Read Online The Seascape Tattoo by Larry Niven - Free Book Online Page A

“They captured the princess and wish you not to interfere in their affairs.”
    â€œFor what purpose?”
    â€œI do not know,” he replied honestly. “What I can say is that the very need to control us suggests that the princess yet lives. I would expect that in a moon or so, they will present a letter written by your daughter and supposedly smuggled out. It will contain information only she would know and will calm you.”
    He could see that she wanted terribly to believe what he was saying but was no fool. “And their ultimate purpose?”
    â€œWar, perhaps. They wish to be certain that you do not side with another kingdom against them.”
    â€œAnd they kidnapped Tahlia for this purpose. What can we do?”
    â€œThey perceive you as weak. They doubt you will launch an attack against them. After all, they merely returned two of your sailors and offered assistance. It would be difficult to get another of the kingdoms to stand with us on such meager evidence.”
    Despite her trappings of power, she seemed … diminished. Desperate. “Can you use your arts to find her? If so, your reward would be great.”
    A thought seemed to occur to her suddenly, and she raised her voice. “Send out the call,” she said to an advisor. “To the princes who sought the hand of Tahlia in marriage. The royal or noble personage who returns my daughter to me wins my approval, and rich reward. He will wed her and inherit my kingdom. Send the word.”
    And so it was sent.

 
    SEVEN
    Wizard at Work
    Reinforced by the talisman’s powers, Neoloth-Pteor’s scrying pool swirled, foaming into images of storm and sea so realistic they threatened to soak the room. He saw what the sailor saw, as the man had surrendered his mind to Neoloth’s spells.
    It was truth. All was as the wretched sailor had testified.
    Vessels with neither mast nor sail, pouring smoke. Explosions like lightning striking dry trees but in the midst of the storm. Drowning, gripping something as it banged against him, clinging, fainting.
    He tried other spells, other techniques to see if there was more information that could be extracted from the mind of this simple, honest man. He just didn’t know enough.
    And, failing that, were there other ways he could see into the future, determine what had happened, where the princess might be, and what might be done?
    He tried everything he knew, and nothing worked. Twenty hours later, he was shaking and exhausted and frightened by the implications. Was a wizard blocking him? Or—
    Wizards couldn’t see into their own futures. If there was something he could do for the princess … it would not show in his scrying pool. Nothing to show for his work but this damned fog.
    Shrike had once been an equal member of the Eight Kingdoms, but in recent years it had become more insular, less open to trade or cultural exchange. No one outside Shrike really seemed to know what was happening within it. Rather than respect or affection, the dominant emotion felt toward the northern kingdom was fear.
    If they had kidnapped Tahlia, then minions of Shrike hadn’t merely plucked her from the sea … they had actually strolled into her mother’s throne room and announced their actions while maintaining plausible deniability. Which meant that they didn’t merely want her life. Or a ransom. There was another game in play.
    And the ambassadors had arrived in Quillia so openly that it was impossible for her citizens not to know.
    This was a direct warning for Quillia to remain neutral. But neutral to what? Neoloth knew of no current events that might matter here and no ways that Quillia was involved in anything concerning Shrike. But this outrage might relate to something that would become known in the future.
    Something huge. Something brewing in the heart of Shrike. No single kingdom could stand against the other seven kingdoms. Quillia was one of