from his blind side. Before he had time to defend himself, he felt the blow to the back of his skull, harsh as a thunderclap. Then, nothing but the dark.
“Have you forgotten the vow you made when you became my Emissary, Rieuk Mordiern?”
The harsh voice brought Rieuk back to consciousness. He hung, his hands shackled above his head, pinned to a wall. The air around him was dark and dank; he must be far belowground. He tried to raise his drooping head. A hand slipped beneath his chin and lifted it. Sardion was standing before him, staring at him with a look so cold and penetrating that he felt as if the Arkhan was reading his innermost thoughts.
“Answer me!” The hand tightened around his throat. Rieuk began to choke.
“N—no, Lord Arkhan,” he managed to whisper.
“I have your hawk.”
Ormas! Rieuk silently called out to his Emissary, hearing only the feeblest of answering cries.
“What have you done to him?”
“You betrayed my trust, Rieuk.” Sardion's eyes bored into his. “You played me false. Do you think that you and your hawk deserve to live?”
Rieuk could feel nothing but the weak beat of Ormas's heart, echoed by his own. A grey film seemed to float between him and the torchlit dungeon.
“Please, don't hurt him.” It was humiliating to have to beg but he could not bear to endure the hawk's agony.
“Shouldn't you be more concerned for yourself?” At last Sardion let go of Rieuk's throat, leaving Rieuk gasping for air. “The punishment for breaking your vow is to have your Emissary stripped out from your body, feather by feather.”
“But I haven't broken my vow!”
“You revealed our secrets to an Azhkendi shaman woman.” Lord Estael came out of the gloom to stand at the Arkhan's side.
How did Lord Estael know? Had they used some glamour to draw the truth from him? “She discovered them for herself. I could hide nothing from her. And she is no threat to us. She did all in her power to help me. I learned far more from her than I ever learned from you—”
Lord Estael struck him across the face. Rieuk, cheek on fire from the blow, stared defiantly back at his onetime master.
“Can't you see I'm trying to save you, you ungrateful boy?”
“Can't you see that I was trying to save us all?” Rieuk no longer cared if the Arkhan heard or not. “Why else would we have returned? I have to go back into the Rift and make a new Lodestar, an aethyr crystal as perfect as the first.”
“A new Lodestar? You know very well that I have other plans for Rieuk Mordiern.” Sardion's restless pacing was making Estael uneasy. “Why else would I have sent Oranir to bring him back?”
Estael knew all too well how Sardion wanted to use Rieuk. The Arkhan's obsession with the Drakhaoul Nagazdiel had grown with every day that passed. If Sardion set the daemon lord free, the ensuing consequences for Enhirre were too terrible to imagine. “My lord, I beg you to postpone your plan for a little longer. If Rieuk can fashion a new Lodestar—”
“And how long will that take?”
Estael had no idea. “A few days, I imagine, once he has found a suitable crystal—”
“Very well,” said Sardion curtly. “I'll indulge you and your magi just this once. But don't think that I'll let Rieuk off so lightly. The instant that the Lodestar is complete, I'm sending him into the Rift to summon Nagazdiel.”
Two of the Arkhan's guards forced Rieuk to prostrate himself before Sardion on the polished sheen of the marble floor. Behind him knelt Aqil and Oranir.
“I will vouch for Rieuk, Lord Arkhan,” he heard Lord Estael say. “He won't betray your trust again.”
“I want to hear him ask for my forgiveness,” said Sardion coldly. “I want to hear him beg.”
Rieuk swallowed back his anger. If that was the only way to get Sardion's permission to go back into the Rift, then he would have to obey.
“Please forgive me, Lord Arkhan.” The words stuck in his throat.
“Louder.”
“I beg you, Lord
“Have you forgotten the vow you made when you became my Emissary, Rieuk Mordiern?”
The harsh voice brought Rieuk back to consciousness. He hung, his hands shackled above his head, pinned to a wall. The air around him was dark and dank; he must be far belowground. He tried to raise his drooping head. A hand slipped beneath his chin and lifted it. Sardion was standing before him, staring at him with a look so cold and penetrating that he felt as if the Arkhan was reading his innermost thoughts.
“Answer me!” The hand tightened around his throat. Rieuk began to choke.
“N—no, Lord Arkhan,” he managed to whisper.
“I have your hawk.”
Ormas! Rieuk silently called out to his Emissary, hearing only the feeblest of answering cries.
“What have you done to him?”
“You betrayed my trust, Rieuk.” Sardion's eyes bored into his. “You played me false. Do you think that you and your hawk deserve to live?”
Rieuk could feel nothing but the weak beat of Ormas's heart, echoed by his own. A grey film seemed to float between him and the torchlit dungeon.
“Please, don't hurt him.” It was humiliating to have to beg but he could not bear to endure the hawk's agony.
“Shouldn't you be more concerned for yourself?” At last Sardion let go of Rieuk's throat, leaving Rieuk gasping for air. “The punishment for breaking your vow is to have your Emissary stripped out from your body, feather by feather.”
“But I haven't broken my vow!”
“You revealed our secrets to an Azhkendi shaman woman.” Lord Estael came out of the gloom to stand at the Arkhan's side.
How did Lord Estael know? Had they used some glamour to draw the truth from him? “She discovered them for herself. I could hide nothing from her. And she is no threat to us. She did all in her power to help me. I learned far more from her than I ever learned from you—”
Lord Estael struck him across the face. Rieuk, cheek on fire from the blow, stared defiantly back at his onetime master.
“Can't you see I'm trying to save you, you ungrateful boy?”
“Can't you see that I was trying to save us all?” Rieuk no longer cared if the Arkhan heard or not. “Why else would we have returned? I have to go back into the Rift and make a new Lodestar, an aethyr crystal as perfect as the first.”
“A new Lodestar? You know very well that I have other plans for Rieuk Mordiern.” Sardion's restless pacing was making Estael uneasy. “Why else would I have sent Oranir to bring him back?”
Estael knew all too well how Sardion wanted to use Rieuk. The Arkhan's obsession with the Drakhaoul Nagazdiel had grown with every day that passed. If Sardion set the daemon lord free, the ensuing consequences for Enhirre were too terrible to imagine. “My lord, I beg you to postpone your plan for a little longer. If Rieuk can fashion a new Lodestar—”
“And how long will that take?”
Estael had no idea. “A few days, I imagine, once he has found a suitable crystal—”
“Very well,” said Sardion curtly. “I'll indulge you and your magi just this once. But don't think that I'll let Rieuk off so lightly. The instant that the Lodestar is complete, I'm sending him into the Rift to summon Nagazdiel.”
Two of the Arkhan's guards forced Rieuk to prostrate himself before Sardion on the polished sheen of the marble floor. Behind him knelt Aqil and Oranir.
“I will vouch for Rieuk, Lord Arkhan,” he heard Lord Estael say. “He won't betray your trust again.”
“I want to hear him ask for my forgiveness,” said Sardion coldly. “I want to hear him beg.”
Rieuk swallowed back his anger. If that was the only way to get Sardion's permission to go back into the Rift, then he would have to obey.
“Please forgive me, Lord Arkhan.” The words stuck in his throat.
“Louder.”
“I beg you, Lord
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