Page 125 of The Study of Poisons
* * *
The familiar rancidstench hit Valek as soon as he entered the dungeon. Funny how it no longer seemed so vile. Brazell jumped to his feet and started demanding to be let go. Valek ignored him. Instead, he enjoyed the view of the man behind bars. A man who would live the rest of his days inside a cell. How many days would depend on the Commander. If he… No. Ambrose would pull through. And if not… Valek would take great pleasure in pulling the lever to hang the old goat.
When Brazell finally stopped posturing, Valek said in his flat killer’s tone, “Your magician is dead. Your plan has failed. You now have only two choices. Cooperate. Or be forced to cooperate. What will it be?”
The general opened his mouth then pressed his lips together. Valek waited.
Finally, he said, “It wasn’t my plan. It was Mogkan’s.”
Ah. He was going to blame it all on the dead guy. Not a surprise. “Go on.”
“Mogkan had this grand scheme. He arrived with a couple dozen children, claiming they all had magical potential. He promised me I’d be the next Commander of Ixia if I gave him a place to stay. I allowed him to work with my son. They were training the children to become magicians and, I don’t know, augment Mogkan’s power somehow. Not all of them developed magic. Some were failures, like that murdering bitch.”
Valek punched him through the bars, striking his jaw. Brazell rocked back and swore.
“She’s an Ixianhero,” Valek said. “Your sadistic bastard of a son deserved to die. It’s a good thing I didn’t know what he’d been doing, or I would have cut him into tiny pieces and fed him to your dogs. Call her a bitch again and I’ll use my knife instead of my fist and I’ll aim lower. Now tell me about Criollo.”
“Mogkan brought it with him, but he waited to build the factory until he was powerful enough to reach the Commander’s mind from here. He started manufacturing it last year. It was all him. He did everything. I just financed it.”
Yeah, right.“Harboring and aiding a magician in Ixia is a crime.”
“A stupid law that I intend to revoke when I’m Commander.”
“When?” Valek was incredulous.
“Commander Ambrose is not going to recover. I’m his successor and you’ve disobeyed orders. Once the other generals arrive, they’ll agree with me.”
He laughed. “You’re more deluded than I thought. If the Commander fails to wake and the envelopes are opened, the deciphered puzzle will reveal General Franis as the next Commander.”
“You switched them, that’s treason!”
“And you’re failing to get the point. Which is, that you won’t be drawing breath at that time. There’s plenty of evidence of your scheme and you’ll be sentenced to death. Something I’m looking forward to.”
“Not my scheme. Mogkan’s! He even planned to take over Sitia.”
“If that’s how you justify torturing and chaining children under your care, go right ahead. It won’t change the facts. You’d better start hoping the Commander revives or I’ll be using those lovely gallows you built just for me.”
* * *
Valek foundIrys with the younger children of the orphanage. They’d been too young for Brazell’s experiments. She sat with one of the girls in the playroom.
“Can I interrupt you?” Valek asked.
“Of course. I’ve been wanting to talk to you,” Irys said. Then to the girl, “May, I’ll be back. I want to hear the rest of your story.”
May looked at Valek and then glanced away. “Okay.”
They found a quiet corner.
“I know what you want to hear,” Irys said. “But I don’t know when the Commander will wake. Or if he’ll wake.”
“Is he similar to those others you can’t rouse? Mindless?”
“No. Their minds have been completely scrubbed clean. Kangom—”
“Kangom?”
“That’s his Sitian name. Mogkan used his magic to erase their consciousness or souls—what makes them, them. The Commander has retreated to a white place. He’s still there, but I can’t reach him. I’ve tried.”
