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Outside in the hall, he found he had to lean against the wall briefly before he could walk the rest of the way to his own rooms. Had the Wizard gone completely mad or was he just indulging himself more than usual?
It didn't matter. Mad or sane, the Wizard was perfectly capable of carrying out his plans for the destruction of Morina. Those plans had to be defeated. It would be better to defeat them without killing the Wizard himself, but if there was no other way-
If Morina could only be saved by killing the Wizard, then the Wizard would die. Blade's mind was made up on that. Twenty thousand people lived in and around Morina. He was not going to stand by and let them die, on the chance that he might be able to take the Wizard back to England with him.
He would also do his best to leave the Wizard alive.
The Wizard could teach all his skills and powers-or at least believed he could. If he could be brought back to Home Dimension, alive, sane, and ready to teach those who could learn-
It would be worth a good deal, even if not the lives of twenty thousand people. Blade's mind was made up on that, too.
The Wizard seemed to be in no hurry to launch the attack on Morina, so Blade chose not to arrange a special meeting with Serana. He wanted to avoid anything that might possibly arouse suspicion until he and Serana were safely inside the walls of Morina-or at least safely out of reach of the Wolves' swords and the Wizard's mental control.
So Blade visited Serana on schedule and they made love. It was becoming steadily harder for Serana to pretend to be mad while she was with Blade, and steadily harder for Blade to conceal the real affection he felt toward the woman. He knew both of them would be happy to drop the disguise.
They lay together afterward, in the usual wild tangle of sweaty limbs and tousled hair, and Blade told Serana the bad news. He felt her go rigid as a board against him and she was silent for a long time.
Then she said, her voice shaking slightly, «We must flee. At once.»
«I know that. We must also begin the rebellion against the Wizard, whether your friends in Morina are ready or not.»
«They can make themselves ready, once we tell them of what awaits the city if they do nothing.»
«What about your brother?»
«He may not be our friend, even now. It is less likely that he will be our enemy. He is not evil enough to wish all his people slaughtered by the Wolves.»
«You hope.»
«What do you mean by that?»
«I mean that we must be on our guard against even your brother. We must be ready to deal with him as an enemy.»
«Blade, you know I have no great love for my brother. Yet I must also think of the House of Zotair, and what my brother's death might mean for it.»
«Think of Morina, then of your House.»
«Blade, if my brother makes himself our enemy, then my hand will not tremble, any more than yours. Is that enough?»
«Yes.»
Blade's hand drifted across Serana's breast. She shivered, then whispered, «How shall we flee?»
«We shall use one of the sky-bridges.»
«How can we hope to do that? Does the Wizard trust you that much?»
«He has even let me use sky-bridges, as long as a few Wolves go with me. We can deal with them once the Wizard's assistant has activated the sky-bridge. Then we step between the crystals and pass beyond the Wizard's reach.»
Serana let out a shuddering sigh. «Which sky-bridge do we use? Can we go straight to Morina? I would-«
Blade shook his head. «No, we go to Kassaro.» That was a small town ten miles north of Morina. «Before we go, we destroy the castle end of the sky-bridge to Morina. After we reach Kassaro, we destroy the outer end of that skybridge. Then the Wolves will have to ride nearly twenty miles to reach the walls of Morina. They will lose surprise, face ambushes, and in general not have such an easy time of it.»
«Morina ca
«It won't have to. It only needs to hold out long enough for messages to go to all the other cities and towns in Rentoro. We will tell everyone the Wizard's secrets. Then every man, woman, and child will be seeking the outer ends of the sky-bridges and smashing the crystals. In a few weeks there will not be a sky-bridge left in Rentoro. Then the Wizard might still be able to see us gathering our armies, but he will not be able to send the Wolves against us.»
«Not any faster than normal men can ride normal heudas, at any rate.»
«No. Then the Wolves will be doomed. They will be outnumbered four or five to one, and they are not good enough to meet such odds. Not when the fighting men of Rentoro will have so much to avenge. It will be the end of the Wolves and the end of the Wizard's power in Rentoro.» Blade was finding it hard to keep his voice down to a whisper. Excitement at the prospect of defeating the Wolves and breaking the Wizard's power swept through him.
«I pray that it may be so,» murmured Serana. She was silent for a moment. «We go to Kassaro, you say, not to Peloff?»
Blade understood what Serana meant. «No. If Lorya is still alive and has obeyed my orders, she has long since left Peloff. If she is dead, we ca
«Poor chances they may be, against the Wizard and his Wolves.»
«You think I don't know this?» Blade's whisper held an angry bite. «But Peloff is two weeks' ride from Morina. The Wolves would have many chances to catch us on the journey. If they could not do that, they could still ring Morina so thickly we could never get through to safety. They could also move into the city and have all your friends hanging dead from the walls before we came. It will be war-war to the death-the minute we lift a hand against one of the Wizard's people. Do you see that clearly?»
«Yes.»
«Good. We have a little time to spare, since the Wizard does not seem ready to move against Morina at once. I think we can move the next time I visit you. Now, what I think is our best course is to-«
His voice faded until he was hardly more than moving his lips. Yet Serana understood, and a smile spread across her gaunt face.
After they'd talked, they made love again. Blade took extra care to seem harsh and brutal, and Serana screamed and howled like ten madwomen together.
At least this was the last time they'd have to put on such an act to deceive the Wizard's spies. With good luck, the next time they shared a bed, it would be in Morina. There was no point in thinking about what would happen if their luck was bad.
Chapter 17
Blade came to Serana after dark. They alternately made love and talked, until Blade was sure the Wizard must have gone to bed. He'd been boasting over di
In spite of this, Serana was so nervous that she spoke in jerky phrases, and Blade felt as if he was making love to a wooden statue. He was as relieved as she when the hourglass showed three hours had passed. If the Wizard wasn't dead to the world by now, he never would be.
«Ready?» he said, kissing her.
«Ready,» she replied, between clenched teeth.
Blade threw back the blankets and started to climb out of bed. As he gave Serana a perfect target, she exploded into action. With a shrill scream, she lashed out with both feet and hands. She caught Blade in the groin, and now it was his turn to scream. With the horrible cry of a man who's just been castrated, he doubled up and toppled backward. As he fell, he managed to swing his head against the carved night table. He went limp and sprawled helpless on the floor, as Serana leaped out of the bed and started kicking at his ribs.