Read Online robert Charrette - Arthur 02 - A King Beneath the Mountain by Robert N. Charrette - Free Book Online Page B

back to the important issue?"
    "Sorli is the issue," Dagastino snapped. "Especially if Spae has fallen under his influence."
    "Stuff you," Spae told him.
    For once Dagastino didn't rise to the bait. "But I think we have a more likely villain. Consider how she consorted with the elf Bennett, against Agent Kun's advice, and lost the sleeper to the otherworld."
    What a little slime. He didn't care which side he took as long as he could get in a shot at her. "So you're willing to admit I really went to the otherworld, if it lets you drag me down." Spae kept speaking, overriding his next comment. "We don't know Artos remained in the otherworld. I believe that he was returned as Kun and I were, so he's not lost."
    "We have no evidence the sleeper ever left the Faery realm," L'Hereaux said.
    "The Lady of the Lakes gave her word."
    "And what value may we place on that?"
    "I believed her," Spae said with firm conviction.
    "And so we should believe you?' She could imagine Da-gastino's lip curling as he spoke. "You are stretching our credulity, Spae."
    "And you're stretching my patience," she shot back.
    "No more than you are stretching ours." Magnus scraped his chair back and stood, a shift in the shadows beyond the lights. "Dr. Spae, your reports make some strong claims for this Bennett, but they are claims without substantiation. Where is the proof? Is this elf truly a prince of Faery?"
    "Alleged elf."
    "Enough, Dagastino!" More calmly, Magnus continued to speak to her. "Mr. Kun reported that he urged you not to consent to the expedition to the otherworld. Is that true?"
    "As true as it was the last time you asked."
    She was tired of this, tired of their games.
    "And yet you proceeded anyway."
    "I did."
    "And continued on, even when Mr. Kun advised a withdrawal to our own reality."
    "Yes."
    "For what purpose, Doctor?"
    "You know why."
    "Tell me again then. Convince me, Doctor."
    She sighed. The great man was proving no better than the rest. He'd become as untrusting and paranoid as the others. You couldn't trust someone who didn't trust you. She'd been trusting the promises of liars and doubters.
    She felt hot, from more than the lights. She was angry, very angry. Letting the emotion flood her, she pulled the energy together. The heat of the lights was searing; she imagined it hotter still, hot enough to melt and crumple the reflectors, twisting them around to hold in the heat. With a popping like a burst of automatic weapons fire, all the lights exploded. For a few seconds it seemed as if the room was plunged into darkness, but at last her eyes registered the room's ordinary lighting. Blackened reflectors stood at intervals smoking. Magnus's team stood or sat still, staring at her. Magnus didn't look amused.
    "I want to know why you listened to Bennett and not to your associate."
    What could she tell him that he'd understand? "How could anyone pass up a chance actually to visit the otherworld? Don't you want to know what it was like, Magnus?"
    "No," he answered, cold as ice.
    "Well, some people have more intellectual curiosity. Would you pass it up, Dr. Essenbach? Would you? Of course you wouldn't. Don't bother answering, Dagastino. You probably would throw away your chance, unless you had the blessing and encouragement of everyone around you, especially your boss." Dagastino gave a nervous glance at Magnus, who didn't seem to notice. "Hell, until recently we weren't even sure the otherworld existed. Well, now we know. I've been there. I've seen it."
    "And perhaps fallen under its spell?" L'Hereaux suggested.
    She rounded on him. "What would you know about it? You've never shown any more sensitivity to the arcane than your average lump of mud. You and your goddamned bully-boys have trampled on and destroyed more occult evidence than you've ever brought in."
    "Now, Doctor..."
    Magnus's tone was cautioning, but Spae no longer cared. She'd seen enough to know that the spy games weren't going to stop; they were only going to get worse.