Four Lords of Diamond - Book 1 (22 page)

For the first tune I understood a bit of Marek Kreegan. He hadn't necessarily come to Lilith to take over and run it. He had become the Lord of Lilith, one of the Four Lords of the Diamond, simply because he wasn't qualified to do anything else. It was absurd, but there it was. Kronlon's own words came echoing back once more. None of us has any choice.

It had been twelve weeks since we'd come to Moab Keep, and I was beginning to realize there was nothing more they could teach me here. The next step was up to me, and my own destiny lay elsewhere. So far I'd learned a great deal about myself but almost nothing that Fd been sent here for. I knew nothing at all about the aliens, nor did I even know what Marek Kreegan looked like these days. To go further I would have to take a knighthood, and to do that I'd need an army and some advisors closer to the scene of things.

Once again I sought out Father Bronz.

The priest looked fit and well-rested and seemed happy to see me. We shook hands and then embraced warmly. I realized that, although he'd kept his distance from me, he nonetheless had kept careful track of my progress.

So—a Master now, with the potential of a Lord! he laughed. I told you I wanted to be remembered when you took over!

I returned the laughter. But that's a long way off, I responded. Marek Kreegan must be getting old now, so he might not even be around by the time I feel confident enough to take him on. Still, I have to take the first step, and for that I'll need help.

You're going to try for a knighthood, then, he said matter-of-factly. I could have guessed as much. But your normal channel is denied you. You can't' apprentice yourself to some Knight as a Master and bide your time. Nobody's going to take you on.

I thought of that, I told him. No, I'll have to go for it in one stroke. I'll have to take on a force, defeat it, and then face down the Knight.

A good trick, Bronz admitted. And where are you going to get the fighting force to get in the front door?

I've thought about that. It seems to me that I've, only got one avenue to take there, and I'll need your help. You and I watched, many long weeks ago, a relatively small and unarmed force take on and defeat an elite corps. I think the whole bunch of them could take an army.

Perhaps, he replied thoughtfully, but she'd never go for it. Her whole force to take a Keep so a
man
could rule? You saw Sumiko.

I saw her. Saw her and studied her. I think she's itching for a fight.
I
think that's why she came here, to perfect her methods. I think she'd welcome such a test.

At random, yes, he said. Just for the hell of it, or to prove her theories. But not for you, Cal me boy. Not for you.

H her test is Zeis Keep?

He stood there, dumbstruck at the idea. Finally he said, You don't want to take the easy way out, do you? Zeis isn't a small, weak nothing of a Keep—it's one of the big ones. Important enough to be designated a shuttle landing point, which is why all the bigwigs pass through there. And you've got Artur fighting defense on his home ground. Remember the
geography
of that place?

I remember, I told him. Still, it
has
to be Zeis. I think Dr. Pohn is the one individual object of her hatred that would tempt her, don't you? And from the point of view of location, it's close enough for her without a lot of logistical problems.

He considered the proposal. She might buy it, he admitted, but are you sure you can take
her?
Once she fights for Zeis and wins, if she
can
take it, do you think she's going to hand the place over to you?

I don't know, I responded honestly. I don't even know if I can take Boss Tiel. I've never even met him. But I think I have to try.

I think you do, Bronz concluded, more to himself than to me. I don't know. I'll send out some feelers to Sumiko and see if shell buy it, or at least agree to talk about it. And I think I can reach Duke KLsorn, at least. Talk him into letting you try.

But what about Marek Kreegan? Will
he
stay out of it? After all, he's the man who put the price on my head to begin with.

' Oh, I'm sure Kreegan will keep hands off, Father Bronz told me confidently. He'll want to see just what you can do at this stage, in order to evaluate the true threat to himself and his own power. But
if
we talk Sumiko into this, and
if
you or she beats Tiel, and
if
you can beat her,
then
you will have to worry about Kreegan. You sure you want to start this? That's a lot of ifs, and once you start, you aren't going to be able to stop. You'll be the initiator, and responsible.

You think I'm nuts, don't you? I asked him. You think I should just settle down here and read all the books and raise a family and say to hell with it, don't you?

/ didn't say that, Bronz replied in a tone that implied exactly that.

I can't, I told him. I'm just not made that way.

We'll see. Father Bronz sighed deeply. I'll start the wheels in motion. May God have mercy on your soul.

It all came together so easily and quickly that I was almost suspicious about it.

The witch's village seemed to have changed not at all from the last time I'd been there, although now I was far more sensitized to the entire Warden environment and everything looked a little new and different I felt a mild, discomforting dizziness that I couldn't really put my finger on. Father Bronz explained to me that he'd felt it from the first visit, an aftereffect of the process by which Sumiko O'Higgins stayed hidden from the outside world.

They take turns, he told me. One of them at Master grade and a coven of twelve others, all satiated with Sumiko's juice, standing ever vigilant. Nothing short of a planetary satellite photo would be able to see what's down here, and even that doesn't seem to work—the place is well camouflaged from the air, and a couple of distorting inversion layers add to the effect. That's why she chose the place.

She'd been confident that Artur would not be able to return and find it after his defeat, and she'd been right. Basically, it was a message sent by that particular guardian pack of thirteen to all around simply not to notice the place. It was neither invisibility nor any form of telepathy, but it was a formidable mental barrier all the same.

From what Father Bronz was able to tell me, O'Higgins seemed more than delighted with the idea. She said something about needing a test piece anyway. Furthermore, she held particular grudges against Zeis Keep not only because Dr. Pohn was there but also because Artur had killed two of her witches in the attack.

But even though she had replaced the two dead ones, there was still a strong numerical problem in going against Zeis. Many of her procedures were far more effective defensively than offensively, since techniques such as the circle, which I'd seen in operation, and the mind clouding were not really much use to a mobile, advancing force. They would be able to take out
some
of Artur's forces, but not all; in close quarters her pawns, even amplified slightly, would be no match for Artur's trained and experienced Supervisors and Masters. Their strength was a group strength. Artur now knew this, having been bloodied, and would take measures to counter it. With perhaps a thousand witches Sumiko was invulnerable, but with a hundred and sixty-nine she needed support.

Again it was Father Bronz, showing a most interesting bent for Machiavellian political maneuvering, to the rescue. At our final meeting were not only the priest, the witches, and myself but also three strange women wearing colorful, flowing garb. Except for their manners and dress they looked rather ordinary, with common backgrounds of the civilized worlds in their features. Nonetheless, the immediate impression was that these were no ordinary inhabitants of Lilith, not even Masters. They were . . . something else.

As we sat around eating small, tasty pastries and drinking mild local wine, Father Bronz made the introductions. First Sumiko, then me; then he turned to the three strange women.

May I introduce Boss Rognival of Lakk Keep, , he said, pointing to the most overdressed of the women, and her administrative assistant, the Lady Tona, and her sergeant-at-arms, the Lady Kysil.

Although they were all fighting for their own interests rather than for mine, I never really felt so left out of an operation that would decide my future as I did at this one. I stared at the three women in curiosity not only as to what they were doing here but also because I'd never seen a knight before. Except for the slight fur trim and a small jewel on a headband of some kind, she didn't look so superhuman. I had to admit, though, that the Warden power burned and shone a little brighter inside her. The map in my head clicked in again, and I saw that Lakk Keep was a very small one several kilometers due west of Zeis—across that formidable-looking swamp.

Let's get down to business, Rognival said sharply, her tone tough and crisp. We are going to attack and take Zeis Keep. The witch here has her own reasons and some old grudges to settle; the young man over there has ambition, and I—well, let's just say that Lakk is a very small Keep almost surrounded by a pretty lousy swamp. It wasn't always that way. I used to have four kilometers square of choice
vai
cropland on what is now the Zeis side of the swamp. Tiel and
Altai
took it as well as the pawns that worked it from me over nine years ago, reducing me to the island of Lakk, which though it has several melon orchards and some
snark
pastureland, is hardly self-sufficient. I became, in effect, Tiel's vassal, and I've hated him for it. Until now, though, I've had insufficient forces to attack across the swamp, and I no longer have the clout necessary to get allies. You're my chance to get back my land, my self-sufficiency, and my self-respect.

O'Higgins warmed a little to her. I could see Father Bronz's thinking in all this—a female knight who hated Zeis. Perfect.

Too perfect, I decided instantly. Something smelled wrong about this.
Very
wrong. It seemed all too convenient, all too pat. I felt uneasily that somebody was setting me up, and that somebody had to be Father Bronz.

Ever since I'd escaped from Zeis and found him, he had been in total charge of my life, a charge he seemed willing and eager to accept. As much as anything the Cal Tremon who sat in the council here was by now a product of Bronz's own machinations, as was this whole carefully orchestrated exercise. What the hell
was
his game, anyway?

I'd done what checking I could given my limited contacts with others on this world, and they'd all borne out the image of a roving Master, a priest not merely deposed but defrocked by his church, who had been around as long as everybody could remember. And yet it was that last that bothered me. Nobody ever remembered the priest saying a service or a mass or whatever it was they did, nor carrying out any real priest-type functions at all. I certainly had never seen him do so, nor did we have anything but his word as to his life Outside, his background and reason for being here.

Still, if he were with Boss Tiel and Kreegan and that bunch, why had he gone to so much trouble over me? Why not just turn me in and get on with it? If he was someone high up on- the social scale masquerading as a lowly priest, why make certain I reached the Institute and received the best training and experience possible on Lilith? If he had his own ambitions I would be a threat to him, if not at this point then some time in the future.

But if indeed he was what he said he was, what were his motives? A staunch defender of the system on Lilith, he nonetheless was using its greatest threat, the witches, to put into power a man who hated that system, mainly me.

. I looked around at their faces as they earnestly discussed the coming campaign. I paid only slight attention to what they were saying, as, ironically, I was the least important person at this council of war in terms of the outcome, although of course I would fight. O'Higgins, the possibly Lord-class psychopath with the power to amplify, combine, and direct Warden power at will. Rognival, who wanted revenge for her earlier loss and her territory back. Bronz...

In thinking of him I'd once used the term Machiavellian. If I remembered my studies at all, that ancient mind was never the leader himself but merely an advisor—an advisor who was the
real
ruler while his prince took all the heat and did all the dirty work. Was I perhaps his prince-designate? Or were all three of us somehow in that category? With patience and almost diabolical cleverness, could he perhaps dream of controlling the whole sector indirectly through its rulers, then, perhaps with O'Higgins' discoveries, going on to take the whole planet? What could even a Marek Kreegan do about it? He would only strike at princes, never at the wandering priest and advisor.

It was a good plan, perhaps a brilliant one. I told myself that if I survived all this and attained the knighthood, I wouldn't be quite the pawn in his game that he counted on.

The council broke up in seemingly good spirits, having arrived at a plan that looked pretty good—at least in theory. We would see how well it worked out when human beings faced down each other.

Returning to the hut where Ti and I were spending our time until the dawn of battle, I was surprised not to find her there. She had little interest in or understanding of the battle strategy, and the witches were only mildly communicative, but she'd certainly gone somewhere and all I could do was wait.

It was close to dark when she returned, looking a little haggard and worried. What's wrong? I asked, concerned. Where have you been?

Spying, she sighed and sank down.

Huh? How's that?

She nodded. I don't like these women, she told me. There's something creepy about 'em. She looked up at me, concerned. When is the battle?

Three days from now, I told her. At dawn.

She shook her head. This O'Higgins may've been nice an' all, but she's real crazy, Cal. I went over an' got real close to one group havin' a meeting of some kind. They never saw me, don't worry. Anyways, I had to listen real hard, but I heard most of it. She shivered.

I frowned. What did you hear that upset you so much?

She leaned forward, whispering as low as she could. They ain't gonna keep to their side, Cal. Once they win, they're gonna kill you
and
Father Bronz. They'll give that lady knight whatever she wants to keep her off their backs for a while, but they mean to take Zeis for themselves. They were talkin' about the beginnin' of the purge. What's a purge, Cal?

I told her.

She nodded. That's kinda what I thought. The purge of Lilith, they said. Near as I can make out, it means they're gonna kill all the men in Zeis and turn it into a witch's keep.

I had the sinking feeling I'd known most of this all along. I just hadn't wanted to admit it. Don't worry. I tried to console her with a confidence I didn't feel. Father Bronz and I aren't going to allow ourselves to get cornered like that. And that old witch couldn't do it, anyway. Marek Kreegan and the other top bosses would close in before she could get started.

Ti shook her head violently from side to side. You think so, but they know that, too. They're nuts, not stupid. They say O'Higgins is already more powerful than Lord Kreegan, and with the power juice—potion of Satan, they called it—stronger than any army that could come against them. They say she's so strong she's already stabilized two laster guns or something like that from Outside.

Laster guns . . . Laser pistols? I prompted, sounding a little weak despite my false front

She nodded. Yeah. That's it. Oh, Cal, what're we gonna
do?

All I knew to do at that moment was hold her tight and hug her and try and make her worry fade just a little. But sometime in the next two days I would have to have a long talk with Father Bronz.

The priest frowned. She can stabilize laser pistols, huh? Then she
is
as strong as Kreegan. That poses a problem. We were far outside the witch's camp, officially in the danger zone but out of it as far as our current needs went.

That's not the half of it, I told him. On a world like Lilith, a simple small stungun would make you a king. A pawn could knock off a Lord if there was the element of surprise. I know / could, and this world's full of expert killers.

Bronz nodded thoughtfully. It's a little late to change our game plan, and Fm not sure she would allow it to be changed now. Still, we're not without . resources. His eyes brightened a bit and a ghost of a smile came to his lips. I have to say that I am not totally shocked or surprised by any of this. I anticipated something like it, and I planned for it.

Instead of cheering me, his comment worried me a little more. Just who
are
you, Bronz? What's your game in all this?

He sighed. Cal, you have no reason to believe me, but several to trust me. I could have killed you at any time, particularly in the early days when you were ignorant and helpless. I didn't. I helped you and Ti, too, - as much as it was in my power to do so. Will you concede that?

I nodded, not quite conceding the point.

Then I must ask you to trust me until the battle's done, he went on. You must stay as far away from O'Higgins as possible. She's the only person that one of your power has to fear. Wait. When it's all over, all worked out, you'll know everything, I promise. Know and understand everything, and profit by it.

Whose side are you on, Father Bronz? I asked suspiciously. Can't you at least tell me that?

He smiled. I'm on my side, Cal. You must understand that But it is fortunate that your side and my side do not conflict but rather converge here. You have my solemn word on that. Trust me now, this one time more, and all will be clear.

I'll try, I sighed, because there's not much else I can do.

He laughed easily and slapped me on the back. Come, let's go back. Why don't you go in and try to make a baby with that pretty mate of yours? It may be your last chance for a while. In two days' time that mind of yours will tell
you
the answer. I won't even •have to explain it, I suspect. Just remember that I really
do
like you, son. You're going to be Lord of Lilith one day if you watch your back.

I just stared back at him and did not reply, but I couldn't help wondering if by that time the Lordship would be worth taking.