Treasures of Fantasy - Margaret Weis [116]
She walked off. Skylan considered going after her, trying to persuade her, but he feared he would only make matters worse. At least, he reflected, she had come to him when she was in trouble. She had talked to him as a friend, almost like the old days.
Skylan went back inside the tent and lay down on the cot. He had a lot to think about.
What struck him as truly odd was that Raegar and Treia, Aylaen and apparently Garn all believed he knew the secret to the Vektan dragons.
Skylan began to wonder uneasily if he did.
CHAPTER
18
* * *
BOOK TWO
Chloe did not send for Skylan the next day. He guessed that she was worried about her father. Acronis could not leave his bed, but he insisted that they hold Para Dix practice.
That turned out to be a mistake.
Keeper was grumpy and irritable from lack of sleep. Aylaen walked about in a daze, distracted and unhappy. Sigurd and the others were sullen and rebellious. Skylan worried about Wulfe, afraid that Raegar would find him, and spent half his time trying to remember everything Draya had said to him about Vektan dragons.
Keeper yelled at them until he was hoarse and used his fists freely on everyone except Aylaen, telling her balefully that he was leaving her to her goddess.
The end came when one of the Southlander players called the Torgun “stupid savages.” Sigurd knocked the man to the ground. The other Southlander jumped him. Grimuir and Skylan both went to his aid and the fight was on. They were reveling in a glorious brawl when Skylan heard Zahakis call his name.
Skylan was tempted to ignore the summons, but sometimes the only way to get information was to give it.
Zahakis spent a moment looking out at the playing field where the soldiers and the Torgun and the Southlanders were beating the crap out of each other. Only Aylaen was not involved. She sat slumped on the grass, her arms resting on her knees, her head in her arms.
“What’s wrong with Aylaen?” Zahakis asked.
“Female trouble,” said Skylan, knowing that would end the questioning. No man ever wants to talk about female problems. Zahakis quickly changed the subject.
“You were going to talk to that boy of yours. Did you?”
Skylan had gone over what he would say, trying to juggle how much of the truth to reveal and how much to keep to himself. “This is the boy’s story. You can believe it or not. He claims that the wolves weren’t wolves. He says they are fae, what the boy calls man-beasts. He’s always claiming to know the fae. He talks to dryads and Oceanids. . . .”
“Like I said last night, these wolves didn’t act like any wolves I’ve ever seen,” Zahakis said, nodding his head. “What else did the kid say?”
Skylan was startled. He hadn’t expected Zahakis to believe him. He wasn’t sure he wanted to be believed.
“According to Wulfe, these man-beasts look like ordinary humans when they want to,” said Skylan. “They work as hired killers, using their beast form to murder people, making it seem as if their victims were torn apart by wild animals—”
“Like the guards who were taking the boy to the Temple,” Zahakis said, interrupting.
Skylan pretended he hadn’t heard and kept talking. He knew this next bit of information would capture the Tribune’s attention.
“Someone hired these man-beasts to kill the Legate. Raegar.”
“Raegar?” Zahakis repeated, staring. “Are you sure?”
“The boy saw him talking to the leader of these man-beasts and recognized him. Raegar told the man-beasts where to find the Legate. He told them Acronis would be on his way home from the Palace—”
“Where the Priest-General kept him talking until late into the night,” said Zahakis softly. “It all begins to make sense.”
“Priest-General?”
“Raegar’s only an arse-licker toady. He’s not allowed to think for himself. He’s acting on orders from above. Do you want proof? Those four yellow-bellied litter bearers fled into the night. They have the same tattoos that you have on your arm. Apparently they never felt a twinge when they ran off. Your arm burned, didn’t it? When you tried to defend the Legate?”
No, his arm hadn’t burned.