Bek stepped back, indicating to the TeKarana that he could pick up his sword. This small measure of fair play was a gesture so alien to the Dasati that it took a few seconds for comprehension to dawn on the TeKarana. But once he saw he was not being taunted, he reached out with surprising speed and picked up his blade. He kept it moving in a looping circle and suddenly swung it down towards Bek’s head. Bek blocked it easily, holding his long sword easily in one hand, then struck the TeKarana hard on the point of the jaw with his free hand. The battered warrior’s knees went wobbly but he held tightly to his sword. His legs trembled and he began to fall to his knees, but Bek reached out with his left hand, seizing the TeKarana’s right wrist and prevented his collapse. Bek crushed the TeKarana’s wrist and the sword fell from fingers gone suddenly limp. Slowly Bek let him down, until he knelt, defenceless, before the large warrior.
Bek released his hold and the defeated warrior fell backward, his right hand useless. The pain had made his eyes go vacant for an instant. Instead of stepping forward and killing the TeKarana, Bek turned his back, and walked towards Valko.
The TeKarana shook his head, regaining his wits. He looked at the retreating back of the huge warrior, frowned, then reached down to retrieve his weapon with his uninjured hand. Gripping his sword tightly, he struggled to his feet, his target the exposed back and neck of his opponent.
Bek stood motionless, then looked down at Valko and said, ‘Kill him.’
The TeKarana raised his sword and just as the blade came fully upright, Valko stepped past Bek and ran his sword-point into the TeKarana’s throat. With a wrenching twist that almost decapitated the Ruler of the Twelve Worlds, he yanked free his blade.
‘What just happened?’ asked Magnus.
Hirea said, ‘Bek just gave Valko an empire.’
Valko looked at those in the room, his expression indicating that he was just as confused as everyone else as to what had happened and why, but he understood the gravity of the moment. He stopped, picked up the fallen TeKarana’s ornamental sword and walked slowly to the throne.
Less than a minute later a company of Talnoy guards raced into the chamber to find hundreds of Deathknights of the White kneeling before the throne, upon which sat a young Dasati lord. At his feet lay the prone body of the former TeKarana.
As the first Talnoy hesitated, Juwon, in the robes of a high priest of the Brotherhood of His Darkness, cried out, ‘Valko? TeKarana!’
Such was the Dasati way that the Talnoy instantly bent a knee in the presence of their new ruler. No question was asked, and no protest was sounded, for in the order of Dasati life he who kills his liege becomes ruler. Valko was now supreme ruler of the Twelve Worlds.
Pug softly asked Martuch, ‘How long will this last?’
The old Deathknight shrugged. ‘Who can say? If it is as you suggested, and the Dark One cares no more for this realm as he flees, then as long as Valko can keep his head on his shoulders. Many will see him as a youth, ripe for killing, and many will die to keep him on that throne.’ He indicated the general direction of the Dark Temple and said, ‘But if the Dark One needs a pet ruler on the throne, then it will last only for as long as the Dark One is busy. Once word reaches him that a rogue Deathknight has deposed his favourite, every Temple Deathknight in the Empire will be heading here to kill him. They will obey the Dark One’s Deathpriests before they obey the TeKarana. Even if we can defeat the Dark One, we may have a civil war; the only question is will it be a long one or a short one.’
‘Short one?’ asked Pug.
‘The only friendly Deathknights not at the great muster and invading the human world are those of us here. If the Dark One orders his forces to attack us here, it’s a very short civil war.’
Pug reckoned there were roughly a thousand Deathknights, including the newly-arrived Talnoy guards in the chamber.
‘There are perhaps a few more palace guards scattered around who would bend a knee to Valko, but the Dark One still has perhaps twenty thousand Deathknights in the city and another five thousand at the Black Temple,’ Martuch finished.
Magnus looked at Bek, who stood almost motionless, his expression rapt and distant, as if seeing something in the air. Then he turned to Nakor and said, ‘What has happened to him?’
‘He’s come home,’ said Nakor. The little gambler looked around the chamber as Deathknights of the White and the TeKarana’s Talnoy guard stood uneasily side by side, awaiting the first command from their new ruler. He then looked to where. Valko sat, also looking uncertain, and said, ‘Valko’s young, but he will start a change here that may take centuries. Eventually these people will find their way back to where they should have been had the Dark One not come to this realm.’
Pug said, ‘Nakor, you have knowledge we lack, obviously. We shall soon face an army of Deathknights loyal to the Dark One and our forces are exhausted.’ Pug looked his old friend in the eyes. ‘There have been times over the years when I knew you were holding back, not telling me everything, and I merely thought it was your way, but now, for the sake of all we’ve sacrificed and all we’ve hoped to gain, we need to know what you know.’
Nakor laughed. ‘That, Pug, is impossible. But you do deserve the truth.’ To Magnus he said, ‘Can you take us to the Dark One?’
‘Yes,’ said Magnus. ‘I remember that overlook, where the TeKarana and his court watch the ceremonies.’
To Valko, Nakor said, ‘Ruler of the Twelve Worlds, my time here is almost at an end. You must endure and lead your people into a new era.’ He pointed to Bek. ‘He will remain with you a while longer, but soon he must go about his own business.’ Now he moved to stand before Bek. ‘Goodbye, Ralan Bek,’ he said quietly.