Page 24 (2/2)
The cries of the nightons, and re the troupe that they were supposed to be guarding the troupe By the tih, Entreri and Jarlaxle were long gone
The hipped Entreri&039;s hair and buffeted his cloak as the night at the soft tundra
When dawn broke, the con of tiring though they had put ons
Even with that, however, they found that they were not alone
"The woman spoke truthfully," Jarlaxle remarked when a line of horse hard and with purpose "Let us hope that the Bloodstone Lands are filled with places to hide!"
The horses would not catch them, however hard their riders drove them The hellish steeds were too powerful and did not tire Soon the pair were running free again, and they knew they were much closer to the Vaasan Gate
"We could seek the protection of King Gareth," Jarlaxle remarked
"Until he learns that we killed his niece"
"We?"
Entreri turned his head, and if Jarlaxle hadn&039;t been grinning at that moment, Entreri would have leaped across and throttled hi Gareth will likely e on such things, but until we can sort out the potential of our neer, it will have to do Well, that and the dragon sisters, who I&039;m sure will look upon us with new respect"
"Respect or hatred?"
"They are not as different as you seeet a word out, the air around the riding pair shimmered weirdly, like a wave of soft blue cloth
Their summoned horses disappeared out fro and rolling, scraping his face and nearly shattering his jaw As he at last ca the roll, he saw Jarlaxle drift by, the drow still upright and levitating through the momentum of the fall
"That was no accident, nor did the duration of the ic of the mounts run out simultaneously," the drow called back, fro to his weapons
"To the foothills, and quickly," Jarlaxle insisted "The Citadel mustn&039;t catch us out in the open"
They rushed back to retrieve their urines once an to slope up, and great tumbled boulders from the Galenas offered the when far in the distance to the north, they spotted the un horses
"How did they do that?" Entreri asked when they pulled up with their backs against a huge stone for a much-needed break "Was it an ambush? Is there a wizard about?"
"Was it even them?" Jarlaxle asked
"If not, then this troupe should ride right past us," Entreri reasoned
Both he and Jarlaxle took that cue to peer around the boulder down to the flat plain, where the truth of it all became quite evident For the pursuers had sloith so into the foothills north of their current position
"We should find a defensible spot," Jarlaxle suggested
Entreri didn&039;t blink "When they close on us, you will just turn to shadowstuff and melt into a crack in the stones, no doubt," he said
Jarlaxle considered the words for a iven the incident in the dracolich&039;s cave, he really wasn&039;t in any position to promise differently
"Come," the drow offered "All hope is not lost There are caves, perhaps"
"None that will suit your needs," came a voice, and the two turned their heads very slowly to see an older roomed and dressed in splendid robes of purple and red, and with not a speck of mud on him The way he held himself, the tilt of his head, and the obvious reverence hich those several guards around hi a dwarf both of them knew too well, told them exactly who he was before he even introduced hie Knellict
"I do not know that I would na one, who see coate proudly announced, and no one was aanization," Knellict continued "A valuable one, and one lost to me"
"If I had known that, I would have let him kill me," Entreri quipped
"Bwahaha!"
"Shut up, dwarf," said Knellict, and when Athrogate immediately buttoned his lip, shifted nervously, and averted his gaze to the ground, it occurred to Entreri and Jarlaxle that the arche was all his reputation claimed, and more
"Commander Ellery was no small asset, as well," Knellict said "A liaison to the happenings of the crown -and stupid asset, but an asset nonetheless"
"Ah, and now you seek to reclaim that which you have lost," Jarlaxle replied
"Do I?" Knellict began walking around to the side, studying theer than Canthan, obviously, since you vanquished hi Gareth will noelcome you into his court, since you have saved Palishchuk and defeated the yi"
"I think we just volunteered," Entreri reht back
"I need not explain the details to you, of course," Knellict said "You are both well aware of the rules We understand each other?"
"I have created such organizations," Jarlaxle assured him
Knellict burst into nizing the gesture, grabbed his friend&039;s arreat wind ca theone, the two stood alone
"They were never really here," Jarlaxle said "Knellict projected the iroup to us He is a powerful one"
"But we really had that conversation?"
"We heard them and they heard us," Jarlaxle assured him The drow cast a few quick spells and tapped his eye patch more than once
"And noork for the Citadel of Assassins?" Entreri asked
"And the dragon sisters We would not be wise to forget that pair"
"You see control is one walked beside those who currently rule"
"I thought it was Jarlaxle as always in control," Entreri ree to it
The drow looked at hi that razor line
"Even when he should not be in control," the assassin went on "Even in those instances when he is taking control of so that does not concern hi in riddles?"
"When did you presuave a little laugh "Why, my friend, is that not the nature of our relationship? Mutual ain?"
"Is it?"
"Are we to spend this entire conversation asking questions without answers?"
In reply, Entreri pulled forth Idalia&039;s flute and tossed it at Jarlaxle&039;s feet
"I did not give you that," the drow stated
"Truly?" asked Entreri "Was it not a gift froreeift that most would appreciate"
"It is a manipulation of the heart, and you knew it"
The drow put on an innocent look but couldn&039;t hold it and just gave a little laugh instead
"Did you fear that I would not go into the castle unless I felt so for Arrayan?"
"I had no idea that there was an Arrayan," Jarlaxle pointed out
"But you enjoyed the an, but Entreri cut hiain Entreri&039;s tone caught the drow by surprise, as if that knife&039;s edge in his voice had developed a wicked, serrated blade
"You still cannot admit the obvious, I see," Jarlaxle said He took a step back, al Entreri to draw his sword on him
The assassin looked around
"Knellict and his one," Jarlaxle assured him, and he tapped his enchanted eye patch to accentuate his certainty
"Jarlaxle knows," Entreri re"
"It keeps us both alive"
"And again, that is by the choice of Jarlaxle"
"You are beginning to bore rabbed him by the throat
Jarlaxle dropped a knife froe it ho the case, other than to shout in Jarlaxle&039;s face, "Are you my father, then?"
"Hardly that"
"Then what?" Entreri asked, and he let go, sending Jarlaxle stu, and for what? For glory? To give a dark elf credibility a the humans? For treasures that you cannot carry alone?"
"No such treasures exist," came the dry reply
"Then for what?" Entreri yelled at him
"For what," Jarlaxle echoed, with another of his little laughs and a shake of his head "Why, for anything and for nothing at all"
Entreri stared at him with a puzzled expression
"You have no purpose, no direction," Jarlaxle explained "You wander aboutto yourself You walk no road, because you see no road before you I would be doing you a favor if I killed you"
That brought a look showing a coe
"Is it not the truth?" Jarlaxle asked "What is the point of your life, Artemis Entreri? Is it not your own e a battle with Drizzt Do&039;Urden?"
"Every time you mention that na you that which you desired? For facilitating your fight with the rogue drow? Ah, but did I steal the only thing in your life giving youyou that which you said you desired? A pitiful state of the heart, would you not agree?"
"What would you have me say? I only know that which I feel"
"And you feel like killing me"
"More than you would understand"
"Because I force you to look at yourself and you do not like what you see Is that a reason to kill h your own eic of the flute did to you, I suspect It offered you the opportunity to look past your own emotional barriers"
"Did I ask for your help?"
"Friends help when they are not asked"
Entreri sighed and shook his head, but he could not deny any of what the drow had said His shoulders sluround behind him, certain then that he would need no weapons
A few moments passed between them until finally Entreri looked up at the drow, his face calain, and it was a sincere expression of joy, for that here he had hoped it would all lead
"Why, Artemis Entreri, do you not yet know? Have you not come to understand any of it?"
"I understand less each day"
"I am your ive in to understand the breadth of your powers You knoell you h the shadows, you know all too well your proith the blade, but you have never understood what those well-deserved, well-earned powers can bring you"
"You assu"
"Oh, you do If you can only dare to wish for it"
"What? Athrogate&039;s Citadel of Assassins? Shall we in?"
"Think large, ive us the insight and bona fides we need to find a strong place within the Citadel&039;s organization - ill quickly learn whether it is worth our time to overtly doh control to render the little dwarf instead?"
Jarlaxle laughed "There has been a void of power up here for yi"
"Vaasa is ours for the taking"
"Vaasa?" Entreri could hardly repeat the word, and for one of the few tiainst King Gareth?"
Jarlaxle shrugged "Perhaps But there are other ways" He ended by holding up the dragon skull gemstone "The sisters will learn of a new balance of power between us, to begin with And within this stone lies control of the castle and a new ally"
"An ally that will bite us in half"
Jarlaxle shook his head "Not while I am in possession of his phylactery He and I are already in coain, he will only do so with great trust in me, for if I destroy the phylactery, I destroy the dracolich&039;s spirit Utterly"
"Gareth will send soldiers to the castle"
"And I will let theo against a legendary paladin king?"
"Coht be fun?"
Entreri started to speak several ti decipherable cahed, and turned away, round
"Trust me," said Jarlaxle
"My muse?"
"Your friend"