing more than brewing tea."
Miltiades gave the Lord Mage a dark look. "I'd like to know why you two waited so long. Aleena told me you both knew the truth about Eidola before the wedding. Why didn't you stop her then?"
"She was a fine piece of work," Khelben replied. "Dangerous, yes, but less so than those who created her. If we'd destroyed Eidola, her creators would have made another creature to infiltrate the palace, and done a better job of it. We needed her alive to trace her makers, which I've done." There was unmistakable finality in his voice.
The Lord Mage set down his teacup and added, "Until then I'd fitted her with a girdle of righteousness, binding her actions."
"I-ahem-am the one who removed the belt in the mage-king's dungeon," Noph volunteered, redness creeping up his neck. "I thought it was a… that is, she implied… er, I still thought she was a woman of honor, you see, and what more ignominious torment is there for such a one as… well, a chastity belt?"
Eyebrows lifted around the room. Hiding a smile, Khelben came to Noph's rescue. "Another decision that turned out to be right. By removing the belt, you revealed at last what Eidola really was and almost lost your life demonstrating it. The belt had served its purpose by then; once Eidola was abducted, I hired an assassin to track her down in the Utter East and kill her. The best such blade in all Faerыn."
"Too bad he failed," Miltiades said disdainfully.
Khelben shrugged. "No matter; he's dead. And where he failed, you succeeded. You ended up killing the woman you were sworn to rescue."
"Yes," Miltiades replied, despite himself. Scowling, he reached into a bag at his belt, and drew forth the slender hand of a woman, severed mid-forearm. It was rigid, bleached of all color, and clutched a gigantic diamond.
Sudden stillness governed the room. Miltiades bore the hand to the Open Lord's bedside. "Eidola is well and truly dead. I brought this back as proof. We've not been able, by means muscular or magical, to tear the gem from her grasp. The gem holds her soul. Fearing the Unseen might use it to create Eidola again, we bring it to you for Khelben to deal with."
Vapor from Piergeiron's