up on events since last I had had time to spend with Smoke. I
should have been surveying the front instead of checking up on Goblin. Croaker
did not want to know about Goblin. Whatever the little shit was doing, it was so
secret nobody was supposed to know.
The string on my wrist allowed me to approach One-Eye’s wagon without becoming
disoriented or distracted, just as it had done in the maze of the Palace. The
crows following me, though, began to get confused while we were still a quarter
mile away. They lost me.
I wondered if that was all good. That sort of thing was sure to arouse
Soulcatcher’s curiosity if she had time free from her other schemes.
I wondered if Smoke’s attitude toward Soulcatcher would be different out here,
if I could get him to stalk her now that he was away from the Palace. Always,
while we were there, his soul stubbornly refused to play along whenever I tried
to spy on Lady’s mad sister.
I climbed into the wagon and made myself comfortable. It looked as though
One-Eye had been doing a little ghostwalking of his own. Food and water were
available in large quantities. I have to eat and drink a lot when I go out a
lot. Ghostwalking sucks the fluid and energy out of you fast. I can see the trap
there. The world Smoke walks is so comforting you could easily forget that you
have to come back to eat. You could end up just like Smoke.
After a long drink and a sugar bun I lay down on the smelly mat and closed my
eyes, reached out and took hold of Smoke’s soul. He seemed vaguely troubled.
Usually he is blandly empty.
I could find no proximate cause for his discomfort. Maybe One-Eye was not taking
care of his physical needs well enough. I had best check. After I ran my
circuit.
I went out and watched the Taglian brushfire crackle through feeble Shadowlander
defenses. The southerners were still groggy from the earthquake. Many places
their collapse was so swift it had no chance to become a rout.
Confused reports began to reach Mogaba at Charandaprash. He relayed them to
Longshadow. The Shadowmaster remained convinced that we could not manage a major
winter offensive, that this was just another of Croaker’s clever attempts to
direct attention away from what he was really doing.
Longshadow was getting his reports without help from Howler. The misshapen,
tortured little sorcerer seemed to be on vacation. I could not find him.
Narayan Singh and the Daughter of Night were holed up in a Strangler tagalong
encampment near Mogaba’s main force at Charandaprash. I am not sure why but the
child caught my interest. I began to roam back and forth in time, studying her.
I grew troubled. I had found something the Old Man needed to know.
His daughter had some way of scrying distant events, though not as intimately as
Smoke did. So far nobody, not even Singh, was listening to her, but they would
when Narayan realized that all her vague oracles hit their marks.
She seemed to go into a trance each time. I wanted to study that more closely
but Smoke rebelled. And this time I am not sure I blamed him. That child had an
aura about her that made you shudder and think of tombs and things best left
buried even out there in the emotionless space that Smoke walked.
Lady was far to the south of Dejagore, pushing herself and her soldiers. She
looked extremely haggard, though hardly showing her age since she makes One-Eye
look like a pup. Willow Swan, with the Royal Guards, was in her train, as was
the Prahbrindrah Drah, who claimed he had to be there in order to coordinate his
efforts with hers. I do not think he fooled anyone but himself. Lady was short
enough of temper that she did not put up with any moon eyed crap from anybody.
Swan was troubled. The Prince was baffled. I eavesdropped on several
conversations where they tried to reason out what was bothering Lady. They came
up with no ideas and Lady offered no clues herself. Once again
should have been surveying the front instead of checking up on Goblin. Croaker
did not want to know about Goblin. Whatever the little shit was doing, it was so
secret nobody was supposed to know.
The string on my wrist allowed me to approach One-Eye’s wagon without becoming
disoriented or distracted, just as it had done in the maze of the Palace. The
crows following me, though, began to get confused while we were still a quarter
mile away. They lost me.
I wondered if that was all good. That sort of thing was sure to arouse
Soulcatcher’s curiosity if she had time free from her other schemes.
I wondered if Smoke’s attitude toward Soulcatcher would be different out here,
if I could get him to stalk her now that he was away from the Palace. Always,
while we were there, his soul stubbornly refused to play along whenever I tried
to spy on Lady’s mad sister.
I climbed into the wagon and made myself comfortable. It looked as though
One-Eye had been doing a little ghostwalking of his own. Food and water were
available in large quantities. I have to eat and drink a lot when I go out a
lot. Ghostwalking sucks the fluid and energy out of you fast. I can see the trap
there. The world Smoke walks is so comforting you could easily forget that you
have to come back to eat. You could end up just like Smoke.
After a long drink and a sugar bun I lay down on the smelly mat and closed my
eyes, reached out and took hold of Smoke’s soul. He seemed vaguely troubled.
Usually he is blandly empty.
I could find no proximate cause for his discomfort. Maybe One-Eye was not taking
care of his physical needs well enough. I had best check. After I ran my
circuit.
I went out and watched the Taglian brushfire crackle through feeble Shadowlander
defenses. The southerners were still groggy from the earthquake. Many places
their collapse was so swift it had no chance to become a rout.
Confused reports began to reach Mogaba at Charandaprash. He relayed them to
Longshadow. The Shadowmaster remained convinced that we could not manage a major
winter offensive, that this was just another of Croaker’s clever attempts to
direct attention away from what he was really doing.
Longshadow was getting his reports without help from Howler. The misshapen,
tortured little sorcerer seemed to be on vacation. I could not find him.
Narayan Singh and the Daughter of Night were holed up in a Strangler tagalong
encampment near Mogaba’s main force at Charandaprash. I am not sure why but the
child caught my interest. I began to roam back and forth in time, studying her.
I grew troubled. I had found something the Old Man needed to know.
His daughter had some way of scrying distant events, though not as intimately as
Smoke did. So far nobody, not even Singh, was listening to her, but they would
when Narayan realized that all her vague oracles hit their marks.
She seemed to go into a trance each time. I wanted to study that more closely
but Smoke rebelled. And this time I am not sure I blamed him. That child had an
aura about her that made you shudder and think of tombs and things best left
buried even out there in the emotionless space that Smoke walked.
Lady was far to the south of Dejagore, pushing herself and her soldiers. She
looked extremely haggard, though hardly showing her age since she makes One-Eye
look like a pup. Willow Swan, with the Royal Guards, was in her train, as was
the Prahbrindrah Drah, who claimed he had to be there in order to coordinate his
efforts with hers. I do not think he fooled anyone but himself. Lady was short
enough of temper that she did not put up with any moon eyed crap from anybody.
Swan was troubled. The Prince was baffled. I eavesdropped on several
conversations where they tried to reason out what was bothering Lady. They came
up with no ideas and Lady offered no clues herself. Once again
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