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The crowd muttered at having their entertainment cut short. The wine merchants dropped their prices and shouted their specials. Food vendors waved leftover skewers and pastries in the air.
Queasy, Bannon shook his head. “I do not like this city,” he said, looking at Nathan. “Do you have any hope Andre will restore your gift soon? There’s so much more of the Old World to explore.” He swallowed. “Isn’t there?”
Nathan said, “I’m as anxious to be on our way as you are.”
Nicci, though, was hard and determined. “I am reluctant to abandon these people. Ildakar was once a bright and legendary city, but now it is a festering sore. Lord Rahl sent us on our mission. Could there be any more fundamental need than these people have demonstrated? How can we not help them? We must find a way to overthrow this practice and bring freedom—as Richard demands.”
Nathan looked as if he had swallowed a piece of rotten fruit. “I cannot help you fight until I get my gift back … and in order to accomplish that, I have to play along with these people, even though I’m beginning to despise what I see all around me.” He looked discouraged, angry at his own helplessness. “Sorceress, you can’t bring down a city’s centuries-old tradition all by yourself.”
She fastened her blue-eyed gaze upon him. “I’m not alone. I have you.”
Bannon stepped close and touched the hilt of his sword. “And me.”
CHAPTER 28
That night, the sovrena and the wizard commander hosted another celebratory banquet, this time to welcome the vile Norukai.
Nicci, Nathan, and Bannon were invited, though their presence was clearly an afterthought. The brutish slavers were the center of attention. Captain Kor and three other representatives from the serpent ships came up to join the duma members, while the remaining thirty Norukai sailors were turned loose on the city’s drinking establishments, restaurants, and silk yaxen dachas. Despite the honor of the invitation to dine with the city’s most important wizards, Kor and his burly companions—Lars, Yorik, and Dar—clearly would have preferred to join the rest of their comrades in more hedonistic settings.
As brittle as glass, Nicci chose a seat at the far end of the table, next to Nathan, and although Bannon sat with Amos, Jed, and Brock, he looked uncomfortable to be there at all. Nicci had not seen him smile in days, and she understood why. She hadn’t smiled either.
The Norukai captain sat with his elbows spread, ready to eat with both hands as a huge joint of roast yaxen was brought in on a spit, slaves carrying it on their shoulders; younger slaves kept pace, holding a pan beneath the meat to catch the drippings. Servants circled the table pouring goblets of bloodwine, but Kor gruffly declared, “This takes too long. Just bring a bottle for me and for each of my men.” He made a guttural sound that might have been laughter. “In fact, bring two bottles for Yorik; otherwise he will complain.”
Dar gulped from his goblet, then wiped a forearm across his lips as a dribble of red liquid seeped from the scar at the side of his cheek. “A good vintage.”
The other Norukai drank and agreed.
Kor yanked a leather pouch from his waist and tossed it to Dar. It clanked with golden coins. “Here’s part of our earnings from today. Find a wine merchant and buy as much as you can to load aboard our ships.”
“We’ll drink it all on the voyage back,” Yorik said.
“Better keep at least a keg for King Grieve,” Kor said.
The other Norukai suddenly looked tense at the mention of the name. “We’ll set one aside for him.”
Maxim nodded to the pouch of coins. “That much gold should buy several kegs.”
“Good, then buy some of this meat too.” Kor used his own knife to cut off a hunk of the roast, while the servants were more delicate as they carved the choicest morsels for the guests.
Silent and alert, Nicci watched their movements, studying the Norukai like a predator ready to pounce. The wizards of Ildakar unsettled her, but she hated the Norukai in a different way. As second-tier guests, she and her companions were served last. Nicci ate quietly so as not to draw attention to herself, while Nathan consumed the meat and tubers on his plate, mopping up the juices with fresh bread. Bannon didn’t touch his food.
“Where are your best silk yaxen whores in the city?” Kor asked.
“We’d like to sample several,” said Lars, “but we don’t want to waste our time.”
Amos interjected, “I know the best ones.”
Sovrena Thora sat at the head of the table using her jeweled dining implements. She ate as if she were made of lace and gold wire. “Yes, my son is well versed in these things.”
“Our friend Bannon may be interested in joining us,” Jed said, but it was less of an invitation than a sarcastic barb. “We’ll take good care of him.”
Bannon flushed and carefully admitted, “The women are very beautiful.”
The scarred raiders looked at one another and chortled, muttering in a gruff language that sounded like rocks grinding together. Dar said, “Ildakar women are too delicate and break too easily.”
“We prefer the sturdy beauty of Norukai females,” said Kor. “But your women will do. We have been lonely enough at sea. The slaves were serviceable, but they can only slake so much of a man’s thirst.”
Wizard Commander Maxim said, “Because you are welcome trading partners, we would also invite you to one of our pleasure parties, if you prefer noble Ildakaran women. We can make an exception, and it would be an experience you’d not soon forget.” With a wicked smile, he gestured toward the sovrena. “My lovely wife would be most willing to accommodate you. She is not choosy about her men.”
Thora gave him a venomous glare. “We will indeed have a pleasure party this evening with many nobles, if that would be something you and your men might enjoy, Captain Kor.” She seemed to force the words out of her.
The scarred Norukai leered at her.
Maxim added, “And the sorceress Nicci is welcome, as always.”
“As always,” Nicci said. “And as always, I choose to decline.”
He let out a good-natured chuckle. “As you wish. Considering your cool demeanor, some nobles have suggested your nipples are made of ice chips.”
“Fools can suggest whatever they like,” Nicci said.
Nathan couldn’t help but smile as he sat beside her.
Maxim laughed again. “Adorable, just adorable.”
Kor looked from Thora to the prim duma members and turned back to young Amos, who was helping himself to a second serving of the yaxen meat. “We’d prefer the whorehouses. Noblewomen talk too much, at a time when talking is unimportant.”
For the next course, servants brought in platters heaped with small grilled birds, each one no more than a morsel. The wizard Damon perked up, stroking his long mustaches. “Ah, delicious! Honey-roasted larks. Are they yours, Sovrena?”
She nodded. “Yes, their music is sweet, but their flesh is sweeter. I will need to catch more. We have nets strung out across the rooftops.”
“How many more slaves do you need us to bring?” Kor interrupted. “And when? We have many serpent ships in the estuary, as well as the islands. We’ll acquire what you need. Just tell us.”
“Slaves perish, although they do reproduce quickly as well,” Ivan said, holding up his empty plate, impatiently waiting for a servant to add more meat.
“Today’s group will serve us well,” Thora said. “It should allow us to work our spell and restore the shroud for a very long time.”
“If your shroud is in place, then how can we sell you more slaves?”
“Ildakar lived beneath the shroud for many centuries,” said Maxim. “We were a closed system with no outside commerce, but I much prefer the infusion of outside goods, and fresh blood. Believe me, we’ll still have to drop the shroud occasionally in order to replenish our resources.”
“You expect us just to wait in our ships until your city shows itself again? What will happen to our cargo in the meantime?” Kor asked.
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Bannon stared down at his food, moving it about with his sharp-tined fork. “They’re not just cargo,” he growled loudly enough for the others to hear. “They’re people … like my friend Ian. He was a young man with a future ahead of him, until you took him. We’re going to get him his freedom.” He shot a meaningful glance at Amos, who ignored him.
The Norukai looked surprised that Bannon had spoken. Andre stroked his thick, braided beard, amused. “The nongifted swordsman has a voice after all? This could be entertaining, hmmm?”
“Every person in our perfect society has their function,” said Thora. “Some of us bear the burden of being leaders. Others simply work. They know their place.”
