Uneasy Alliances by David Cook Read Free Book Online Page A

what happened back there.”
    The others sank down beside him. Entreri bit his lip and stared impatiently at them but finally sat on the lowest step, from time to time glancing up the staircase.
    Kern turned to Trandon. “Now that we’re all here,” he said, his voice cold, “perhaps you can explain what you’ve been playing at.”
    “Yes,” added Shar. “I thought we had only one magic-user in this group.” She jerked a thumb at Kern. “So what were all those fireworks back at the altar?”
    Trandon drummed his fingers for a moment in thought. His staff, which he’d evidently clutched when he fell, lay beside him.
    “All right,” he sighed. “I was sent on this expedition by the Council of War Wizards of Cormyr.”
    “What?” exploded Kern. “What in the name of Tyr did the War Wizards want with this business? And furthermore,” he growled before the fighter could answer, “since when have you been working for the War Wizards? You told us you worked with the Hammers of Tyr recruiting paladins.”
    Trandon rubbed his chin in evident embarrassment. “To answer your second question first, I don’t work for the War Wizards; I’m a member of the Council of War Wizards and have been for a number of years. Given the circumstances of Lady Eidola’s kidnapping, that wasn’t information I was anxious to spread about. I was at Piergeiron’s wedding purely as a social courtesy, but as soon as his bride was stolen, I contacted other members of the council, and they agreed I should join the expedition to find her.
    “The council became concerned when Khelben determined that the kidnappers came from the Utter East and that a bloodforge was somehow involved. We had heard of these artifacts and their tremendous power, though no one on the council had ever seen one. Vangerdahast didn’t want someone wielding that kind of power about Faerun without anyone keeping track of it.” He paused and glared at Artemis, who looked back coolly without speaking.
    “Just a minute,” interrupted Sharessa. “What are you both talking about? Where’s Cormyr, and what’s this council? And who’s Peergarion?”
    “Cormyr’s a kingdom in Faerun,” supplied Noph. “Piergeiron is the ruler of the city of Waterdeep, where I come from. My father’s a lumber merchant there,” he added, rather unnecessarily.
    “Don’t your rulers have bloodforges?” asked Sharessa.
    “Of course not,” replied Trandon. “As I understand it, they’re peculiar to the Utter East—the Five Kingdoms, if you prefer that term. But if a ruler in Faerun were to acquire one, or to form an alliance with a realm that possessed one …”
    “… the donkey dung would be in the fire,” finished Noph.
    “Exactly. No one could stop a power that could create armies out of thin air.”
    Shar shook her head impatiently. “What about the cost? The cost of using the bloodforge, I mean. You may have heard how these things affect the rulers who use them. I’ve heard stories about the mage-kings of Doegan since I was a baby, but I never believed them until now.”
    Trandon shrugged. “Take my word for it, there are plenty of rulers, or would-be rulers, in Faerun who’d gladly pay such a price.”
    “Okay, but who are the War Wizards?”
    Kern made a noise between a grunt and a hiccup. “The War Wizards are a lot of busybodies who think that because they’re wizards, they have the right to poke their snouts into everything that passes under the sun.”
    “Well,” observed Trandon pacifically, “let’s just say we felt we had a legitimate interest in the outcome of this affair.”
    “We might be a lot better off if you’d told us you were a wizard,” Noph half shouted. “Couldn’t you have used wizardry back in Undermountain? Maybe you could have saved Harloon…” His voice choked as he remembered his dead friend.
    Trandon sighed and placed a hand on Noph’s shoulder. “Believe me, Kastonoph, I did everything I thought I could. Maybe I could