Iolanthe lies. Skie rebels. ar from Tarsis, in the city of Neraka, in the small apartment over the mageware store, Iolanthe watched the image of Kitiara vanish, wafting away with the smoke and the wisps of hair.
“That is the last lock of her hair, my lord,” Iolanthe said. “Unless I can obtain more, I can no longer cast the spell.”
“It is not important.” Ariakas planted his hands on the table and leveraged himself to his feet. He stood long moments, still frowning at the last little trails of smoke. “I know all I need to know now.”
As he was leaving, he tossed over his shoulder, “I will require your presence at her trial.”
Iolanthe lifted her eyebrows. “Trial, my lord?”
Ariakas rarely bothered with such formalities. He made a gesture of resignation. “Kitiara is a Highlord. Her troops, and more importantly, her dragons are fiercely loyal to her. There would be trouble if I simply killed her. Her crimes must be made public. You will testify what your magic has revealed.”
“I cannot do that, my lord,” Iolanthe replied.
He halted in the door, his face dark with rage.
She added, humbly, “I have sworn on oath to Nuitari, God of the Dark Moon, that I would never reveal the secret of that spell. I may not break such an oath on peril of my life.”
“You are in peril of your life right now, Iolanthe,” growled Ariakas, clenching his fist.
Iolanthe trembled, but she did not back down.
“I honor and respect you, my lord,” she said in a low voice, “but Nuitari is my god.”
She was on safe ground. Ariakas believed in the gods, and although he did not serve Nuitari, having chosen to pledge his loyalty to Nuitari’s mother, Queen Takhisis, he revered the god of dark magic and feared him. Even the Emperor of Ansalon would be loathe to do anything to arouse Nuitari’s wrath.
Ariakas stared at her, trying to intimidate her. She stood impassive under his scrutiny, meeting his gaze. Ariakas gave a snarl and a grunt, then turned and stalked out of the room. He slammed the door behind him with such force the walls shook.
Iolanthe gasped and shuddered with relief and sank down in a chair, too weak and shaken to stand. She poured herself a glass of brandywine with a shaking hand, drank the fiery liquid, and felt better.
When her hands ceased to tremble, she reached into the silken bag and took out one more lock of curly black hair. Iolanthe twisted the lock thoughtfully in her fingers, as she gazed into the flames and smiled.
Kit arrived back at her camp in the gray dawn. She had been looking forward to finding Tanis here, waiting for her, only to discover Skie had not yet returned with the prize she’d sent him to fetch. Kit went to bed, leaving orders that the guards wake her the moment the dragon appeared. She slept the day through and well into the night. When she finally woke, there was still no sign of Skie.
Several days passed after that with no news of the dragons. Kitiara fumed, fretted and made life hell for the draconians, who kept out of her sight as much as possible. She had plenty of time to think not only about Tanis but also about her rival. Kit decided she was glad she hadn’t killed Laurana. Kitiara had always been competitive.
“I didn’t want Tanis until I found out another woman might take him from me,” Kit realized. “As it is, making him mine again will be that much sweeter.” She smiled the crooked smile. “Perhaps when I’m finished with him, I’ll send the elf maid whatever’s left.”
Lying in bed at night-alone-she entertained herself with thoughts of what she would do when Skie brought Tanis back.
“I will be angry with Tanis. I will tell him I have discovered his infidelity. I will accuse him of abandoning me for Laurana. He’ll deny it, of course, but I won’t listen. I’ll rant and rave and work myself into a passion. No tears. I can’t abide women who weep. He’ll beg my forgiveness. He’ll take me in his arms, and I’ll fight him. I’ll dig my nails into his flesh until the blood runs and he’ll stop my curses with his lips, and then I’ll relent slowly. Ever so slowly…”
Kitiara fell asleep with a smile on her lips, a smile that disappeared when Queen Takhisis paid her yet another visit in her dreams, urging, pleading, cajoling. Lord Soth, it seemed, had yet to enter the war. Kit woke groggy and in a bad temper to find that Skie and the other blue dragons had finally returned.
Kit hurried to meet them, only to discover they had failed utterly.
“We chased the damn griffons for days,” Skie told her. “We couldn’t catch them and eventually lost them.”
The blue dragon was sullen.
“I have no idea where the half-elf is,” he added in response to her questions, “and I could not care less.”
Kitiara was enraged. The entire mission to Tarsis had been a waste of time, money, and energy. She needed someone to blame, and she settled on Toede. She was writing up a scathing report on the hobgoblin, recommending that he should be relieved of his command and his head, when a messenger arrived on dragonback, summoning her to Neraka for an emergency meeting of the Highlords.
“Don’t go,” Skie said abruptly, as Kitiara was putting on her helm.
“What? Don’t be silly. Of course, I’m going. I’ll make my charges against Toede in person. Much more effective. What’s the matter?” she demanded, seeing Skie lower his head and hunch his shoulder.
“What’s this urgent meeting about?” he asked.
Kitiara shrugged. “Ariakas didn’t say. Perhaps it will be about the debacle in Tarsis or maybe the matter of the death knight.”
Hands on her hips, arms akimbo, Kit stared at the dragon.
“Why shouldn’t I go?”
Skie was silent, brooding, then he said, “Because you were wrong. You were wrong to bring us here to chase after your lover. You were wrong to send us off in pursuit of him, and you were doubly wrong to risk your life seeking out your rival like some jealous whore-”
“Shut up!” Kitiara shouted angrily.
Skie kept quiet, but his tail twitched, his claws dug into the dirt, clenched and released and clenched again. He eyed her, then looked away.
“I am going to Neraka,” Kitiara stated.
“Then find another dragon,” said Skie, and he lifted his wings, pushed off with his hind legs, and soared into the sky, heading north, back to Solamnia.
Kitiara stood on the ground, staring after him. She watched in astonishment until he had finally disappeared. Then she took off her dragon helm, put it under her arm, turned, and walked away.