Fall of Angels

XCII

HISSL GLANCES AT the candle, then at the darkness outside. A lamp in the barracks courtyard casts a faint glow across the wooden steps that lead up to his quarters.

He looks at the beaker of wine on the table, already beginning to turn, for all that he has had the bottle less than a day, then back out through the window. Beyond the courtyard, on the far side, the windows of Koric’s room are dark.

“Out with his woman,” snorts Hissl. “He has his power and his woman, and Terek rides beside Sillek, and I … I wait for an attack that will never come, not while I am here. Not while Ildyrom knows I am here.”

He fills the beaker from the bottle and drinks fully half what he has poured, wincing as he swallows.

A sense of unease fills him, and he looks at the flat glass on the table. Leaving the beaker half-full, he walks to the doorway.

A tall figure slips up the stairs, gracefully, yet not furtively, followed by a second smaller figure.

Hissl touches his dagger, but does not draw it as the others approach. Instead, he opens the door and waits.

The man who stops in the doorway fills it, and towers over both Hissl and the sturdy armsman in the cloak behind the stranger.

“I understand you bid me visit you, Wizard?” asks the visitor in accented speech. The tall man wears only a sleeveless tunic in the cool evening, yet his brow is damp, and hisface appears flushed in the indirect light.

Hissl nods. “I did. What would a warrior, a true warrior from the Roof of the World, wish from a poor wizard?”

“To make our fortune. To keep the world from being changed. To provide you with fame and position.” The tall stranger glances toward the table and the flat glass and the beaker. “Might we come in?”

“Of course.” Hissl steps back and offers a deep and ironic bow. “My humble quarters await you.”

The tall man takes the high stool and leans forward, waiting until Hissl seats himself. The cloaked armsman stands by the door.

“Why have you taken so long?” Hissl begins.

“I beg your pardon, Ser Wizard, but it has taken somewhat longer to accomplish the necessary.”

“The necessary?”

The stranger smiles coldly. “To travel here. To raise coins. Such coins, I understand, are necessary. Gold, after all, is the mother’s milk of ambition, is it not?”

“I had not heard it expressed quite that way,” admits Hissl.

“You wish position and power. I offer that. With your help, we can take Westwind-”

“Westwind?”

“The Roof of the World. Once we take Westwind, the Lord of Lornth, I understand, will be most suitably grateful.” The tall man wipes his forehead again.

“That is what has been said,” offers Hissl cautiously.

“To take Westwind will require four things: good tactics based on knowledge, an adequate number of armsmen, a good leader, and a very good wizard.” The stranger looks straight at Hissl. “You are said to be a very good wizard. You also must have some coins and contacts which would supplement our coins in hiring armsmen.”

“Many would claim what you propose is impossible. Many have already died.” Hissl’s eyes stray to the blank glass on the table and then to the half beaker of wine.

“Hardly impossible. Difficult, perhaps, but nothing is impossible.”

Hissl raises his eyebrows.

“When we take Westwind, you may have the lands and title that Lord Sillek offers. I will take Westwind, and offer immediate and faithful homage to His Lordship. I think he will accept it,” the stranger says.

“How can I trust you?” asks Hissl bluntly. “You ask me to risk much. Why would you offer me the leopard’s share?”

The stranger spreads his hands, then wipes his forehead. “Look. You wear warm clothes. Na-The armsman wears a cloak. I wear as little as I can, and I am hot. Given any choice, I would never leave the high peaks. I would die during a long hot summer in the lowlands.” The man shudders. “I could not take lowlands if they were forced upon me.”

“How would I know this?”

The stranger glances at the glass and then at Hissl. “You know.”

“Why do you come to me, and not to Lord Sillek?”

“Because that would place him, and me, in a most difficult position. He cannot deal directly with a man associated with the angels, but he could accept the return of his lands, especially if that return is accomplished with the help of one of his loyal wizards.

“To some degree, I am gambling that he will accept a man who is a stranger paying homage to him. But he has said that he will reward the man who overthrows the evil angels and returns the lands to Lornth. Because you are a loyal subject and of Lornth, he will certainly reward you.” The stranger smiles again.

“How, exactly, would you accomplish this?”

“By wizardry, and by unexpected attacks.” The stranger clears his throat. “Are you interested?”

After a time, Hissl nods. “Yes.”