Read Online The Warrior Returns - Anteros 04 by Allan Cole - Free Book Online Page B

broad mantel decorated with a few stuffed, faded-faced dolls from her childhood, as well as a little clockwork device that a copper coin set in motion.
    It always made me laugh to see it work. I'd put a coin in the slot, usually good Antero copper with a ship engraved on one side and the sign of the House of Antero on the other. Soon as the coin clicked into place, a fat farmwife would burst out of the little house, pursuing a squealing piglet with an axe. There was an inscription on the base of the toy that read: "It'll be just a minute before dinner, dear."
    I thought it was funny. But I suppose I'm too easily amused.
    Heaped among all this friendly clutter were books of all sorts: light romances and adventure, poetry and histories and philosophy, and thick technical manual s inscribed with sor cerous symbols.
    Just to the side of the crackling fireplace was a curtain of many colors that hid an alcove entirely taken up by a great feather bed.
    There were grander quarters attached to the room, her official residence, which was where Daciar received important people and conducted business. Only close friends were allowed to see her here at her untidy ease.
    After she'd gotten us our drinks, Daciar plucked off her tiara, unpinned her hair—letting it fall in silver waves over her shoulders—and plumped down in an overstuffed chair across from me. Her yellow robe rode up over her still fine thighs as she stretched out her legs and plopped her feet on the table.
    Then she raised her cup in a toast. "Here's to the first of the day," she said, "except for breakfast, which doesn't count, and lunch, which doesn't matter."
    It was the cheeriest first gulp I'd taken in many a day. I settled back in the sofa, warm all over from such friendly surroundings.
    We chatted aimlessly for a time, emptying one cup and getting a good start into another. Then I told her the purpose of my visit. She listened closely as I described my encounter with the pirates and how the magical music had almost caught me out.
    "Except for the ancient tales, my dear, I know nothing of this Ice Bear fellow," she said when I was done. "And I haven't heard of more pirate attacks on merchant ships than usual. Perhaps he's only causing trouble in the regions you visited. If that's so, he's just a local bandit and shouldn't give you much difficulty."
    I wanted to believe this. I wanted very much to think that when we sailed to Antero Bay and the other outpost, all would be well. If necessary I could raise a force of sufficient strength from the people I had at the trading posts, pursue the false Ice Bear King, and put paid to his pretensions. But if he were just a nuisance who could be dealt with so easily, why would the Goddess Maranonia have appeared to me and warned that Orissa was in grave danger?
    Daciar, who was skilled at reading emotions behind people's masks, caught an inkling of my doubts. "There's something else, isn't there, my dear?" she asked. "Something you haven't told me."
    "Yes," I admitted. "But I've been sworn to silence."
    "Still," she said, "I flatter myself when I think you want my advice. Only you don't know quite how to go about it."
    "That, my dear friend," I answered, "is exactly my dilemma."
    Daciar frowned, pondering. Then her brow cleared. She went to the fireplace mantel, mumbled as she dug through the toys and books and flower vases, and finally came up with a large crystal goblet etched with pentagrams and other wizardry marks. She blew the dust off, polished it with her sleeve, and fetched it back.
    She stopped midway. "Wait," she said. "I'll need some blessing water. I tell you, Rali dear, sometimes I don't know where my head is when I try to put on my tiara in the morning."
    She found a clay jug. She sniffed the contents, wrinkled her nose and declared them to be "blessed enough."
    Finally she returned to her chair and sat down. "Let's see what I can learn without violating your oath," she said.
    Daciar placed the goblet and water