Free Dark Vengeance by Ed Greenwood Page B

as only a Consecrated of Olone knew how, flinging the stinging mind-message at him:
The Goddess marks you. See that you please her, if you want her dark regard to fade.
    Jalandral Evendoom was the rampant she should have been delivering that threat to—but Jalandral was one of those it would have been wasted on. He obviously believed in Olone not at all.
    And, the Ghodal take him, Quaera Thrice-Consecrated was beginning to believe the very same thing.
    Â 
    The vast and gleaming new throne room was silent—but it was a silence so singing with tension that a shriek would have been lost in it.
    Talonnorn was tense with infighting, and every Talonar stared at fellow citizens, keeping their own faces as much like expressionless masks as they knew how. Everyone sought to know just which side everyone else stood on. Though some Nifl would have heatedly proclaimed their own ignorance of just what any “side” stood for, they all knew the underlying truth: the city was being torn asunder between those who sided with Jalandral Evendoom, and those who dared to stand against him. Fear over what he’d do to them, or someone else would do to thwart him, or what would befall all Talonnorn, crawled untrammeled through the darkness inside every mind.
    The darkly handsome Lord Evendoom rose from his throne, then, to stand on the broad dais before it looking slowly around atthe many Niflghar ranged along the walls. No one had quite dared to stand in the open space before the throne; its gleaming tiles stretched empty.
    â€œCitizens of Talonnorn,” Jalandral said calmly, the quiet thunder of his tones making it evident magic was carrying his voice clearly to every ear, “be welcome in the
new
Talonnorn. The cleansed, renewed city that will regain the greatness we have lost, in large measure through your willing participation in a shared new vision. A vision we will forge together, ignoring tradition in favor of doing what is
right.
We have found folly in the past largely because everyone did as they pleased, defying all other Talonar as they sought to practice their own supremacy. So that shall not continue;
I
shall be the ultimate authority, and to defy my decree shall be to die or cease to be of Talonnorn. Yet I do not intend that this—”
    He turned to wave leisurely at the throne behind him. “—shall become a tyrant’s throne. My decrees shall be rooted in what we decide here together, after all Talonar who desire to be heard have been heard. What my word shall exterminate is the never-ending dissent of the past, the habits we all fell into of denying and working against policies, stances, and even laws we did not personally like. When a matter is settled, it is settled, and we shall move on. We can revisit matters in debate, but outside this hall, we act without hesitation or defiance in accordance with my standing decrees. Holy Olone speaks to me personally, often and with great clarity, so I shall accept disobedience, defiance, or empty corrections from no priestess of the Talonar temple of the Goddess or any other. In this place, we shall use no magic—”
    Half a dozen priestesses exerted their wills upon the spells already awake around them; magics that thrust gently at the High Lord of Talonnorn, revealing his glowing personal shieldings for every eye to see.
    â€œâ€”except the magics
I
employ,” Jalandral added calmly, sounding completely unperturbed. “Our only weapons here shall be our voices, our reasoning, and the laws of Talonnorn. Laws that shallbe amended as we commonly see fit, henceforth. I am not going to begin any nonsense of asking every Talonar or visitor to discard every last dagger at the doors, but hear me: except as weapons are drawn at
my
bidding or with my express permission, to wield any weapon in this hall is to forfeit one’s life.”
    â€œThis decree is unlawful,” a voice interrupted calmly, “and thus as empty as the