Aces and Eights Page 14
Harvey Smith
"So what did Luke have to do with any of that?" From what little he had told me about his father, I had been left to infer that Brand was not even around that often. Which, considering what I have heard others say about Brand, was probably a good thing for his son.
"There were brief periods when the little brat was hanging around, constantly meddling in everything. It was during such a time that he ruined a very important experiment of mine. In my anger, I struck him and might have actually have gone further when�"
"Brand came along, eh?" I chuckled, visualizing Luke, as a kid, harassing some egg-head mageling, screwing up what probably amounted to the mystical equivalent of a school science project. When I looked up, there was a very dark look on Merequist's face. I stopped laughing, but smiled as I spoke. "So now I suppose you're going to tell me that you've spent your entire life trying to get even."
He practically snarled his next words. "And if that was indeed the case?"
I shook my head. "Then it sounds like you've wasted a great deal of your life."
He slapped me then, backhanded, and my mouth was immediately awash with the taste of blood. The force of the blow was numbing.
"You are a fool for mocking me and when you have served your purpose, I will oversee your execution personally." He turned and stormed away, heading for one of the room's arched exits. "Watch him," he hissed to Kyla as he left.
I looked at the woman before me. There was a merry twinkle in her eyes. "He has quite a temper, doesn't he?"
"It would seem so," I replied. I refrained from spitting blood upon the floor.
"He will make good on his promise, too."
"Maybe. Seems I heard you say something similar, though, a few years back."
Her _expression of merriment faded. "Understandable, given that you had just put a silver bullet through the heart of my younger brother."
I sighed, wondering which deities I had annoyed to invoke such rotten luck. "I didn't know, of course."
"No, you did not and you were acting to save your own life." Her face became wistful.What was this? An emotional response from a werewolf assassin? I wondered if I might, given enough time, be able to exploit it, feeling only a few brief pangs of guilt as the thought entered my head. "Tell me, how did you end up here, in this role?"
She looked up at me, her features again sharpening. "The casting department was all out of fairy princess parts."
I laughed. Then, considering her remark, I asked, "Just how long did you live in the Earth Shadow?"
"For several years, while Luke was in school."
"You were after him even then?"
"No, mostly, at that time, I was assigned to watch him. He had several protectors around."
I nodded, though I was not sure of whom she was referring to. I decided to switch tracks. "So what does Merequist have in store for him now?"
"That's privileged information," she said flatly, derailing my line of inquiry.
I was quiet for a moment and a heavy silence hung between us. As if to fill the brief period of awkwardness, she continued. "As Merequist indicated, we assumed that Luke would come after his pendant personally. It was hoped that, once he caught the thieves and discovered the Trump they carried, he would come through to this tower. It seems, however, that the people of his little Shadow are more important to him than we guessed, since he chose instead to stay and work out Kashfa's current problems." She paused, studying me briefly.
Returning her gaze, I nodded slowly. "I see."
"When he did not follow the thieves, but sent you instead, an alternate plan was enacted. We sought to capture one of his most useful agents�you�for use as bait. To speed this up, Merequist had the thieves separate. One of them delivered the Trump directly to you, hoping that you would use it immediately. You did not, of course, but ended up here after a time anyway. All that remains now is to wait for Luke. And he will come to rescue you, don't you think?"
"We are friends..."
"Yes. Friends." For several seconds, she stared hard at nothing in particular. Then abruptly she looked up and spoke. "You could be here for quite some time, if Luke does not try to reach you soon. Until Merequist informs me otherwise, you will remain rooted to that spot." She pointed a sharp red nail at my feet. "However, I will partially free you so that you may eat. Are you hungry?"
"Yes." Though my answer was truthful, I would have said 'yes' even had I been stuffed from a recent feast. Any small release from my current position, I knew, represented the possibility of escape.
As if aware of my thoughts, Kyla smiled grimly. "I will return shortly." She mouthed a string of soft words and, concurrently, I felt my neck stiffen again. Leaving me completely immobile, she turned ninety degrees and walked off to the left, passing beyond my field of vision.
* * * * *
Kyla returned within what I guessed was an hour, followed by two extremely pale men bearing serving trays and what looked to be one of the stuffed chairs I had seen earlier on the level below. Both of the men were gaunt and silent. They moved with mechanical smoothness, keeping their lusterless eyes locked straight ahead. Dressed as she had been before, Kyla bade them set their burdens before me. They complied in silence and I could not help but shudder inwardly at their apparent fate. The pasty-skinned pair were ensorceled servants of the lowest order�little more than zombies, I guessed. When they had deposited the chair and erected the two trays, Kyla dismissed them with a single gesture. When they were gone, she shifted her attention to me.
"I will be dining with you."