Dash said, “Oh, Trina, why don’t you ask me to move the city?”
She kissed him again. “I’ve never felt anything for any man like I feel for you,” she whispered. “Maybe I’m finally acting the lovestruck girl after all these years. Maybe in my foolish dreams I see myself living in comfort as the wife of a noble. Maybe tomorrow I’ll be dead.
“But if we fight for Krondor, then you must save us all. That’s the deal, not some meaningless amnesty. You must take care of the Mockers. That’s the promise.”
He looked at her for a long time, studying every detail of her face, as if memorizing it. Finally he said, “I promise.”
She looked at him and a tear formed in each eye. As they ran down her face, she said, “The deal is done. What do you want us to do?”
Dash told her and they spent another moment together. TTien he tore himself away from her, the hardest thing he had ever had to do in his life, and he left Barret’s, knowing that his life would never be the same.
In his heart, Dash knew that he had made a promise that would be impossible to keep. Or, if he kept it, he would be betraying his duty to his office.
He tried to tell himself that the expediency of the moment required this, that saving the city came first, and that should Krondor fall and they all die, the promise was nothing anyway. But deep inside, Dash knew that he would never look at himself or any oath he gave the same way.
Twenty-Six - Discover
Pug’s arm shot forward.
A rippling energy wave exploded forward, a wall of moving forces that distorted the air as it passed. Bowmen who had just released their arrows saw them shattered by it an instant before the wall struck them.
As if a giant child’s arm had swept aside a table full of Coys, the soldiers were thrown back. Horsemen died as their mounts were seemingly picked up and tossed back a dozen feet, landing upon their riders. Horses screamed in terror, and those that managed to land on their feet bucked and kicked as they fled.
Pug, Tomas, Miranda, and Nakor walked through the avenue cleared by Pug’s magic, past men who lay groaning upon the ground. One more hearty warrior rose to his feet, his sword in hand, and lunged toward them. Tomas’s sword snaked out of his white scabbard silently and took the man’s life before he had taken a step.
They walked to the gates of Ylith.
A guard on the gate had witnessed the assault and had frantically ordered the gates closed. Men were pushing furiously on the gates as Tomas reached them. They swung ponderously toward him but he reached out, placing his shield against the left gate and his sword against the right and with one massive push, the gates swung inward, knocking dozens of men aside.
Nakor said, “I wish he’d left Elvandar earlier.”
Pug nodded. “But a vow is a vow. He couldn’t see the threat to his home until now.”
Miranda said, “Having power doesn’t free one from being short-sighted.”
“Not short-sighted,” said Pug. “Just a different appreciation of the situation.”
“Where to now?” asked Miranda.
“If I remember the layout of Ylith,” said Nakor, “straight down this street to the High Road, turn right, and we walk straight up to the citadel.”
Archers on the wall loosed a barrage of arrows, and Pug erected a protective barrier. “Ignore those,” he said to Tomas. “We have weightier matters to address.”
Tomas smiled at his boyhood friend. “Agreed.”
They walked calmly through the city of Ylith, and the depredation of the occupation was visible on every side. Some buildings had been rebuilt, but others still lay abandoned, their doors off their hinges and windows shattered, looking like nothing so much as empty faces.
Men ran from the sight of the four people encompassed by a sphere of flickering blue energy. From nearby alleys and streets, archers peered out and fired arrows at them; they bounced harmlessly off the magic shell.
They reached the corner where they needed to turn and found another company of archers waiting. Dozens of arrows struck the barrier and bounced off, and when Tomas reached a position a dozen feet before the first rank of archers, they broke and ran.
Nakor said, “These men are not dangerous to us as long as we pay attention to them, but somewhere ahead is someone who is very dangerous.”
“Do you know this as a fact,” asked Tomas, “or are you conjecturing?”
“Conjecturing,” said Nakor.
“But you suspect something,” said Miranda.
“What?” asked Pug.
“Nothing I care to talk about yet,” said Nakor. “But yes, I have a suspicion.”
“I’ve learned over the years to take those seriously,” said Pug. “What do you suggest?”
They were nearing a large intersection where soldiers were rolling wagons across the street in a barricade. Nakor said, “Only to be careful.”