Read Online Jarka Ruus by Terry Brooks - Free Book Online Page A

mistakes,” she said.
    She moved over to the table with the wine carafe and poured herself a glass. His room was rich with tapestries and rugs, with wine and sweets, and with good smells. It contrasted sharply with her spare and unassuming quarters some floors below. She felt no jealousy; finery and comforts were a sign of weakness. They made demands that caused one to lose focus on what really mattered. She would not allow that in herself, but was more than willing to allow it in him. It would make it easier to break him down and destroy him when the time to do so arrived.
    â€œHow do you know that the potion you have brought me works as you think? What if you have been betrayed?”
    She watched for a reaction. He merely shrugged. “I haven’t tested it myself, but I am assured it is lethally effective.”
    â€œAssured by whom?” she asked. “Who gave you this ‘liquid night,’ Prime Minister?” she pressed. “You didn’t mix it up yourself. Such a potion requires magic, and you have none. Who do you know who has such magic? Did someone at Paranor assist you? Someone not allied with me? Do you play us against each other?”
    His leonine features lifted slightly. “I don’t discuss my alliances. What does it matter, anyway? If it doesn’t work, what have you lost? Only a little of your time. I will have lost your trust completely. I am the one at risk, Shadea.”
    He lifted his own wineglass and toasted her. “But it will work. By morning, the Ard Rhys will be a memory and all the talk will be of you, the new Ard Rhys. I know something of how this works, Shadea. I know because it happened to me when I coveted the position of Prime Minister. The order will be frightened and confused. It will be looking for direction and for someone to supply it. No one else has the backing you possess. The matter will be settled quickly. I salute you, Ard Rhys to be.”
    She ignored his patronizing, wondering how she could find out who had given him the potion. She would find out, she had decided. But short of torturing him on the spot, she would not find out immediately. She would have to bide her time, something at which she had gotten quite good.
    â€œLet’s not get ahead of ourselves, Prime Minister.” She finished the wine and set down her glass. “What will you do when the news comes? Stay or go?”
    â€œI will depart immediately, the expected reaction for a head of state when someone as important as the Ard Rhys disappears. It will give you a chance to consolidate your power before we have our meeting to arrange an alliance. Perhaps by then you will have discovered evidence of Free-born participation in the matter, and I will be able to use that discovery as a lever for pressing the war.”
    â€œSomething you intend to do by any means possible.” She made it a statement of fact.
    He smiled. “The fortunes of war are about to change for the Free-born and their allies, Shadea. With your support, the change will come about much more quickly.”
    She nodded. The room, with its rich smells and opulent feel, was beginning to wear on her. As was this fool. “We have our understanding, Prime Minister. No need to discuss it again. No need to talk further at all, this night. Do you have it?”
    He rose and walked to the bookcase at the far side of the room, moved several of the books aside, and extracted a small glass bottle with its stopper set firmly in place. The contents of the bottle were as black as a moonless night. Nothing of the room’s light reflected from the surface of either the bottle or its contents.
    â€œLiquid night,” he declared, and handed her the bottle.
    She took it gingerly and studied it a moment. The liquid night had an opaque texture to it that reminded her of chalk or black earth. It made her feel decidedly uneasy.
    She looked back at him. “This is all there is?”
    â€œA little is all