Citadels of the Lost by Tracy Hickman Page A

provided us with a sufficiently frightening specter in this Drakis character to provide me the excuse I needed. Arikasi will make sure that what we’re doing in Nordesia remains quiet until we have succeeded. Ch’dak will keep the courts out of it, and Liau will manage what everyone hears and thinks. Kyori and Wejon are so worried about each other that they will provide us all the power we need to support the army. In the end, the story will be that the warriors of the Blade of the Northern Will were dispatched to the Northmarch Folds for training, discovered a seditious army formed in rebellion against the Imperial Will by a runaway slave named Drakis, and pursued it until it was crushed—conquering considerable northern territories as part of their prize.”
    â€œAnd Drakis?”
    â€œHe’s nothing,” Sjei shrugged.
    â€œNo, Sjei,” Shebin’s head swung sharply around, her black eyes fixed on the Ghenetar Omris. “He is everything. He is our bargain. I gave you the excuse to search for him and start your little war. You will deliver him to me.”
    Sjei stood slowly, allowing time to let the urge to strangle her slip from him. He might yet need her to justify the war before the Emperor. Still, he was not used to being told what to do by any citizen of lesser class, no matter how beautiful or cunning they might be. “Why do you want this one human slave so badly? I could go out in the streets right now and buy you half a dozen human males—each one named Drakis. Indeed, I think I’d be hard-pressed to find a human male not going by that name.”
    â€œNo, it is this Drakis who must be found and brought back to me,” she said, her eyes unblinking. “He is to be brought before me whole and unharmed.”
    â€œWhy?” Sjei asked in an easy voice.
    Shebin turned once more to look out the window. “He owes me something . . . and I will have it from him.”
    â€œI don’t suppose you have any suggestions as to just how we might find this one and only Drakis human in all the northern lands?”
    â€œYou said there were Sixth Estate trash gathering toward this ‘prophet’ in Nordesia,” Shebin answered. “Follow them!”
    â€œThat was information I should not have told you and which you had best keep to yourself . . .”
    â€œThen find Soen!”
    â€œSoen? The Iblisi Inquisitor that’s disappeared? You must be joking!”
    â€œHe was tracking him before, and for all we know he still is,” Shebin continued. “I met him, you know. He was the one who found me in . . .”
    Shebin’s voice caught slightly before she continued.
    â€œ. . . He led the Quorum that found me. If the Iblisi are hunting him, then it’s because of Drakis. On the other hand, if Soen has joined Drakis, then he’ll be near him. Either way, if anyone knows where Drakis is, this Soen will.”
    Sjei shook his head, his lips curled back around his sharp teeth. “I’d think it easier to find your human slave with a blind-and-deaf dwarf than to find an Inquisitor who doesn’t want to be found. He’ll be a shadow.”
    â€œHe’ll be a shadow being chased by shadows,” Shebin replied. “The Iblisi won’t give up their hunt for him. I would think they could tell you where they’re looking. That would be a start.”
    Sjei nodded. “That is true . . . at that point it would be better for Soen to find us than for us to find him. If he is looking for Drakis, perhaps I could arrange a little detour for our friend Soen . . . allow him to cross our trail so that we might find his?”
    Shebin’s face and posture suddenly changed. The chill that Sjei had felt from her evaporated into a stunning smile and bright, shining black eyes. Her rigid frame dissolved into the soft curve of an easy stance, shifting the folds of her gown in a way that made her stunningly pretty all at once.