Page 14 of Dark Shaman: Love Found
Sometimes the greater good demanded lesser evils.
The guard was waiting impatiently in the hallway. He said nothing during the ride to Navuh's mansion, which suited Eluheed just fine. He needed the time to prepare.
The mansion looked austere in the harsh morning light, but now the tall wall surrounding it and the guards posted in the towers along it provided Eluheed with a source of solace rather than worry.
Tamira and the ladies were safe on the other side.
They entered through a side entrance, the guard leading him through corridors that smelled of furniture polish and subtle menace.
Navuh's office occupied a corner of the third floor, with walls of windows that provided a beautiful view of the island. The lord sat behind a large desk, a predator surveying his domain.
"Leave us," Navuh commanded the guard without looking up.
Eluheed waited until the door closed before approaching. He knew better than to speak first or to sit without invitation. Navuh would set the pace, establish dominance through the small gestures of power that fed his need for control.
Finally, the lord looked up. His dark eyes were cold, flat. "Sit down."
"Thank you, my lord." Eluheed did as instructed.
"Tell me, shaman, what caused water to breach my most secure facility and destroy millions of dollars in infrastructure, nearly costing me some of my most valuable assets?"
"I don't know how it happened, my lord. It was a freak occurrence."
"Really?" Navuh's voice dropped to a whisper that was somehow more threatening than a shout. "A volcanic island that has been stable for decades suddenly experiences tremors. Water finds its way through barriers that were supposedly impregnable. My fortress becomes a death trap in a matter of minutes. Does that sound like a freak occurrence to you?"
Eluheed chose his words carefully. "Even the best engineering cannot stand against the full force of nature when the earth chooses to move."
"Nature." Navuh tasted the word like wine, finding it bitter. "Or sabotage designed to look like nature?"
There it was—the paranoia that both protected and imprisoned the lord. Everything was a potential plot, every disaster a possible attack. It would be easy to feed that paranoia, to redirect it where it might do some good.
"Do you believe someone caused the flood deliberately?" Eluheed let surprise color his voice.
"I believe in examining all possibilities." Navuh stood and walked over to the window. "The timing was convenient. I was there, as I am every night. The perpetrator might have sought to eliminate me along with everyone else in theharem. Luckily, Nabin and Hassan acted fast and prevented an even worse disaster."
Navuh hadn't mentioned Eluheed's contribution to the rescue efforts, but that suited the shaman.
"Perhaps a vision might provide clarity?" he offered instead.
Navuh turned, his expression sharp with interest. "Yes. That's why I asked for you to be brought here. I need you to tell me whether the flooding was sabotage and whether anyone is threatening me."
"I'll need to touch you, my lord."
The familiar dance ensued, with Navuh sitting down and extending his hand with the air of someone making a great sacrifice. His fingers were cool and dry, the skin smooth. In fact, touching the lord was not revolting, even though Eluheed always expected it to be.
It wasn't about the feel of the despot's skin either. Through the touch, Eluheed could feel the many layers that made Navuh who he was, and not all of them were evil.
Just most.
He took the lord's offered hand between both of his and opened himself to the connection. True visions came rarely, usually showing personal connections and emotional betrayals rather than grand conspiracies. But today, he would have to weave truth with elaborate fabrication, creating something that served his purpose while seeming genuine.
The real vision came first, as he'd known it would. Fire and smoke, chaos sweeping across the island. The same apocalyptic images he'd seen before, but a little clearer now. Soldiers in uniforms battling each other, people fleeing, and through it all, a sense of an inevitable ending. He didn't see Navuh's demise, and he didn't see what would bring about the collapse. It was just a general sense of chaos.
He could tell Navuh what he'd seen and not mention the enhanced soldiers. After all, he had only seen warriors turning on each other. He assumed that the enhanced ones would rise up against their brethren, but he hadn't seen it.
It was a relief.
He didn't need to lie.
