Haden regained consciousness in a small, torchlit room, and was not surprised to find himself lashed to a table. He was a little bruised, but otherwise all right. And at least they had left his clothes on; given the chill in the air, he was doubly thankful for that.
“Perfect timing,” a voice declared.
“And style to spare,” Haden answered automatically. He craned to catch a glimpse of the approaching figure, but the stranger loomed over him soon enough. He recognized the silver skull mask at once, then he saw that the brooch which fastened the cloak took the shape of an eye – the Great Eye.
“Baltazo,” Haden said.
“Yes,” replied Baltazo. “I’ve been looking forward to seeing you again, Haden.“
“I’m not impressed. Nearly everyone’s heard of me in the Cage. Do they tell stories about me in this wretched little burg, too?”
“I understand your need for bravado,” Baltazo said, “but we both know that your effort is wasted. You cannot rile me with your asinine banter.”
“There’s one in every crowd.”
“I wonder why you’ve come to trouble me so.” Baltazo moved to the other side of Haden’s table. He started to pull off his gloves, but Haden couldn’t see his hands.
“Maybe I really like dinosaurs,” Haden suggested.
“They would have been useful to us, but Nihmron’s loss is of no concern. What concerns me is your interest in my sect. Yours, and that of your friends.”
“They’re no friends of mine! I have no loyalty to them.”
“You’re quick to denounce them – too quick.”
“Let me prove it to you! I’ll tell you everything.”
“Oh, I don’t doubt that. My interrogator will scour your brain until I know everything you do.” Baltazo’s hands went to his mask, and Haden could see flesh flowing like quicksilver beneath it. “I’m going to show you my true face, Haden. That’s how thoroughly I expect him to take you apart.”
Baltazo lowered the mask, revealing blank white eyes, pale gray skin, and only the suggestion of a nose and lips. Haden had the horrifying impression that someone had started to sculpt Baltazo, then had been called away from the job, never to complete it. He recognized Baltazo as a Prime creature, from one of the backwater worlds, but the name eluded him.
“Take a good luck. This is my true face.” Haden believed it. “You’ll be lucky if you remember your own name, let alone this face.”
He walked away from the table, and another man came into view. He was simply dressed, with tangled brown hair and a mustache that seemed pasted on. His amber eyes studied Haden, and their pupils seemed very small in the dark room. Like Sheen, he looked human – had once been human – but now was something else.
“Well met, Haden. I am Gyderic.”
Haden struggled to mask his fear. “I know that name. You turned against your Council.”
“Only when they refused me.” The elan’s smile made Haden queasy. “How could you possibly know about that?”
Haden pressed his lips together, but Gyderic’s eyelids fluttered, Haden felt a power slice across his mind, and his secret was laid bare.
“Sheen,” Gyderic hissed, barely audible over Haden’s cries. “I never would have guessed, yet it makes perfect sense. Imagine that! My poor, deluded mistress, out here on the Great Wheel.”
His mistress? thought Haden, struggling to pull himself together. Sheen?! “Trent… he said you were in the dead-book.”
“The Great Eye illuminated my way back.”
As Gyderic leaned over Haden, the aasling perceived a coruscating halo of power around the elan’s head. He tried to concentrate on how beautiful it was, instead of dwelling on what it would do to him.
“Now, Haden. Tell me everything.”
- – - – -
“He’s broken, then?” asked Baltazo.
“Shattered,” replied Gyderic. “He has some psionic talent, though. He might mend.”
“And was he acting on his mother’s behalf?”
“No, she hates him. Unless she was manipulating him without his knowledge, but I think he’s too peery for that.”
“I see. You’ve done well, Gyderic.”
The elan sketched a graceful bow. “What will you do with him now?”
“Try to ransom him, I expect. His parents are golden lords, and we always need jink. Nobody knows he’s here. In the meantime, I have another mission for you.”
“I serve the Eye,” Gyderic said.
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