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and destroy them. Even if blood has to be spilled."
"Isn't this an interesting quandary," Aridatha said. "If we can overcome the
Black Company, we'll still have to deal with the Protector. If we knock her
down, too, then we'll still have to handle the Stranglers and Kina, in order
to prevent the Year of the Skulls. Wave after wave. No end to it."
"No end to it," Mogaba agreed. "And I'm getting to be quite an old man." He
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had begun to nurture an outrageous notion almost as soon as he had determined
that he was being manipulated. "There are a couple of old records I want to
check. I want you both back here same time tomorrow."
The Great General did not lack courage. The next evening he led Ghopal and
Aridatha into the brightly lit room. He presented a more convincing case for
his belief that Kina had awakened, drawing heavily upon excerpts from copies
of Black Company Annals residing in the national library.
Aridatha Singh said, "I believe you. I just wonder what happened to wake her
up again."
"Ghopal?"
"I'm not sure I understand. But I don't think I have to. Aridatha does. I
trust his wisdom."
"Then I'll talk to Aridatha. But you listen." Mogaba chuckled.
Aridatha listened to his idea, the reasoning behind it, frowning all the
while. Ghopal seemed aghast. But he kept his mouth shut. Aridatha went off
alone with his thoughts. After a while he nodded reluctantly and said. "I have
a brother in Dejagore. I'll find a reason to go visit. I know some people who
might listen to what you have to say if it's me doing the talking."
"What?"
Aridatha said, "You recall a few years ago when the Company underground here
started kidnapping people? Willow Swan, the Purohita, and so on? I was one of
the people they snatched."
Ghopal wanted to know why, and Mogaba wondered how he had gotten away.
"I got away because they let me go. They only picked me up because they wanted
to show me off to somebody they were holding already." Aridatha took a long,
deep breath and revealed his great secret. "My father. Narayan Singh. They
were showing him their power."
"Narayan Singh? The Narayan Singh? The Strangler?" Ghopal asked.
"That Narayan Singh. I didn't know. Not till then. Our mother told us our
father was dead. She believed it, I think. The Shadowmasters conscripted him
into their labor battalions during their first invasion, before the Black
Company ever arrived from the north. I was the youngest of four children. I'm
pretty sure the older ones knew the truth. My brother Sugriva moved to
Dejagore and changed his name. My sister Khaditya changed hers, too. Her
husband would die of mortification if he knew."
"You've never mentioned this before."
"I think you can understand why."
"Oh. I do. That's a cruel burden to bear." Mogaba already found himself
responding to the Deceiver connection. With exactly the sort of paranoid fear
everyone did to any Deceiver connection. It was inevitable. Aloud, he said, "I
wonder how those people ever trust each other?"
Aridatha replied, "I suspect you'd have to be inside and a part of it all to
understand. I think the biggest part of it, though, would be their faith in
their Goddess."
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The Great General looked at Ghopal Singh. "If the Greys have objections I need
to hear them now."
Ghopal shook his head. "Only one Grey is going to know about this. For now.
The others wouldn't understand."
"Aridatha. You have someone you trust to take charge while you're gone?" The
City Battalions did not know they were part of a conspiracy to free Taglios
from its protector. It was necessary to keep firm control there.
"Yes. But no one in the know. If you have unusual requests you'll have to
justify them based on what's going on in the city." The soldiers understood
that their role was to keep the peace if the population became too restive for
the Greys alone.
Mogaba asked, "Are there enough provocations to make any excuses sound good?"
Ghopal showed a large array of teeth. Shadar were proud of their well-kept
teeth. "That's almost amusing. Since the news reached the street that the
Black Company really is back, there's actually been less related graffiti. As
though real Company sympathizers don't want to risk identification and the
non-Company vandals responsible for most of it suddenly don't want to be
identified with any terror that's for real."
"Terror?"
"You were right, what you said last night. There's a growing fear of the
Company out there. Like you said, it was in olden times. I don't understand [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]