The Mage in the Iron Mask by Brian Thomsen Read Free Book Online

perfume as they entered the room, while she recognized the foul stench of his tobacco. Their eyes never left each other, like two jungle cats each waiting for the other to be the first to blink, at which point the other would strike a lethal blow.
    She's even icier than usual, the High Blade thought. She is probably already aware that her plan has gone awry.
    Usually he can't remove his eyes from my breasts, the Tharchioness contemplated. Now he won't break my stare. He knows something and is trying to see if I know it, too. I mustn't give myself away.
    The subtle standoff was interrupted by the arrival of some Arabellan Brandy. The High Blade seized the opportunity to seemingly relax, and poured his bride and himself a snifter each.
    The Tharchioness sipped.
    "Mmmmmm," she purred, licking her lips.
    "I'm glad it is to your liking," he said in mock gallantry. "I always try to provide you with the best Mulmaster has to offer, but sometimes plans do go awry, as you no doubt have recently experienced."
    The Tharchioness maintained her composure, and in a tone that she thought of as schoolgirlish (which, incidentally, turned her stomach every time she used it), she inquired, "What could you mean, darling?"
    "Why the earthquake, of course," he replied, hesitating just a moment before adding, "dear."
    "Of course," she said in agreement, realizing the subtext of taunts that he was beginning to bedevil her with.
    "It's a funny thing though," he persisted, "one's misfortune is sometimes another's boon."
    "To whose advantage is an earthquake?"
    "Why those who are paid to make the repairs afterward, my sweet," the High Blade replied in his most subtly condescending tone.
    The Tharchioness decided that she needed more time and information before further dealing with the delicate matter at hand. The High Blade obviously knew something, but of what and how much, she was not certain. She decided to change the subject.
    Delicately dipping her finger into her snifter of brandy, she held it out for her husband's consideration.
    "Care for a taste?" she purred.
    Gently taking the proffered hand with its anointed digit in his two hands, he slowly brought it to his lips, and bestowed a kiss.
    "I thought you'd never offer," he replied breathlessly, then turned to the crowds that had followed them into the receiving room and instructed the retinues, "Leave us! Matters of state and diplomacy can wait until later. Much later."
    In less than the time it took for their lips to meet, they were alone and on the receiving room settee.
    No further words were exchanged, and delicate situations were temporarily postponed.
    * * * * *
    In the Dungeon of Southroad Keep:
    Rassendyll's eyes had finally grown accustomed to the dim light of his cell, and the iron mask that enshrouded his head no longer shifted with every movement he made. It was as if the metal of the domed skullcap had taken root in the back of his head, allowing less movement in the face of the mask as well. The ringing had finally stopped in his ears from the ceaseless clanging that had ensued during his period of hysterics when he had beaten his head against the wall in despair. The strong iron metal of the mask had protected his head from any major damage or concussion, and all that remained of his temporary outbreak of insanity was a nagging headache.
    The edges around his eyes chafed his sockets, while the slits that barely functioned as access points to his mouth and nose pressed back against his face providing the smallest windows of entry for air and other sustenance. He vaguely remembered the comment his twin had made about the lethality of his beard's growth, and resigned himself to the eventuality of his fast-approaching demise.
    "Death," he called in a volume equal to his outbreak of the night before, and immediately regretted it as his own words seemed to echo within the skull that the combined mask and bone of his head had become. He stopped, pulled himself up short, and steeled