Page 47 of Queen Demon
Tahren’s voice was acerbic. “Why wouldn’t he tell them everything? He seems to enjoy sharing information.”
“He may very well have.” The Tescai-lin conceded that with a nod. “Being scholars of history, they already know more than most mortals. They know it existed, and how it originally fed the Hierarchs’ power. But, as far as I know, they believe it was destroyed. Once the first expedition found that the people of Sun-Ar had been massacred, it was impossible to tell if the Hierarchs originated near there or somewhere further south. They found no traces of the Well to guide them. It had gone quiescent long before the last Hierarch was killed, and they had no way to track its location.”
Tenes signed,So these scholars don’t know to be careful. Unless the Immortal Blessed warned them.
“Surely he warned them,” Kai said. Highsun must understand more than most about the danger of anything left behind by the Hierarchs.You would think,he reminded himself. The Blessed weren’t best known for anticipating the consequences of their actions.
“That’s not even the worst of it.” Ziede’s brow furrowed in increasing concern. “If someone wanted to find the Well, going along with the expedition, or following it up there, would be an excellent way to do it.”
Dahin shrugged and poked at the remains of a cabbage pie. “They would have been alert for that. And expositors aren’t good at hiding what they are for very long.”
It wouldn’t necessarily be an expositor,Kai thought. Every land, every culture had people who might become monsters given the right opportunity. All it would take was for one to stumble on the right information about the Hierarchs’ Well. He wondered why Dahin wanted to dismiss this extremely valid concern. He sent through Ziede’s pearl,Does Dahin seem cagey suddenly? More than usual?
Yes, he does,Ziede responded with grim resignation. Tahren watched her brother with a faint line of consternation between her brows.
Dahin reclaimed his map and tucked it into his bag. “Anyway, I’m not surprised neither expedition found anything to point them to the Well. The Hierarchs were all too aware they needed to keep it and their homeland hidden, even before they left to conquer the world.” He met the Tescai-lin’s gaze. “Light of a Hundred Coronels, I need to speak to the scholars that are here, the ones working on the expedition’s findings. Before Benais-arik sends their official delegation. With your blessing, perhaps in written form, I could go there tonight, and no one else need be bothered.”
Kai was incredulous. So now Dahin suddenly wanted to continue alone, after dragging them all the way here.
The Tescai-lin regarded him skeptically. “And why would Dahin Stargard, the noted scholar of history, not be welcome in the official delegation?”
Dahin sighed. “Bashat wants to be an emperor, still, doesn’t he, even though the coalition has already said no once. Too many people know that, and it’s already stirred up more trouble than the Rising World has faced in years. The Nient-arik faction allying with the Immortal Blessed renegades can’t be the only conspiracy, just the one that got caught. To find the Well and destroy it, it has to be someone trusted. I trust me. And you, obviously. And them.” He jerked his head toward Kai and the others.
“Thank you for including us,” Tahren muttered, and oofed softly as Ziede elbowed her.
The Tescai-lin said, “I thank you for putting me second in that illustrious list. And in the morning—”
Etem, the Doorkeeper who had first greeted them, came into the room at a hurried pace. They sat down on the couch next to the Tescai-lin and leaned in to speak to them in a low whisper.
Kai watched the Tescai-lin’s expression sharpen in worry and had a bad feeling. He finished his last bite of pie and dusted crumbs from his hands.
The Tescai-lin asked a question, nodded at the whisperedanswer. Then they said, “A messenger has come from Chancellor Domtellan, who oversees the scholars who work on the expedition’s findings. She says a delegation purporting to be from the Rising World has arrived, but their circumstances are suspicious. Two Immortal Blessed accompany them.”
Dahin made a noise like the air had been punched out of him. “It’s them.” He shot to his feet in alarm. “It’s the conspirators!”
Kai wasn’t sure he believed that, but they had to find out. He came to his feet in time with the others. He said, “We can take the raft and be there quickly, if someone can show us the way.”
“Etem can guide you,” the Tescai-lin said. “I’ll follow with the ambassador’s guard.” With grim certainty, they added, “Whoever it is, they will explain themselves.”
The Past: the Prelude
It’s said very little is known about the origins of the Witch King, but I stipulate that it is more true that little is knownnow. During the war, among the leadership of the coalition and the Enalin-Arike forces, outguarders, and vanguarders, the Witch King’s origins in the west would have been common knowledge to some extent… Many of the Witches who joined the early fighting were said to have fled the Witchlands, and they spoke Saredi… In the east, the Saredi were called the Grass Kings, and no one remembers why. It was certainly not what they called themselves…
—Commentary on the First Histories, from the City Archives at Seidel-arik
With an irony Kai certainly appreciated, it was the mortal vanguarders who figured out where the dustwitches’ camp must be.
Kai met with them later that night on the second floor of the caravanserai, where they had staked out an area for their use. They had scrounged some tables for stretching maps, and the new map they had made of the area was spread out on boards in the center of the room. Manah, a young Arike woman, told Kai, “They have to be near a spring, and there are at least three in the hills, here, here, and here.” She tapped the locations on the map. She had a scar on her face, from the corner of her eye to her chin, and had joined the army after being released from a Hierarch prison in Benais-arik. “Then we narrow it down by possible shelter, and how far away from our encampment each one is.”
The vanguarders had covered the windows so they could light enough lamps to read the maps without turning the caravanserai’s tower into a beacon. They all gathered around the makeshift table, careful not to bump shoulders with Kai, but not showing any excessive fear of him either.
“They weren’t here before us, for the advance vanguard saw no sign of them… what, twenty-seven days ago?” Nadoch asked. He was older, with the darker skin of Enalin and his hair in tight braids around his face. He had been in the farmers’ guild of Seidel-arik, and ended up in a prison camp outside the city because of it. “They made a thorough search of this whole area, to make certain there was no one else already holed up here.”
There was a murmur of agreement from the others about the timing. “They must have moved here after that,” someone in the back said. “If they’d come before us, they would surely have taken over the caravanserai, and we wouldn’t have told the Prince-heirs this was a good spot for the encampment.”
“I think they followed one of our larger parties in, maybe Prince-heir Asara when she took her cadre to pick up those refugees from Old Desrona. That’s close to the north trade routes,” Nadoch said, and Manah nodded grimly. Kai agreed, it fit with what Lahshar’s drovers had witnessed and heard from that area. “Then they would have seen Asara’s party meet up with the rest of the army.”
“Would Witches know other Witches were nearby?” another vanguarder asked. “Would they have known Amabel and all they’s family was with us? There wasn’t any Witches with Asara then.”
