Sandreena and Amirantha followed Pug out of his office, through a hallway, and into a large meeting hall, which turned out to be a large covered patio, but otherwise open to the daily breezes of the island. A square table had been placed in the middle, one that could be enlarged in any number of clever ways depending on how many people needed to attend a given meeting.
Seven people were already seated when the three entered. The only familiar face to either of the demon experts was Grand Master Creegan of the Order of the Shield of the Weak, Sandreenas mentor in the Order.
Pug motioned for Amirantha and Sandreena to take two empty chairs and he remained standing. Those of you who know one another need no introductions. If you do not recognize others, it is best it remain that way, given our current plight. You cannot be made to reveal what you do not need to know. He took a deep breath. So far we have identified five well-placed agents of the Conclave who are traitors. I am certain there will be more. Continue to conduct your investigations; trust is scarce right now, use it wisely. He motioned to the man closest to him on his right and said, What have you discovered in Roldem?
The man quickly recounted the efforts that were underway in Roldem to prevent further leaking of information, and to discover who might be behind the actions taken against the Conclave. He finished by saying, At this time we have no more likely suspect than Lord John Worthington. He is either at the top of all actions taken against the interest of both the Crown and the Conclave, or he reports to the ultimate authority.
Before Pug could move to the next in line, a man sitting farthest from Pug interjected, I know I speak out of turn, Pug, but that is almost the identical report that I have put together concerning Great Kesh. The man who stands out as the most likely suspect is a nephew of the Emperor, Lord Harfum.
Instantly, Grand Master Creegan said, Sir William Alcorn. He looked around the table. It is the same in Rillanon.
Pug nodded. So, our first priority must be to discover what links these three men. He indicated that the first two men should depart, but added, Grand Master Creegan, remain if you would.
The remaining agents quickly provided Pug with more information on issues pertaining to the attempts to identify possible spies within the Academy as well as in various lesser critical positions of influence and authority. As each finished, Pug nodded and the agent rose and left the table. When the last had departed, Pug turned and looked at the three remaining members of the Conclave.
Creegan, he said, youre our eyes and ears in the temples. Anything?
Sandreenas former mentor sighed. In truth, not much. If anything the temples are more difficult to infiltrate than even the Conclave, for the gods are very jealous of their domains. Several of the martial orders, however, seem to have been slightly compromised: no ordained member is suspected, but key servants, or lay administrators, have been weeded out as being undependable. Those identified are being questioned.
Which orders? Sandreena asked.
The more active groups: the Warders, the Hunters, the Arm, and the Hammer.
Pug seemed to wilt visibly at the list, and Sandreena said, If they infiltrated any significant level of those orders, they are dangerous.
Exceedingly dangerous, added Creegan. Seeing that Amirantha didnt quite follow, he said, Of course, youd know the gods and perhaps those orders by different names in your homeland. He held up his left hand and began ticking off on each finger. The Warders of Law serve Astalon the god of law, the Hunters are followers of Guis-wa the god of forbidden knowledge, the Arm of Vengeance serve Kahooli the Vengeful, and the Hammer serves Tith-Onanka, the war god. Many of these, especially the Arm and the Hunters are almost overt enemies, and would never knowingly work together.
I see, and the Shield? Amirantha looked pointedly at Creegan.
Our order is one that takes great pains in examining those we employee within the temples; magic is used to determine if those who come to serve have duplicity in their hearts. And unlike some of the other orders, we require our own members to conduct the daily business of the Order, the cooking, cleaning, and maintaining the temples, shrines, and other our places of residence. Some of the other orders do not. The Hammer, and the Hunters, feel that every member must be a warrior-priest, and to concentrate solely on those duties, they hire many to serve who are not of the Order. Therein lies their vulnerability. But even those orders Id judge lax in selecting members have some safeguards. For infiltrators to be within their ranks would mean some agency of power is masking their duplicity.
Send them messages, said Pug. Convince them as best you can to see to their own houses. Bring in the Ishapians if you must. He stood up. This meeting is over.
Creegan said, The other orders will listen to the Ishapians, but they will not like it.
Theyll like seeing their world in ruins at the feet of the Dread even less.
Creegan glanced at Amirantha, nodded to Sandreena, then turned and departed.
Pug said, Now, if you have that orb Magnus gave you, Id like to visit this place you speak of and see what he is doing.
Shall we return with you? asked Sandreena.
No, rest for a few days. Youve been travelling a great deal. Ill return with Magnus when its time.
Amirantha retrieved the orb from his tunic pocket and gave it to Pug, who said, See you soon, depressed the switch on the side and vanished.
Amirantha yawned. After that meal, Im in the mood for a nap. Care to join me?
Those days are long over, you fraud, Sandreena said. Then she smiled. Rest, and Ill see you for dinner if youd like.
I would like that a great deal, he said and was surprised to find he meant it. Dinner then.
She turned and walked away, and he watched her go and thought to himself that of all the women he had met and bedded, she was the one he could never get out of his head. With a sign of resignation, Amirantha turned and headed back to his own quarters.
Pug appeared next to his son. Magnus was obviously in some sort of trance, as he sat ignoring the drizzling rain that had soaked him to the skin despite the best efforts of a Pantathian holding what appeared to be a make-shift umbrella that kept most of the rain off him. Which meant he had been there for a long time; knowing his son, Pug judged it had been since early this morning. While it was summer in the north, it was winter here and this far south the rain was turning bitterly cold.
At the sight of him the Pantathian almost dropped the umbrella and said in clearly-understandable Keshian, Oh, you startled me!
Pug waved his hand and said, Apologies. Here, let me take that from you. Im his father.
The reptilian creature seemed relieved. He awoke before dawn and has been here since breaking his fast; this is his second day and we are unwilling to disturb him.
Pug reached out gently with his magic and then withdrew. You could probably hit him on the head with a rock and it wouldnt disturb him, he said, taking the umbrella. As soon as he had hold of it he realized that despite the good intentions of the Pantathian, the gusting wind entirely defeated the effectiveness of the umbrella. Even so, he held it over his son.
I am Lath, said the Pantathian. I will inform Tavak that you are here. I am sure he will wish to welcome you himself.
As the creature departed, Pug reflected on how ironic it should be to be welcomed by any sort of Pantathian. For his entire adult life they had been trying their best to obliterate humanity, at least all the ones he had encountered.
While he waited, Pug inspected the tableau. Magnus sat on a soggy cushion facing an oval of energy floating about three feet above the ground. Seeing it and the Sven-gari beyond, he understood why Magnus had forgone the relatively easy task of erecting a shield of magic against the elements. It would have had to be large enough to encompass what appeared to be a massive terraced park atop the largest building in this city, which would have made deploying his other spells more problematic; or if small enough to encompass just himself, it certainly would have distorted any readings or insights gained from that examination.
Gently he sent his mind into the matrix of light before him, seeking out his sons presence. Finding Magnus was like finding his own hand: as father and son they were attached in a way like no other pair in Pugs life. His lifelong friend Tomas and his departed wife, Miranda, were family of his heart, and he could find them almost as easily, but Magnus was his blood, his last remaining child.
For a brief moment that awareness struck Pug as he remembered those children he had lost: William, his first boy, dying heroically in the defence of Krondor, and Gaminia, his adopted daughter in that same struggle. Caleb, his youngest, dying with his wife Marie, at the same time Miranda had been lost. Caleb, so strong and willing to serve, yet always the one without magic.
Pug pushed aside that pang, for he knew it led inexorably to his fear of the curse laid upon him by the Goddess of Death: that he would watch everyone he love die before him. He had foster grandsons, Tad, Zane, and Jommy, whom he had kept at an emotional distance, fearing that to come to love them as his own would doom them. He could not honestly say if he had succeeded in keeping his affections in check.
Turning his mind away from such morbid turns, he followed his instincts to his sons metaphorical location within the matrix and intruded slightly to let Magnus know he was there.
Father, came Magnuss thought. I felt your presence when you arrived.
Pug marvelled at the man and sorcerer his son was becoming. Pug had known other workers of magic: Kulgan, his mentor; Shimon, Hochopepa and other Tsurani Great Ones in the Assembly of Magicians on that now-lost world. Macros and his daughter Miranda. Each had special abilities and in one thing or another surpassed the others. Kulgan was a practitioner of what was known now as the Path of Lesser Magic, a distinction made by the Tsurani. The Great Ones were known to walk the Path of Greater Magic. The Greater and Lesser Paths were pointless labels from Pugs point of view when it came to Magnus. He was a true master of any magic he sought to learn. Even the most arcane of the arts, such as Amiranthas demon lore, Magnus had undertaken to understand, and now he could exercise some small control over demons.