Citadels of the Lost by Tracy Hickman Page B

It was startling to see the cold and calculating Shebin transform in a moment into a warm, endearing young elven woman.
    Sjei felt a strong shiver go through him. He had fought in countless wars and seen unspeakable horrors, but nothing had shaken him quite this way.
    â€œOh, my dear Sjei,” Shebin cooed. “I know you can do it. You are the Modalis and I’m here to help you. I’ll be anything you need me to be—anything at all. If you want me to be the poor, helpless elven maiden savaged by the brutal slave . . . well you’ve already seen how good I can be in that role! If you want me to be the strong, defiant elven woman in search of justice for her wronged family and their honor; why, I can do that, too. How about a warrior woman? Would you like that as well?”
    Shebin stepped softly over toward Sjei, her hands reaching up and resting on the front of his tunic.
    â€œWho are you, Shebin?” Sjei asked quietly.
    â€œI am whoever I choose to be,” Shebin smiled, the lids of her eyes closing and opening with languid motion. “And I choose to be more than I am.”
    â€œHigher Estate, perhaps?” Sjei offered.
    â€œOh, certainly,” Shebin purred.
    â€œPower and wealth restored,” Sjei continued.
    â€œOh, no,” Shebin smiled. “I wouldn’t settle for some Provincial House on the frontier. No, I have more in mind.”
    â€œIndeed,” Sjei said. He suddenly reached up and gripped both her thin wrists so strongly that she yelped slightly. “And just what did you have in mind?”
    â€œBring me this Drakis,” Shebin hissed through her sharp teeth, “and I think I can give you the Emperor’s Throne.”
    Sjei looked down into the young woman’s face. “You shouldn’t speak such things . . . not even here.”
    Shebin eyed the various rooms branching off from the courtyard that formed the suite. “If not here, then where do you have in mind?”
    Sjei slowly pushed her away. “Aren’t you a little young for that sort of play?”
    â€œMaybe I’m older than you think,” Shebin smiled.
    â€œMaybe I’m smarter than I look,” Sjei smiled back. “This Drakis didn’t assault you after the avatria fell. I read Soen’s report—the real one and it cost me dearly to get it out of the Lyceum. Se’Djinka’s body was slumped in front of the door when he found you. I very much doubt that he ravaged you and then took the time in a burning and collapsing building to carefully prop a corpse up just to confuse me.”
    Sjei could feel Shebin’s spine stiffen through his grip on her wrists.
    â€œYes, maybe you are older than you look,” Sjei smiled as he released her. “But I am going to do everything I can to find this Drakis. I’m going to make you the most sympathetic victim ever seen in the eyes of the Empire. You are going to be showered with the love, adoration, and outrage that our Ministry of Thought can inspire. Your name will be known in every corner of the Empire, your higher caste will be assured, wealth will flow to you, and, yes, I will bring this Drakis to you for the raw spectacle of it because it could, indeed, bring me the Imperial Throne.”
    â€œBring us the Imperial Throne,” Shebin corrected.
    â€œOf course,” Sjei replied. “All we need is your precious Drakis.”
    â€œAnd if you can’t find him?”
    â€œThen let us make offerings to the gods that we find this Soen before the Iblisi do.”

CHAPTER 7
    Temple of Whispers
    M ALA SAT UP IN THE DARKNESS of the room, holding her knees as she peered into the night. The rain clouds that had gathered in the early evening burst with torrential rain as the sun went down. Water from the mesa above them fell now in waterfall sheets across the cavern, spilling in a river down the steps they had climbed earlier in the day. They were all gathered in what had once