11.6

An urgent knock to the prince's chamber door broke the stillness. Since Portia's panicked plea earlier in the evening, he had felt increasingly ill at ease; he cursed her for that. He remembered all too well the last time the annoying creature had approached him with such worry, Zyrdicia had been poisoned by demons while she off collapsing the Greystone catacombs. Several hours had passed and Zyrdicia had not returned. For some reason, the magic she used for the volcano always seemed to interfere with his ability to summon an image of her in the monocle.

"Come!" he ordered.

Cai entered, quickly and bowed. "My lord. You may wish to join Vector at the viewscope. Zyrdicia is asleep in the shadow of the volcano." He declined to mention that Portia had figured something was wrong since she was not back yet and bribed Vector to bring Zyrdicia up on the viewscope. Since Portia was not familiar with the location, she was unable to teleport there. His tone serious, Cai added, "Vector claims the cold weather has left him feeling indisposed, so he declined to assist in bringing the Baroness back to Castle Blackpool."

"He may discover just how indisposed he feels without his head," Dirk said darkly as he walked to the room with the magical device. He could hear Portia prodding the stubborn Wizard from down the hallway. The prince stormed into the room angrily.

Vector smiled thinly, gesturing to the image. "Good evening, my lord. Knowing you would be concerned by Zyrdicia's absence, I located her for you."

Dirk glanced at the image in the viewscope. She slept upon a large pile of fallen leaves. Her facial expression suggested the nightmares had already started. "Retrieve her, Vector!"

"I'm afraid I cannot. I haven't the strength tonight without my monocle."

"If you are unable to provide the magic I require, there is little use in keeping you alive." The prince aimed the monocle lens at the Wizard threateningly.

"Truly, I cannot do it. Your threats will not make it any more possible. I lack the power." Vector's eyes seemed to laugh silently. "Shall I summon Bethel? She could undoubtedly be of assistance in--"

His words stopped as a burst of light from the monocle exploded toward him. The mage doubled over in agony as the stolen magic struck him. The Wizard's eyes widened as he sensed how much more adept the prince had recently become with it. Vector's robes were seared by the heat generated by the magic. Under them, the Wizard could feel his burned skin crack in the place on his chest where the magic had hit him. His eyes flashed angrily. He was now even less inclined to retrieve the source of the magical instruction.

"Your games do not amuse me tonight, Wizard!" the prince hissed.

Portia stood near the viewscope, watching. "Son of a b-"

"Portia!" Cai interrupted tactfully, trying to remind her of the prince's presence and prevent his irritation at her language. His expression changed as he realized what she was watching in the viewscope.

"This can't be happening," she muttered as she observed a group of southern patrolmen nearly stumble over her sleeping mistress. At least they would keep her from dreaming. "I'm going to Lyr to get magic practitioner who knows what the hell he is doing. This is fucking ridiculous."

No threats or pain from the monocle could convince Vector to transport Dirk to her. The prince was forced to watch powerlessly as the southern fools tried to figure out who she was. It did not take them long. Once they shook her awake, her legendary purple eyes told them all they needed to know about her identity. Everyone in Aparans had heard some sort of story about her by now. Their chivalrous concern transformed to wonder, then fear.

In her exhausted state, she posed no threat to them whatsoever. She was bewildered at being suddenly awakened from the nightmare, uncertain of her surroundings. The guileless expression in her eyes assured that they would not kill her. She seemed far too innocent to be the demonic creature in the stories. Yet since she was rumored to be a "friend" of Blackpool's, and responsible for the bloodbath in Mora Valley, they resolved to take her to Prince Greystone. He was supposed to be visiting his father at Castle Greystone, just outside Mirdon. She did not care in the least. She dozed all the way there, nuzzling up against a stranger, indifferent to her predicament.

Prince Greystone was away when the knights arrived with the drowsy captive. They locked her in a windowless room in a tower. The dungeon had been destroyed when the East Wing mysteriously collapsed during the summer, though there was considerable disagreement as to whether such a harmless-looking woman would have belonged there had it been available. Many men there had lost friends and family in Mora Valley.

Portia reappeared in Castle Blackpool a short time later with two companions. Vector's eyes widened when he recognized the older man with her as Balthus, the Lyrian Magic Guildmaster. Vector had not had an opportunity to be personally introduced to the important Lyrian figure yet. His magical prowess was renowned.

"Far be it from me to get involved in your house's internal affairs, but I sincerely hope you are going to kick the incompetent, foreign schmuck out of the Guild for this," the younger man muttered to Balthus, who promptly glared at Vector as they arrived.

"Magnus, I assure you, there will be repercussions," Balthus replied. "She will see to that, as you well know."

"I hope I'm there to watch her fucking rip his throat out."

Vector did his best to pretend to be concentrating upon the image in the viewscope at that moment.

Portia turned to the prince and quickly introduced Balthus as "a Wizard who is not an incompetent ass." She hardly knew Balthus. Magnus, however, had known that Balthus owed Zyrdicia more than a few favors and that he needed her help with some magical experiment. That was enough to coax his assistance. Portia introduced Magnus as Lyr's Assassin Guildmaster.

"Why would she be in need of an assassin?" Dirk wondered, staring hard at Portia.

Magnus glanced at the prince curiously, and explained, "Zyrdicia is my best friend in the world. She is like my sister. Portia came to me to find out who she should enlist to help with magic, and I arranged for Balthus to lend his assistance."

The assassin was not pleased that the game had led to this. He turned and looked at the viewscope. Zyrdicia sat upon the stone floor with her head in her hands upon her knees. She looked exquisitely bored. She expected someone to appear and deal with it. Magnus knew her life had always worked that way - Azriok, his priest, Azros, her father's minions. There was no question in her mind that something would happen and put her boredom to rest. That was simply how her life worked. Divine intervention was something she took for granted.

Magnus was relieved that the captors had at least been too compassionate to shackle her. That meant they must think she was innocuous. "She has a headache and looks exhausted," he observed, genuinely concerned. He looked at Portia, and nudged her, "She's having a hard time not falling asleep. Talk to her telepathically to entertain her!"

"Her mind is too muddled to answer, Magnus. I've been trying. It's kind of like trying to talk to her when she's asleep."

"So what? I'm positive she can hear you. Tell her stories. In fact, tell her someone smuggled a copy of her latest Magic Guild Journal article about Nevvert out into the real world. Somehow-- no one knows how-- it was posted on the big bulletin board outside the Cauldron. Then one of the tabloids reprinted it. Now the whole city knows."

"You are responsible for that?!" Balthus asked, his eyes wide.

Magnus shook his head vehemently, "Of course not! I'm offended that you could accuse me, a fellow Governing Council member, of such a thing."

Portia was positive he was lying. No one else would dare perpetrate tricks like that for Zyrdicia's amusement. She was silent a moment as she relayed his news. Zyrdicia smiled suddenly in the viewscope.

"I told you she was listening," Magnus commented. "Now tell her that I heard a rumor that the zombies and ghouls in the cemeteries have formed vigilante groups to protect their own from dateless Wizards." The crassness of his sense of humor made it obvious to those in the room who did not know him why he and Zyrdicia were apparently friends.

As Portia relayed the message, Zyrdicia laughed, despite her weariness. She sat up and looked around, her bleary eyes searching for the magical signature of the scrying device. With effort, she found it and stared directly at them, her expression expectant.

"Can you transport us in there?" Dirk asked Balthus impatiently.

"It will be difficult having never been there. I will find a way," the sorcerer replied.

"Do so!"

"Give me a moment!" Balthus stared at the viewscope and proceeded to experiment with its connection to the space on the other side. After a minute, he frowned. "This device is too primitive. There is no telling where the magic would take us! This will take a few minutes, to pinpoint the coordinates."

"Perhaps I can be of assistance," Vector offered. He realized that it was only a matter of time until Balthus accomplished it without him. It would be better to at least claim some of the credit. "I may not be able to effect the magic without my monocle, but I can help you with the location for the target."

"That will save time," Balthus nodded.

In the viewscope, the door to Zyrdicia's cell opened suddenly. Dirk groaned in anger as he watched his nemesis, Erick Greystone, enter the room.

"What the hell is that?" Magnus asked Portia, staring in disbelief at the good prince's glittering gold shirt and bright red leggings. "He looks like a fucking Winter Festival decoration! Hang his ass from a tree limb in December and no one would ever know the difference."

"He's the valiant hero trying to save the world in this story. The good prince."

"Someone should save the world from his wardrobe!"

"You've been spending too much time listening to Anthony," Portia teased.

"Isn't there an Assassin Guild here to take care of annoying twits dressed like Winter Festival ornaments?"

"Nope," Portia shook her head.

Magnus looked at Dirk and smiled, "A chartered Assassin Guild would do a booming business here, if chumps like that and your Wizard are indicative of the population. It would be worth your while to talk to Zyrdicia about it. We could have a satellite office set up in less than a week."

"A guild for murderers?" Dirk wondered, confused by the concept.

"They don't have any guilds here, Magnus. Thieves have no organization, either. And a Magic Guild would have one and a half members, if that. Maybe they have them for the mundane professions like prostitution and smuggling, but I doubt it."

"It must be bedlam," the assassin muttered in disbelief. He could not imagine how disputes could ever be resolved without contract killings. Lyr had long ago evolved out of a need for direct warfare in most situations. Elegant, precise killings dictated by wealth resolved most disagreements, whether between nations or private parties. Legally sanctioned Guild assassinations kept death controlled and focussed. It was the cornerstone of Lyr's judicial system. Thievery regulation also had practical, policy justifications. "Letting thieves practice without Guild oversight is crazy. You must have to nail down your belongings here. Lyr would be a zoo!"

"Lyr is a zoo!" Cai commented under his breath. He had spent enough time there with Portia lately to be quite certain of that.

Back in the viewscope, Erick Greystone's eyes widened as he recognized his captive. "You! The Angel of Death!"

"Who, me?" Zyrdicia asked, confused. She thought a moment and remembered what he was referring to. She thought wearily, Oh, damn. And I forgot to wear my wings and halo today. She was silent as she weighed how to play this out. She could still summon her sword, not that she had the strength to fight right now. Instead, the demon in it could fight for her. There would be a price to be paid later, but in a pinch, it would work. That was not necessary just yet, though. Tired as she was, she had one game left to play. Besides, she knew she had an audience. Though why it was taking them so long to come get her was beyond her tired mind's grasp.

The good prince looked at one of the guards accompanying him. "Get more soldiers here. It may be a ploy of Blackpool's to infiltrate the castle."

Zyrdicia's eyes widened innocently as she declared, "That isn't true. I just escaped from him. He has no idea I'm here."

Watching the scene through the viewscope, Magnus laughed to himself as he listened. He knew what was coming. He worried about her ability to keep whatever tale she was about to spin coherent, though. He looked at Portia and saw she was worried about the same thing. "Help her," he nudged quietly.

"Escaped from him?!" Erick asked.

Zyrdicia's face projected profound, angelic purity. She explained, "In my world I lead a peaceful life. I just want to be left alone. I can't help it that my mother was raped by a demon. Blackpool and Vector figured out a way to use the monocle to activate the dark magic in my blood and forced me to help them. I had no choice." She looked terribly anguished. Her lip quivered slightly as she added,"I hate them."

Erick stared at her, weighing his memory of the slaughter of Mora Valley with the surprising situation which confronted him. Despite the fact that her words contradicted everything he knew of her, everything Traquil had told him about her, something about her demeanor and expression made it all sound completely believable. In fact, she seemed decidedly child-like, sitting there on the floor. He was altogether confused by it. Zyrdicia's huge eyes sucked him in as his struggled to decide what to believe.

"Vector made me kill so many people," she sighed bitterly. "He has been causing all of the disasters in your kingdom too, using power from Traquil's monocle and draining my lifeforce to use the magic of my blood. He almost killed me to make the volcano. They are both completely insane."

"How did you get away from them?" Erick asked suspiciously.

In Castle Blackpool, Dirk shook his head in wonder as he watched silently. Magnus looked at him and smiled, "She's an amazing liar. Or hadn't you noticed?"

Listening to Portia's silent suggestions in her head, Zyrdicia continued wearily,. "Bethel helped me. She was angered by Blackpool's disgusting, lecherous obsession with me." Her eyes looked horrified as she described the dark prince's attention. She stared deliberately directly at her audience in the viewscope, feigning a very dramatic, loathe-filled shudder. "The Witch interrupted the spell Vector was using to control me long enough for me to get out. I was trying to undo the magic of the volcano, when they realized I had escaped. Vector sent the sleep spell to hold me until they could find me. You can't send me back to them!"

"I can open the gate whenever you are ready!" Balthus exclaimed triumphantly in Castle Blackpool.

Dirk had already called for a group of elite soldiers, who now stood ready. He wished he had more troops stationed in Castle Blackpool. He could use the opportunity to invade Castle Greystone. It did not matter. Now that she had been inside the castle, she could eventually open up another gate whenever he desired.

"Now!" he ordered. Balthus cast the spell, causing a blue gate to materialize. The prince sent his soldiers through first, then followed, sword in hand.

"Hi," Dirk greeted Erick coldly as his torture troopers engaged the guards in the room. "I seem to have misplaced my favorite toy. I have come to retrieve her."

"That took long enough," Zyrdicia muttered impatiently.

"A simple 'thank you' would be more appropriate," Dirk smiled, offering her a hand as she rose, then drawing her near. "Now what was this about my 'disgusting, lecherous obsession'?"

Zyrdicia shrugged innocently, "I never said that I don't enjoy it."

Greystone stared in disbelief at the pandemonium around him. "Dirk, you're not going anywhere without a fight."

Zyrdicia groaned, resting her head listlessly against Dirk's shoulder, as had become a habit with her. His arm wrapped around her, holding her tightly against him. She whispered, "He's as annoying as he is gullible. I'm not in the mood for this. Let's just go. I'd rather come back and watch him die when I feel better."

Dirk said, "Not today, Erick. I look forward to seeing you soon, though. When I do, it will be to accept your surrender." He aimed the monocle lens at his enemy almost as an afterthought, causing him to writhe in agony just as Vector had. A sizzling sound accompanied the magical blast. He liked watching his nemesis suffer. He wanted Erick to be alive to sign the surrender documents personally.

"You'll never win, Dirk!" Erick mumbled through the haze of pain and seared skin.

"I already have, you fool. Open your eyes," Dirk replied, walking with Zyrdicia toward the open magical portal. As they stepped through it, Zyrdicia was surprised to see Magnus and Balthus waiting for her.

Given that she was very much entwined in the prince's arms, Magnus refrained from their customary greeting. "What is it about this world that makes you look like death warmed over?" he smiled.

"Fuck you. I have my own volcano now. Being a goddess is a hell of a lot of work!" she said irritably.

"Portia told us about your endeavor," Balthus said. "I would like to see it."

"Another time. I want to sleep. Thank you for your help, by the way."

"Zyrdicia, you must entrust the Magic Guild with documentation of how you accomplished this!" Balthus prodded.

"No. There isn't any."

"We have Keltan's notes about his failed effort. His estate gave them to us after he was lost in the caldera. They might help you figure out where he went astray and avoid the same fate. I will gladly give them to you if you provide us with notes on how your spell to create the volcano works!"

She was no longer listening. Her face was turned away from them all or they would have noticed that her eyes were already closed. Her head still rested against Dirk's shoulder. As she leaned against him, he felt her gradually relax in his arms as she dozed standing up, much as an exhausted child might. She simply assumed that using him as a very tall pillow was her prerogative. It would have never occurred to her that the world might be otherwise. "Enough," he said quietly, "Let her be."

Magnus looked at Portia, "Keep her the fuck out of Lyr while she's in this state! If word gets out she's like this, we will have a major problem. You should take her home and lock the gate, actually."

"Try telling her that," Portia muttered as she activated the magic to take them back to Lyr.

Just before he stepped through the gate, Magnus said to Dirk, "Even if you don't want to charter a Guild here, we might still be able to assist you with conveniently eliminating people like the Walking Winter Festival Ornament. We specialize in discrete political assassinations. Under the right circumstances, we can even make it look like natural causes."

Dirk nodded silently, filing the offer away in his memory. Such a resource might have uses.