Knight Eternal (A Novel of Epic Fantasy) (Harbinger of Doom Volume 3) by Glenn Thater Page B

in full daylight. But of late,
things have grown fouler—fouler than they’ve been in twenty-five
years,” he said, with a glance to Ob. “Dark shapes are seen by
passing ships. Strange sounds are heard even in the
day.”
    “ Over the last year,
several small boats have gone missing never to be found. In recent
months, guardsmen and sailors have disappeared without sound or
trace from the decks of even the largest vessels. If you leave
tonight, you will find yourselves in the heart of the fens before
dawn. That is somewhere you don’t want to be. Get a good night’s
rest here, in comfortable beds and safe surroundings, leave in the
morning, and with any luck at all you’ll be past the fens hours
before dark.”
    Claradon stared into his goblet.
    “ Aye, it might be best,”
said Ob, “all things considered.”
    “ Sound advice,” said
Claradon.
    “ It’s settled then,” said
Malvegil, “and that’s good, for we’ve much more to discuss.
Glimador tells me you gave Barusa quite a thrashing.”
    “ You should’ve seen it,”
said Ob. “He had Mr. High-and-Mighty on his knees.”
    Malvegil broke into a wide
smile. “Well, you are your father’s son, I’ll give you
that.”
    Claradon’s face reddened and he looked
down.
    “ I’m sorry,” said
Malvegil. “The pain is still fresh, I know. It will lessen in time,
but it will always be with you.” Malvegil took a drink from his
goblet. “Find strength and what comfort you can in the good
memories of your father, of which I know you have many.”
    “ After that duel, you’re
lucky to have gotten out of Lomion City alive. The Shadow League
has a warrant out on your life, I’m certain.”
    “ Religious nuts, every
one,” said Ob. “They’ve bought off half the High Council, maybe
more.”
    “ Religion isn’t their aim
or their purpose, old friend; it’s merely their tool. This is about
revolution—a revolution from within.”
    “ The League wants to take
over—to seize power over Lomion City and the whole of the kingdom,
and rule it as they will. Their religious trappings are nothing
more than that, a way to delude the commoners and the fools and
mask their true goals. Our way of life is being destroyed before
our eyes. The monarchy has already fallen, the republic, which has
wielded the real power for the last thousand years, is near
collapse. Once the Vizier or the Chancellor or some other gains
enough power to take control of all the League’s forces, they will
kill the Tenzivels and the Harringgolds, they’ll dissolve the High
Council and the Council of Lords, and Lomion City will be lost.
From there, they’ll move on Kern, Dover, Sarnack, Dyvers, and all
the Dors. Nowhere will be safe for us. Not here, not
anywhere.”
    Malvegil stood and began
to pace as he spoke. “They have agents everywhere; they’ve been
infiltrating for years, right under our noses. They’ve been
recruiting our own citizens into the cults and brainwashing them in
the temples, making them hate their own land, their own government,
their own way of life. They even have spies in my own House, so
mind your words when we’re not in private. While we’ve been focused
on threats from without, they’ve been slowly eating away at us from
within.”
    “ Can’t we raise the
Council of Lords into action?” said Claradon. “The combined might
of the Lords must still far outstrip whatever forces are loyal to
the League.”
    “ I tried to do just that
when I was in Lomion three months ago. All I got was a dagger in my
back.”
    “ What?” said
Ob.
    “ They tried to kill you?”
said Claradon.
    “ They did, but luckily, I
had on a vest of chain beneath my shirt for just such an occasion.
When I had him, the assassin cut his own throat rather than be
taken. That one was in it for religion, as are many of the League’s
agents and soldiers. It makes it easier for the League’s leaders to
control their troops, for religious zealotry can take hold of a man
and make