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That explanation seehtly Now his mind she could almost read And he should be ashamed of himself Just because she&039;d once been an oochie-coochie dancer in a side shoas no reason to assuain, if he assu contact with her old circus chuossip from her house
Captain Shankey bowed deeply and left to carry out her orders
Elsewhere in Rumpock, at Burkus House
Lord Cadh his own mirror, albeit withher head as usual, and clawing blindly for her cold drink She sat for a ti, then spotted his envelope in the tray My, what a face sheruns instead of a token of my esteem
Cade, so as to not le nuance of her expression as she opened the envelope There, she had it in her hand now, the rose he&039;d sneaked from her hair at the Mid-Suh Who would have thought the da would have been so firiven when he&039;d yanked too hard He had to pretend to be swatting a bugbut he had palht he&039;d carefully pressed it in a book of love poetry in the hope that the verses within would travel via the rose to take root in her heart Or sos, all syic and fine print
He stared in his mirror, his mouth dry Would the love powder he&039;d sprinkled over the rose work?
He winced at the force of her sneeze You could almost hear it
Oh, dear She didn&039;t look in love, nor even the least bit wistful, only annoyed as she wiped her nose Damn Damn-damn-damn and darn He had so wanted her to succumb this time Maybe he should have used a book of lust poems instead He&039;d read somewhere that lust spells were soood healthy bout of pillow-pounding Certainly she&039;d not had e Botello had been far too preoccupied with other matters to bother with her The fool
Apparently unaware of her brush with True Love, Filiuard What about? It had to be soher? Cad That would be bad Very, very bad What could it have shown her? Why was she even scrying at all? The ave her a headache Maybe that hy the love powder hadn&039;t worked Women with headaches were never in the mood
Cadmus broke his link to his mirror and pushed from his own curtained sanctum into the outer room It was rather plainer than Fili froeneration; Cadmus had scant money to spare for stylish household decor If only one of his late near and dears had developed a talent for , Cade sums of cash, but he was quite proud that his expenditures were sensibly selective No drinking himself to death with the finest and rarest of brandies like Uncle Tidh the estate sale of the pottery to other collectors had been rather profitable
The proceeds allowed Cadmus to invest in hiot the entleman&039;s education Of course, none of it was of reat demand at parties for his wit, fashionable clothes, and beautiful body He enjoyed himself, but it didn&039;t ied a wealthy wife He felt honor-bound to give her value for her ot as much practice in the arts of love as time and cash flow permitted
It would be a double boon for him to actually like his future wife And he did like Filima, quite a lot She had money and a beautiful house; Cadood taste to be able to appreciate both fully He could give her class, and she could give hih The goods were in ly excellent condition despite her retiree Botello Darmo had chosen one hell of a woman to marry How considerate of him to leave her hile she was still in her prime
So far as Cadmus was concerned, Filima was perfect
If only she would realize that
Caduard, a tough young retainer pledged to duty, do-or-die, so long as it was for the good of Clan Burkus With instructions to seek out and observe Lady Filima&039;s captain to discover what he was up to, he also bowed low and departed Cadmus wondered if the felloould siru conditions
One way to find out He turned back into the Black Roo e that came up was not, however, the one he wanted This one could speak, as
He went very pale
"Cadhly irritated "You&039;ve been blocking me!"
Elsewhere in Rumpock, at the Overduke&039;s Palace
Overduke Anton had not slept well at all He struggled against the wrinkled and tossed sheets of his big bed, rousing his latest girlfriend awake
"What is it, honey?" she muain"
"Aw, I&039;m sorry Was it bad?"
"All my dreams about it are bad" This ti on their flohile above hihed heartily as they pushed him down One of them looked like Lord Cadmus and the other had aThough somewhat fond of Cad its al despite his frantic fighting The nightmare hadn&039;t been too horrible coly real How good it was to thrash hi presence next to hi, which Anton sometimes did when he slept alone
"You should see a doctor, then," said Velarded the girl fondly He prized her ability to state the obvious in as feords as possible and then forget the matter, so unlike the palace politicians ould worry a topic to shreds Besides, none of theive him a nice backrub Not that he would have accepted Anton rolled over and let Vel led to another, with an enthusiastic conclusion that left them both in a happy, dozy state It was his favorite way to start a day Hell, it was his favorite way to end a night and fill all the hours in between
But it was day, now, o to work
Clad in an expensive robe designed to awe the common people ould never see it, Anton strolled into hisreception room to break his fast A dozen of his retainers, councilors, and other payroll leeches bowed to hi physical presence, being taller than any of the blue eyes It was rulance
He found that wonderfully a True, he could unnerve the aze, but they did it all the; all you had to do atch and wait the quite well in life on a frown coupled with a glowering stare Both carained expression of perpetual annoyance but also was terrifically nearsighted Any return stares were quite lost on hie those present and went to the roo himself on the room&039;s only chair Early in his rule he discovered that business sessions tended to run more quickly when everyone else had to stand The table was just big enough to hold one sheet of paper Once hiscup of hot, very sweet tea had been placed on it, there was little room left for even half a sheet of paper
No fool, Anton kne to plan things
He sipped gratefully at the tea, appreciative of its buffering qualities as he made the transition between bed and business In the farthest-flung reaches of all the surrounding lands, in theconditions, he&039;d noticed a very ieneral They all had athe day That, or beer Quite sensible of the one another&039;s throats
His over-paid minions watched his everyfirst, and he never spoke until he was da they&039;d been out here, waiting Not his proble on the marble floor They kneas not an early riser
His tea finished, he looked in the general direction of his chief minister, Lord Perdle He was in his usual spot, a dark-clad blur with a thick chain of office draped on his shoulders Anton spotted the gleaht
"What&039;s on for today, Perds?" Anton asked rained habit
The others relaxed a trifle now that the business at hand was finally ly simple-to-solve proble some disaster from him? He didn&039;t like that If only he could see their faces better Unless they ithin two paces of him they were all just pinkish, brownish or whitish blobs that talked tooon under the surface meant he&039;d have to listen to the as hell
Which reht "Perdle? Any changes with that Hell-river?"
"Changes, my lord?" Perdle had moved off to the left He was supposed to stay in one spot so Anton knehere to turn when speaking to hins and portents Had a bit of a vision about it" For soht with this lot
"Indeed, my lord?"
"Indeed Have soood fellow"
The Perdle-blob leaned over to whisper to an underling-blob, who quickly vanished into the general blurs of the room "It is done, my lord," Perdle announced
Anton wanted to correct hiun, but it wasn&039;t nice to correct people in front of an audience "Right Well and good What&039;s next?"
"The planning out of the Mid-Summer Festival, my lord"
"Oh, heavens, you can find soing birthday parties for cats"
"For cats, my lord?"
Why on earth had he ain The only tis clear and sharp was in dreams Pity they tended to be bad ones Who was that cat-demon, anyway? What did it represent? It had shoved him down into the black river with a huth
"Who did you wish to take charge of the festival arrangeratefully abandoned the drea a go"
"But,It&039;s been less than teeks since - "
"Then see her unofficially Might do her good having sorief" Anton hadn&039;t noticed Fili over the loss of her husband, but that could be her just showing a brave front to the world Shefor her, all cooped up in Darmo House"
"But, my lord" Perdle sounded helpless
Anton hated that tone "Out with it All the objections"
"Lady Filima is under a bit of a cloud, socially Lord Botello&039;s death wasrather odd"
"People pop off all the ti odd about it at all The posted notice was quite clear Doesn&039;t anyone bother reading the daet I conducted the inquiry myself? Botello died of natural causes There wasn&039;t a mark on his body The physicians determined his heart stopped, died in his sleep Never knehat hit hi And the inquiry did cover the poison question, so forget about trotting that one out If such a perfect, undetectable, and fast concoction existed, every apothecary would be rich"
"But, my lord, aside from the rumors, there&039;s the question of the other clan ladies They ht take it amiss that you never first considered any of them for the honor"
"I did consider them That&039;s why I hope Filima takes the job The only time I ever really enjoyed ood ti else?"
Perdle held silent
"It&039;s settled then Ask Lady Filima if she&039;d like to play official hostess and plan the festival My show of confidence in her should banish any rumors of foul play about the late Lord Botello See to it, Perdle, there&039;s a good fellow"
Perdle bowed low, then rose and , who faded in the murky distance
There were two aspects of his duties that Overduke Anton wholly treasured: being right and always having the last word
Elsewhere, NOT in Ruthat looked like a wall The handsoullible, face of Cadmus Burkus peered out of its depths at him
"Cad h?"
"Of course I have What have you been doing all s"
"My wife, yousmiles "Well, ive me permission to look after her"
"But not to slither into her bed!"
"I don&039;t see what difference it makes to you You&039;re dead after all - "
"I&039;m not dead! I&039;m only bodily displaced!"
"Yes, and I&039;s today?"
Botello aler, but remey to waste on the likes of Cad&039;s happened on your side, and I want you to look into it for hten your load," Cadmus said with the cheery confidence of one who knew he&039;d never be up to the task and therefore would not be blamed for his failure
A lot you know, you idiot "The Hell-river sensed soht that be?"
"You&039;re to find out"
Cadmus made a face "I&039;ll need more information"
"Go to an inn by the town bell tower, a two-story place with red lettering on the sign There&039;s a huge y force in that area Even you should be able to sense what&039;s there"
"But there hasn&039;t been anything like that around here since you - "
"Exactly"
"Just what sort of force is it? Person, place or thing?"
"Person," Botello said with certainty He had no hard verification for as only a feeling, but knew to trust his instincts when it caic Cadmus remained skeptical "You mean a Talent? There? I didn&039;t think any were left in the town, not after you - "
"Never mind that You find whoever it is and see to it he or she is on our side"
"We have a side?"
Botello snarled, forgot hie In reaction, Cadony and fell forward onto his ainst it, presenting a flattened view to Botello
"I&039;h set teeth "You wantaffirht, now pull yourself together and getBefore the day is out I want that person under your roof Do whatever it takes This is iht "If I ht Just do it And stay off your dah to you"
With a wave of his ary Ithim alone in a stark, direat black Hell-river, close to the great black Gates of Hell So far as he was concerned, he was altogether on the wrong side of the not died in the normal sense of the word
When he&039;d first arrived, Botello Darions turned out to be, until it was explained to hi purposely warped so as to preserve his usefulness One of the dement of Hell&039;s reality for a second or two, to prove the truth of his assertion, which was limpse he understood that a tree was not really a tree, nor was a bird a bird The actuality beneath was entirely awful, so he did his best to forget it when he was up and about on business, which was all the time There is no sleep in Hell It put everyone in a very foul state of mind
"You&039;ll have to hurry," a de Botello&039;s own personal coht down to the spiky moustache and bass voice, it was an unwelcome reminder of family Sooner or later he was certain he&039;d run into a few deceasedworse than being in Hell was being stuck in Hell with a pack of relatives "They want you to hurry Or else"
It was doubtful that this particular demon had any clue as to what the overlords here wanted; the thing was just reverting to type Its job was to torment souls, but for now it had orders to hold off and keep other creatures away Thehim, a distraction that could defeat the overlords&039; purpose
Why couldn&039;t they have given uardian?
Probably didn&039;t dare What Botello had planned with the overlords would upset some very carefully laid out balances They wouldn&039;t ord of it to get around to the realeneral populace and thence to Outer Guardians Botello had little worry for any of thenorant of his very special private plans
Botello strolled over and tapped the Gates of Hell They seemed solid, as always A formidable barrier they were, too, even if what he saas just as warped to his scrutiny as everything else This reality was all about syates to look; the overlords here saw soain, and both versions were correct The co in one Right now they were fulfilling the barrier role, and at any moment
There A heavy clank and clink as the lock tu creak as the two halves parted, opening inward Botello watched avidly, taking in every detail as another soul was about to enter Hell
A nakedthrough He was screa, but that was commonplace; they all made an appropriately unholy row once they realized where they were bound Thedemons who carried him away into the depths of Hell, indication that he&039;d been very bad, indeed, and soon his screaht were lost in the distance
Botello paid the ht, but he had enough liht beyond, but it vanished almost immediately The Outer Guardians who delivered souls froer He&039;d several tinored
The gates, vast ood (or bad) two yards thick, sla was truly i under Rumpock&039;s bell tower No wonder the overlords here wanted out; anything to escape that ates were a perception That fascinated Botello All those demonic hordes kept confined to one spot by an idea
Unaffected by any sound or action was the Hell-river It flowed sativity that circled the boundaries of the realm If not exactly a tourist attraction, it was one of the ht, much to the displeasure of the overlords, the river vanished altogether It wasn&039;t supposed to do that
That was the other task given to hiely They knew Botello had soan the saed to convince the overlords of his own ignorance of the phenoness to solve the ave in to his offer rather fast He suspected they were afraid of the river It was saturated with y, and so far as he&039;d observed they never touched the stuff He did not ask why, lest his revealed ignorance alter his situation for the worse
He stood on the edge of the riverbank and looked down into the apparently bottomless depths of darkness
"You better hurry," said the demon It sounded bored
Botello barely heard He wore - or see while his soul still occupied his body Under a heavy wizard&039;s robe he was clad in an ordinary outfit, dark colored, a small rusty stain on the tunic, souvenir of his last solid ry now, but there was no food in Hell Not the usual sort of nourishment, anyway
He willed off his boots and socks, and part of his trouser legs vanished Sitting, he dangled his bare feet in the black fog He&039;d have splashed in it, had that been possible
Through his soles he sensed a profound vibration, like the ground when a phalanx of horses charged past He shut his eyes and opened up a few crucial internal shields His feet ceased to be solid, y into hier fled fro and very intense The river had sought it out for hi it to one who kne to feed on that ical power Here was a feast indeed He felt hih hie the deh he could push his plan forward in mere days instead of weeks
There was a way out of Hell Via the power in the river Botello, who did not believe in coincidence, was certain an escape had been ti as that idiot Cads