Hogni grinned and hurried to gather his travelling gear. Dolgan sighed. To Alystan, he said, ‘He’s very young; not quite forty years old yet.’
The Ranger, who was only a few years older, suppressed a chuckle. Then the moment of mirth passed, and the grim prospect of what they were facing returned. The room seemed colder, despite the brisk fire.
CHAPTER FIVE - Exodus
Laromendis began his spell.
Across the vast courtyard sat a huge iron cage in which his brother rested as best he could in the blistering afternoon heat. The soldier who guarded the cage hadn’t yet noticed the Conjurer’s presence, so when Laromendis finished his spell and approached, the man saw not one, but two figures: the Conjurer accompanied by a guard captain.
The sentry looked quizzically at the pair, unaware that one of them was a phantom of his own imagination, and when they stopped before him, he heard the officer instruct him to draw away and give the brothers a moment of privacy. The guard nodded once, and followed the order.
Gulamendis looked up at his brother and smiled, though it obviously pained him to do so: his lips were cracked and bleeding from the heat. ‘How fare you, brother?’
Laromendis shook his head as he thrust a small water skin through the bars of the cage. ‘Drink slowly,’ he warned. ‘I’m faring better than you, by all appearances. What happened?’
‘Our master, the Regent Lord, became most vexed by the news that we had lost the outpost at Starwell and turned his wrath upon me. He already held me in the dungeon, and since he couldn’t kill me and keep your service, he decided a little torment might serve to show his wrath,’ Gulamendis said. He glanced at the sun, which was now lowering towards the keep, in an hour the shadows will cover me and I’ll be all right.’
Pointing to the skin, Laromendis said, ‘Hide that; it should last for a few days.’ He glanced over his shoulder at the distant guard, ‘I don’t think they’ll completely forget to give you food and water, but they may decide to let you suffer for a while. It’s the mood of the times.’
‘Not a lot of joy to be found,’ agreed the Demon Master. Gulamendis moved the stale straw that was his bedding and hid the remaining water, ‘I’m better than I look. I send Choyal into the kitchen at night to fetch me extra food and drink.’ He chuckled but it came out dry and rasping. ‘But imps are so stupid. One night he delivers me a delicacy from the Regent Lord’s own larder, another night it will be rotten vegetables.’
‘I’ll do what I can to get you out.’ He paused, looked his brother in the eyes and said, ‘I found Home.’
His brother’s expression stilled. The resemblance between them was staggering, but Gulamendis was slightly shorter, a little thinner, and had lighter, almost orange, red hair.
‘What?’ asked Laromendis.
‘If you have found Home, what need has the Regent Lord for us?’
‘There are problems,’ said Laromendis, standing, ‘I must leave as the guard is returning and I can’t be here if a true officer arrives. The Regent Lord needs me for a while longer, and because of that you will be safe, if not comfortable.
‘And I have a plan.’
The younger brother smiled. ‘You always do.’
‘We need to get you to Home, because not only will you be safer there, the People will also have need of your knowledge.’
‘Demons?’
‘Perhaps, I can say no more. If you are questioned, ignorance is your best ally.’
He turned and hurried away from the cage, nodding once at the guard who returned to watch over Gulamendis. Leaving the courtyard as quickly as he could, he made his way to his quarters. The Regent Lord had grudgingly admitted to the Conjurer’s usefulness by providing him with a modest suite of two rooms, one for sleeping and the other for his study.
Laromendis kept little of value here, save for a volume of notes he had prepared before departing on his latest exploration, the journey that had taken him to Home. He sat on his bed and thumbed through the journal. Reaching the last page, he reached over to a small table, expecting to find his quill and ink. They had been moved. Someone had been in his quarters and they had read his journal.
He withheld a smile, as he expected nothing less from the Regent Lord. He wrestled with what he had heard of his distant kin on Midkemia and what his own people had become. There was much to admire about the achievements of the taredhel, but in truth, there was much apparently lost as well.