Talon again remained silent, but his eyes spoke questions.
Robert went on, ‘You were being judged to see if you were going to stay in my service, until such time as I discharged you from your blood debt, Talon; or to see if you were perhaps gifted enough that you might be invited to join this company, here upon the island.’
Finally Talon asked, ‘What company, Master?’
The three men exchanged glances, and Robert said, ‘We are called the Conclave of Shadows, Talon. Who we are you shall learn in time, if you are accepted into our ranks. What we do will also be made clear to you.’
‘But before you can be told these and many other things,’ said Pug, ‘you must choose to join us. Your debt to Robert will be considered discharged, and you will be a free man, free to do as your conscience bids you – though you will also have obligations to the Conclave.
‘But with those obligations come benefits. We have wealth, enough to provide you with whatever you need for the rest of your life. We have powerful allies, so that you may move easily among nobles and men of power should there be a need.’
Nakor continued, ‘But we also have powerful enemies. The death-dancers represented a single attempt among many to remove one of our more important members. Had they succeeded in killing Magnus, our cause would have suffered for years to come.’
‘What am I being asked to do?’
Robert said, ‘You are being asked to swear an oath of loyalty, not to me, but to the Conclave, Talon. You will leave this room as a member of our society, and with that oath will come benefits and responsibilities we have as yet only hinted at.’
Talon said, ‘It sounds as if I am being given a choice in the matter.’
Nakor said, ‘You are.’
‘What is my other option?’
Pug glanced at Robert and Nakor, then replied, ‘Death.’
• CHAPTER TEN • (#ulink_7a473492-509a-5eed-847d-f1caa8aa8e7e)
Decision (#ulink_7a473492-509a-5eed-847d-f1caa8aa8e7e)
TALON STOOD IN SILENCE.
His eyes moved from face to face as he studied the three men and sought to glean some clue from their expressions as to what was expected of him.
All three of them waited motionlessly, their faces revealing nothing of their thoughts. Pug seemed to be watching him as if trying to read his mind. Robert appeared simply to be waiting to see what he would say. Nakor was clearly attempting to interpret something from Talon’s posture, his expression, or any other physical sign of a reaction to the choice just put before him.
After a long silence, Talon said, ‘There is apparently no choice.’
Robert said, ‘No, there is always a choice. What we have come to, however, is a very difficult choice.’ He paused, then said, ‘Pug here is my teacher, and the leader of our community.’
Pug studied Talon for a moment, then smiled. When his features relaxed, he suddenly looked years younger than Robert, his student. ‘You were never meant to come here, Talon. My son brought you to the north shore of the island to isolate you and concentrate on your studies, and to evaluate you more.’ The magician waved his hand and candles set in a metal ring suspended from the ceiling sprang to life so that the room was fully illuminated. Robert and Nakor moved to the corners of the room and returned with four stools. Robert placed one behind Talon and then the other next to Pug and the three interrogators sat down. Pug indicated that Talon should do likewise.
Talon did so and then said, ‘You’d really kill me if I say no?’
‘No,’ said Pug, ‘but you would “die” in a sense. We would be forced to remove your memories. We would not be unkind in the process. You would simply fall asleep and when you awoke, you’d be someone else. A young man who suffered an injury in a war, perhaps, or from falling off the roof of his home.
‘People who would claim to have known you all your life would welcome your return to lucidity and would quickly remind you of the knowledge you lack. We can arrange for it to be very persuasive and in time, you would come to believe that is who you are.’
Talon said, ‘But in a way you are right: Talon of the Silver Hawk would be dead.’
Robert nodded.
Nakor said, ‘The last of the Orosini would be lost.’
Talon remained silent for a long while, pondering this. At last he said, ‘Tell me more, so that I can choose wisely. I have no desire to lose my knowledge of who I am – though forgetting the death of my people might seem a blessing at times – but I have debts I must repay, and I can not ignore those.’
Robert spoke. ‘Should you choose to serve, your debt to me would be considered discharged.’
‘There is another,’ said Talon.
Pug nodded. ‘You have a blood-debt.’
‘To my people. Had it been only one member of my family or clan, I would still have hunted them down until each had been repaid in kind for his deeds. But these men destroyed my race, for unless anyone has managed to elude death without my knowing of it, I am the last of the Orosini.’ He nodded in Nakor’s direction. ‘I cannot die, in either sense of the word – in body or memory – until they are avenged.’
Nakor said, ‘We are not necessarily at cross-purposes here.’ He glanced at Pug and said, ‘May I?’
Pug nodded.
Nakor sat back on his stool, reached into a pack he carried on his hip and pulled out an orange. Then he dug a thick thumbnail into it. He glanced at the other two men and raised an eyebrow. Both of them shook their heads, just a little, and Nakor returned his attention to Talon.
‘You see before you the leaders of a group of people,’ Nakor began. ‘This place, this island home, was once the refuge of a nation fleeing a war, or so the story goes. Later it was home to the first Black Sorcerer, a man named Macros. Miranda is his daughter. Pug is Miranda’s husband. They are mistress and master of this island, Talon. You’ve met both their sons.
‘Over the years many people have come to stay with us on this island. Students from … well, from many places, some never even imagined by most men.’ He grinned. ‘Some I couldn’t have imagined, and I’ve got quite a good imagination.’
Pug interrupted, ‘We can dispense with the history until later, Nakor. Tell him about what faces him.’
Nakor lost the grin. He bit down on the orange and chewed for a moment, deep in thought. ‘As I said, we are the leaders of a group of people. Many have come here to train and serve.’
‘Serve?’ asked Talon.
Nakor grinned. ‘You know, I’ve never had to explain to anyone in one sitting what it is we do, Pug.’
Pug nodded. ‘And you will not now. Just give him a general sense of who we are and if he agrees to serve, we shall educate him incrementally along the way.’
Robert held up a hand. ‘If I may?’
Pug nodded.
‘Talon, we three belong to the Conclave of Shadows. The Conclave consists of men and women who have banded together for a reason. That reason will become clearer to you as time passes, but for the moment, there are things you are not ready to understand.
‘I can tell you this much. We serve a purpose which opposes much of the evil abroad in the world today, including the forces that conspired to destroy your homeland. If your current goal is to avenge your people, your best opportunity to do so rests in serving us.’
Talon looked Robert in the eye. ‘I owe you my life, Master, and will honour my debt, but you ask me to take at face value a very serious claim. I have seen nothing at Kendrick’s or here to make me question that claim, and nothing that would make me think you or these other men might be evil. But my grandfather once told me that men who do evil often do so in the name of a great good, and that the Orosini had history with shamans and chieftains who misled the people, claiming they were doing right.
‘I saw evil with my own eyes the day my people died. I do not know the reason for the destruction of my nation. I only know that those men who killed the women and children of my clan did evil.’
Robert held up his hand. ‘This much I can attest to: the men who destroyed your home were not acting out of any misplaced sense of a greater good. They were hired mercenaries who kill for gold, aided and abetted by soldiers from the Duchy of Olasko. We will talk in the future about that. For the moment, consider that we have common cause against those whom you seek for revenge.’
‘Robert, you saved my life when others might have simply left me for the crows and vultures,’ Talon said. ‘I have seen nothing in you or your friends that I find to be dishonourable. Caleb and Magnus –’ he nodded at Pug ‘– have taught me much and while I lingered here healing I heard laughter …’ He thought about Alysandra. ‘There is much here that brings joy.’ He took a deep breath and went on, ‘The gods have placed my feet upon a path, to what purpose and what ends I can only guess. But since the day I awoke in your wagon, Robert, I have been in your care. Tell me what to do.’
