Masque of Death (Kormak Book Nine) (The Kormak Saga 9) Read Online Free PDF

breaking the Count’s grip on him and soon.
    Orson sighed. “How do you propose that we do this?”
    “The men who sold the coffin to Governor Aurin must be located. They may still be in town, and you have many contacts here. It is imperative we find them before this Guardian does. And we must do all we can to slow down his investigation.”
    “Very well. I will have Lorenzo start searching at once. If they are present in Maial, he will find him. Now, what are we going to do about the Guardian and Lady Khiyana?”
    The changeling leaned forward and studied the miniature portrait. “If you will allow me to suggest something,” he said, “we may be able to kill two birds with one stone.”

    * * *
    T he changeling made his way from Orson’s mansion to the Governor’s house. The scabbarded longsword tugged at his belt. His hands moved to the pouch stowed beside it, checking it carefully. His collection of poison vials lay within it along with his stiletto he would use to deliver them. He hoped he would not need it tonight. Poison was too subtle for what he had in mind.
    From all around came the sounds of revelry. A small domino mask covered his face. The warm, humid air swirled around him. He allowed himself to sweat a little, knowing that if he did not, it would look suspicious.
    A party of drunks approached him, proffering a bottle. He smiled amiably and waved them on, putting a weave into his step that suggested he had already taken far too much. The last thing he wanted at this stage was to be drawn into a fight with some offended reveller.
    He considered his options. He had not expected things to be quite so chaotic when he reached Maial. Originally, the plan was that he make contact with the rebels here and aid them in any way possible. Anything that destabilised Siderea and strengthened the power of the Courts of the Moon was a good thing.
    But then Vorkhul’s coffin had come to light, and he had been told to find its source at all costs. A geas, a spell of compulsion of the most powerful kind, had been laid upon him to make sure he did so. It annoyed him, but he understood the reasons. The Eldrim warlord Vorkhul had been thought dead for millennia and yet somehow he had returned.
    He had seen the havoc the thing from the coffin had wreaked. It had run amok through the most heavily guarded sanctum of the Sunlanders and only been killed by a Guardian of the Dawn.
    There was a terrible mystery here. Where had Vorkhul come from? And were there more like him? The geas nagged away at the back of his mind, driving him to seek the coffin in the way an addict was compelled to seek his drugs.
    He had to find the coffin’s source before the Guardian did, and his allies must be protected at all costs, at least until they had helped him locate what he needed to know.
    He had his suspicions about his allies too. Orson was obviously not a true believer in the Lunar faith, and he suspected that Count Balthazar was something worse. He seemed a sincere worshipper of Xothak, a being about whom very dark tales were told. It was fortunate indeed that the changeling had infiltrated enough Shadow cults to know their secret signs. The knowledge had enabled him to convince Balthazar that they followed the same dark lords.
    The cultist was a sorcerer of considerable power who had not taken any precautions against corruption by the Shadow. The subtle signs were all over him. The Guardian would doubtless spot them too. The changeling needed to know exactly how deep into darkness the Count had fallen. A corrupted sorcerer would be a very dangerous ally.
    Still, if he was to be believed, Balthazar was on the verge of fomenting rebellion in the richest colony of Siderea. The chaos that uprising brought could only strengthen the Courts of the Moon.
    The changeling would soon be able to confirm his suspicions. He would interrogate this Lady Khiyana before he removed her. She would tell him all she knew, and he would decide what to do about